Rush

Kage never ran as fast in his life.

Seconds passed in the instant he checked his phone observing the endless stream of missed calls from the orange-haired boy. Only a brief worry over Sophie's lying body remained while he jumped from the second-floor window, taking to the gate for him to be steadily on his way to the subway station. From there the only logical place could be Daniel's residence.

Kage needed to find him quickly but was conscious enough to leave a timer to awaken Sophie after an hour of rest. Meanwhile, he sifted through the messages from the boy.

With each minute came a new phone call to hear. Kage listened to more and more of Daniel's messages resulting in his judgment of the situation becoming negatively skewed into a dreary depressing idea. These calls were filled with sobbing, manic screams, as well as a guttering refusal to someone no longer among the living. It was in all sense a mental breakdown unlike any he had observed inside the facility with William.

A single comment in the wreckage of these tearful apologies to figments unknown stood out to Kage. Daniel was near his home, what he did once he arrived sent a jolt through Kage's body as flashes of the boy's wrists dangled ahead of his steps. The amount at which he had tried calling Daniel's phone only to be met by the automated voice mail, a feature Kage knew Daniel never learned how to operate, filled up the entirety of his call history.

This moment sprung at Kage like a leper, pitiful yet contagious. Chills etched his being as a fera ate his heart alive. Scraping like a scalpel searching for the spot where the most harm could be procured. All of it served to heighten his senses to a level where any man's mind would break. However, Kage was not an average man.

Never would he be and never had he been one.

Weakness was a thing of the past. He had control now.

Their peace would not be disturbed. Nothing had happened.

'This is a simple exaggeration from him. I just need to talk to him.' Then another diabolical thought rushed at him full on that drowned the rest off course for a matter of milliseconds. 'Did Sam reject him?'

'Anything but t-the the the the the ht eht ht te eh' Kage stopped where he landed his right foot, the streams of God's tears flying across him. Suddenly, he thrust his right hand on his heart while his back dropped to the surface of a brick building. The heart was thumping in a greater propensity than he had experienced before, his breaths leapt out with no ability to seek them again, next his vision blurred as the spell of rain overtook him.

There, not far from his face, the waves of water exploded with violent claps as the sound no longer washed over his senses. Kage discovered he had been left into a muted world whose only gift was the beat of his heart.

'THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!'

Glistened tears served in a single bout of fear conjoined with the rain leaving Kage none the wiser to their descent. Further down he now sat on the concrete of a sidewalk holding in the urge to burst as the loud drum of his heart searched for respite. His body fought against him while his mind frantically overturned any cabinet it could to combat this illness.

So, he laid there, beside the sea of carnivorous beings that stole all which crumbled in its might. The lone choked gasps of a child became choked by thunderous noise that played from the sea. He would reside in this abode forever, a fitting punishment for the pain caused in his wake.

Or so, it would have been.

The boy's eyes shot open; blood bulging lines strewn over the sclera. There would not be a calm end to him, however.

A gloved hand twitched without control as it clasped the other easing away the trembles. Finally, Kage took in air then breathed it out suffering only the sound of his trachea vibrating. His heart quaked in pain but slowed to a mellowed tempo.

'Thump… Thump… Thump… Thump…'

Ceasing his twitch to touch on Daniel's icon once again, Kage switched toward Lisa's and dialed but fell on deaf ears as she did not respond. Face turning a ghostly white, Kage made to keep himself under control remembering Lisa's frequent use of her mobile. She constantly refrained from parting from its surface which ultimately drained its battery throughout the day.

'It's just dead. That's it.'

Next, his finger found Gan but only hovered. It was Valentine's Day after all, the day where lovers hung close to the comfort of their significant other. But more importantly, the day where Claire would be awash in his comfort…

"…" Contempt clung to each resting note in Kage's sharp breath, steaming from the gaps between his teeth. Expression scrunched into a nasally venom, he turned to the one he trusted the least.

