Page 132 of Misted

This one has patched up walls that didn’t see paint in decades. It looks like an abandoned warehouse more than anything.

My gaze strays around the bushes and the old factories in the distance. Rusty metal machines lie between tall grass. Humidity permeates the air and a few crows chirp in the distance. It’s like a scene from a dystopian film.

I stash a knife in my waist, retrieve my gun, make sure it’s loaded and then head out of the car.

Branches and pebbles crunch under my feet as I make my way to the house. I keep a watch on my sides, expecting a dystopian being to jump me. There’s this eerie feeling that’s been gripping me by the gut since I arrived here and it won’t go away.

I stop near the side of the house, searching for a window. However, a door sitting ajar invites me in. I push it with the barrel of the gun.

A loud squeak fills the air. I pause, raise my weapon and focus on my surroundings. At moments like these, I prefer that my body was pumped with Omega so I’d have sharper senses.

When nothing makes a move, I take a deep breath and tiptoe inside, pointing my gun ahead.

It’s a complete abandoned warehouse. Light slips through cracked windows to lighten a few rusty, old machines. The smell of metal and humidity lingers in the air.

A whimper comes from between the machines. I run towards the sound, my gun still pointed ahead.

When I find the source of the whimpering, my eyes widen.

Sarah is huddled between two machines, handcuffed to a metal bar. Silver duct tape covers her mouth. Dried tears and mascara stream down her cheeks. She appears half-dead; too thin and bony as if she didn’t eat in days.

A rusty rod from the machine is lodged in her side. Blood drips out of her wound slowly, too slowly. From the pool underneath her, it seems she’s been like this for hours if not days.

I fall to my knees in front of her. Damn. Damn!!

“Sarah!” I slap her face and rip off the duct tape. “Sarah, wake up!”

Her eyes crack open, and they widen when she sees me. “M-Mist…?”

“Yeah, honey. It’s me. I need you to stay strong, okay?” I do my best to hide my emotions and remain as the rock she always saw me as.

“S-she… Jessie… she…”

“I’ll get you out of here.” I clutch the rod but stop myself from pulling it out. Even though it’s rusty, it’s keeping her from bleeding out. I retrieve my gun and opt to shoot her handcuff. “Don’t move, Sarah. Okay?”

“M-Mist… she… has… she— ”

A gunshot hisses past my head. I fall on my rear in the pool of blood as Sarah’s head snaps back against the wall and her vacant brown eyes stare at nowhere.

“Loud bitch.”

I whirl around, and all air knocks out of my lungs when I see the one who has been ruining my life for fifteen years.

“Molly?”