Dark Blue Monstropolis

She wasn’t granted one.

She didn’t know that the tunnel immediately dove down into the ground, headed under the river of sludge that lay to the city’s west side. She fell much farther than she had anticipated and, as such, threw her arms out in front of her into the darkness to try to catch herself. Because of the darkness, the ground caught her completely off guard. Her case was the first to hit followed by the knuckles of her other hand. Her arms folded and the caught the case hard in her chest, her right cheek smacking into the ground as she went over her own head.

The momentum she carried from the leap dragged her face across what felt like broken glass for a few seconds. Her feet flew so far over the back of her head, she felt her spine collapse under the weight.

By the time she stopped, she found herself in a slowly bleeding heap on the sloped ground. Every bone in her body seemed to scream her name in vain.

She was about to try to get herself to her feet and assess the damage from the dive when a voice stopped her.

“You could have just walked in, you know. There is no need for the dramatics.”

It was pitch black in the tunnel. She squinted into the darkness from her crumpled state and tried to determine where the voice was coming from. She could not. She didn’t move any further and spoke very slowly. “I hope I didn’t upset anyone.”

“We are used to seeing your kind these days. More and more people seem to be leaving the city. It’s just too oppressive.” The voice was decidedly male and liquid smooth. She felt as though she were drinking his thoughts rather than hearing them. “Why don’t we have a look at you?”

A cold hand touched her forearm. She had no idea he was that close and almost flinched. He helped her gently to her feet.

“Thank you,” she said. It was an awkward moment for her. She wasn’t used to this sort of kindness. At least, not without the other person expecting something in return.

“Not at all. Now, let’s see. Oh dear, but we have taken a rather nasty scrape to our hands haven’t we? Well, that’s easily remedied.” The hand that had grasped her arm found its way to her face with an uncanny ease in the darkness. It gently moved her head to the left as it looked at her right cheek. “And, a rather nasty looking scrape to your face, I see. This one is a little more serious, I fear. But, nothing that we can’t heal. Does it hurt anywhere else?”

“Here.” She moved her hands to her ribcage just below her breasts. The hands were there before she knew it. How did it see that in this darkness? she wondered. The hands were exploratory, but not intrusive like the hands of the goons that searched her as she walked out of her building nearly fourteen hours ago.

“Let me see. Hmm…badly bruised, but not broken, I’d say. Anywhere else?”

“No, thank you. Who are you?”

“Please forgive me. My name is Easton. Most people just call me Easy.”

“Easy. My name is…” She thought of giving him one of her many aliases. Something told her she didn’t have to do that this time. “Ginger,” she finished.

“Ginger. What a beautiful name and it complements you very well. Welcome.” Whoever he was, he was good. She felt right at home. If he asked right now, she probably would have spilled her guts about anything he wanted to know and then some.

“Please, Easy, I can’t see a thing. Can…can you see me?”

“Cover your eyes.”

Without thinking, she closed her eyes. She could see the inside of her eyelids grow from black to a soft glowing red. Somewhere out there a light had come on.

“You can open them now, but slowly.”

She was not ready for what she was when she did so.

What she saw was another pair of eyes looking back at her, but instead of seeing the normal pupils and irises she expected, these were glowing with a soft amber light. It was the perfect amount of light for the darkness. Just enough to shine on his face and reveal his entire body at the same time without blinding her eyes. She gasped.

“Please don’t be alarmed. I won’t hurt you. I’m a seventh generation Tunnel Dweller. I have lived down here in the darkness all my life. In that time, we have almost become our own species. I am the first of our kind to have this trait. I seem to have…evolved.”

She opened her mouth to ask more questions, but he cut her off.

“Why don’t we talk about this where you will be more comfortable?”