Blood Red Pools on a Starless Night Sky

Dirt of the road crunching under my feet. That's all I could hear. The trees didn't sway. The breeze didn't blow. There weren't even bugs in the fields. Chirping songs in the moonlight. But I knew they were there. Hiding from me. Which made them the smart ones. The bugs knew to hide. To flee my presence.

Why didn't they know too? The mutants. They should have known. Better than anyone. But they had been jaded by their own powers. So harmless. So innocent. Making it rain. Walking through walls. Turning invisible.

Not killing. That's not what they were capable of. None of them were like me. They didn't think about the potential my power possessed. The danger it inevitably implied. So they said I should stay. They thought they could help me. It's not really their fault.

I should have known.

A truck broke the silence of the empty night. I turned around, emotionless. The lights peeked around the curve in the road. They landed on me. I didn't move. The truck was the same as they always were. Big. Loud. One trailer hitched to the back. It stopped beside me.

Some things never change.

I knew I shouldn't have stayed. But they said I belonged there. With them.

With him.

He said we could work. That my skin didn't matter. Because he loved me.

A tear escaped my eye. It fled down my cheek. An unfamiliar yearning burned inside me. I suppressed it with the burning black smoke of a cigarette. The truck driver looked at me. Then back at the road. Our non-conversation continued.

I stayed. I was selfish. I didn't want to leave him. It was the way he looked at me. Like he was the lucky one. Lucky that I was there. That I loved him back. It went on for so long. Long enough for me to forget what I was. Poison. One that steals life from your skin. I'm someone who can't get close to people. Someone who can't forget why I have to be alone.

The driver was getting anxious beside me. I was starting to scare him. Good. People should be afraid of me. I hurt the people I love most. That's my power. That's my curse. He asked me a question; trying to ease his nerves. The sudden noise disrupted my thoughts.

"Que?"

He looked at me. There was confusion in his eyes. "What are ya…" his voice died out, "like…French or somethin'?"

"What are you talking about?" My words were hushed. And callous. I didn't want to deal with him.

"Where ya from?"His nerves were on edge. The road and I were playing a tug-of-war with his eyes. I think I was winning.

I lit another cigarette and inhaled. The gentle burn was calming. "Everywhere." That's what I always said. When they asked me. Because being from everywhere is the same as being from nowhere. It just sounds better.

His eyes. He hated them. Said they gave him away. Scared people. I loved his eyes. They were beautiful. Blood red pools on a starless night sky. They could hold things that normal eyes couldn't. Emotions. Truth. That's why I did it. Because I believed him. Because in his eyes - it was true.

Another tear. But the driver didn't see. His hands gripped the steering wheel. His knuckles were white. His breathing was shallow. Fear. "You're one of those things aren't ya?"

His energy could protect him. That's what he said. His power could balance my curse. The red glow. It would let us touch. Let us kiss.

Another silent tear on an emotionless face.

His lips. They dared death when they touched mine. I was terrified. I pushed him away. But he still held his glow. I hadn't hurt him. I had kissed him.

"A mutant. You're one of those freaks aren't ya?!"

He kissed me again. I got lost inside of it. The fire inside me. My heart beat. His hands. His skin. His lips. I kissed back. Like nothing else existed.

"That's why you're wearing those things ain't it!" My sunglasses - in the dark. "What're ya hidin'?!"

It was our kiss. One we were starved of. One we needed. But then….just me. I pushed him again.

"Take 'em off! Show me what you're hidin'!"

He fell.

The driver looked at my eyes. He gasped. In shock. In fear.

Blood red pools on a starless night sky.