~Generation X~ Chapter Two

The warm water splashed over my body and hair, melting my tense muscles into the bath. All my worries vanished with the incense burning on the vanity. I washed my hair, feeling the dirt sink down to where I could not see. I sank lower, submerging my lips into the steaming bath, closing my eyes.

Suddenly I was pulled into a dream, spiraling down a deep chasm. Guns went off, their lights blinding my eyes to fire. A sharp pain in my ribs and I was on the black ground, still shielding my eyes.

‘Nothing will prevail over us, The Legends.’

A loud deep voice rang over the din of gunfire and flares. I tried to move, but my legs had become numb. Spitting water from my mouth, it only vanished into the heat below. I could not breathe, choking on air. My lungs wouldn’t take the smoky wisps of gunpowder, my lips dried with every attempt.

Jerking awake, I screamed. Water sloshed over the sides of the tub, my feet hitting the edge which rang like a church bell. My head hit off the spout as my hands gripped the sides for support. I started to gasp for the fresh vanilla air, hearing myself scream.

Bursting open, the bathroom door hit the wall behind, vibrating on its hinges. Nathan charges in with a kitchen knife, ripping down the curtain surrounding the tub. I try to cover myself up, but he had already seen.

Seen me naked.

He turns sharply around, clearing his throat. ‘Sorry, you had woken me up.’ he cleared his throat again, scratching his head. ‘You...alright?’ he looks to the floor, a wet mess of soapy water.

‘Slipped under, fell asleep.’ I choke. I can see his face in the vanity mirror, blushing.

‘Right.’ then he leaves, closing the door gently behind him. I sigh, wiping my face with a cloth hanging beside the tub. I climb from the tub, feebly making my way to the shower where I know my hairbrush is. Most of the bath water is on the floor, so I throw an armful of towels over the mess, moping it with my feet as I comb my hair. Morsel

After pulling a robe around me and tying my hair into a towel, I look to the vanity. I am pale as the moon, either from he scare of Nate or the dream. I pinch my cheeks for color, but none comes.

‘What will I do with you?’ I ask my reflection. It winks at me. Gasping, I stumble backwards, my eyes closed for seconds. When I open them, I only see my robed torso. I move closer, and it me again. I blink, and my reflection does the same.

Right. Marissa...your tired. I tell myself while I open the door connecting my bedroom and bathroom. The moonlight makes my floor a ghost, my books as its chains. I throw my robe off, grabbing my black tank and jeans. Letting my hair fall over my shoulders, it is of no use to battle with it while it is wet. The hair touches my hips, sitting in wet clumps like dread locks.

Nathan is sitting in the kitchen, reading a book about some cult in Italy. ‘Sorry bout that.’ he mumbles, not daring to look from the pages of the book. Which is upside down. I ognore him, continuing to make a late dinner. It is only ten o’clock, but I digress. ‘Were having steak.’ I state, not caring if he hates it.

I rip a bite off my steak as an animal would. Nathan stares at his plate, pushing potatoes and corn onto his meat. The night has fallen quickly, the moon glaring at us from high in the sky. The garden lights have come on, recharged by the sun during daylight. The lights made the flowers appear to have pulsing veins. Im reading fathers favorite book again, remembering how he would make facts a fun part. Instead of life pleading boring.

‘Marissa,’ Nate puts his fork down, leaving his plate of food. He has hardly eaten a morsel. I don’t take my eyes from the book, re-reading the same paragraph.

...He was powerfully corrupt...

‘We have to get Michelle back.’

...he cared for nobody but himself...

‘I know you care for her.’ he gets louder

...making enemies was a goal of his, a passion that never lost its spark.

‘Because of your condition-’

‘-What?’ I yell, standing up. ‘I have no "condition". Oh, right,’ I pause to take a breath to steady myself, ‘Mental condition right? Must have for helping you!’

Slamming the book closed, dust spiraled from its cover. Nathan had also stood up. ‘Marissa, you know what I mean..’ he says calmly. Almost to soothe. I find I fear what I already know. Nathan comes around the table, eyes smouldering beneath think lashes. ‘Your...unique talents.’ was all he said.

‘Strength? Reflexes? How are those unique?’ I ask, getting defensive.

