Omega Zero

by Kurtis Eckstein

  Just as the moon hid itself again, I lopped off all of their arms and legs with my blood, leaving them to bleed-out in the street, to suffer for a few seconds longer before fading away forever.

  Now that it was pitch-black again, I used the opportunity to make my escape, not wanting anyone to have an idea of where I was staying. The last thing I wanted to do was to cause problems for the twins by allowing someone to see me return to their place.

  It wasn’t until I got back that I finally recalled Ava had been with me…and was still waiting outside for me to return.

  I froze in my tracks when I saw her, not feeling even remotely guilty for what I had done, but simultaneously feeling regretful for the effect it might have had on her, given that she would have seen everything despite all the physical obstacles blocking a normal person’s sight.

  When she didn’t say anything, her expression neutral, I broke the silence. “Umm, sorry,” I whispered, dropping my gaze.

  “For what?” she asked seriously. “Giving those men exactly what they deserved?”

  I looked up at her in surprise, realizing I didn’t fully understand where she stood on the issue of murder. She obviously hated killing herself, and she hated that her father made her watch him torture people, but she wasn’t opposed to people getting what they deserved. I supposed she was against killing innocent people, which made sense given her concern earlier when she found me feeding.

  But as for criminals?

  If they deserved it, then they deserved it. Maybe that’s how she could tolerate working for the military, even though she really didn’t enjoy doing it herself. Most of her targets were criminals.

  “No,” I finally admitted. “I’m not sorry for what I did.”

  Her expression softened. “Then why?” she wondered.

  I sighed, wanting to be honest, but also wanting to be careful about my choice of words to avoid the problem I was trying to circumvent earlier. “I guess…I just…care,” I admitted. “About how my actions will affect you.”

  She looked away, prompting me to approach her, afraid she was taking it the wrong way.

  “I’m not trying to pity you,” I clarified. “I just–”

  She held up her hand to stop me, and I halted both physically and verbally. “It’s fine, Jake. I get what you mean.” She looked up at me again. “And thanks. I’m glad you care.”

  I nodded slowly in acknowledgement, unsure of what else to say.

  She sighed. “Let’s get some sleep,” she suggested. “This has turned into a long night.”

  “Sorry,” I whispered.

  She scoffed. “Stop apologizing,” she chastised. But then her expression became slightly pleading. “But please don’t go out again tonight,” she added, biting her lip as she looked away in embarrassment. “When I woke up and you were gone, it made me…anxious.”

  My eyes widened slightly in surprise. I wasn’t sure if she was anxious because of what I might be doing, or anxious because she woke up alone – she wasn’t alone of course, since everyone else was there. But if she had woken up expecting to find me watching over her, only to discover me missing, it made sense she’d be anxious.

  I wasn’t sure what that meant for our friendship, or whatever this ‘thing’ between us was. But what I did know was that, while being away from Trinity, Liz, and even Zane was going to be difficult, Ava’s camaraderie was definitely going to make it a lot easier than going back alone with just Zayden, who didn’t seem like he even had the capacity for true friendship.

  “Okay,” I promised. “And I’ll wake you up if you’re having a bad dream,” I added.

  “Thanks,” she replied, tucking some of her black hair behind her ear. “Except, maybe use your actual hand next time,” she suggested.

  I smiled at that. “Sure,” I agreed. “I can do that for you.”

  Chapter 5: Love

  Zane was awake when we got back inside, having heard the woman screaming. Everyone else was sound asleep, causing me to suspect that Zane had only heard because of his extra sensitive hearing. The walls appeared to be more soundproof than I would have initially suspected, but it had been a safehouse for the syndicate we had been targeting.

  Needless to say, Zane wasn’t very happy that we had both disappeared without saying anything, scolding me for answers until I finally told him mockingly that I was sorry for trying to ensure I didn’t kill all of them by getting too hungry.

