Ira Invidia: The Runaway And The Rabbit

--- Lydia ‘Smith’ ---

Once more she found her tired eyes shifting between the various screens in front of her, desperate to keep another surprise like the Smiling Man from showing up while they were in such a state.

As was she wasn’t entirely sure they were safe from the Smiling Man given how no one seemed to stay dead in this hell hole. (Which is probably a good thing right now…)

She glanced at an unconscious booker laying on the security room couch, his long limbs half off after she’d fought to get him onto it in spite of his dead weight.

The fact that he was simply dead from blood loss had her hoping that he’d heal fast, or at least faster than whatever was going on with the Smiling Man. (Never seen that happen to someone’s corpse before… maybe a side effect of whatever he did to those people on the streets?)

It would make sense that stopping other people from resurrecting would slow his own, (I’m just hoping Booker isn’t affected by whatever caused that…)

Just to check she made her way over to him and checked his severed arm with a grimace as she pointedly ignored the smile still on his face. Creeping black tendrils of something crawled all over the injury, assuring her that something was happening even if she’d never seen any injury heal like this.

(Maybe it’s a side effect of his magic?) She’d known magic was real, this place being ten different kinds of proof, but she’d only seen a handful of people able to use it and none quite in the way that Booker did. Be it his more casual displays or that whole musical performance he’d put on to convince her to sign on with him, there was a certain showmanship to him that she hadn’t seen in the few gangers throwing around fire on the streets.

And as much as he was grating on her -something about his personality and presence, just… wrong- Booker was still doing more for her than anyone else she’d met down here having dealt with the men that he sent after her, helped her find her spine again, possibly an exit out of this hell hole, and to top it all off he fought the Smiling Man so that she could escape.

(All of which he did without asking for anything in return…) She thought, remembering how she’d expected things to play out at the hotel. (I… I can’t believe I was that desperate…)

She knew she was the last few months having eaten away at the will that helped her run away but… (That doesn’t make it any better to admit…)

“Really now that is not a face to wake up to…” A pained voice groaned.

“Booker!” She smiled with no small amount of relief.

“And that is a significantly better one.” Booker told her as he tried to sit up with a grin that looked more like a grimace. “You’ve pretty smile dear, you really use it more.”

“How’re you feeling?” She asked, before explaining that, “I couldn’t tell if the Smiling Man’s magic had stopped your healing or not.”

Booker’s cheek twitched as he looked at his missing limb for a moment. “Well… as disarming as it may be, this shouldn’t be too problematic. My arm is healing, just… slower than I am used to.”

“Is it permanent?” She frowned, because despite not knowing how good his healing was she knew he’d walked off more than one injury that would’ve put her down for the night.

The older man slowed for a moment in thought, something she’d noticed he seemed prone to. “Mm, I don’t believe so… Even if it does not wear off on its own I should have… means of undoing whatever curse was left upon my person.” Booker paused with a wry grin. “Well, once we’re out of here at least.”

“That’s good…” She sighed in relief, unsure of what she’d have done otherwise. “Do you think you’re good to get moving or…?”

“I should be.” Booker nodded as he sat up before glancing at the static filled space that was half the reason she couldn’t sleep through her own adrenaline crash, or rather at the camera screens on the other side of it. “Is it safe to leave, or is our foe on the mend as well?”

“It’s… it should be safe?” She guessed, her face scrunching up as she remembered the ending of their fight. “The Smiling Man, a bit after you passed out his body it… burned away?”

“Burned away?” Booker repeated skeptically.

“Y-yeah, he, like, turned into cinder and ash until his body was just… gone.” She explained, still more than a little confused by it all. “Since we didn’t even get any Sin out of it, I figured it was a magic thing or something and have been watching the cameras to see if he’s still here… but uh, I haven’t actually seen anything, so… I don’t know.”

“I see…” Booker admitted as he began to stare off into space once more before telling her, “Concerning, but ultimately not something we can do anything about at the moment.” as he stood up. “What we can do however is see if we can’t get that elevator working again.”

“Right.” She nodded, not wanting to think about what they’d do if they couldn’t get it working. (There’s got to be stairs or something out of here somewhere…)

Apparently not one to take it slow Booker immediately set off and she found herself rushing to grab her backpack and follow after him. A little less scared of the blood red halls now that she was no longer alone.

The basement tunnels were still as much a maze as before, but Booker apparently found them easy enough to navigate as he moved with purpose and confidence that she knew her own half hunched form was lacking. Or rather he was moving with purpose and confidence until he came to a part of a tunnel that was covered in claw marks, shattered concrete, and bloodstains.

Booker seemed to take all of this in for a moment, before letting his hands drift across some claw marks on the wall that were far too small for the Smiling Man. “Out of curiosity… how much of my fight with the Smiling Man did you see?”

