It's dark, I know that much. All I remember is someone pointing the barrel of a rather large gun in my face. Now, nothing. I struggle for consciousness. I want to see where, if anywhere, they took me. I'm not sure if I'm right, but only humans could live in the middle of the desert, and if they are humans, I've found them. They'll have checked my eyes, even if I was unconscious. They'll know I'm like them, they wouldn't just leave me out there to die, not one of their own kind. I hope they found Kia, she was only sat in a scraggly old bush, she wouldn't be that difficult to find. Very slowly, I begin to remember how I got here.
My parents were among the first people to get their minds invaded by these centipedes. Up until recently, they refused to turn in my mind to a 'soul'. 3 years ago, they had another daughter whose mind invasion they also refused. Roughly 2 months ago, when I turned 14, they decided it was time for my insertion. I refused of course. They spoke about Kia having an insertion too; I was fuming by this point. They'd booked us into a healing facility for insertion, and the night before in the early hours, I packed a few supplies, grabbed Kia up in her blankets and ran.
I don't know how long we ran for, but right out of Tucson and into the desert. We picked up some more supplies at a little store at the base of Piacho Peak and, keeping my eyes on the floor, I made some excuses about going hiking with parents and picking up more food and water. We walked for 9 days until our carefully rationed supplies finally disappeared. It was the tenth day by the time they'd found me.
I fear for my baby sister, I ache to hear her laugh bubbling in the air. My heart feels heavy when I wonder if they didn't find her. She'd be dead by now, from lack of food and water, or becoming food herself. I shove the evil thoughts roughly into the recesses of my mind and chain them there, in a corner where I will never return.
As I feel myself being dragged from the dark abyss of unconsciousness, I regain my senses. I feel a hard, unyielding mattress underneath me, which means they must have taken me in. I feel a pair of tiny, icy cold hands clinging at my right wrist and I know she's here. I breathe a sigh of relief and I hear her gasp.
"Ocean?" whispers Kia, "Can you hear me?"
A deeper, more gravelly voice whispers to her.
"No, Kia, you got to be more present. Really make her know you're there. Like this," he gives my shoulder a small shove, "Ocean, is it? Listen, I know you haven't met me but your sister really wants you to wake up."
My mind relaxes with delirious joy. Kia's here. She's alive and unharmed, by the sound of it. She's being looked after by whoever is with her now. I hear the breath catch in my sister's throat.
"Ocean?" She asks urgently, tapping my wrist "Ocean, wake up please now. Are you waking up now? Please wake up. Please."
Kia sniffs and I feel tears dripping onto my hand. Automatically, my own tears begin to flow down my temples and into my hair. I feel the man lean forward and brush the tear tracks away.
"Doc? Doc, I think she's in pain. Can you bring the-"
The stranger doesn't get to finish talking to whoever Doc is. My eyes fly open and immediately locate my sister. I wrench her from his arms and pull her onto my lap, entwining her in a bone-crushing hug. Kia doesn't care; she just wraps her skinny arms around my neck and sobs into my shoulder. I rest my chin on top of her golden head and squeeze my eyes shut. Relief and familiarity wash over me and I let the tears fall again. Each tiny droplet of salt water leaves trails of residue on my cheeks and drops onto Kia's head. I pull away and hold her at arm's length, assessing her appearance for any damage. Other than a few fading bruises, there isn't a scratch on her and she looks like she's been eating well enough. I envelope her in another hug and plant a kiss on the top of her head. It's then that I realise there are at least two other people in the room. I quickly scan the room and lock on a pair of vividly blue eyes. I have to blink a few times before I realise that they belong to the man who has been looking after Kia. He's more of a boy really, but he looks tall, about my age maybe a little bit older. He has jet black hair that sticks up at the crown of his head. He flashes me a smile that seems to light up the room, and I happily return it. With a new friend and my little sister, I think life might just turn out ok.