18
Genetic Girl
I stifle a scream as I round the corner. I am alone and it is night. A horribly familiar boy stands there. He leans against the wall and smiles when he sees me. My eyes travel from his wavy brown hair to his dark green eyes.
"Hey Maple! How are you? Haven't seen you in a while!" He says. I tense and slowly slip my hand into the pocket of my leather jacket. I rest my fingers on the hilt of my dagger, ready to pull it out at a moment's notice.
"What do you want?" I say, forcing all the venom and hostility into my voice. He laughs and stands up,
"You know what I want." He says with a smile. He is still smiling but all warmth has left it.
"Maple, Maple, Maple…" He says in a condescending tone.
"Ash, Ash, Ash…" I mimic. "You know you can't capture me for the Lab, I'm too stronger faster and smarter than you. I'm not a science experiment! I am a person!" But even as I say that, I feel a flicker of doubt. The smile has disappeared now.
"You know I have to bring you back. If I return empty handed, I will be fed to the Expis." Then and there, I almost feel sorry for him. The Lab took ordinary cats and did horrible experiments on them. They enhanced their senses, enlarged the brain and injected homosapien, avian and canine DNA into it. They honed the qualities of those animals but accidentally put too much human DNA in it so now the Expis can morph.
"Ash, we both have powers, just follow me and stop living in fear of the Lab." I say, my voice escalating.
"The Lab was my home! Maple, no, I can't. They will find me again, I swear." He says. Tears are welling in my eyes.
"Please Ash." I whisper and my voice cracks on his name. The tears spill over and make tracks in the dirt and blood on my cheeks. Ash grimaces as the same memory overwhelms. My eyes make their way from my boots to the scar from the base of his neck to his jawbone. I clench my jaw and ask
"Will you join me? "I ask, he looks up and I see the steel has returned in his eyes.
"No!" he yells then lunges at me. I sidestep him but he has anticipated it. I guess it's the effect of all the fights we have had. He changes his course and I whip the dagger from my jacket. I am too late and he slashes my cheek. I swing my dagger at his head and graze his jawbone. I somersault to the side and the movement splashes the blood all over my face. Ash sees the blood and smirks. Something inside me switches on; this is no longer a fight. Day after day I am running from him. It is tiring but it's me. I scream with rage and in a whirl wind a slash at every part of him I can reach. Exposed skin, unexposed skin, doesn't matter. Then, I have never been reserved with groin shots; I kick him in the place that counts and sprint away. Run, run, run as fast as you can you can't catch me I'm a recombinant life form. I reach an alley and I collapse near a green dumpster. My vision swirls and I look at my leg. Somehow, without me noticing, Ash had given me a huge slash to my thigh.
"No hospital, no hospital, no hospital…" I mutter as my fingers probe the warm, wet blood. When I touch a sensitive are in the wound, spikes of lava go up my leg. I can't stand it no matter what. Just as I'm thinking a hospital might be a good idea, I pass out. Blood, blood, everywhere, screaming, dying people. That chant continues in my head. Blood, blood, everywhere, screaming, dying people. It escalates into a scream and I awake. I bolt straight up and a sharp pain pierces my thigh. I grimace and grasp my thigh. I take in my surroundings. Tongue depressors, crisp sheets, a TV screen. I look down at my body and I see I am dressed in a light blue gown. Who wants to guess where I am? Ding, ding, ding! Correct, you win bragging rights and satisfaction! Yes. I am in a hospital. The most terror inducing place I could be.
Chapter 2
The door opens and I brace myself for something horrible, and in walks a nurse. She looks at my heart rate monitor and frowns. She steps out of the room and enters again with a man in a white coat. They confer for a moment, and then the man directs his gaze on me.
"Excuse me, but I would like you to explain a few things." He says
"Like what? How the world's going to ended? Sorry but I can't help you with that one. I would like to know how I got here though." I say with innocence in my voice. The man flushes and the nurse, standing behind him, covers her mouth with her hand. I look at her name tag and I see the name 'Amber Hathwood'. I think I like that girl.
"We would like to know something a little more personal than that. A man who was passing by the alley saw blood seeping out. He ran in and found you. You were near death but over 24 hours you have recuperated well. Better than any human… " The man says after he has regained his composure he shows me a MRI and clears his throat "this is an MRI of your midsection; we noticed two large sacs underneath your diaphragm. Can you tell us what those are?"
