Chapter 7. If you knew what I felt

Part One

Gem dashed out and ran to the front door unlocking it, she walked over the thresh hold and in to her own little hell.

Alec was lying on the floor, bleeding from a back wound and a contusion on his head. He looked like he had put up a hell of a fight. He also looked mortally wounded.

Gem looked at the transgenic who had caused this. He was standing over Alec, looking dismayed at her unexpected re-appearance in the Cale apartment.

"Oh my god!" Gem exclaimed, in total rejection of the scene before her. "It's you!"

Dix stepped away from Alec and put his hands up in appeasement. "Calm down Gem. You'll see it's for the best."

Gem's neurons began to make rapidly firing connections. Who had always hated Sketchy, Dix? Who had always made fun of Joshua's art, Dix? Who had come into the café every single day, Dix? Who was skilled at camera surveillance, Dix? Who had been bioengineered for tunnelling, Dix? Who was always frequenting her café having morning lattes, eating up her left over cake in the afternoon, coming round to her place in Oak Street to tutor Dalton in arithmetic, Dix Dix Dix!

"How could I have been so blind and stupid?" Gem whispered.

"I've often wondered that fact. I know you love me." Dix informed her, with all the conviction of the mentally unbalanced. "You just don't consciously realise the fact yet."

"I thought it was just X5s that went crazy." Gem laughed with a note of hysteria. "Love you, you're hideous. Do you think I could ever let you touch me, after 494? You with your foldy ears, your mole eyes and your bald head. I'd vomit if you laid a finger on me like that. I'm barely able to control a shudder when any of you freaks touch me. All of you disgust me."

Dix went pale. "Don't say that Gem, you can't mean it." Dix cried brokenly.

"Of course I mean it!" Gem spat in hatred at him. "I feel sorry for you guys but you still revolt me. I would far rather the world just contained the X5,6and 8's. The rest of you are sick mistakes, you're the sickest of them all." She advanced towards him. "Get the hell away from my mate."

Alec groaned and Dix looked down startled. Gem sprang across the room at Dix and knocked him off his feet.

Dix grabbed a stone bust of Shakespeare on his way down and tried to hit her with it. Gem snapped his wrist effortlessly. Dix dropped it.

Alec moaned again and struggled to raise him self off the ground.

Dix took the opportunity to try and claw at Gem's face with his undamaged hand. Gem jerked away and punched him. Her cheek bleeding profusely from his nail raking.

"You can't kill me." Dix protested frantically. "You don't have it in you."

"I'm a killer Dix. I was trained for it." Gem pushed her knee in his chest and snapped his good arm. Dix screamed with pain. "I've killed fifteen ordinaries, twelve enemy soldiers, three people in Oregon, so Dalton and I could survive when we got out of Manticore. I never hesitated a second."

"But I'm a transgenic." Dix whimpered disbelieving. "You're so sweet, you couldn't kill one of your own kind."

"Listen you freak piece of filth." Gem laughed cruelly. "The night Manticore burned down, I was in my cell with my breeding partner. The bastard had just finished raping me yet again. It had been going on continuously for ten days." Gem punched Dix viciously in the face again. Disturbed by the memory.

"He had fallen asleep. I couldn't take it anymore. If you knew how I felt! So I snapped his neck as he lay sleeping." Gem smiled satisfied at the memory of it. "He didn't think he was in any danger from sweet little Gem either, even though I'd put up a physical fight every single fucking night. Even though I screamed and begged him not to, every single time. So yes I've killed my own fucking kind okay, just like I'm gonna kill you."

Gem twisted Dix's neck, until she heard a pleasing crack. She picked up the Shakespearian bust and pounded it into his head again and again, until she saw brain matter come out, just to be on the safe side.

"Gem," Alec croaked out to her. "I think he's dead now baby. You can stop."

Gem sprang up and grabbed her cell phone out of her bag. "Mole! It's Gem." she said urgently. "Alec's been stabbed, I need a med team out here right away, we're at Max's place."

She went over to Alec checking him over.

"Why didn't you tell me about Eve's father?" Alec groaned. He cried out in pain as Gem checked his wounded back.

Gem smiled relieved. If it was hurting, it implied he was going to survive. "I thought you might not like Eve, treat her different. If you knew what her father was."

"No, you love Eve, why should I care. Even if you did, I'd still love Eve it's not her fault, it wasn't your fault." Alec gasped. "That's the real reason you never told me huh? You thought I wouldn't understand."

"Yeah," Gem admitted ashamed. "You might not feel safe anymore sleeping with me."

"Gem I am as safe from you, as you are from me." Alec told her. "Whatever that means to people like us. Do you really loathe the freaks?"

"No I just said that to get Dix away from you." Gem said honestly. "I'd still never have sex with any of them."

"I thought we were in a monogamous relationship." Alec joked. "Is there anything else I should know about?"

Part Two

Gem and Alec kissed each other in passing, on their way in and out from their kitchen. Gem was carrying a pile of mini quiches, Alec juggling a pile of empty plates.

"They're like vultures baby." Alec laughed. "This house warming party is going to end up costing us as much as the new back porch."

Gem went into the living room and put the plate down on the table. Mole was happily grazing on the food there.

"This pate is excellent Gem." Mole told her waving a cracker in her face. "Hey have you heard the latest?"

Gem leaned in, interested. Transgenics lived to gossip.

"Dalton and Max are moving into together. And she's retiring from her position as Transgenic Leader, because she's four months pregnant." Mole told her triumphantly.

"Behind the times Mole," Gem chided, disappointed "Every one else has known Max has been pregnant for weeks."

Mole looked downcast. "How about the fact Luke and Catlady are an item?" he said brightening up.

"No, knew that." Gem grinned mischievously. "I can give you some brand new stuff, Alec and I just found out this last week."

"Okay spill." Mole said interested.

"I'm pregnant again." Gem beamed. "Isn't that just great?"

The End

AN: Comments on my very first mystery much appreciated. Oh Agatha Christie my heroine.