Terra sat crouched between a tree and hedges. The blood continued to pound through her head. She attempted to ignore the pain in her side from where one of the four Civilian Mutant Correctionist (CmCs) leaders had shot her.
I can't pass out yet she thought to herself, once I get
to the school then I can. They will
find me. At least I hope they will. Terra took a deep breath and dashed out from
under her hiding place. Just a
little bit further and you'll be fine.
"There she is! Girl you stop! We just want to help you. We were just trying to remove the strangeness from you!"
Terra continued to run as fast as she could. Running on silence feet she ducked into another set of hedges near the gates. The unnatural silence was eerie but that was no longer important to her. Soon she saw the wall that surrounded the slumbering school. Panting she paused to see if she was still being followed. The Four members of CmCs ran past Terra's new hiding place near the gates to the school. Terra did not move until she could no longer sense the four assassins.
Finding out you're a mutant when your father tells you is frightening. Terra could still hear the conversation playing in her head that had happen almost two weeks ago.
"Terranay, you and I must talk."
Terra looked up from the comic book she was reading.
"Come into my office please, Terranay."
"Yes sir." Terra smiled as she followed her father down the hall into his office. Once inside the office David Wiless motioned for his daughter to sit down in the chair in front of his large mahogany desk.
"You don't approve of the fact that I was voted the president of the CmCs?"
Terra looked at her father for a moment, fear rising in her mind. "No sir not really." She shook her head thinking that fear was an uncalled for reaction. "It was your choice. You told me I was free to join. It just doesn't seem right to me to treat other people differently for something they have no control over."
"Yes. I remember that talk you and I had. Now to the real reason I wanted to talk with you. The CmCs think I am going to be just another voice with no action. But you my dear are going to help me show them that I am not afraid to take action."
Terra felt the fear rise again and this time she couldn't make it go away. The slightly spaced and crazed look her father wore unnerved her.
"Terranay? Did you understand the importance of the locket your mother gave you the day you were born? Your mother was one of the many leaders in the genetics but she died before she could finish her work. "Terranay give me the locket."
With shaking hands Terra removed the locket for the first time in her life and placed it in her fathers outstretched hand.
"The night you were born you mother and some of her friends were with her. I was away on a business trip. You came earlier than was expected. Your godmother called me to tell me the news that I was a proud father of a beautiful baby girl."
David stopped and stared at the heart shaped locket that dangled between his fingers. He stared at it as if he was mesmerized. "Do you understand why this was so important for you?"
"Not really but momma said to never take it off."
"Yes, yes I know that but she gave it to you to protect you. Now I must make another example to the CmCs." David said as he crushed the locket in his fist. Terra groaned as pain shot through her heart and mind.
Terra felt the tears burning their way down her face. The continuous throbbing in her head caused more tears to follow the path of the many already shed. The pain is excruciating, at times she felt the oblivion of unconsciecness is better and more comforting but the fear of the pain when her mind returned to her body kept her awake. Even when Terra tried to wipe the tears away, pain like lightening shot through her whole body. Her thinking narrowed down to simply thinking of ways to ignore the pain. Finally giving in, Terra closed her eyes and allowed the darkness of oblivion to swallow her.
When Terra opened her eyes the cell like room was in shambles. She couldn't see very well, but that did not bother her. Suddenly she saw everything clearly. Terra fell off the small cot in shock.
The sound of a gun cocking brought Terra back to the present. Man this is not the time to start remembering stuff she thought to herself. Slowly Terra began to inch her way up the fence without making a noise. Sweat and blood mixed as she climbed. When she was half way up the ten-foot fence she paused to see if she could she her pursuers. Terra saw them twenty feet away. The one she heard called Jack spotted her at the same time as she remembered his name.
"She's on the fence!" he cried out pointing at Terra.
Terra scrambled towards the top. She moaned in pain when Jack began to shake the fence slamming her body into the fence. Gritting her teeth she heaved her body across the top and struggled down on to the other side. By that time the other three had joined their partner Jack who had started to climb the fence when he could not shake Terra off. Another shaft of pain shot through Terra's side. She lost her footing.
One of the assassins tried to grab her through the fence when Jack had reached the top of the fence. Terra kicked at the hand of the nearest assassin.
"You little" he growled angrily as he caught her leg and yanked on it. Terra lost her grip on the chains of the fence and fell backwards slamming her already abused body against the fence. Terra blindly reached out for the fence.
"I got her Al!"
"Then hold her stupid!"
"Let me go!" Terra hissed as she caught a on to a chain and began kicking out at the man hold her ankle.
"Dang girl KICKED me!"
"Terra's legs dropped over her head so that she hung on to the fence by one hand.
"Don't let her get down Tony!"
Tony tried to grab Terra's wrist. Terra let go of her had hold and dropped to the ground. Once on the ground she rolled into the bushes.
"YOU I-DE-YOT! Jack you weren't supposed to let her get down!"
`"Sorry but Tony had her Steven. Yell at him I just got up here." Jack said from the top of the fence.
"Well all of you get over here so we can go get a reason to on that land. We can't let here get help. She'll be out for a while lets go." Steven said as he looked at Terra still body.
Terra smiled as she heard the quartet as they walked away. Terra dropped her head to the damp ground and released the breath she had been holding. She continued to smile as she passed out.
"Alone, surrounded by darkness,
where is the light? Fear has become a constant companion never very far from my
side. Dreams of hope no longer sustain
me partially though the night. Sounds
in my darkness are ever changing. Some
sounds remain as a backdrop to all of the new sounds until they compose in to a
complex piece of music. If I ever do
return to the world that lives in light, will I no longer be able to accept
what I have longed for since I awaken in this darkness. Will I hide from the light that I wanted so
much or will I embrace it regardless of the pain it will inflict upon me?
The sounds of the night now are
a part of me, if I were to lose them what would I do? Am I now a thing of the darkness? The sadness that engulfs me at those words seems unbearable. I will become one of those people who others
look at and shake their head. Maybe I
would be better off remaining in the darkness that has become my world. Never again will I notice the bright rich
blue of the sky after a rain or the beauty of the sun setting over a sea. The simple happy radiance of a child at
play, my child at play, or even myself as a new mother. So many things that are taken for granted
when one has them. I never really
noticed what I had until it is gone or I can no longer obtain it . . . . ."
The voice on the tape stopped.
"Is that all?"
"Yes that is the last tape. There are more but most of the ones still left here have nothing on them. That one was found in the recorder still. So far we believe," the young man looked at the chart before him, "there are over 96,306 tapes accounted for. That one was the very last one recorded on. The whole tape itself has not been completed."
"Does anyone remember who she is or rather who she was?"
"We've narrowed it down to a Dr. Bethany Jameron, she was a master in genetics. Her husband is the President of the Civilian Mutant Correctionist Committee. They have one child who disappeared almost nine months ago. Dr. Jamerson was reported to be dead nearly eleven years ago when the building she was working in burnt down, her remains were never found. There is still an investigation of this area going on, ma'am.
"We also have discovered that the recorder with the tapes was only used to ways. One was by the sound of the Dr.'s voice and manually from the viewing room upstairs."