"Yeah, those are my air sacs. They help me breathe. You know…" I say then mumble off. The doctor turns to the nurse and confers with her for a moment. I study my nails while the naïve fools talk. Finally, they turn towards me and the man blinks rapidly.
"Can you also explain why your heart is going 1,000 beats per min instead of the normal 60-80 beats per min? Also the explanation of why your temperature is 50° F instead of the normal range around 98.6° F will be necessary." He says with an air of authority. Get ready to have that authority wiped out of you.
"My heart is fast so it can sustain the activity in my body. My temperature is low so when I run, I don't get over heated." I state with satisfaction. Finally the nurse says something.
"How fast do you run?" she squeaks. Thank you for asking that.
"180 usually, sometimes I hit 200, but I have to be lucky for that." I say nonchalantly. I grin at the shocked expressions on their faces. The doctor, whose name on the tag says 'Dr. Day'. Seriously, like no lie, recovers first and gives me the condescending smile that makes me mad.
"Ok. Can you give us your parent's phone number so we can contact them?" he says with a sickly smile. I play along like the survivor I am.
"Ok! It's 4-ur-411- I-HAVE-NO-PARENTS!" I stage whisper the number and Dr. Day flushes as bright as a tomato. He storms out and I swear the nurse gave me a wink. I fall back onto the bed and sigh. Authority, what is with them? I sigh and nimbly, with hands of practice, unhook the IV. I unattach the things that connect me to the heart rate machine and hop out of bed. I pull my clothing out of the patient's belongings bag and dress. The window in the room is a sufficient size. I unlatch it and push the screen out. I clamber out and dramatically throw a kiss to the room. I know what you're probably thinking What about your leg? Isn't it hurt? Well, it was. I have a high amount of Vitamin C in my system so I heal VERY quickly. I hop to the ground and start running. No Dr. Day, I wasn't kidding. My internal speedometer tells me I'm going 25, 50, 100, 150, 170, 180 miles per hour. I don't break into sweat and I run as fast as I can. I reach the alleyway I was in and I see the cause of all the concern. There are the remnants of blood everywhere. Yeesh. I start running again, dodging the fire hydrants and the occasional druggie on the sidewalk. I slow to a 50 mile per hour walk and smile to myself. I walk into a 24 hour internet cafe´ and settle down at one in the back of the room. I check out my blog and post a post. Just in case you want to know, it's . . I also look up genetic experiments. I see many theory pictures but I don't see an actual person. Shoot, I guess I'm the only one of my kind. I get back on my blog and post a wanted ad. It says "Are you special? Well, contact me and we will rendezvous. I need a complete form of your powers." I hope for some applications. I am getting lonely. I'm a lonely little 11 year old girl. That's me! Love me or hate me, I don't care. No one is smarter, stronger or faster than I am. No one can defeat me. Except for…
Chapter 3
…Ash. I was lying. Ash is as strong, as smarter, but not as fast as me. I don't know his genetic code but I know he is a recombinant life form. Like me. So, I get up and close my laptop. I stuff it back into my bag and walk to an alley. I settle down and get back on my laptop. The internet cafe´ was giving me the chills. I open my email and sort through junk mail. Suddenly I see an email from an annabethunder45 . I read it and it looks like this:
Dear Maple,
My name is not Annabeth Under. That is a cover. My real name is Dasa Style. I am a feline-human genetic experiment. Here is a complete form:
Name: Dasa Style
Age: 10
Gender: Female
Species: Feline-Human
Hair: Long, Brown
Eyes: Black
Height: 5'4
Weight: 78 lbs.
Race: African-American
Run,
Dasa
I reply to the email and tell her to rendezvous with me at the pizza shop on the corner of Berryville Ave.; fortunately she lives close so she said she can meet me there. I sigh and look at the time in the corner of my screen. To live you gotta be bad. It's lunch. I grab a black sweatshirt and shrug it on. I tuck my laptop under a bag of… I'm not going to guess. I walk to a McDonald's, an old town McDonald where you eat then pay. I grab as much food as I can and sit down. I scarf it all down and I get up to gout the door. No one notices. Lunch is a success; thank god no one caught me. My shoulders sag as I think of the fight I had yesterday. I sigh and slip back into my alley way. I 'm about to sit down when someone slips out from behind the dumpster, I jump up and my fingers slide their way into my sweatshirt pocket. I peer at the face in the shadows and I make out a young, not too young, African-American girl.