  That shut him up, and he actually ended up apologizing, asking for more details about how my little excursion went. I gave him a rundown of the basics, before ending the conversation by returning to my spot on the couch, next to Trinity’s head. Liz stirred slightly, but didn’t wake up, and Trinity didn’t budge at all.

  He and Ava exchanged a glance, prompting her to remind him that she and I could both take care of ourselves, and that we weren’t on a mission right now.

  I suspected that before Zane’s girlfriend passed away, he didn’t use to let things go so easily, but from what I gathered, he had changed a lot after that traumatic event. Which sucked, especially since it was the same person who had been responsible for helping save Trinity from her captor when she was younger. But right now, I needed him to let things like this go. It was bad enough that I had the military controlling my life indefinitely. I didn’t need Zane acting like my guardian too, demanding I get permission before doing something meant to prevent me from accidentally hurting them all.

  Ava headed to the bathroom while Zane rummaged through the kitchen, finding something to snack on before going back to sleep.

  I rested my fingertips on Trinity’s temple, stroking the side of her face gently. I didn’t want to wake her up, but as morning approached, the realization that I wouldn’t be able to see, touch, or even talk to her was really starting to sink in.

  When Ava got out of the bathroom fifteen minutes later, I moved my hand to Trinity’s shoulder and stared at the wall. She didn’t waste any time plopping onto the other couch and closing her eyes to fall back asleep, turning her back to me as she buried her head in the cushion.

  I sighed as I glanced at her resting form, thinking again about what was to come. If being a permanent insomniac had any benefit, it certainly gave me a lot of time to contemplate my decisions, but it also felt like a curse, not allowing me to relax once I got lost in my own thoughts again.

  I wondered if maybe I should take up meditating or something similar – perhaps I could learn something from the people here. At least, maybe one day. I did remember to try to discretely give Trinity and Liz some blood, but neither of them needed much. When Liz had jumped on me, they had managed to get her off before I lost complete control, and I had already attempted to return some to Trinity previously. Still, I figured every little bit helped, so giving Liz even an ounce was better than nothing.

  Zane was the first one to wake up again, and I joined him at the dining room table to go over our plans, including cities where we might try to meet if something happened here. One big issue that needed to be addressed was our clothing. Ava could get by claiming that her clothes had survived the explosion, but Zayden and mine would have disintegrated. Which meant we had to get rid of our military clothes before being picked up in a nearby city.

  Once those subjects were thoroughly dealt with, we were left just sitting there, neither of us having anything to discuss.

  After a few minutes of silence, I decided to try to make breakfast for everyone. I didn’t know how to make anything super fancy, and I definitely didn’t have the capacity to taste test anything to verify it was good, but usually breakfast foods didn’t have a ton of things added anyway.

  However, that became its own problem when I couldn’t really find anything that I considered a breakfast food, other than eggs. They had a ton of rice, lots of spices, and quite a few fruits and vegetables, everything from pineapples to peppers.

  We had eaten rice last night, so I decided to make that again in addition to eggs. I also fried up vegetables. I was
relieved when Ava joined me in the kitchen after a while to help out. I hadn’t burned anything, but she definitely had a better handle on cooking than I did.

  “I think they eat rice for every meal,” she responded when I tried to explain that I wasn’t sure what else to make besides eggs. “What you’ve made is probably a normal breakfast for them,” she added.

  That was relieving, and I was happy to have her take over while I watched. However, once it fell silent between us, I didn’t know what else to talk about, and I doubted she wanted to bring up last night, so I decided to go wake up Trinity.

  I was a little concerned when she was difficult to rouse again, prompting even Zane to be more concerned this time. Once she finally came to, with Liz having woken up in the process, she groaned like she had the previous morning, complaining about wanting to sleep in.

  “Trinity,” I exclaimed. “Is something wrong with you?”

  She finally opened her eyes enough to peak at me through her blue eyelashes, before sighing heavily and sitting up on her own. “I’m fine, Jake.” She yawned. “Is it really morning already?”

