Souls Below - Rebellion

Chapter Twenty.

At first, the hallway beyond looked like any other between districts. The once-white walls were now a grimy shade of gray, the lights overhead flickered or lay shattered, and the floor was cracked, buckled in places. Normally, just a few steps in, it would open up to a wide checkpoint area—one where guards sat like vultures, watching us Lowers cross like animals being let through a cage.

Crossing between districts wasn’t easy. You needed a reason—job orders, official transfer requests, or rare personal invitations from someone higher up. Otherwise, you were tossed back like the garbage the Uppers thought we were.

But this hallway didn’t open up. Instead, it kept winding, branching in strange directions, past rooms with wide windows and metal benches. Some had what looked like glass display cases inside—dusty and broken, but intact. Krane, forever the little tech klepto, picked through the debris scattered along the floor, shoving anything remotely valuable into his backpack. His eyes lit up every time he found a piece of tech that still blinked or buzzed.

We tested every door we passed, hoping one might open. The glass separating the rooms from the hallway looked old, but when Krane tried smashing one with a metal chair, it barely rattled. The chair rebounded with a sharp clang, and I jumped. That glass wasn’t just thick—it was like embedded steel. Practically indestructible.

Krane started marking the walls with a rock, scratching a symbol each time we passed a junction. Just in case we got turned around, just in case we had to run. We passed another room and I froze mid-step.

Something tugged at me. A memory—or maybe a dream. The strange garden from my sleep came back in a rush: color, scent, life. My heart clenched.

Born in the Lower City, you didn’t see color unless it was neon on a sign—grays, browns, and black were all we knew. Plants? Animals? That was schoolbook stuff. Stories told by teachers during the hour we were taught to read and write.

I pressed my hand to the glass, breath fogging the window. Behind it… vines, dozens of them, curling and twisting through the room like they were searching for a way out. Flowers bloomed near the floor—soft, pale things I didn’t have words for. Roots split the concrete. The entire room was alive.

Krane swore behind me. I didn’t have to look to know he’d seen it too.

"Krane… is that—?" My voice was barely above a whisper, like saying it too loud might make it vanish. "But… how?" He didn’t answer. Just stared, lips parted, eyes wide and shining with something like disbelief. I looked up and noticed tears in his eyes.

"Krane?" I reached out and brushed his fingers. He startled—then caught my hand in his, gripping it tight enough to make my breath catch.

"Mira, do you realize what this place is?" His voice trembled. I blinked at the greenery again, shaking my head. "It’s the agriculture sector."

I whipped around to stare at him. "But… wasn’t this place sealed off before we were born?"

He nodded. “Yeah. But no one ever said why." His voice held a tone I hadn't heard before.

"It was the sickness," I stated quietly, unsure.

Krane’s face twisted—like that answer wasn’t enough anymore. Like he couldn’t believe it. “Do you see any sickness?” His voice was rising.

I stared at the thriving plants. “I mean… it doesn’t look sick.”

“Not the plants, Mira. The people.”

I looked around the cold, still hallway. Confused. “There are no people here, Krane.”

He laughed sharply, letting my hand go. “Exactly! So how can there be a sickness if no one’s here?” I stepped back, unsettled by the sudden intensity in his voice. He’d always been obsessed with this sector—always wondered why it was locked away. But even this… even he was shaken.

“It’s been a long time,” I replied slowly. “With no food or water, even if people were here, they would’ve… you know. Died.”

“I get that,” he snapped a little too harshly, rubbing a hand through his hair. “But if they’d all died—why aren’t there bodies? If it was some instant, deadly sickness like they told us, shouldn’t there be something? Anything? We’re standing where people lived, Mira. And it’s just—gone.”

He made a kind of grim sense. But I didn’t remember anything past four years ago. And even then, what he said felt like more questions than answers. I opened my mouth to respond when a sharp scuttling noise echoed down the hallway behind me.

I spun, Krane stepping closer, his hand catching my arm instinctively. We both froze, eyes straining in the dim light. Another sound came from up ahead, same scuttling, but quicker. Coming from the direction we were headed which lead deeper into the sector.