"Dasa?" I ask cautiously. She takes a step forward and with an admirable hostility and sarcasm she says,
"Noooo, I'm the Easter bunny. Of course I'm Dasa, who else would I be?" I smile and slip my hand out of my pocket. I keep ready though; my next question will determine my relaxation.
"I need to see your proof of being a genetic experiment." I ask nicely. She takes off her trench coat and something falls to the ground behind her. She takes off her winter hat and two triangles appear.
"Lemme guess. The triangles on your head are your ears and the long skinny thing I saw fall is your tail. You are part feline as you said." I say with a sigh. I relax and I pull a picture out of my back pocket.
"Do you recognize anyone in this picture?" I ask. The picture is one I had snagged from Ash's pocket a while ago. It showed a bunch of kids about my age. She took one look and pointed at a tall African-African boy in the back.
"Him." She says with conviction. I grin, my theory has been proved. Each one of these people are ordered to go after and hone the hiding abilities of recombinant life forms. There are boys and girls in the picture so that means that there are boy and girl genetic experiments. Just my luck. Boy genetic experiments. A shadow falls over us and we look at the entrance to the alley. Two boys stand there, one I know personally and the other I just saw in a picture.
"Hey Maple, meet my friend Aaron" Ash says with a smirk. I tap the back of Dasa's hand twice and she gets the message. We turn around and sprint to the end of the alley and into a large, deserted parking lot. We stop and turn back towards them. They have followed us into the parking lot. This is a fight in my area. I reach into my pocket and… Oh god, where's my dagger?! I look at Dasa and she has the same look of fright on her face. The boys also look scared. I tap my foot twice on the ground and we charge. I go towards Ash, while Dasa charges Aaron. I try to grab his head but I am met with a chop to the inside of the elbow. I make a fist and punch his face. I hear the sickening crunch of cartilage breaking. The warm rush of blood envelopes my fist and I pull my hand back. He lifts his head and holds his nose. I look at the blood gushing and he surprises me by grabbing the fist that isn't covered in blood and tripping me. I fall and my fist scraped the ground and is rubbed raw. Blood prickles to the surface and I stare, fascinated, at my fist. Ash takes this moment to tackle me; we go rolling over each other. Fists are flying and eyes are bruised. I jump off when I'm on top and I kick him in the stomach. His breath goes out of him with a huff and I yell for Dasa. She follows me as we run down the alley way.
"Can you run fast?" I ask Dasa.
"Of course, I'm a cat!" she exclaims and smiles.
We start running and soon we arrive in the next town over. We find a restaurant and we wash our faces. It's a single bathroom so I go first. I go to the bathroom then wash my face. The blood and dirt go swirling down the drain. Swirl, Swirl, Swirl…
I am being carried bride-style high up in the air. I am laughing and I heard the gentle thud, thud of his wings. I look up and kiss him on the lips. He slows down and lands in a tall maple tree.
"Just for you." He says and we kiss.
I feel the warmth of his mouth and I melt into him. When we come up for air I murmur,
"I love you Ash."
Chapter 4
I jerk back to reality and I command myself to stay calm. There is a pound on the door.
"Maple, what's taking you so long?!" she shouts through the door.
"Nothing!" I call back hoping there is no quaver in my voice.
I dry my face off and calm myself. I straighten my spine and open the door. Dasa walks in herself and closes the door. I sit on a bench and hold my head in my arms. What just happened? Does this mean I'm going to kiss Ash? I shudder and I stand up, Dasa comes out of the bathroom and we walk out of the restaurant. I have sudden question I didn't think of at the time.
"Dasa?" I ask
"Hmmm?" She answers
"How did recognize the signals I gave you?" I ask.
Dasa's calm expression is replaced with a troubled look.
"I…I don't know. It seemed like they were imprinted somehow…" She says, trailing off.
"That's weird, 'cause those signals… well I didn't know them until the battle started." I tell her.
