Dark City

64.

Tom sipped Alex's sparkling cider at the end of Lillian's toast. He glanced around awkwardly, hoping nobody would try to talk to him while Alex was inside. He felt out of place amongst these strangers in their lavish ensembles, with heavy pearls and helmets of hair. Whenever he accidentally made eye contact, he shot his gaze to some random direction and pretended to be thinking intently.

Lillian Stockton was seated after her toast, but her eyes went blank and she frowned. The soft murmurs on the patio grew softer and then a moan of discomfort rang through the crowd. The standing guests fell to their knees and chairs slid out from under people as many of them vomited and gagged on their champagne. A couple of the guests hadn't had anything to drink and they instantly jumped to their feet. The servers who had brought the champagne looked as puzzled as everyone else. Then all the Christmas lights flickered out and all anyone could see were the tiny tabletop candles glowing in solitude. A cacophony of screams filled Tom's ears, but one bloodcurdling scream coming from inside cut through them all.

Tom chased the sounds upstairs, using the mini-flashlight on his keychain to see where he was going. He discovered the open door to the fencing studio and down the hall the door to the other stairwell slammed.

Tom darted across the hall. In the stairwell he shouted down "Hey!" as he chased his target. He slid down the bannister and corkscrewed around the bend in the stairs again and again until he was nearing the bottom. The door out slammed just before he reached it. He thought the runner had gone through, a reckless assumption , he would realize. For as he was nearing the door, someone grabbed him from behind and slammed his face into it.

"Agh!" Tom grunted as he felt his nose crack. He could taste his own blood running down into his mouth and feel the tip of a gun nudge his skull.

"Looks like you're coming with us," said Liam.

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Music: "exopolitics" muse