We turned together, stepping back toward the glass room—toward the only spot that felt remotely safe. My heart pounded against my ribs, loud enough I could barely hear anything else. Krane shifted, placing himself between me and the sound, like a shield. The quiet that followed was deafening. I reached for the strap of the bag slung over his shoulder, needing something to ground me.

Then, from deep in the darkness, a sound ripped through the silence—a scream. No, not a scream. It was something worse. It sounded like a person, an animal, and a machine—all screaming at once. Twisted. Wrong.

I froze, unable to draw another breath. Something grabbed my arm unexpectedly, yanking me backwards. I screamed, turning—ready to fight—until I met eyes the color of frost. Krane gave a cry as he spun, ready to defend me.

Bright eyes, glowing blue. I gasped. My heart stuttered and kicked back to life all at once. He pulled me behind him, protectiveness blazing in his expression—but it was the terror in his eyes that stopped me cold.

His gaze flicked from me to Krane, jaw clenched. One word tumbled from his mouth. One word that made everything inside me drop.

“Run!”

Unearthly screams chased us through the corridors, the sound twisting through my skull as we ran. My legs burned, lungs heaving with every breath, but fear drove me faster. Calian’s hand was still locked around mine, his grip unyielding as he dragged me down the hall, scanning the walls for Krane’s markings.

I wanted to look back—makers, I wanted to—but I knew if I turned, I’d fall. And whatever was behind us would catch up.

The hallway stretched endlessly until we rounded a corner—and the door to the street came into view, hanging open at the end of the corridor. My heart leapt into my throat as a wave of hope surged through me. But the screeches grew louder, reverberating through the floor, the scraping, scuttling vibrating through the floor and up my spine.

We sprinted for the exit, bursting through it. Calian released my hand and lunged for the P.I.P reader by the door, my foot caught the threshold and I hit the ground hard. My palms tore against the concrete, knees and hip slamming down a second later. I barely registered the sting beneath the pounding of my pulse.

My eyes locked on the door as Krane tried to force it shut, Calian swiping something again and again across the unresponsive reader, muttering curses. Everything narrowed, that awful sound—scuttling claws and screeching metal—pierced the air.

I saw it—a blur of motion on all fours, too fast, too unnatural. Too wrong. My breath caught in my throat as I scrambled backward, adrenaline overtaking reason.

“Krane— !” I cried. His face twisted in effort as he threw his weight against the metal slab. His face twisted in strain. The creature lunged. Just as the door gave a shuddering whine—and slammed shut with a deafening clang.

Krane hit the ground, momentarily stunned, catching himself on his hands, breath ragged. Calian exhaled sharply, leaning against the wall beside the door, his chest heaving, hands braced on his knees. I lay there, sprawled on the pavement, heart hammering so hard it felt like it might break free of my ribs. My mind reeled.

'What the hell just happened?' I thought to myself. Calian looked up. His bright blue eyes finding mine—Something in the absurdity of it all broke through the fear, and a small, breathless laugh escaped me. Calian huffed out one of his own.

“What the f**k was that?” I gasped. Before he could answer, Krane let out a roar and launched himself at Calian, tackling him to the ground, fists flying.

“Krane— !” I shouted, scrambling to my feet and racing over. Before I could intervene, Calian twisted beneath the assault and slammed a punch into Krane’s jaw, using the momentum to throw him off. Krane hit the concrete with a grunt. Calian was on his feet instantly, falling into a defensive stance—hands up, feet braced, knees slightly bent. Trained. Ready.

Krane was back on his feet, already charging again when I threw myself between them.

“Enough!” He skidded to a halt, fury faltering for a breath. A tense moment passed between us before Calian spoke.

“Not exactly the thank you I expected,” he muttered.

I shot him a look, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Seriously?” Krane rounded on him, fury boiling over.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” he shouted. “The entire Capital Guard is tearing the city apart looking for your stupid ass! Half the city’s under curfew because of you. People are being ID’d without warning," Krane looked at me, eyes pained "which puts people I care about in danger, because of you!”

My heart stuttered at his words. Calian’s posture stiffened, hands lowering, tension draining as the weight of Krane’s words hit. Guilt flickered across his face.

Krane didn’t stop. “And you know what makes it worse?” Krane jabbed a finger at him, face red with pure rage. “Because of your little masquerade through the Lower streets, Mira can’t even go home!” I flinched. Calian’s gaze snapped to me.

