Rapture or Bust

[Catche Jagger]

((Alan Melnyk continued from A Protest Against Despair))

Alan sat in the room he’d chosen for himself, still surrounded by darkness, stewing.

After an amount of time he couldn’t exactly be certain of, but which felt like hours, he had decided to sit for just a moment, to rest his legs from the extended pacing about. That had been enough to allow sleep to seep into his mind and body.

He only woke when the announcements sprung to life with the coming of morning.

The frustration and anxiety which briefly arose upon realizing his mistake was quickly pushed aside, though, as he heard what the woman on the speakers had to say.

Crispin had continued to kill, twice more now, bringing the total number of deaths attributed to Alan’s former best friend up to three. Kaine was now among them, but Alan couldn’t bring himself to care much about that one. Kaine had served as the instigator fir that whole stupid fight between Lincoln and Crispin at the start. It seemed entirely plausible that Kaine tried to start shit again, except now Crispin was proven willing to kill and Alan wasn’t there to stop shit from going too far.

He similarly felt little sympathy at the news of Mercy’s death. She’d proven herself to be a psychotic, murderous bitch and having that shit catch up to her was no great loss. Alan even took a bit of smug, albeit petty, satisfaction in the knowledge that Crispin had not been the one to finish that job, further proving how stupid the revenge hunt plan had been.

The last name which was of particular not to Alan was Austin, killed by that Raymond kid he used to hang out with at school, because it cleared up what the hell had happened with Austin so abruptly leaving them.

He’d simply died while he was inside of Alan’s head.

Alan felt tension rise in his back. Pressing his lips into an “o” shape and let out a long breath.

“Fucking… prick.” He muttered.

It was only a short while later and Alan grunted as he rose to his feet and lifted up the pack from beside him. Ximena’s name hadn’t been listed on the announcement, which probably meant she’d survived through the night. He hoped it meant that. Regardless, she wasn’t getting a boost from him any longer, so all Alan could do was prepare for the rescue she’d send and hope it arrived on time.

Peeking out of the door, his eyes were just met with the same dim hallway he’d left behind. Slowly, he stepped back outside and began to make his way back to the stairs.

There was still one more thing to deal with here.

((continued elsewhere…))