Monorail

Drake sat there completely worn out. He could barely muster the strength to even breath, when just faintly he caught Damien's deep voice. "Are you all right now? Can you even hear me?"


He nodded slightly. He had a terrible headache now and all he could think about were all of those people dying in that train, watching him from the exit that they could just reach out of if Damien had let them move.


"Well, do you want to get up so we can make head start on getting out of here?" Damien snapped at him, nudging him harshly in the side with the tip of his black leather shoe.


Drake didn't move. The sole thing that possessed his mind was his absolute hatred of Damien. He hated him beyond belief, but he was him and it was tearing him apart more than any thought that Damien was his father ever could. With Damien as his father, Drake had a likely chance of becoming like Damien, but now with Damien being him there was no doubt in his mind that Damien was his inexorable fate. He hated him so much! What gave him the right to even speak to him? After all those years of lying and torturing him, he owed Drake more than he did Jade. Never in his life could he think of a time that he had so completely loathed someone that much. It sent a fury through his body like fire, making him tremble from head to toe.


"Drake get up," Damien commanded him.


And so he did, but not without taking the opportunity to punch Damien directly in the nose as soon as he had. Damien skidded to the floor blood gushing from his nostrils. He glared at Drake, seething with anger.



"Listen to me," he said as he stood up, the blood was pouring into his mouth with each word. "You-"


"No," Drake snapped, silencing him, "I am sick and tired of listening to you, so you listen to me Damien. We are getting out of here as soon as we can. No more fucking games. I know that you can figure the way out and you're not only going to head us out once I am done speaking, but you're also going to tell me how the hell you seem to be the only person who knew that this place even existed when we get out of here!"



Damien grinned at him with bloody teeth. "Of course."


So the three of them headed out into the vast dim world of metal, careful not to fall into the deep crevices separating the islands of metal. Drake wasn't sure what Damien's plan was, but he and Petra didn't have any other ideas so they simply followed him through the maze like walls. It was eerie. Drake had never felt so trapped. There were walls as high as he could look up, a metal floor shining beneath his feet, walls on every side of him and in from and behind him. Orange, glowing, copper metal everywhere reflected his body.


It wasn't long before, Petra began to lag behind. Her wound had bled too much and she complained about feeling dizzy, making them stop every once and a while for her to catch up.


At long last to Drake's surprise Damien turned to her and said almost softly, "Dear, you can't hold up much longer in your state. Let me carry you. We can't get anywhere like this!"


She let our a short, but faint laugh, "I'd rather die before . . ." she swayed a bit, "before," and then fell forwards. Damien caught her and lifted her up, with a heavy sigh.


"How much further do we have?" Drake asked. He couldn't help, but worry for her.


"Should be soon," Damien looked down at him with a shrug.


Drake frowned. Why wasn't he angry with him? "Am I actually forcing you to take us out of here?"


Damien laughed, "Of course not. We need to hurry for her sake though come on, but first hand me your shirt since you seem to have lost mine on the train."


Unbuttoning the rest of his shirt and then sliding it off his bare back, Drake handed the black material to Damien, who set Petra down gently and tied it tightly around her head. Why was he just now deciding to do this for her? He picked her back up as if she were as light as a feather and muttered, "She might very easily die before we reach our exit."


Drake bit his lip uneasily as they walked forwards once more. "That doesn't bother you?"


"There's nothing more that I can do," Damien shrugged, stopping briefly to read a sign on the right side of the two walls bordering them. He muttered something to himself that wasn't audible to Drake's ears and then made a left turn. With a sigh Drake followed.


"Damien," the words drifted to Drake's ears, but he thought that they were just mocking him in his head. Until he looked over his shoulder to see Dane and Amon. Where was Blair though?


"Damien," Drake growled, "your brothers are here."


Turning his head over his shoulder, Damien glanced back as well, eventually turning around completely wearing a smirk. "So you made it out?"



Dane nodded with a smile of relief, "Blair's just a ways behind us."


Nodding Damien, sighed, "Look, I don't really have the time to wait," he lifted Petra up a bit to emphasize his point.


Dane nodded with wide eyes on Petra, "We'll wait here for her and meet you in Monorail . . . I guess at that house you own there."


"Sounds good," Damien replied, "come on Drake."


"Wait," Dane shouted back at them, "if you're going to take her to a hospital then you'll probably need shirts," he, and Amon with some persuading then took their shirts and handed them to Damien and Drake. Damien took Dane's, setting Petra down, and left Drake with Amon's whiskey stained shirt.


Once they were a ways from Dane and the rest, Drake spoke to Damien, "We're going to Monorail?"


"Yes," he muttered as if he had made it obvious from the start, "it's the closest."


"But," Drake let the word string out, waiting to see if Damien needed him to spell out the predicament that awaited them there.


He rolled his eyes and sighed heavily, speaking almost out of irritation, "Yes, I haven't been there since Jade was born, but I'll be fine. It's just a place after all. Besides, we need to find a time traveler don't we?"


Drake replied, "Well, yes, obviously, but what will we do when we can't find one?"


"Optimistic as always," Damien sneered through his barred teeth.


"I'm simply being reasonable," Drake argued as he made a left turn with Damien and then followed him down a steep set of stairs.


"As am I," Damien growled, "either we find a time traveler or Jade is stuck in that time and we are doomed. Understand?"