  Zane replied. “Yes, and you’re almost the last one up.”

  Trinity nodded as another yawn transitioned into a loud sneeze.

  We all gawked at her, though Zane confirmed what I assumed. “Trinity, are you sick? I thought you couldn’t get sick.”

  She finally snapped out of her stupor. “Oh my gosh, guys. Chill out. I sneezed for heaven’s sake! I’m fine. Just–“ Another adorable yawn interrupted her. “Tired,” she finished after a moment.

  Zane and I exchanged a glance, but otherwise let it go. She was right, after all. It wasn’t unusual for someone to sneeze – people did it all the time without being sick – and she had good reason to be tired given that she still hadn’t used her ability to heal. Granted, the problem was that I assumed she had a natural healing ability that could work with regular eating too, but maybe that was wrong?

  Or maybe it was really just because she hadn’t gotten enough iron in her diet. It wasn’t like her body could create it out of thin air, and the twins didn’t have any meat in the house.

  Which gave me an idea.

  “I’ll be back,” I announced, shifting Trinity off my lap and heading for the door.

  “Where are you going?” Trinity asked in surprise.

  I paused as my hand rested on the doorknob. “To get you some meat,” I explained, glancing over my shoulder. “I’m not going to leave you behind knowing you’re still not fully recovered.”

  “But you don’t have any money,” Zane retorted.

  I glanced at him. “I don’t need money to hunt an animal myself.” I paused then, pensive as I considered how I was going to bring my kill back without being overly noticeable. My gaze then fell on a pack in the corner. I went to grab it, emptying its contents, and shouldered it.

  “I’ll go,” Trinity announced, finally getting to her feet.

  “What about your hair?” I wondered.

  She glanced around the room for a second, before disappearing carefully into the room the twins were still sleeping in, only to reappear with a decorative shawl. She wrapped it around her head a few times, dashing into the bathroom to check herself in the mirror, and then made her way to my side with a satisfied grin.

  I smiled warmly at her, gladly taking her hand as we headed out. Liz wasn’t even trying to hide her pout, but I didn’t have time to focus on the waves of somber jealousy radiating from her.

  We made our way quickly through the alleyways, avoiding most people, but still getting a lot of looks because of our military clothing. She had the shroud pulled over her forehead enough to hide her red eyes, so no one paid too much attention other than a curious glance.

  As we walked, I was content just to hold her hand, not really having anything to say, but she finally broke the silence between us.

  “I’m really sorry, Jake,” she began somberly.

  I glanced at her to see those beautiful crimson eyes looking up at me. “For what?” I asked seriously.

  She sighed heavily and looked down. “I was planning on waking myself up in the middle of the night to spend some time with you.” She then looked up at me with a grin. “Maybe take you into the bathroom or something to give you a night to remember.”

  I gawked at her, prompting her to laugh at my reaction. Still, I had to ask. “You aren’t serious, are you? Because you know, I’m not opposed to you taking me into the forest for the same reasons.”

  She sighed then, her grip tightening on my hand.

  “Or not,” I whispered after a moment, recalling her year with the zombie metahuman.

  “I wish we could,” she replied just as quietly. “I want to…but I think it’s going to be really difficult the first time…maybe the first few times. It’s not something I can just go off and do on a whim.”

  I pulled her hand up to my lips and gently kissed her on the back of the wrist before promptly returning it to my side. “It’s okay,” I replied. “I told you before this was enough for me.”

  “Are you sure?” she asked tentatively.

  I shrugged. “I mean, I’m not going to dump you because you won’t ‘put out.’ When I come back, we can figure all that stuff out. I wish we could just live a normal life now, but I don’t want to ignore this bomb problem and end up regretting it.”

