Ning stayed by Katie's side, doing nothing but letting her know that he would help her if she needed it.
He didn't really know what to do to begin with. He didn't understand what it was to beco Sparkless. They said many things about the situation, but one had to be in it to know it.
For now, he had the drug dealers to deal with.
"Suicide is not the answer," he said after a long mont of silence. "I don't know what the answer is really, but killing yourself is not it."
"I know," Katie said. "But I still think about it all the ti. I know it's bad, but I can't help myself. Why am I so weak?"
"I don't think you are weak," Ning said. "I think you're strong. You are living, despite everything inside of you telling you to stop doing so. To say no to what you want, one has to be very strong to be able to do that."
Katie said nothing and just sat with her head down.
"Thank you," she said after a while.
Ning smiled. "No worries. I love helping people," he said. "If you ever feel like wanting to end it all, tell yourself you're strong. You can withstand your thoughts."
"I try to," she said. "The drugs were one way to get my thoughts away from it, but I try to." Ning nodded. "If by so chance you still can't, and think you might need to go back to using drugs, just call . I will co and talk to you. I don't know if I'm right, but what I think you really need right now is a friend."
"You'll be my friend?" she asked.
"Of course," Ning said. "Always happy to be anyone's friend."
Katie smiled slightly. That was the first smile she had shown him when not on drugs.
"Thank you," she said. "Not just for this, but also for saving ."
Ning smiled back. "So... will you help out then? With the drug situation?" he asked.
"I don't know how much help I can be," she said. "I'm Sparkless after all."
"Being Sparkless didn't stop you from buying drugs," Ning said. "It didn't stop you from going out and seeking for it. You still can do sothing if you set your mind to it. Will you set your mind to helping here?"
"If that will help you, then okay," she said. "What do I have to do?"
"For now, tell about the drugs. Everything you can tell , from its na to its taste to what feelings you get after consuming it. Then tell about how you heard about it, and how you purchased it and whatnot."
Katie nodded and began explaining.
The drugs were called nothing but Dust. No one knew how it was made or where it ca from, only that it was spread by a certain group of people.
Dust had no outlying flavor, aside from maybe a slightly bitter and sweet taste to it. After consuming, one felt slightly dizzy, making them lie on one side. Then, all they felt were happy. Very happy.
Katie said there was no mont in her life she could rember that was happier than when she did Dust. So hallucinations ca with the Dust, like living dreams, making her feel jubilated.
But most of the ti, when she ca to, she would be lying where she was, so it was only visual and auditory hallucination at best.
Dust had always existed in one way or another. Most people knew about it in the cities, and the only thing they didn't know was where they could get it from.
Katie had been part of a small raid to find a group of Dust distributors in City 7. That was where she had learned what sort of people sold it, and where she needed to look for it to buy
it.
After she had beco Sparkless, she began becoming suicidal, and to distract herself from those thoughts, she sought out people who looked sketchy and asked to buy drugs.
It didn't start well for her, with most people claiming they didn't sell any. But after a long while, soone finally caved in and sold her so small stuff.
She recalled the first experience being a true bliss.
Once she did Dust, it was almost as if people could tell that she did it and were no longer as hesitant to sell it. After that, she went back to the sa people over and over and began getting it without any trouble.
"You get it from the Kids then?" Ning asked.
"Yes," Katie asked. "They were the ones who sold it to first, so they are who I go to."
"None of the older people agreed to sell you any?" he asked.
"There are no old people here," Katie explained. "They get the kids to sell Dust so that when they are caught, the ones behind the operation aren't implicated. They are smart. They won't hand themselves to you so easily."
Ning nodded. "I might have to find so way to get to the older people then," he thought.
The one behind the operation was who he was looking for in the first place. He could go arrest the kids, but that would get him nothing.
He thought for a mont. After so ti, he shook his head. "I have a stupid plan, unfortunately, and I'm not sure if it will work or not."
"What plan?" Katie asked with curiosity in her eyes. She was getting invested in the plan enough to want to know more.
Ning opened his palm and showed her the empty vial of Dust. "Can you get more of this?"
he asked.
"Maybe," Katie said. "I'll have to wait for 2 days so they don't get suspicious, but I can, I think."
"Good," Ning said.
Katie narrowed her eyes. "What are you planning?" she asked.
Ning grinned. "I'd like to keep that a secret for now," he said. "The less people know the
better."
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