"Aren't you in the least bit worried?" Drake scoffed.


Damien stopped walking to look at Drake, "Not particularly. You do realize that all I have to do is command any time travelers there to come to us."


"If everything's that easy for you," Drake began as they returned to their walking, "how come you never made Lyra love you back?"


Damien laughed out loud as if it were a joke, but didn't respond or give any other indication that he'd even heard Drake's voice. So Drake let it slide. After all Damien had answered far more than his share of questions for Drake that day.


Sooner than Drake expected they had reached a metal door surrounded by red, glass pulsating lights that made a purring sound each time they lit up. "Come here and take her from me," Damien said handing Drake Petra's limp body. She was heavier than Drake expected and grid his teeth as he tried to hold her as high as Damien had so effortlessly. The man glanced at him in an amused way before reaching over to Petra and grabbing two bobby pins from her hair. He then sticking the rods into the lock, began to tinker with the lock on the door. Finally there was a satiating click and the door swung open. Through a smirk, Damien muttered to Drake, "We're almost there."


Drake nodded and followed him into the drafty, cool metal hallway, which was even more narrow than the maze they'd just been through. He couldn't even stretch his arms out and it was nearly pitch black. Suddenly there was a loud whistling noise and the entire hallway began to shake and rattle as if it were on stilts and were about to crash to the ground.


"What the hell?" Drake spat, pushing his back against the wall to steady himself, breathing hard.


"Just a train," Damien yawned, "we're getting close."


"Yes, you keep saying that, but I get the feeling that we're days away" Drake snapped as his heart rate began to slow down. It was just a train, but it had scared him half to death.


He could see the white of Damien's smile through the dim light as he simpered, "Oh, look we're here."


There was a silent crack of light and then the entire hallway was flooded with a blinding whiteness as the sound of the train dimmed out of hearing. Drake stepped out behind Damien into the cold air of Monorail. He glanced back at the door that Damien was shutting and was shocked that it was in a wall of an abandoned warehouse as soon as the door had been shut it disappeared. Damien turned to face him, taking a deep breath in and then out, glancing around the world through very narrow eyes, which eventually fell onto Drake, "Let's find her a doctor or healer," he sighed as if it were some chore as he resumed his place in the lead.


"Do you even know where the nearest hospital is?" Drake pointed out, his breath freezing in the air. "You haven't been here in over seventeen years, let me show you how to get there."


Damien shrugged, giving Drake a sigh of relief. The nearest hospital was literally just around the corner and they were helped as soon as they had entered it's revolving doors. A nurse dressed in an old fashioned white dress and hat as was the custom in Monorail, came up to them and helped Petra onto a stretcher and before taking her away asked them a few mandatory questions. She wanted to know her name and address as well as her power, which were all very simple to answer. It wasn't until she asked how the injury had occurred that Damien was at a loss for words.


The nurse repeated her question. She probably didn't think that Damien had heard her, "Um, how was she hurt? You see I need to know because . . . wait," she paused and stared at Damien as if he were a ghost, "are you Damien White? I've seen your picture in the paper."


Damien narrowed his eyes, bristling at the question. Drake eyed him. They hadn't run into this problem so far because Damien and Dane had taken extra precautions such as boarding the train ten minutes before everyone else and entering the house and hotel through the back doors, but now . . . Drake watched to see what Damien would do. People's eyes were beginning to drift onto the two of them.


Letting out an irritable laugh, Damien replied, "She hit her head hard when she fell. Will you please take care of her first and do your damn job. She's lost a considerable amount of blood."


She pursed her lips as her cheeks turned a bright shade of red, "Y-yes of course, I apologize."


"Also," Damien sighed, glancing at the stares beginning to turn onto Petra, "I don't want any male doctors to go into her room. Not one."


The nurse gave him funny look and asked as if it were necessary to know, "May I ask why?"


"She . . . ," Damien frowned narrowing his eyes as he fell silent. A minute or two passed before he sighed, commanding her, "Just do it."


"Of course," she replied without further questions before writing down a few things on a clipboard and then wheeling the stretcher away.



Drake glanced up at Damien, "Now what? Do we wait here to see if she'll be all right or . . ."


Cocking an eyebrow at Drake, Damien muttered, "We'll come back first thing in the morning. She should be awake and feeling better by then. In the meantime you and I are going searching for a time traveler."


"But it's getting dark now," Drake commented, "I'm beat and there's hardly anyone out. I think we should wait until tomorrow. Let's just meet up with your siblings at your house and go to sleep."


"Oh, no?" Damien said, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "You're right it's been such a long day and I mean I'm sure that Jade will be fine just one more night with my younger self," he gave a short laugh of contempt, "and it isn't as if we'd be harmed in any way if she were. I completely understand you're tired, as am I. Let's just get a goodnight's rest, right?"


Drake pursed his lips, "Fine," he spat, "but we won't find anyone because they are all already heading to their homes."


"Right," Damien snarled, "I forgot that in the past few weeks you somehow suddenly realized that you knew everything about anything, forgive me."



"Shut up," Drake hissed, walking out of the hospital and onto the dimming emptying streets. He looked around. This was hopeless. Why couldn't Damien admit that he was wrong? He didn't know anything about Monorail or time travelers. That was why they had brought Petra. They needed to wait until she was healed up enough to help them out. This was just pointless and stupid. It was Damien being stubborn.

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