  She nodded in agreement, bringing my hand up to her lips this time and rubbing them gently against my skin. A tingling sensation ran down my arm much like it had done when Ava touched me, making me suspect it really was the replacement of some other sensation, possibly one that made me feel emotionally moved by the affection.

  Either way, I enjoyed every second of it, and was a little sad when she stopped.

  “So, what’s on the menu chef?” she wondered cheerfully once we reached the tree line.

  I grinned at her playful enthusiasm. “Well,” I began, scanning the area with my sixth sense. “How does wild cat, monkey, or boar sound?”

  She wrinkled her nose as I listed off her options. “Umm, let’s go with the boar. Claiming I’ve eaten cat is not something I want to be able to brag about.”

  I laughed. “Not like a housecat. It’s probably a leopard, or something similar.”

  She shook her head. “Boar.”

  “Boar it is then,” I agreed, a thread of my blood bolting away from my body into the trees. “Want to wrestle it yourself, or would you prefer I take care of it discretely?”

  Her sharp eyes had seen the thread of crimson leave my body, so she looked up at me in surprise. Her eyes then narrowed when she saw my grin, and she punched me playfully in the arm. “I’ll wrestle you,” she retorted.

  “Please do,” I teased back.

  She rolled her eyes, but didn’t make any motion to actually tackle me like I was hoping. I knew sex was off the table right now, but there were so many other things we could do. Still, whenever the subject came up, I felt like I was pushing on her boundaries – boundaries that she wanted me to respect.

  And respect them I would, because she was much more to me than just a pretty girl. I could wait, and once the time was right, we would take it as slowly as she wanted. Because her feeling safe around me, especially considering I was also a blood-drinker like her previous captor, was the most important gift I could offer her.

  “You know,” she continued after a moment. “It’s really nice that I can do that – hit you in the arm without worrying if I’ll break it.”

  “Whoa!” I exclaimed. “I didn’t realize you were into that kind of stuff.”

  She glared at me and hit me in the arm a second time, enough to send me off balance a little. “That’s not what I meant!” she retorted with a glare.

  I laughed. “I know. I’m just teasing you.” But then my expression darkened, because her comment reminded me of something else.

  She was right. I was nearly unbreakable…when I was well-fed…

  Trinity noticed my shift in mood immediatel
y, even as I tried to hide it. “What’s wrong?” she whispered.

  I shook my head, suspecting she thought I had sensed something, and wrapped my arm around her neck to pull her head against my upper chest.

  “Nothing,” I whispered, giving her a gentle kiss on the forehead.

  She wrapped her arms firmly around my waist, pulling me tight against her body. The pressure signaled to me that she would be crushing a normal person to the point of death, but again, I was nearly unbreakable so long as I had enough blood in my system.

  “I don’t want to stay,” she finally admitted quietly, her voice strained. “I don’t want to be apart.”

  I tightened my embrace a little, but didn’t say anything. This wasn’t a subject I wanted to discuss, and Trinity already knew all the arguments I would make. I doubted she was actually trying to argue, but instead just expressing how she felt – something she had almost never done in the seven or eight years she had been with the military.

  So we just silently held each other in a bone-crushing embrace, while I used my blood to eliminate my prey.

  Once I had discretely killed the boar and pulled it through the trees, we realized it was far too big to fit in the pack. Thus, instead of taking the whole thing, I skinned part of it, cutting out large pieces of meat, and then covered the slabs in my own blood to avoid soiling the pack as I stuck it in. The tendril of crimson running from my shoulder into the military backpack wasn’t overly noticeable.

  We then headed back hand-in-hand, having left the boar in plain sight so a passing native might take the opportunity to bring free food home. Once we returned, I dumped the meat into the sink, with none of the boar’s blood sticking to my own, and Ava went to work preparing it.

  The twins were awake now, both of them shocked that I had brought back meat, though I had been able to avoid them seeing me use my blood. Zayden was also out of the room now, although he had already eaten. However, everyone else had waited for us to return.