“Um…” She frowned as she tried to remember. “I saw you start fighting him on the cameras and then left the security room… By the time I circled around you seemed to have him on the ropes… didn’t think I’d ever see him run like that.”

“And that would be when you started throwing your fire bottles at him.” Booker nodded as he continued down the hall once more with his remaining hand crossed behind his back. “Thank you for that, and the… distraction when he managed to… deceive me into letting my guard down.”

“It’s no problem.” She told him, unable to meet his eyes as she hid the fact that before seeing the Smiling Man on the run she’d fully intended on abandoning Booker for the safety of escape. (Because I deserve to be here after all…)

Wanting a change of topic she decided to ask Booker, “What was up with the uh, rabbit thing?”

“The… rabbit thing?” Booker repeated, his voice … off, even if she couldn’t figure out how.

“Uh, yeah… I didn’t see it too well with the lights and fire, but until the Smiling Man… got you, you were looking like a white rabbit… man thing.” She tried to explain, because while it was a rabbit she was pretty sure it was a rabbit with fangs. (Maybe he’s the Rabbit of Caerbannog?)

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Ah, that rabbit thing.” Booker grinned, sounding relieved.

(There’s more than one rabbit thing?) She blinked, as Booker seemed to think about how best to answer her.

“I’m sure that you’ve noticed more than a few of our compatriots have certain… animalistic qualities.” Booker began, his already sharp teeth looking even more predatory.

“Yeah, the uh, fangs and claws,” (fur spread across his flesh as he grabbed her by the throat.) “And other things…” She swallowed, pushing that memory back down as she just now realized the similarities between that and what had happened to Booker.

“Quite.” Booker confirmed his teeth returning to normal as he raised his good hand for her to see. “Well, I am capable of… controlling the growth of those qualities.” The tips of Booker’s fingers turned into claws before turning back to normal. “The state you saw me in takes more effort but also grants me far greater abilities in exchange.”

“So… that means you know what’s making people change?” She realized with a touch of excitement. “No one has been able to figure out what is causing it!” She’d always been afraid this place was going to eat away what made her human but (if Booker knows how to control it…)

“Hmm, well the base transformation is caused by…” Booker paused, tilting his head to the side, probably figuring out how best to explain magic to her. “Well, there’s a few ways to cause it, mutation being quite common with exposure to certain… dangerous types of magic. I’ll admit I’m not sure if it’s caused by the ambient magic, the spell circle in the sky, or just natural talent.”

“But… is that something someone can learn?” She asked, not sure whether she wanted to know how to stop the transformation or… cause it.

“Of course, you’ll find with magic on hand virtually anything is possible.” Booker laughed, his mouth opening further than a normal person. Something she wasn’t sure whether it was the Smiling Man’s fault or just a natural part of the man.

Before she could ask another question Booker let out an, “Ah, it seems we’ve reached our destination!”

She glanced at the elevator, unsure whether she should be relieved or disappointed by its presence.

Just like before Booker walked into the elevator completely uncaring for the blood and gore that covered it. (Then again, I guess we did kill the Smiling Man so… this is nothing by comparison.)

Which is why she was able to step into it without her previous worries, and had her eyes open to watch as Booker examined the lock on the lever that controlled the elevator. Though she still pointedly avoided looking at the spike covered handle of the lever.

“Uh, if we need a key I’ve got a couple things we can maybe use.” She told him starting to pull her backpack off as she tried to look at the device holding the lever in place only to frown when she caught sight of it.

Instead of an actual key slot for her to try and work open, there was some kind of empty cylinder hanging off the side, almost as if there was a second lever required to open the first.

Booker tried pushing and pulling the empty cylinder for a moment before letting out a growl of frustration. “We need something to push it down with, that we can then use to pull it out, and slide it to the side. I’d use my magic but there are too many moving parts to manage.”

She looked at the whole thing for a moment before reaching into her backpack and pulling out her flashlight, a heavy duty thing she’d stolen from some hardware store months ago, and shined it down on to try and get a better look at the lock.

“Brilliant!” Booker cheered before she could even flicker it on as he swiped her flashlight and proceeded to stick it into the lock. “The fit is a bit off, but I think with a. Bit. Of. Elbow. Grease. It. Will. Ah-ha!”

The lock snapped open and when it did the elevator lever promptly shot to the otherside without them touching it, causing the whole elevator to shutter as it started to move upwards.

“Ha, well done, my dear!” Booker smiled at her as he pried her flashlight loose.

“Uh, no problem.” She wryly grinned back as she accepted her -now slightly bent metal- flashlight. (How much force would that take? I mean, I could use this thing as a club if I had to!)