We walk on, thinking of answers for the looming question. We arrive at a town and we find a comfortable alley way. I gesture to it and we enter together. I sigh and lie down on my jacket that I bundled up. I open up my laptop and log on. I check my email and see one from someone named Colden Lane. He didn't include a "resume´". All he said was to meet him in the town over, at a pizza shop.
"Let's hope the meeting with him doesn't turn out like yours did." I lean over and say to Dasa.
She smiles and leans back. I reply to his email and tell him we'll meet him. I shut my computer and ask Dasa a question,
"How do you think we are going to turn out in the end? We are all the same range of age, 11-9, and we are going to argue."
"How should I know? Everyone calls me a mistake and mistakes can't be people, can they?" she says with a quiver in her voice.
I look over at her and see tears make tracks down her face. I remember that I am the oldest and I give her a hug. I kiss her on the forehead and say goodnight.
"Goodnight." She says back and we fall asleep.
I wake up first and I search my pockets. I find a 10-dollar bill and smile. I walk to the store and buy a jug of juice and some donuts.
"$ 10.50" the cashier says in a bored voice.
Just as I was about to dash a boy behind me slips a fifty-dollar bill into my hand. I look amazed at him, but he shows no emotion. I ask her to change the fifty into tens and pay. I wait at the door for the mysterious boy to thank him, but he had disappeared. I sigh and walk back to Dasa. When I get there, I see she is all stressed out.
"Thank god!" she says when she sees me and hugs me.
I look at her in surprise and she gushes out,
"I thought you were gone. That you had left me or been taken. I thought… I thought you were dead!" she breaks down in tears and I hold her and comfort her.
I had put down the juice and donuts and I pat her back.
"It's ok… it'll be ok…" I murmur.
She calms down and I break open the donuts and juice. We each have a donut and take turns sipping the juice. I tell her about the boy and she creases her eyebrows. Then I show her the money and she is excited again. She is so capricious. I check my laptop to confirm the time we are supposed to meet Colden. I check the time in the corner of the screen and it's in two minutes.
"God! Dasa! Time to go!" I yell and quickly stuff my laptop away.
I grab everything we own and I yank her away. I let go and we race to the Burger King in the town over. I stash our stuff behind a dumpster and we race into the Burger King. I pause when I reach the dining area, realizing that I didn't know what he looked like. A dark figure at a table gestures to us. I tap the floor with my foot and Dasa nods. I told her to be cautious, we start towards the table and when we reach the table he pulls back the hood of his jacket. I take in the black hair, black eyes, tan skin and black clothing.
"M'name is Colden." He says expressionlessly.
He looks at me and there is a flicker in his eyes. I turn to Dasa
"That's him." I whisper in her ear and she knows I don't mean he's the boy from the email.
He's the boy from the supermarket. He's the one who gave me money. He's the one. I step forwards menacingly.
"Who are you?" I growl.
He just grins. This infuriates me; I step forward and punch him. I wait for the feel of splitting skin, but instead there is a pressure around my wrist. I look down and Colden is holding my wrist. Dasa looks at me fearfully and I nod reassurance. I pull my wrist away.
"I gave you the money because you needed it. I didn't know who you were then I just knew I had to help you. My name is Colden Lane. I'm 12." He says, answering my unasked questions.
"Ok first, you're older than me but that doesn't change anything. I do the leading and you don't!" I say with half squinted eyes.
I call Dasa over and ask her opinion.
"Well, he seems kinda sketchy but I trust him." She says quietly.
I sigh, defeated and turn to Colden.
"You're in. Ok! Time to wash, Colden, you use the Men's room and Dasa and I'll use the lady's." I turn to the bathrooms and they follow me.
Dasa goes in first and I wait. She comes out and I go in. I use the toilet and I wash my hands and my face. I refuse to watch the water going down the drain, in fear of having another vision. I dry my hands and face and take a long time underneath the hand dryer. It's so warm! Finally, I leave the bathroom, and as I walk out, I use some string in my pocket to tie up my long, black hair. I take in Dasa and Colden. They are gagged and bound at the wrists. I gasp and take in the captors.
"Ash…" I mutter and he smiles. He is with Aaron and another girl.
