The Metropolis Series #2: Quinn Beyond Bounds
17. Irrational Fears

TAKAHIRO KNOCKED WILDLY on Julio’s car door, telling him that we needed to go to the Lethe immediately.

Obviously, that request wasn’t going to get an easy “yes.” Ever since Rachael attacked him in the alleyway, Julio had been really down and disheartened. Rachael didn’t know who he was and was in love with someone else. Going to the very place where all his miseries had started wasn’t the first thing on his to-do list.

Unless he was driving her current boyfriend into it—

Stop it, Quinn. Focus.

“This is important,” Takahiro said. “I think I know where she is—by the Lethe. We have to get to her or—”

Julio peered through the window, letting out a sigh so sharp that it must have felt like poison to his lungs. “Alright. Get in.”

I got into the front seat while Takahiro got into the back. Julio started the engine, and we were now on our way to the deep, dark forest. The last time I had been there, I felt a whole new level of uneasiness. The place looked frighteningly similar to where my nightmares with Cassandra were set; trees twisted up to the sky like rock spires, and whether or not I was imagining it, I swore that I could hear ghostly voices howling in the wind.

“Tell me, Takahiro,” Julio began. “Why do you think this Harumi girl would be by the Lethe?”

“If she’s been drinking Lethe water all this time,” Takahiro said, “chances are that she has grown heavily dependent on it. It’s like an addiction. Quinn mentioned that she’s been missing for two days now, and the river is most likely where she’d go, but two days feels too long for that. I’m afraid that the Lethe has already completely consumed her, ultimately wiping the entirety of her memory.

“But that would just bring her back into the Metropolis, wouldn’t it?” I argued. “She’d be reborn into a new character.”

“But that would be against the Author’s wishes,” Julio added. “If anyone could just jump into the Lethe and return to the Metropolis, everyone would do it.”

“But what about last time?” I stressed. I was about to mention Curtis, but I was afraid that it’d be another trigger word.

“He was already part of the Metropolis,” Julio groaned, bitterness coating his voice. “So he had the right to be reborn.”

“Hold on!” Takahiro leaned forward, peering through the center of the two front seats. “What last time? What happened?”

Julio and I exchanged looks that probably read, so will you tell him? Or will I? Julio conceded to our little staring contest, leaning against the car window as he rubbed his temple.

“There has been a recent case of… corruption in the Metropolis,” he spluttered. “Quinn and I handled it. No big deal. But it doesn’t matter ’cause that timeline was reset, wasn’t it?” He gave me a scowl, but I ignored it.

Takahiro raised his brow, giving me a skeptical look. “Why do I have a feeling that he’s talking about Curtis Stevenson?”

Julio practically jumped in his car seat, guilt washing over his face. “How did you—”

“Ah, my suspicions have been confirmed.”

“Wait,” I interjected. There was something Takahiro had said that alarmed me:

He was already part of the Metropolis, so he had the right to be reborn.

“So if it’s only a member of the Metropolis that can be reborn into a new character…” I felt my throat constrict like my own words were double-edged swords. “What happens to you guys when you jump into the Lethe?”

“Easy,” Julio spat. “Corruption. Then obliteration.”

“Obliteration?”

“It’s like death,” Takahiro shuddered. “We are erased from this world completely.”

“What?” I shrieked.

“It’s true.” Julio nodded grimly. “We may heal from injuries in battle, but for us, getting corrupted is like a death sentence.”

“It’s like catching an incurable disease,” Takahiro added. “Unless the Author spares you, there’s no way to fix it.”

I thought I was going to pass out, but I stopped that from happening by holding on tightly to the car seat, my nails digging deep into its leather covering.

Life was definitely unfair for these people.

“We have to hurry,” Takahiro continued. “If she absorbs too much of that river water, then—”

“We might be too late…” Saying that felt like my own words would choke me. No matter how much Julio and Takahiro talked to me about how possibly shady Harumi (or Yukine) was, I still believed that she—whoever she was—had been a good friend on her own terms.

The idea of her being erased from this world scared me.

The rest of the drive to the Lethe felt like a death parade. Nobody talked as everyone kept their eyes on the road. I had lost track of how long we had been in the car, but seeing how we passed by a few establishments that had closed for the day made it clear that it was dreadfully late.

