Chapter 19

Arden slumped down onto the concrete floor, her heart still beating intensely. She must have walked by her apartment three times until she finally felt assured that no one was following her. Even then she had entered from the back entrance. In fact she couldn't even remember the last time she had actually walked up the front stairs. That luxury was lost on her, not when you were marked as an animal, a traitor, forever to be hunted by your own kind. Arden sighed as she laid her entire body on the floor. Her breath stirred the sleeping pieces of lint in the corner of the room.

A sharp pain pierced into her temple.another headache. She always got them when she thought of what she was..and what she was doing. Was she doing the right thing? That question always nagged her. Her actions felt like a betrayal to her kind. Since she was born she was drilled to never turn against her own. This bond was their only chance for survival. Never go against your own, but that was exactly what she was doing. And now she belonged to nothing, she had turned against what had accepted her, only to find that she was nowhere. She was alone.

Frustrated Arden stood up and looked at the mirror across the room. Her fingers traced the contours of her face. She was tired of holding her current form. Slowly her iris spread to cover her entire eye, creating a pale green coating. Her skin began to lose its dull peach shade.and intensify in brightness to the point of iridescence. Arden smiled as the contours of her face sharpened. With the morphing of her visage...her sight also changed. No longer was she limited to the small light wavelengths of the human eye. With the expansion of the iris, also came a stretching of the pupil, allowing more light waves to enter her eye for mental processing. She could see far more colors now, as well as infrared and radar waves, a gift that came in quite handy. Again Arden ran her hands over her face, her own face. Her appearance was the one aspect of her identity she was sure of. Everything else was constantly in conflict.

Confronting Sky could have gotten her caught. The Society had lost track of her since she had left.make no mistake, they had searched, but after many close encounters.she had finally alluded them to the point where they had lost interest in their hunt. Yet, they never left her. She still lived in shadows, feared the consequences of her discovery. This was not living.The Society made sure of that.

Arden remembered the day she found out there was life beyond the dim rooms of her childhood. She had grown up with several others, in hiding. Early on the children were programmed to live inconspicuously. It was not until the children reached the age of 10 that they learned they were different. It was at this age that the ability to control the epidermis began. They were put through hundreds of drills.learning how to change, to become what they were not. Arden shivered at the thought. The pain was intense when the morphing began. Bleeding and crying spells were common. But the adaptation was necessary. Eventually you became dull to the pain, only to discover a new kind.Isolation.

Arden could still hear the words. "You must not reveal yourself to anyone. Our species has coexisted with the humans for years without their general knowledge. Be hidden, blend in, and live."

And there it was, the dreaded epiphany that each child discovered. They were a minority, a freak show. The world they believed in had changed within that instant. No longer did it belong to them. it was only a place to exist.

Arden sighed. At times the Society seemed justified in their actions. She remembered the history of her kind, defined by one moment.the exposure. There was once a time when her people coexisted with the humans. Their numbers were large, until the day the elders had decided to reveal their presence to a small government branch they believed trustworthy. The decision had been debated for years.but those in charge anticipated a compassionate welcome. Hiding made them jaded and impaired their judgment.

Sector Five, no doubt they had welcomed the news. Her people were once compassionate.but the agency manipulated them, experimented on them.and eventually killed their failed tests. Thousands of her kind were rallied in secret locations and then massacred. The elders were murdered, but not by Sector Five. Instead an uprising began amongst the younger generation. They despised the elders for their naivety and delivered what they believed justice. A new leadership was formed.The Society, a network of the leftovers. Living became solely a mission. They would build their numbers up once more through reproduction, a rarely used process because of their extensive lifespan. All the while compiling information...waiting for revenge and eventually domination. Before supremacy over the humans was never considered, but with new leadership and new breeding it was the only focus. Among the young leaders was a woman.Rashne.a cold, strong persona.revered by many, and once by Arden. After all.it was natural. Rashne was her older sister. For years she had clung to the last remnants of her family, but the truth was Rashne was never family. She was volatile and powerful. Yet, Arden still trusted her...needed her. Until one day, when she learned her trust was a facade used to keep herself sane and connected to something.

Arden had never forgotten. She had been 11. It was a rainy Saturday; the two were seated in a booth at the local diner. It had been an accident, but Rashne did not believe in accidents, only carelessness. They had been talking about some frivolous topic; Arden excited and compelled as usual.Rashne cold and uninterested, merely putting up with her sibling. A man lit a cigarette in the booth behind them.as the smoke slowly swirled over above Arden's head it tickled her nostrils and she could stand it no longer. She sneezed, and for a moment lost control.a portion of her skin contracted. Rashne's eyes widened in anger. She glanced around.no one had seen. Quickly she stood up and grabbed Arden's arm pulling her into the bathroom. They walked briskly. As soon as the door shut, Rashne locked it and threw Arden against the wall.slamming her head hard into tile. "Idiot!" She cursed.

"I'm sorry." Arden cried.she didn't want to anger her sister.she didn't want to disappoint her.

"There is no sorry..there are no excuses.you could have exposed us."

"The form is so hard to hold..I tried..it was an accident."

"Shut-up!" Rashne hissed as she hit the girl repeatedly, the pain causing the child to release her form completely and change into her true self. "There are no accidents. You will not loose control again."

She reached down and grabbed Arden off the floor.then she grabbed her face harshly and turned it towards the mirror. "You look like a freak." Again Rashne hit her. "Freaks don't survive. If this ever happens again.I'll kill you myself."

"Please..." Arden cried and held out her hands.asking for comfort.

"Now.change." Arden shivered. "CHANGE!" Arden did as she was told. Her face felt tender as the skin loosened. Her lip bled. Arden searched for some compassion in her sister.something.but Rashne only looked at her as she slowly pushed herself off the floor, slipping on tiny puddles of soap and water, then walked to the sink and washed away the blood that clung to her face. Rashne looked at her with such hate. It was then as the beads of cold stagnant water dripped down her face, that she knew..she just knew that she was strong.and that her sister was in name only, a title. The reality of their relationship was clear. Over the coming years she remained loyal to The Society only because she believed that by that action she was loyal to her kind. However she began to observe how her sister conducted herself, what she used, how she manipulated and clung to power, with the hopes of finding it useful someday.

However, Arden's "betrayal" was her end. She had suspected for a long time that they were going to try to kill her. Her ideals differed from the Society. She didn't like their goals and how they wanted to accomplish with them. To The Society non-conformity was a sin.it stopped their progress, so they eliminated the problem. Arden finally just ran away.every instinct she owned begged her to. She had been on the run ever and something told her she may be running forever. Unless, The Society was stopped, and for some reason she believed that Sky was the key.