FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

~ Chapter 35 ~

I loved him. Then I killed him.

The tunnel was cold and silent. Lights were placed a dozen yards apart creating alternating patterns of bright and dim. My panting echoed down the hall as I ran.

****

There weren't any parking spots outside of Kat and Tif's apartment on Colins Avenue. It didn't matter, I wasn't going to stay long, I hoped. As I floored out of our driveway back home, I had a decision to make: Aaron's apartment or try to catch Kat at home before she went to open Infinitá. I just prayed to god I was making the right choice.

I left the car on the street, parallel to other cars in proper parking spots. I turned the hazards on and ran to the iron gate. I smashed into it with a forceful rattle and I pressed the call button.

"Hello?" came Tiffany's voice out of the metal box. Was I too late? Maybe Kat was in the bathroom or something.

"Tif!" I pushed my face inches-close to the receiver and strained to look at where I was sure their apartment was. "Is Kat there?"

"No, she left for Infinitá a while ago."

Shit. "Can you call her, please? Can you get ahold of Aaron? I need to talk to him."

"He stopped by here a while ago, after Kat left. He said he wanted to talk to her but she wasn't answering her phone."

Fucking ironic.

"I said Kat had left for club and he took off. Look, Kat told me to stay here tonight and wait for her to get back. Why do you need to get ahold of them? Cade? Hello, Cade?"

I exhaled loudly, not realizing I was holding my breath. "He's going to die!" Words tumbled out of my mouth between sobs, "Because of me he's going to die!"

****

I loved him. Then I killed him.

The floor of the tunnel gradually sloped downwards and southwards. There weren't any steps, probably because of needing to roll supplies down the length of the tunnel. It was about two miles long as the crow flies, if there weren't any turns. That would take me 18 minutes at top speed. The lights streaked by; bright, dim. Bright, dim.

****

As close to the limit of the law I could press, I sped, passed, turned, and raced through lights towards Infinitá as if my life depended on it. Tif sat in the passenger seat.

"He can't do anything tonight if the club is full, right?" I asked Tiffany, looking for any grasp of hope that I wasn't too late.

"What are you talking about?" Tiffany was holding tight to the 'oh shit' handle and dashboard. I didn't blame her. "The club is closed tonight. It's always closed on the first Thursday of the month."

"Is that when Remy ships things through the club?"

"I want to help Kat. That stuff's going to destroy her but Remy's got her wrapped around his finger, especially after what he did to Marc."

A light turned red and I caught a brief white flash as I sped through it. "Can't you get her in a clinic? Try to detox her or something? Why don't you fight back?"

"I'm scared!" Tiffany barked at me in frustration. She closed her eyes and took a breath. "Look, I'm not as strong as you, okay?"

"You think I'm strong?" I asked. I was confused and incredulous.

"I would have snapped a long time ago if I was in your shoes," she admitted, "But you've kept right on going: what happened with Aaron, your sister, Ezio. I'm amazed, humbled even, at the courage you show against things a lesser person would have submitted to."

I absorbed her words. I was still going after Aaron. Becky's accident should have kept me away from trying to figure out what was happening. I almost did if wasn't for meeting Ursula at Groundings. Ezio's assaults should have made me just quit everything.

"I guess I just don't know when to quit," I rationalized.

****

I loved him. Then I killed him.

I ran past doors and other archways that led into mazes of darkened tunnels. No other path was lit except the one I was following downwards. The floor was polished smooth from years, decades, of traffic. I wondered how much had gone on underneath the city and my stomach coiled against its self.

Layers of dust covered everything, making the polished pathway shine even more. There was the smell of water and somewhere underneath that, the odor of sewage.

****

I pulled into the unlit alleyway where I had first met Kat in person. The door to Infinitá was propped open with a bent piece of wire. Kat's figure shone in my headlights and the burning tip of her cigarette glowed back in puffs.

"Katty," Tiffany was out of the car and holding her.

As I got out I noticed that Kat was shaking.

"...He went through to meet up with the other two," Kat looked at Tiffany with despondent green eyes reflecting in my headlights. "He's a pig."

"And Aaron?" I asked, walking to them. My heart was beating a mile a minute.

Kat looked at me, surveying me. She didn't look like she recognized me.

"I was inside, looking at the tunnel. I heard Aaron's voice behind me. He said he tried calling me." She reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out her cell phone. The screen lit up and she laughed somberly, "I had it on silent." Kat looked at the screen, "Oh, Tiffany. When did you call?"

"Baby," Tiffany embraced Kat tightly and patted down Kat's tangled hair.

I sidestepped them and entered the club. It was dark, empty, and hauntingly quiet. A light flooded in from the storage room where Bruise had taken me.

"Wait! Cade!" Kat's silhouette filled the doorframe. "He has a gun."

****

I loved him. Then I killed him.

The phrase had become a mantra in my mind, repeating its self over and over.

I loved him. Then I killed him.

I loved him. Then I killed him.

I was wheezing as my lungs screamed and protested. My heart threatened to break out of my ribcage. My calves burned and knotted. I stumbled but I never fell. The air became cleaner, less musty than the rest of the tunnel behind me.

The floor evened out and the tunnel widened. I reached the end and saw a steep ramp leading up to heavy, closed wooden doors angled at a slant towards me. My feet slipped on the ramp but I climbed it and pulled the doors open. My pulse throbbed in my ears with the effort.

I was standing in another, larger storage room. Unfamiliar cardboard boxes lined metal shelves inches in front of me. I climbed up and squeezed along a cement wall. I was still panting.

I bumped the metal rack with a knee and it slid. The rack was light; the boxes had to be empty. I kneed the shelf again and it swung out from the wall. There was no harsh metallic scraping or any squeaking of any hinges. It just moved easily with a little bit of effort.

I crawled out from behind the shelf. The only light came from behind the shelf, from the gloomy tunnel. With that entrance closed, it would have been pitch-black. Other shelves looked to have been placed haphazardly, perhaps to discourage anyone from walking all the way through, perhaps as an afterthought from transporting shipments to and from the tunnel.

I meandered through the monochromatic shelves, feeling my way around the open spaces. The tunnel's glow faded behind me, but I registered a slight gleam on the concrete floor a few shelving units ahead of me. I found my way to the light and stood in front of matching metal double doors. These sides of the doors were handle-less so I pushed. They opened and moonlight spilled into the room I traversed.

I loved him. Then I killed him.

That was when I heard the screaming.