Time’s Up
You don’t remember when you left, and you don’t remember how, but your body moves of its own accord when it darts out of Nesmith’s house and into the nearby foliage. It all happens so quickly that the realization of where you are doesn’t catch up until you’re hidden.
With fluid movements, you don’t stop swimming until you’re sure you’re far from Nesmith’s house. The flow of water has changed, which means the siphon has started up. Your heart races, urging you to find a way out of this mess. When you hear your “friends” calling your name, it disturbs you to hear how mirthful they sound.
“Aren’t you happy here?” shouts Farron in the distance. “I thought you loved this place!”
Nesmith joins in on the torment. “Yeah, I thought that we were best buds! Wouldn’t it be fun to be this way forever?”
You want so badly to deny his opinion to his face. Only an idiot would want to give up their human mind to live forever as a fish!
“Didn’t I warn you not to think too loudly?”
Kieran’s sudden appearance forces you out of the plants and leaves you exposed in the open water. Like a bullet, Kieran whips his tail and shoots his body back towards you. He turns around, opens his pincer wide, and--
“Swim away!” Gart, along with a group of other small crustaceans, begins to pinch and bite Kieran’s skin.
The blue crayfish lets out a piercing shriek as he’s bombarded with pain, unaware that his exoskeleton needed much more time to harden. “Y-you!” Kieran manages. “I should’ve killed you... when I had the chance…” Kieran frees himself from many of the attackers by flicking his tail and thrashing around. “You’re ruining everything!”
In the distance, there is a variety of fish and crustaceans lined up like school children. Behind you, moving at a snail’s pace, is the siphon.
Gart juggles instructing you and instructing his allies. “Get out of here! This is your chance to leave!”
“I’m not going without you!” You glance at the siphon, and see that there are only a few animals left standing in its path. One by one, they swim into the plastic vacuum, making sure that there is ample space between each individual. The pressure becomes too overwhelming for you to make a decision on your own. “I--”
“My real name is Emily Taggart! Remember it when you leave the mansion!” Gart successfully lands on Kieran’s face. “NOW GO!” When Gart begins to nibble Kieran’s eye, the larger creature releases a sound you will never forget, no matter how hard you try.
Time has run out. There are no other creatures in line. With all the erratic tossing, it’s hard to tell who is winning the battle.
You propel yourself at the siphon’s mouth at the fastest speed your adrenaline can muster. Right before you are drawn in, you see Gart caught in Kieran’s claw.
The following instants are a blur. You can’t see anything through the plastic tubing, but it feels like a high speed roller coaster ride. In seconds, you splash into the sink and swirl down its drain. Amid the chaos, you wonder if you made the right choices.
Written by iAteTheRamen on 20 June 2019
The end (for now)