Jacob…

Kage palmed the idea before he joined with an onset of bustling arrivals in the latest subway car. Its destination played out over the mumbled grumblings from its passengers, "Next stop, Celtic Station." The trip would take ten minutes, forcing Kage to rethink murdering the occupants who crowded him with their filthy bodies. Even the women with children should be ashamed for bringing them within his now sickened stare that deliberated on the question of Jacob.

Could he even be considered "one of them". Although never demonstrated to the rest, Kage remained vigilant on this person's movements. Lazy and self-serving since the beginning with the only connection being Isaiah leading to their eventual meeting as well. The boy is little more than a drifter stuck to the focal point of his long-term friend coincidentally bringing him closer to their tight-knit group.

Despite his opinion, surely Jacob could do a simple favor for him.

Sticking that resolve to the forefront, Kage made the call.

"I Prance Through The Devil's Valley of DEATH!!!!!"

He recoiled away from the speaker on the device, subsequently lowering the volume to a simple whisper where the metal rock music could continue to play without annoying the occupants of the car. Their gazes burning into his neck as he seethed from the embarrassment.

'When I see him-'

There was a sudden jolt lifting them off from the platform along the rails toward the lower district. The passengers were used to this abrupt end to the day. Seasoned veterans lackadaisically held onto one of the many metal bars protruding from the floor. They were all scratched or bent at a 70-degree angle causing some bodies to slide against each other, scornful grimaces shot to the recipients.

Then there was just the filth. A secluded corner gave birth to a huddled quartet injecting a purple fluid from a dirtied syringe into their bloodstream. The drug had been around for quite some time making its way among the majority of the impoverished class even to some high society gentlepersons.

Named after its color as well as dense fluid form, Purple Slick, infected the mind to a dull rhythm in which desires increased while inhibitions lowered to slumbering levels. Commonly taken before heists or fights, its presence signaled some wrongdoing about to take place.

Kage kept an eye on the four, awaiting any danger they may cause to the corpses on this train. Even with their droopy gaze and imaginary piano playing, there was an even worse set of individuals at the very back. A spot with considerable space that Kage reckoned could fit another ten to twenty if they crammed together like the rest. But there was where the fools resided.

Putrid stink wafted from yonder as the train rocked back and forth creating a gust of wind blasting its stench throughout the cars. Homeless individuals who simply gave up sat in their defecation while newspapers were used as padding for their beds. Worthless things that lost the rage to fight. They no longer saw themselves as human but drifting souls looking for some relief. Possibly food if they ever caught the attention of a sympathetic woman.

Reasons stacked for Kage's affirmation to never hop aboard one of these trains again in his lifetime. Truly a destitute place.

"Hyello?" A groggily exhausted voice sprung from the speaker alerting Kage.

"Listen, you need to head out and check up on my apartment. Make sure to find Lisa."

"Wai-

"You can bypass the guard at the door by hopping up the dumpsters near the fire escape and climbing to the seventh floor. Just peek in the window to see if everything is fine."

"I don't get it, why can't you just ca-

Furiously playing with a strand of hair Kage barked at Jacob, "I tried calling before doing the same with you. She fucking uses her phone until it's dead every day." A wheeze more akin to a mutter occurred under his breath, "goddamn it."

"Listen man, I'm kinda busy here. How abo-

"Uaaagh!" Audible groaning could be heard in the background on Jacob's end. Blood rose to Kage's temple as his options for limiting this anger lessened to a few in number. His teeth crunched gravely hard against each other that he swore he heard the cracking of his molars.

That was not his groan. It hadn't even been a groan and Jacob understood in the brief period where Kage's voice was unheard, that he grasped the context immediately. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE AND FIND LISA!" His scream resounded off the walls to the train making sure to provoke a reaction from everyone inside. Scared stares and those close attempted to shuffle out of his sight. As his gaze surveyed the crowd, some even avoided it instead seeking comfort in the floor or ceiling.

Not another word needed to be spoken to Jacob as he ended the call coincidentally coinciding with the slide of the car's doors. Kage jumped from the subway car onto a new platform now in the lower district of society. His slitted vision foretold the worry now made manifest.