chapter 31~~

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Everything was muffled.

The lights.

The noise.

The sound of the needle clattering to the floor, or the oppressing silence that came afterwards.

Even the sour taste in my mouth wasn't as sour as usual.

The frantic mumbles of my conscience dulled the feeling of my legs on the floor, or my jaw that Kyle had thrown a punch at.

The buzzing in my brain only intensified when I looked at her.

She lay limply in Kyle's arms.

she's dead

Glassy and unresponsive- not warm and inviting eyes like they usually were. Her lips were slightly parted- I was tempted to put my finger inside and see if she would bite down. I reached a hand towards her, to evoke some life in her. I let the hand drop.

you killed her

Kyle was still shaking her as the MWPSB lifted their lights. Kyle, out of all people, should know that she wouldn't wake up like that. This has happened before and you have failed before. But. It still wouldn't stop him from trying to wake her.

did I kill her?

I forced one foot after the other.

running away again

How did I reach the end of the room? Surely they would've got me by then? Everything was too confused to answer questions; it just wanted to be in the dark, darkness, a cupboard. And the next thing I knew, I had crammed myself into a store cupboard. Surrounded by mops and brooms and dust amplified my ragged breathing. The door had been hastily banged shut behind me, so I nudged it with my foot to secure myself into the dark.

it's all my fault

This is all terrible. The MWPSB arrived because I wasn't a good hacker and now this. I'm hiding in a broom cupboard so I won't get caught for killing my best friend. It was impossible that I would avoid this. Or them. They would find me soon enough. But what about Mels?

is she dead? dead already? hasn't this happened before?

Violently, I shook that thought out of my mind and tried to convince myself otherwise. The dosage couldn't have been the strong, and I didn't inject all of it. Realistically speaking I could've missed and just hit her skin.

yeah, that's right- it was just an accident.

My eyes began to droop in the darkness, and lack of sleep brought on a new wave of drowsiness. But as much as I wanted to lie there in the mops and brooms, I needed to be awake in case my watch decided to snitch on me. Another one of its great functions was to send out its location to any MWPSB officers or psychologists when called for, and no doubt it would get called for. It also said what condition I was in, e.g. sleeping, eating (muffins), or wild and crazy.

"Your Crime Coefficient has reached 800."

I hit my watch in frustration. Excuse me? Oh no you don't! I know my Crime Coefficient isn't that high even if I am a psycho latent criminal! I swiped it open viciously to see that it was only 499. See? In fact, you're-

OUCH !!

A prick sent all the brooms around me clattering. My hand flew to the top of my spine and felt around the area. Nothing. I flicked back to the watch. 800.

What.

That can't even happen.

That can't happen!

I furiously rubbed the back of my neck again. The same thing has happened before in the testing room- and my Crime Coefficient jumped there as well. Was somebody deliberately doing this? My heart fluttered at this thought: that somehow I was still normal in all of this.

I awkwardly lay down among the sticks of wood and dust, before hearing a familiar set of voices. I almost clattered around again.

"Where is she?"

"Well, we'll find her eventually!"

"She's one of the worst people I've met, I swear."

Okay, fine. Stabbing Mels with a syringe containing lethal sleeping drugs and then running away probably wasn't one of my brightest ideas. But they had to understand where I was coming from! They of all people should know what happens to me when I get caught!

When the voices ceased, I cautiously nudged the door and let the streak in. No one. Perfect, seeing as I fell trying to crawl out of the cupboard. No one around... to see my mistakes.

Back to before. I didn't mean to nearly kill someone! I don't deliberately try and be a murderer, I had to or else my plan wouldn't-

someone's following us

I heard their feet thud on the carpeted floor. Their sigh. And their footsteps stopped. Realisation dawned.

"I know you're there." I whispered, still conscious if anyone else was around. "Don't make me find you."

The person laughed quietly at my threat. Oh so you want to pick fights with a latent criminal huh?  I dare this person to come out.

And they did.

The dull thudding in my chest suddenly felt like it was trying to beat my rib cage to pieces. It only took a few steps to make it to the nearest wall. My breathing was quick and shallow- and I'm pretty sure it wasn't because of my Crime Coefficient.

she's here again.. last time.... last time was-

"It's so nice to see you again, Zara." She purred. 
"800... it's not been high for a while- has it?"

The woman was wearing posh clothes, designer like Gucci or Prada. Her hands were clasped firmly in front of her and a white purse was looped through her arm. Her eyes reminded me of a wild animals, like a cat, but her whole demeanour was of a snake. 

I forced myself to speak quickly. Too quickly apparently.

"It's been a while." That wasn't me- it was a 5yr old whose ice cream had been stolen.

~MWPSB TIME~

Kagari spat out curses, his dominator hanging by his side. "There must be a way we can defeat her- because drugging her won't work."

Kyle hoisted Mels further up on his back and opened his mouth to speak.

"Well.. there's one person she's terrified of."

"How terrified?"

"She... ran away to Russia the last time she came- on foot."

"That's crazy."

"She's crazy."

"Who is it?"

"It's her..."

~MWPSB TIME OVER~

Mother.

~END~