‘Your not human?’ he almost cringed after saying it. He posed it as a question. He wanted to be wrong. But I couldn’t lie, he was right. I had never been human.

‘Do you know you are? You could be an X for all we know!’ I strike moving to the back door. A few books lay on the floor, I make it a duty to pick up, piling them in the cabinet.

‘The X group living in the Compound have a file room to themselves. Your file is there. I know. But because your X, you saved Michelle and I.’

I don’t look from the cabinet glass. ‘So? What of this file room?’ I had saved them. But only an accident. The Legend had taken me slave to improve my state of psychological mind. I had seen two kids cramped beside me in the sort of glass and rubber jail they had thrown us in. A small girl, of about five was meditating in a corner. An older boy I didn’t know was Nathan at the time was sleeping beside her.

‘It has all the Generation X subjects and gene map outs. All from pont of origin. That is what the Legends want.’

‘They took Michelle...why? Is she an X child?’ it would explain why she was in the Legend holding facility.

‘No. She categorized the files. Took a look through yours. She said there was something special about you, but she never said.’ he narrowed his eyes, waiting for my reaction.

‘I see.’ I gulp, wetting a dish rag to clean the counter of steak sauce. So Michelle knows. But for how long? If she knew before I saved her, then the Legend might know. But maybe she found out after, wanting to look into me because the way I saved them...was unconventional.

‘That would be the reason.’ I say out loud. Nathan grabsmy wrist, other hand on my arm to shake me. ‘What reason?’

‘Michelle has read my file. Which means she knows certain things about my history that is quite different from others. Other X Generations. Im deformed, mutated in some way. And she knows how, why, and that I could be a threat to the Legends. A secret they need.’ I move from under his grip. He lets me go in utter shock. Frozen. I walk into the library, checking the front door is locked. ‘Nathan, we leave tomorrow at dawn. Get to sleep.’ im already down the hall, closing my door, swiftly blocking the yellow kitchen light.

A loud knocking wakes me, startles me from sweet dreams of my parents. I take my knife from under the pillow and im in the hallway, listening. It sounds again, louder and mor urgent. I check the bathroom and its moonlit filled corners. I couldn’t have been asleep for more then a few hours. Nothing in the bathroom.

I turn and see Nathan look up at me from the couch, pointing to the door from beneath his covers. I cant get to him, the library is on the other side of the kitchen, which was in full view from the front hallway and door. If I crossed, I would be seen by whoever was banging. Nate shook his head, reading my face in the dim lamplight of the kitchen. For how little he has known me, he can guess what I’m thinking easily enough.

I leap into the kitchen light, knife pointing to the front door. I stood there my legs bent, blade cutting steady in the air. Someone behind the door pushed his face against the pane.

‘Compound guard, open up!’

Nathan and I changed expressions. Why would the compound send a guard, even this late at night? I didn’t unlatch the door, ‘Name, status, reason for raid! Now soldier!’ I shout, advancing slowly down the hallway, losing sight of Nate in the library. The guard replied swiftly.

‘Sergeant James Conway, level one clearance, orders to bring Generation X compliant!’ he boomed, my ears ringing.

‘They sent a level one?’ I ask myself. ‘Why?!’ I yell at the door.

‘Top orders Miss. Now stop the jabber and open up.’

‘Little pig, little pig...’ I whisper, hearing Nate try to stifle a laugh. After I open the door with a click, the guards trample in, training guns on me. ‘You. Are you,’ he checks a clipboard, ‘X, Marissa?’ he raises an eyebrow towards me, looking over the top of the metal clipboard.

‘Yes. I am the compliant.’

‘You never checked in after the escape from the Legends.’

‘I had my reasons. What of it?’

He grabs my arm, shouting to his brigade to retrieve all documents, letters, books and computer files.

‘I don’t own electronics.’ I hiss, hoping beyond all hope they wouldn’t look in my parents chambers on the top floors. I had disguised the door, which looked like there was only a bathroom and guestroom in the upstairs hallway.

‘Don’t forget the boy.’ he looks at his chart once more. ‘And a small girl. Michelle XX.’

I spat on his shirt, tucking my knife deeper into my bra. ‘Hope the Legend gets you.’

He shoves me in an armored jeep. ‘Not if we feed you to them.’ he chuckles, closing the door so I sit in complete darkness.