Quiet: Chapter Two

By now you'd think I would have mastered the whole "cool when surprised" thing down, but apparently not. Or maybe I just haven't mastered the whole 'cool when totally and completely freaked out' thing down.

Because yeah, I was totally freaked out. A, as soon as I left the City of Loud and passed through the gates, alarms started blaring throughout the City, alerting everyone within a 50,000 -mile radius that a Citizen had become a fugitive and was fleeing for someplace other than the their current--and supposed--City of residence.

And B, I had followers. Jaden, Isaac, and for some strange reason, a mutant squirrel were in tow behind me. "What's up with the rodent?" I asked, peering curiously at the animal intruder. "Did you guys decide to be charitable along the way and adopt this...this thing?"

Honestly, it might have been rude of me, but I was sort of offended that a squirrel--a fricking SQUIRREL!--was considered important enough to come along with me. Or us, I suppose, now that Attitude Girl and Hormonal Boy were traveling with me, as well.

"Meet Marvin the Albino Squirrel," Isaac said proudly, gesturing to the squirrel. "And by the way, we didn't adopt Marvin; he decided he wanted to come and no matter what we did it was impossible to lose the little twerp." Isaac's words were sharp and meant for irritation, but he had a mischievous grin spreading on his face and he patted Marvin's head affectionately.

"Okay, no offense, guys, but I'm sort of on a mission, and having two other Citizens go 'missing' with a rampaging renegade albino squirrel named Marvin isn't going to make this journey any easier. If anything, it'll only make it harder. So, uh...mind leaving?" I bit my lip, knowing full well they weren't going anywhere.

I sighed, resigned. Maybe it was better to have friends along. After all, they'd had my back ever since I was five; maybe even longer, and even though Isaac was in his horny teenage male phase he still would back me up would I need it.

And I had a definitive gut feeling I would. Too bad my gut feelings are almost always spot on. Kind of a disappointment and definitely a downer. This was one Power I'd be happy to be without, but you don't get to choose. Go figure!

 

"Sorry, Am," Jaden said, her steely gray eyes flicking quickly to land on me and back again on the road in front of her, "But you're not going anywhere by yourself."

 

"And why not?" I persisted. So yeah, I had a pretty good idea how whiny on a scale of one to ten I was being, but frankly, I didn't give a damn. I didn't force them to come! It was their decision, so they would have to listen to me whine and bitch and moan and complain for as long as I choose to if they really were planning on staying.

 

"I'm going to be annoying, FYI," I informed them, off-handedly hoping it would make them go away. No such luck.

 

"Sorry, beautiful, but we're stuck to you like glue," Isaac said, with a wink in my direction. I threw him a disgusted sigh and kept walking, eyes firmly focused on the ground in front of me.

 

"Mmm-hmm. Well, that's nice, Icky, but go jump in a lake...and if you manage to live, don't come back."

 

Jaden threw me a startled glance. "Okay, look, Amethyst--you and I don't always see eye-to-eye, and for the most part we can agree about Isaac, but that was...really harsh."

 

I couldn't meet her penetrating gaze and when I spoke I did so to the pavement. "Yes, well, maybe that's why I wanted to come alone." I was trying to be all brave and confident and 'I take no bullshit' about all this, but in reality, it just didn't work. My voice was quavering and I was inwardly shaking (and I was sure I was going to be outwardly shaking any minute now) and my eyes kept darting back and forth every second and I could feel my legs buckling beneath me.

 

"Isaac, grab her! She's about to faint, and she'll probably crack her-"

 

Darkness was all that was left.

 

 

"WELCOME BACK TO THE living world, Amethyst," said a throaty, rasping voice from somewhere near me. "How lovely it is to finally meet you."

 

"Um..." was really all I could manage in my disorganized state of semi-consciousness. "Lovely to...meet you?" I offered weakly, collapsing back on the metal bed thing I was lying on.

 

Metal bed? No. Metal beds aren't usually a sign of anything good.

 

"Are you Dr. Quentin?" I asked, shivering as his cold as ice eyes looked me up and down, appraising what he saw.

Now I never knew Dr. Queer--what he was referred as by members of the Cautious Science Society--but I knew enough to know that being strapped down by steel restraints on a metal bed was not a good sign as a general rule. That said, I couldn't help feeling slightly relieved...

I don't know why I wasn't all out of my mind-hysterical. Maybe I'd been so much in the past five hours that I nothing really was all that shocking any more. Kind of ruins the fun, huh?

Maybe I was relieved just because I was alive. Or maybe because even if the other person was an evil scientist, the person was still...well, still a person. Another one of my kind.

"Yes, Amethyst. I am indeed Dr. Quentin, and you were brought here by your friends. They were concerned about your current state. You know, fainting and all."

I blinked and sat up, unable to because my arms and wrists were both held down. I cleared my throat meaningfully. "Ahem," I said, giving him a 'what for?' look. "While it's lovely that you are so clearly concerned about my safety, it'd be a lot easier to function if you would so kindly release my arms and wrists. Kind of hard to hold a decent conversation, you know?"

Dr. Quentin's eyebrows raised but he pressed a button on the wall and the cuffs snapped in half. Yes! I could finally move like a human being again.

"So," I said, looking around the laboratory. "Um...what have you been doing for my, uh, 'condition?'"

Up until that point he'd been studying me with a terrifying intensity and I had to resist the urge to squirm. "My dear, this is an unusual condition, you see. It's said that every five decades a certain person inherits the ability to travel between Cities, something quite unheard of and also extremely valuable." He had a malicious, calculating glint in his eyes and I inwardly shivered. When mad scientists got that gleam in their eyes it was never a good thing.

"Valuable, huh?" I said, trying to play it casually. So I was Christmas morning to Dr. Quentin. No big deal. It wasn't like he was planning on killing me or anything...right?

"Extremely," Dr. Queer continued, oblivious to my growing anxiety. "And now I've received intelligence that you are one of Them."

"And Them is...?"

"The Quiets. You have the City of Silence and the City of Loud, you see, and the Quiet is called so because they can travel between the realms and function in both. Unfortunately, they never last long...and if they do, their life is usually long and...and painful."

I gulped and my fists clenched, presumably to keep me from throwing up all over myself. "Right," I nodded, like I heard this kind of thing and talked about the fragility of my lifetime with perfect strangers all the time.

"I can see you're unnerved by this, Amethyst," Dr. Quentin said, his voice eerily calm.

You don't say! I wanted to scream. Yeah, I get told I'm going to die before I hit twenty all the time. No big deal, right? Better break out the Bucket List! Instead I said, "Um...a bit. And I'd really like to get back to my friends, if you don't mind."

The look on Quentin's face was absolutely maniacal, and I knew I was dealing with a case of Crazy-Person Syndrome.

"I'll help you every step of the way," he said, the diabolical gleam back in his eyes.

I had no doubt he meant what he said.

The only thing that worried me? I didn't know what he meant by the words. And that in and of itself was scarier than anything else I'd ever experienced.