We got off on the steep incline just a deadly stumble away from the River Lethe, and stepping out there in the open made my entire body freeze. The Lethe was so cold, it stung, as Julio had described, and the three of us were rubbing our arms and palms in an attempt to keep ourselves warm.

“We’re here…” Julio said. He kept a straight face, his eyes glued to the blurry horizon ahead of us. “I hate to say this, but we have to split up.”

Takahiro turned pale. “Split up?”

“You and Quinn. Then myself.”

Julio opened his glove compartment and pulled out two flashlights and whistles. He handed me a flashlight while he gave Takahiro a whistle.

“We’ll each scan the banks of the river,” he said. He turned on his flashlight and wore the whistle around his neck. “I go left, you guys go right. If anything happens, blow the whistle. The sound should startle any monsters you encounter, buying you time. Run back the opposite direction, and I’ll rush to your aid. Understood?”

Yup. This mission was a death sentence. But we nodded.

“Takahiro, I need you to be brave,” Julio said. “You’ve done well for bringing us here; goes to show how smart you’ve become.”

In the dim light, Takahiro’s eyes glistened. He nodded as he kept a firm look on his face. He didn’t say anything.

When Julio turned to me, though, he had a stern look on his face. “And Quinn,” he began, a certain hardness in his voice. He spoke in a hushed tone. “Whatever happened in the alleyway stays there, okay? Do not attempt to talk to those monsters again. You don’t want to get hurt, do you?”

Even though that timeline was reset, I felt my arm sting. The trauma of seeing Curtis as a monster wasn’t undone; it stayed with me for a very long time.

I shook my head. As much as I wanted to replace another option to cure corruption, at that particular moment, I felt hopeless.

“No…” I murmured in response. I stroked the arm that Curtis had injured. “I don’t…”

Julio nodded, taking a few strides into the dense forest. “I’ll see you guys,” he said, and we watched him disappear into the fog.

And Takahiro and I were left alone.

Just a few seconds into our mission, I realized the problems of being paired with up him—we were both scared as hell. I didn’t want to return to this place, and Takahiro didn’t want to fight on the front lines.

The dark just made it even worse.

I turned on the flashlight, dimly illuminating the path ahead of us. I tried not to think bad thoughts as Takahiro and I slowly inched down the banks of the Lethe. My heart was racing; I would finally replace Harumi, but because of the conversations shared at The MacGuffin, I was scared of what I’d discover.

I hope she was okay. If not, I could rewind time. I could control my stupid powers now. It was the comforting thought I held on to in this distressingly dark forest.

After a while, we learned how to distract ourselves, beginning with saying things like, “This place is great, isn’t it?” and “Yeah, really great. Quiet, too.” Then, our conversation transitioned into things like, “So… you tried to talk to one of those monsters?”

I hummed nervously. “Yeah,” I began. I silently cursed at Julio for whispering so loud. What part of hushed tone did he not understand? “When Curtis got corrupted, I tried to talk him out of it. That only got me hurt really badly.”

“Ouch… ” Takahiro winced. “But that’s strange… How did the corruption happen?”

“I dunno…” I responded, which was obviously a lie. That whole incident was a siren-filled ocean that I never wanted to dive into again. “Must be the Metropolis going haywire.”

“I see.”

We remained silent for a while, Takahiro’s feet crushing the dried leaves scattered along the path. A twig then got in his way and met its demise under his foot with a snap!

An extra set of footsteps then crept from behind.

It’s your fault… a voice whispered.

I looked back, shining my flashlight behind us.

Takahiro gasped. “What’s wrong?”

I stared straight down the path once traveled, my heart pounding heavily against my chest. Nothing but silence loomed ahead.

“It’s nothing,” I said. “Got a little paranoid there.”

“Oh, okay,” he stammered.

And we walked on.

It didn’t take long for Takahiro to sense strange things shaking all around us. He flinched as his whole body went stiff.

“Did you hear that?” he asked, sheer panic flooding his voice.

“No…” I shook my head. “What do you—”

Then I heard it: the spine-tingling sound of something rustling in the trees.

We both froze.

Apprehensively, I shone my flashlight around, trying to replace the culprit that made all the noise. Takahiro held on to the whistle, bringing it up to his mouth.

The bush in front of us was shaking.

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