Book 1: Darkness Rising - Chapter 1: Rarely, They Meet
None of their responses did anything to stifle the blossoming burden of fear growling and snarling in the deepest pit of his stomach, threatening to heave its contents over his squeaky-clean shoes, which were freshly scrubbed and double-knotted to keep himself from tripping on his face in their maddening run, fleeing from everything that held any semblance of safety. He felt like a yellow-tipped bird teetering on a telephone pole, seconds away from being fried into a pile of melodramatic dust—and maybe he wasn't exaggeration, because if they were caught, they'd all go to jail. Everyone's hands were dirty and red with something they'd committed tonight, however literal it actually was. His own were busy threading through his pale locks, knuckling and clumping handfuls, smearing sanguine gore like flaky highlights. If pulling out his roots would make him feel any stabler, any calmer, then he would have done it long ago. But now, Gallius could only contend with picking and preening and distracting himself with anything else, other than these monsters.
Chester with his chiming carousel-voice, churning around brightly coloured balloons and cotton candy stalls. It was hoarse and musical all at the same time, revealing a man who killed optimistically. There was a breezy quality to his tone. He was guided by something. Some sort of drive, or perhaps, not. It was hard to tell without looking at him. There was Andromeda, as well. Coolly collected and firmly planted. Brisk in her manner, and seemingly all-knowing. Hers was the most pleasant to hear, even if her indifference sent disagreeable shivers down his spine, crippling his sensitive emotions. Maximilien's voice spoke volumes of his true nature—calculated and eccentric, spontaneous and devoid of verity. It was he who Gallius sidled away from, as he hunkered over corpses, painting pictures he did not want to see. Murtagh's fevered words, tumbling out like furious maracas, felt as if he were throwing wet blankets across them. Insistent and uncomfortable. All of them put together formed something entirely different. Not quite a family. Not quite strangers, either.
Monsters. That's what they were. That's what he was. Butchering guardsmen (he hadn't really meant to, but there were fine lines between putting someone to sleep and swelling their brains to disproportionate levels) only to reach an impasse. An old, chemical-scented closet with useless cardboard boxes and stacks of unwanted furniture. Gallius fidgeted in his corner, strenuously avoiding Andromeda's withering gaze. He could see the outline of her small face sweeping in his direction, accompanied by her steady, dispassionate riposte. If he were a small crustacean, he would've scurried away long ago. But, like a barnacle or a clam, Gallius was rooted in place, slightly trembling and folding in on himself. He felt like he was becoming smaller and smaller. Mouth promptly clamped, whittling itself into another small noise that barely sifted out from his lips. This was a mistake, he'd agree. Murtagh seemed to understand the dangers most of all, crouching low in the opposite corner and repeatedly mumbling something about dying.
Gallius did not fear death. He feared ridiculous things. He was afraid of getting into trouble. He was afraid of being alone, as well as being in the same room as people. He was afraid of saying something stupid. He was afraid of physical contact, of looking people in the face, of being coined incompetent. Bullets penetrating the fleshy lobes of his skull would have been a calming retreat—far out of his control, and at least he wouldn't have to make any burdensome decisions. Leadership did not sit on his shoulders, but simply slipped off like an ill-fitting dress. He wet his dry lips, and tried to swallow past the cottony lump in his throat. Maximilien was rambling about designs and feeling the architecture of the building and artistry and scoffing about a certain blandness that flew straight over his head. Gallius creaked in his general direction, wooden and stiff. He lowered his voice to a hoarse-whisper when he said, “Get us out of here, then.”
It was Andromeda's unhurried words that caught his attention, announcing that they'd have guests very soon. There were men headed in their direction. He strained his ears like a dog trying to figure out where the sounds were coming from. But, his abilities were trained for the unconscious. For rendering people unconscious, drooling and very brain-dead. Gallius didn't scramble over to the boxes like Murtagh had, because he'd never needed weapons before. His bare hands were dangerous enough. He held them aloft as the footsteps drew nearer, accompanied by brief spurts of boisterous laughter. Something about panties and stupid whore. Something else about pills. The timbre of their voices were shriveled and ugly; monstrous, even. Gallius braced himself against the wall, closer to Cheshire and on the other side of the door. It was only when the door swung open, stupidly kicked inwards, revealing three guardsmen, that Gallius budged from his hiding place, slamming into the nearest man. Sharp pain blossomed in the back of his head—batons, of course. His death-grip on the guardsman's collar forced them both to the group, where he fumbled his palm across the man's face, in the midst of a chortled shout.
No time for that, though. Blood leaked from the guard's ears in thin rivulets, tainting his red-rimmed eyes. Gallius desperately released his grip and covered his head to keep the blows from rattling his head like a drum.