"Hi Maple! Say hi to Lisa!" He says mockingly and points a gun at my arm,
"Bye, Bye!" he says and shoots me.
Everything goes hazy and I fall down. The last thing I see Dasa's scared face and Colden trying to protect her. Damn you Ash, damn you to hell.
Chapter 5
I wake up with a throbbing in my head. I look around and I can see Colden and Dasa, unconscious, next to me. I notice we aren't bound anymore, that either means we are being released or something bad is coming. I'm guessing the latter has the most votes. I sit up and look around. All I can see is stone, stone walls, stone cabinet, and stone floor. The only thing that isn't stone is the sink, oven and microwave, looking oddly out of place in the medieval-like room. I stand up and notice three blankets in the corner. I take them and lay them over my group. Then, I look through the cabinet. Uncooked food. Well, one design flaw the scientists overlooked. I can't cook my way out of a paper bag! I start cooking pancakes and eggs. I finish and dish it out on slats of stone (yes, more stone.) Dasa sits up and yawns. Then she rubs her eyes and stands up.
"Get up you fat lard." she says and kicks Colden in the stomach.
He bends inward and is mad. He gets up and tackles Dasa. He laughs and Dasa giggles, then they notice me in the kitchen area. I raise one eyebrow and start scolding them.
"Colden, that is very immature and you could hurt Dasa. Dasa, no kicking Colden it is…" I can't stand it and burst out laughing.
I drop the spatula I was holding and fall on the floor. I laugh my guts out and am crying. I can hear Dasa and Colden laughing. I stop and wipe my eyes. I pick up the spatula and wipe my eyes again, I glance and Dasa and Colden, who are beginning to calm down. I put the spatula down and pick up the pancakes and eggs.
"Breakfast!" I walk over to them and put it on the floor.
The nice people forgot utensils and a table. I decide to be the party-pooper and bring back our situation.
"Colden, Dasa, Do either of you know where we are?" I ask gently.
I can see their internal lights switch off. I notice Colden taking a bite of pancake and wincing. So, I haven't improved in cooking. No one answers so I ask one more question; just because I'm that kind of party-pooper.
"Does the name, The Lab ring a bell?" I study their faces and Dasa's has screwed up tightly.
As if she is trying not to… cry. Crying and comforting the crier is not one of my better subjects. Maybe once, when I had parents, I had cried. Over a scraped knee, or elbow, when I fell off my bike, I cried. I don't remember. I scooch over to Dasa and hug her. I pat her awkwardly on the back and eventually she wraps her arms around me. I smooth her hair back over and over until she calms down. I scooch back to where I was and glance at Colden, he is angry. I can tell, I have been reading emotions and manipulating them to survive since I was 6. I was criminal from 1st grade. He tightens his fist on a pancake and it crumbles. Guess my pancakes were a little dry. Ha.
"Colden." I say quietly and he looks up.
I smile and reach out to squeeze his hand. He accepts it and it has the effect of a hug to a two-year old. He calms down and offers a slight smile. Dasa has been watching us,
"Ooooooh!" She says, with a lovey-dovey expression to match.
I raise one of my eyebrows and laugh. I regain myself and become serious.
"So I guess that means that you do know about The Lab?" It's formed as a question but we all know it's a statement.
I look at them and they nod.
"Expis?" I ask and they nod again, but Dasa shudders this time.
"O.k. Now that we know where we are, we gotta figure out how we leave." I say with authority.
I rise and let them finish eating. I check the door. It's locked. Duh. I check for windows. One. Small and barred. Duh. Can't kidnappers come up with something more original? This is so clichéd, it's not even funny.
"O.k. guys, guess this means we have to wait for them to come get us." I say. "While we wait, Colden, I need to know more about you." He shudders slightly.
He stands up and shakes his hands from the wrist. He bends his knuckles and flicks them out abruptly, long, claw like projection pop out from his first joints. I gape and he smiles.
"They're like my own built in brass knuckles." He says, satisfactorily. He smiles at my expression the looks over at Dasa. She is staring, frozen, at him. She slowly stands up and opens her mouth, at first, nothing comes out. Then, we hear noise.
"Colden, please, can you remove your shirt and show me your back?" she asks in a whisper.
Colden looks at her confused, with, what I think is, a touch of suspicion in his eyes.