“What?” he asked, voice tight.

Krane scoffed bitterly, lip curled.. “Like you care. We’re all just Lower scum to you Uppers, right? Filth beneath your f*****g polished boots.” Calian’s eyes didn’t leave mine, and my stomach flipped.

“She was caught out past curfew,” Krane continued. “The Guards spotted her. Demanded ID. Thought she was connected to you.”

“Krane… ” My voice came out quiet. Too quiet.

“She ran,” he spat, face darkening. “She ran, knowing exactly what would happen if they caught her. By the time I found her, she was half-drowned in the filtration plant.” Calian’s eyes darted between us, expression shifting, pieces falling together.

“Krane—!” I said more forcefully, but he wasn’t listening.

“She almost died because those f*****g slugs thought she knew where you were!” I couldn’t meet Calian’s eyes now, couldn’t bear the weight of them. His gaze bore into me.

“That’s why you didn’t come back?” Calian asked softly. The words cut through the noise like a blade. Krane faltered, his confusion replaced his fury for a heartbeat as he turned to me, expression deepening into something darker.

“... What?” he barked in disbelief. I looked at him, heart stuttering, the betrayal already forming in his voice.

“I… I wanted to tell you… ” His expression collapsed into disbelief, stepping back like I’d struck him.

“Wait— you’ve met this Upper?” He pointed at Calian, his voice rising with disbelief. “You knew where he was this whole time?! You f*****g knew? Is that why you ran?”

I turned to him, hands raised in defence. “You know why I ran, Krane. But... yes— he’s the reason I was out late that night." He staggered back a step. My stomach twisted as I quickly continued. "He was hurt. He asked for help. I didn’t want to—I... I knew the risk. But… ” I glanced back at Calian, his eyes were fixed on me, mouth a thin line “… it was my fault he ran at the market. I felt responsible.” Krane’s face twisted, turning away. He ran a hand through his hair and began to pace, anger radiating off him in waves.

“How could you keep this from me?” he asked, voice raw. "How could you lie to me?"

I flinched. “It’s not something I could just… bring up, Krane. What did you want me to say 'Hey, I’m harboring the most wanted Upper in the city’?'”

“He’s an Upper, Mira! He’s the reason you don’t have parents—the reason you don’t remember anything!”

I clenched my fists in frustration. “He would’ve been a kid when that happened, Krane! You can’t hold the sins of the whole damn Upper city against him!” I snapped, voice sharper than I intended. I saw the hurt cross his face at defending Calian.

Krane threw his arms up “But he’s the reason you can’t go home!” Krane yelled. “What do you think Jerard’s going to say? He’s been working nonstop to fix the s**t this Upper has caused!" I closed my mouth, shame curling in my gut. I had no argument for that.

“I didn’t know how to tell you.” I stammered. The look Krane gave me then—anger, betrayal, heartbreak—cut deeper than anything. I’d never seen that look on him before. His chest rose and fell while he stared at me.

“I’ll take you to the tunnel that leads to maintenance,” he hissed suddenly, voice cold. “Go back to the room. I have to tell Jerard what happened.” Panic bloomed in my chest. I looked at Calian, then back to Krane.

“Krane, wait—”

“That was the deal. It was the only way I could see you,” he responded bitterly. “If I don’t tell him and he finds out, the visits stop. And I— ” His voice faltered, jaw clenched. He looked down, voice cracking with emotion. “... I couldn’t deal with that.” My chest ached. He turned to Calian, his eyes burning. “I guess the feeling was one-sided.”

“No, Krane— ” I stepped toward him, but he was already moving, heading to the metal hatch covering the ladder into the tunnels. He threw it open and began to descend, disappearing before I could stop him. Fear twisted in my gut, more painful than any injury.

I turned to Calian, breath catching.

“You can come with me,” I told him, bitterly. “The place I’m in—no one knows about. Or you can leave.” My fists clenched. The silence hung between us, my name falling softly from Calian's mouth. I clenched my jaw. “You Uppers just keep f*****g up my life” I muttered, blinking back the sting in my eyes. Then I turned and climbed down after Krane, heart aching with every step.