Deciding it wasn’t worth thinking about -at least once she confirmed she could still turn it on- she slid the flashlight back into her backpack before noticing the first floor pass them by.

“Uh, where is this taking us?” She frowned, as she tried to remember everything Booker had said before the Smiling Man showed up.

“My guess is the top floor.” Booker answered. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to find the controls for all of that power building in the basement.”

“And we should be able to use that to get out of Ira Invidia, right?” She was willing to stick with Booker even if there were a few more steps after this but (I really want out of this place.)

“We should be able to do a lot with that kind of power.” Booker smiled almost manically. “Escape is but the minimum on that list.”

“Good.” She nodded, forcing herself to ignore the wrongness once more, since she was fairly certain that none of it was directed at her.

Not that that kept her from letting the elevator lapse into silence until it finally began to slow down. When it did come to a stop she found herself looking out into a room far nicer than any she’d seen in this life or the last.

The floor was a clean and soft carpet, the windows had silk curtains framing a balcony that stared out upon the rest of Ira Invidia. Along one wall was a fully stocked bar filled with a number of glasses and bottles, and along another was a fireplace of all things burning away without a care as it warmed the armchair in front of it. Opposite the fireplace was a large bed with bookshelves to either side of it. All of this was done in a mix of red and black tones that somehow blended into something semi-comforting rather than the feelings those colors usually invoked in her.

She couldn’t help but spin as she took all of this in. “This is amazing!”

“Is it?” Booker smirked, before his eyes softened as he made his way towards the fireplace and the portrait that hung above it.

“Booker?” She frowned, as she wandered over to see what had him so enraptured.l

The portrait itself was of a pale woman with white hair and red eyes sitting in a silver suit with black undertones and a red tie. Across her lap lay a golden violin and next to her chair was a tall thin man standing in a red and black suit and a face that looked like someone had started stabbing the painting and didn’t stop until the man’s face was gone.

“Who do you think she was?” She wondered.

“I… don’t know.” Booker admitted as he played with his watch before letting out a bitter chuckle. “Perhaps we’re looking at one of the few people to love the Smiling Man…”

She couldn’t help but grimace at that. “Then we probably don’t want to run into her.”

“Heh, probably not.” Booker agreed, before shaking his head. “Regardless, we came here for a reason beyond basking in opulence and artistry.”

“Right, the control thing… Any idea where that’d be?” She asked, looking around the room.

“Hmm, the ceiling.” Booker answered after a moment as he pointed to the ceiling that would take four of her to touch.

“Oh, just like in the basement.” She realized as she saw the large star filled circle drawn in what she was ninety-percent sure was dried blood.

“Just like in the basement.” Booker confirmed as he moved to stand directly under it. “Now let’s see here…”

The magic user closed his eyes and tilted his head, likely listening for the ‘Spell Song’ he’d mentioned several times before as he moved his hands through the air as if conducting some unseen orchestra. (I kind of wish I could hear it… Maybe… Maybe Booker could show me?)

“And… that… is mildly disappointing.” Booker admitted as he opened his eyes.

“What is?” She frowned, wondering (what’s wrong now?)

“It turns out this spell is even more complicated than I thought, meaning that I can’t actually redirect it for as many means as I thought I could.” Booker told her looking a little frustrated by this in spite of his smile.

“So… all of this was a waste?” She sighed, feeling a little hollowed out because (of course it was…)

Booker shook a finger through the air. “Not quite. As I said, things are only mildly disappointing and our escape is in sight.”

She perked up. “It is?”

“It is.” Booker nodded, before several red lights began to swirl in front of him. “It turns out that the Smiling Man did in fact build a backdoor in and out of this city, and while controlling the destination is unfortunately beyond me I can still open the door he made.”

“So you can get us out of here?” She smiled.

“I can.” Booker smiled as the lights collided into a crimson portal next to him. “Admittedly, I’ve no idea what’s on the other side but…”

“Anywhere is better than this hell hole.” She finished for him.

“That is!” Booker laughed, before looking around the room. “Though if we are going into the unknown we should probably raid the Smiling Man’s abode for anything of value.”

“Y-yeah, right. That’s a good idea.” She agreed, before glancing at the portal and the city skyline behind it. “Is… is the portal one way?” She found herself asking for some reason.

“No, of course not.” Booker scoffed. “Both sides are locked in place allowing the user to come and go as they please, why? Were you thinking of stealing this little apartment for ourselves?”

She glanced at Ira Invidia where he still was running around as if he’d done nothing wrong, before glancing at Booker. The man who casually threw around magic and could transform into something dangerous enough to fight the Smiling Man. (A man who said that power could be learned.)

“No. I’m just thinking of all the things I can do now.” She couldn’t help but smile.