Caspian

I clenched my fists in agony, brain morbidly hungover. After the man had disappeared, Harper and I had somehow wobbled back to our beds, yet I couldn’t help but glance down at every ally.

Project Prometheus, the more I thought of that stupid name the more problems popped up. First that secret forum, then the crackpot forum theories, now that man in black… This wasn’t some hypothetical anymore. Caspian was taken, snatched, and this project had to be the reason. Not even Sky could convince me otherwise anymore.

“Woah!” Kat grasped my shoulders, shoving me back as a red bike blew past. “Watch it!”

“Same to you!” The rider yelled back, face contorted into a sneer, right before crashing into a nearby restraint.

The wheels of his bike spun around like frisbees, one bent in half. The handlebars stuck out–jagged pieces of aluminum, the blue paint giving way to the cold soulless metal underneath. I could hear him moan in pain as the people around us gathered around.

“Come on,” I gently pushed Kat along as she went to help. It was him or me, and I have a feeling he doesn’t want our help.

“Y-yeah.” I could turn the other way, no sweat. Not Kat. I could punch that girl in the face and have her tend to my fist. Better to let the nanomachines do their job and have him forget our faces.

“Doesn’t it feel like the whole city is on edge?” I asked Kat.

“I guess…” She said, glancing back. “It’s like everyone’s holding their breath.”

“Well, it is a rainy day.”

“I don’t think that’s it,” Kat said, glancing towards the cloudy sky. “Maybe we're just stressed out from all this Caspian stuff. The silence has been a bit deafening.”

We walked along as the rain started to pour. First one little drop, then a few, before a flood threatened to turn my cute ponytail into a sopping blonde mess. The plants emitted an earthy smell–a bit of flavoring to the outcast sky. There was a magic to Kivo. Even in the midst of the largest megacity ever created, the feel of nature never quite left with Kivo’s dedication to allowing some greenery into the concrete jungle I called home.

Campus felt barren when we finally arrived. Sure it was still eight in the morning, but even then at a school filled with excentrics, some of those eccentricities involved getting to campus at five in the morning day in and day out.

The halls barely had a soul. Professors were nowhere to be seen, just students surrounded with more screens than I could count–carrying techno junk more expensive than my apartment. “Kat, was there a festival this morning we both forgot about? A holiday, anything?”

“Not that I’m aware of.”

“Huh.” If anyone would know, it’d be Kat.

The Radio Tower was equally barren. Even the union, normally bustling with more students than any fire code would allow, had maybe five people max on the first floor.

“Asta look!” Kat pointed towards the square. “Maybe your concert theory was right all along.

Following her finger, I saw a large crowd gathering around the square–more students pouring in by the minute. Only, they didn’t look to be having a particularly great time. No students were laughing, bouncing up and down to get a better view, asking for more info. Just a bunch of low muttering and worried expressions.

“What the hell…” I dragged Kat through the crowd by the wrist. Scattered words came into earshot from the crowd: unthinkable, deadly, horrific, impossible.

Finally, as we broke through the crowd, I froze.

I could feel a tremor shoot up my hands, knees collapsing as Kat did her best to hold me steady. “There’s no way… not here… not now…”

Amidst my watery eyes. The imprint of what lay down was permanently seared into my brain, more permanent than a cattle brand. Blood poured down in the rain, trickling down the concrete steps, passing around my shoes like one last desperate hug.

Caspian’s body lay flat on the ground–a sign staked through his chest. “You should have listened, Caspian. Don’t let anyone follow in your footsteps.”

“CASPIAN!” I shook off Kat, nearly knocking her to the ground, before cascading towards him.

“Hey! Wait for the police–”

“That's my brother!”

None of the bystanders dared to say another word as I caressed his cheek–tears flowing down my eyes. I could feel his cold pale face, his one radiant smile now frozen in a neutral peace. “Why… Who would do such a thing?”

Kat gently embraced my shoulders, not saying a word.

“Why Kat… who would do such a thing?”

“Whoever it is, the police will catch them.” She said, voice soft.

“The police? THE POLICE? HAHAHA funny! They’ve done so much so far! Maybe tomorrow the police will call us up and let us know? Not like they're supposed to prevent this.”

She didn’t say another word, just wrapping her soft sweatshirt around my shoulders. Blueberries, amidst everything that one smell helped prevent red from creeping into every seam of my brain. “Forget it… If the police won't do their job, then it's up to me.”

“Asta…” Kat let her words trail off.

“Don’t Asta me!” Even I could hear the hoarseness of my voice, Kat a watery blur in my eyes. “Am I wrong? Look at him. Anyone with enough power to dump a corpse in the middle of Proto can make the police look like pawns.”

I eyed the crowd. Hidden within, I could swear there was the occasional man with creased eyebrows and eagle eyes–ones pointed right towards me. All this chatter around us, yet not a single word spoken. “Dammit. You’re right Kat. We should leave this to the police.”

“R-really?”

“Yeah…” I let out a great sigh, this newfound wave of steadiness not stopping the tears. I had one chance, one opportunity to look at Caspian’s body before the police took it away for good. I’d just have to let Kat in on it later. “God damn it! Caspian…”

I fell to my knees near his stomach, crying tear after tear–desperate for any piece of evidence I could find.

And that's when I noticed. Where the sign was staked through his chest, not a drop of blood could be seen. Yet the pool of blood spilling from his guts was unmistakable. No one could fake that oozing gushing feeling.

Yet that wasn’t where my eyes focused. Rather, the hastily makeup-covered knife wound on the side of his chest.