"Why would you want to see my back?" He asks and he narrows his eyes a bit.
"Please, just do it." Dasa says in a pained voice.
I start to become concerned with what is happening. Colden agrees to do so and takes off his shirt. I almost gasp. He has an awesome six-pack… but that wasn't what Dasa was talking about. He turns around and I do gasp. From his right shoulder to his left hip, there are five half-inch wide scars, like claws. I double over as a force overwhelms my brain. I feel as though my skull has shrunk bout six sizes. I suddenly realize, through the pain, what is happening… I am Remembering.
Chapter 6
A little girl, about 5 years old, is bouncing on her mother's lap. Her mother has the exact same features, except the girl has a nose and eyes like the man in the room, her father. He gets up from his chair and presses a button on a cassette player. Beautiful, smooth music pours from the apple-sized speakers. The woman laughs and stands up. She holds the little girl's hands and they start to dance to it. The father takes the little girl from her mother and they dance. He smiles a smile that lights up the room and makes everyone happy. His green eyes twinkle as the smile folds the light beard on his face. The girl bounces up and down, only bending her knees. She bounces and bounces and they all laugh. Suddenly a scream pierces the room. It is faint and it sounds like their neighbor. The happy family scene shatters and the father yells something to the mother. She nods and the toddler looks confused. The mother scoops up the little girl and they race to the basement. The house starts to fall apart and the mother is crushed by a falling timber. She tells her daughter to run and the girl starts to cry. She reaches her hand towards the toddler then a chunk of plaster falls and covers her. The little girl wipes tears and smudges them into plaster dusted smudges. She remembers what her mother said and runs to the basement. She sees a lever called emergency and has a memory of her mother instructing her how to use it. She pulls the lever and a door opens nearby. She races through it and comes to a small room. She switches on the lights and a door closes behind her. She can still hear the boom, boom, boom of the house above. She cries out and promptly collapses. She can't explain the pain. It just seems to overwhelm he whole body. Suddenly there is a huge heat and she sees a hand pick her up.
"It's ok, I won't hurt you. You won't remember this soon." A feminine voice croons.
The toddler blacks out, and the woman strokes her head.
"I promise," she chokes out.
Chapter 7
I gasp for air.
"No, no, no, no…"I moan
I see Dasa leaning over me and feel Colden lifting my head up. Dasa is yelling but everything is moving slowly. Her voice is a slow murmur and her face is very blurry. I reach up to her and stoke her cheek.
"M'okay," I say thickly. "I'll be fine, just a little queasy."
She starts to tear up. She can tell I'm lying. I try to sit up but scream slightly and fall back. Red edges my vision and my head gets cloudy. I go limp and pass out.
I wake up, groggy. I rub the crust from my eyes and sit up. I am not in the same room as I was. I jump out of the bed and scan the room. I start to panic. I am in a glass room. As soon as I get out of the bed, it flickers into nothing. I gasp and clutch my chest. I know where I am. I bang my fists against the wall and yell. I see nothing outside of the glass box, but white wall. I start to hyperventilate. I feel wetness around my feet and I look down. I see the water seeping through the floor through some drain and start to cry. I may be brave, but only to a certain extent. My heart pounds and that is all I can hear. Some voice of reason pokes through all the panic and tells me that all glass breaks. I acknowledge it and start to slam my body against the glass. Tin cracks start to appear when the water is at my waist. I slam harder, and more frantically. The water is at my shoulders now and it is restraining my movement. I finally hear a loud crack as the water envelopes my head. I hold my breath then after slamming too much, I get dizzy. I take in a gulp of water and start to choke. I feel as though there is fire flowing through my lungs and throat. I see black and there is a huge crack. I thank lord and black out.
I wake up to a bright light shining in my eyes. I start to kick and scream. I still feel as though I am stuck it the glass. I finally am able to focus on the scenery around me. Well, wouldn't call it scenery. I stare at a ceiling light. I try to sit up but a restraint at my waist holds me back. I turn my head to the side and see Dasa and Colden. They have bruises on their faces and Colden has a cast on his arm. It looks like he tried to protect Dasa while I was out. How sweet. I hear the door open and their eyes fly open. Ha, they were faking it. The quickly shut them again and feign sleep. I follow suit and fake sleep breathing.