Hours later, the two met with Snaggletooth in the lobby. All doors were unlocked, and the old man still clung to Sangre’s head.
“You did it,” Snaggletooth said. “And Lin? She seems to be in her right mind.”
“Yes,” Lin said. “She cured me. Unintentionally, but I still think it counts. Elisa?”
Kid couldn’t tune out the sounds of the above ground world. She could hear everything: every distant rustling tumbleweed, the thumping of the abattoir’s machinery, the bats and their senseless thoughts, down to the hairs on her neck rising.
“Alright, Sangre,” she said to the head. “It’s time. Cure me.”
He blinked. “Are you sure you want to?”
Kid considered. She could live here forever like this, with such tremendous power. What if she sold a bit of the fungus? Everything she ever wanted could be hers.
She glanced around the room, unable to breathe. Tristan and Bowker were looking at her with fearful eyes. How could she leave her friends now? What’s getting into me? And the spores—if she couldn’t get the cure, she would suffer forever. There was no choice.
“Heal me,” she begged Sangre.
Tears welled in the corner of his eyes. “Then cure me too. I can’t live like this.”
She turned to the old man. This decision had to be made now while she was still able to make it. “Snaggletooth, do you have a pocket knife?”
“Why yes, of course.” He handed it to her, puzzled.
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“Hand me Sangre’s head.”
She explained the situation to him. Then, without further ado, she cut Sangre’s nose and the back of her hand. They exchanged a drop of each other’s blood.
“Thank you…” His eyes rolled up and he died.
While they exchanged blood, Snaggletooth looked away.
The antidote worked—there were no longer any immortals. The yellow light left their skin and Kid began to feel heavy. It was quiet, and her vision felt blurry after such clarity. And the growing bloodlust abated. What’s more, the fungus within her lungs began to die.
“It’s… quiet,” Kid whispered. “My head is clear again.” The fanciful thoughts of riches and power left her.
“So is mine,” Lin said. “It’s over. We did it.”
“I’m sorry for threatening you,” Kid said. She stared at the floor, deeply ashamed. “And—”
They all jumped as the floor lurched. “Mushman must be more than a little early!” Lin shouted. “Let’s get out of here.”
When they got outside, a police car was waiting for them. A bus took the rest of the class. They rode off, and watched as the Axeblade Abattoir exploded. Huge flames trailed into the sky and the heat could be felt for miles.
“No one will misuse it again,” Snaggletooth said. “Good riddance.”
“I feel sorry for the bats,” Kid said.
Lin kept her silence for a moment. Then she muttered. “I’m sorry.”
“What? I can’t hear that well anymore,” Kid said, smiling.
“I’m sorry,” she said, louder this time. She crossed her arms. “For bullying you. For listening to Sangre. For… everything.”
Kid held out her hand. “Apology accepted. Pinky promise it won’t happen again?”
Lin laughed as Kid held out her left hand. “Other hand, please.”
They pinky-promised.
The cop, who had been talking on the radio this whole time, turned around to the back of the car. “I’m going to need one hell of an explanation…”
***
Kid and her class lived happily ever after, although Snaggletooth had to testify in court about what had happened. No one believed him, however, and even with the children on his side, he spent the rest of his short years in a treatment facility.
Kid visited him often. She herself grew up to own a bookstore, and Lin started a Chinese buffet. The rest of the class suffered from severe trauma. But, in time, and with lots of care, it all became nothing more than a bad, hazy memory.
Ms. Renaldo retired, and Bowker became a lawyer. Tristan turned out to be gay, and despite Kid’s crush on him, could never reciprocate. Regardless, the two developed a beautiful friendship that lasts to this day.
THE END.