y ask for your money back, which is what I would do, but you"re

I di

. People die. Sometimes by perfectly normal means, somet

time to say I don"

the brew is so thick my desperate splashing only yanks me deeper into the bog. The milky swirl drips down my forehead, hissing against my skin. Masquerade looks down at me and waves. I flip him off with the last of my strength. Th

fore I"m p

my head. The darkness. The sting of broken rocks against my body like burning,

honestly

y makes it worse I"m being passively murdered by a supervil

a great way to go, either.

see darkness. My arms sink below me in the bubbling goo,

ooth and slimy, at the

head from the pressure, but I think o

Masquerade"s grasp. That grin on

he soup clings to my skin and sizzles

t m

ee is t

it stands for. That boy. Someone h

I rub my eyes, filling them with the chemical brine. I suck in a gasp. The air, though acrid, is delicious

y arm. I gasp, and sputter, and wheeze. The squeeze of who I hope is a friend has all the crushing-force of a steel claw on

get her ch

ings of vomit and sludge. "I jus

probably

forehead and neck with chemical grease. "I

waist. I wobble, squirming my toes in my heavy socks. When I cough, blood and sludge comes up. "We need

" I ask, lifting my sleeve to wipe the corner

gether into mush, incomprehensive to the untrained ear. "I practically had to drag Kai. Masquerade

tters in my chest though my eyelids have

t took a dive in... in whatever that is. Who cares about the pictures? You"re going to the do

cifically, is pain. And though the thought of the evidence"s destruction makes my insides hot and jelly, I

eyes open, wiping my dripping face with my sludgy sleeve. The night is still pitch and the st

his gray beanie in unruly feathers. He hasn"t taken off that beanie in weeks. I think he just

er, his green eyes danci

f the group, and also, the short one. Finn is over six feet tall and I"m at least 5"8 or "9. But Ka

. It"s the drowning stuff that gets you, not what you"re drowning in

ll going to

round the house with the guys trailing behind. I touch my toe to my footprints, wobble onto the path I kicked up, and brush sludg

The hoodie goes on, the socks come off. I briefly contemplate taking off my jeans, too, but there"s a breeze and even Mindy, the chillest cashier I know, will ask que

owl hoot and wolf whine sets me on edge, ready

yelp and pull away. "Are

stening against the tar-black of the night sky. Tree branches and roots intertwine above and beneath me. Mos

and heart. And Masquerade tried to pry it

k down, my camera is a balled up hunk of broken plastic. My heart stops. The lens is bash

hes deep in

ed my baby. And

h!" Kai shouts

gut. A supervillain tried to murder me, the mayor is up to

sw

e. And they must"ve had something to do wi

. The forest spin

hakes my shoul

t back. Someone has

way, as I fall, fall, fall into the blackness, I"m

t the ground, my head a swirl of blackness. And the last t

*

s and Fridays. Thanks for reading an