Persona

by Amy Lunderman

  “Is she all right? Why isn’t she moving?” Raven calls out.

  Moira watches as Liam releases Daisy and quickly picks up a clean towel and pushes it tightly to Daisy’s bleeding stomach.

  “She’s fine, I promise. It was just a shock to her system, and she passed out.” Paula says as she tosses the bullet on the coffee table, and then points to Daisy’s chest indicating that it rises and falls in her sleep.

  Moira closes her eyes again, when Raven sighs in relief and comes to sit on her other side on the loveseat. She hears Paula rise and walk out of the room, and then the sound of water running. She’s assumes that the woman is washing the blood off of her hands.

  “Hold this tightly to her Ray, I’ll be right back.” Liam says softly.

  She hears him walk out of the room, just as she hears Paula walk right back in. Moira opens her eyes to see the woman holding onto a small package of something. When she places it on the coffee table, she realizes it’s a sewing kit, with thread and needles, and some bandage rolls. She know right away that they are for Daisy, and it’s confirmed as Paula kneels back next to her. She removes Ray’s hands from the soaked through towel, and wipes the wound clean, before she reaches for the needle and thread.

  “You kids will have to get out of New York as soon as possible you know.” Paula says, startling Moira after the silence.

  “Liam mentioned that earlier. To Montana right?” Ray asks lightly.

  Paula is stitching with one hand, and dabbing the blood away with the other using a cloth.

  “That’s right. My husband will be expecting you soon. It won’t be an easy task though. The tolls at the state lines will present a problem for you.”

  Liam walks back into the room then, and is holding a few smaller towels and another bowl of clean water. Moira thinks he’s going to go over to his mother, but instead he comes to kneel in front of her instead.

  “I thought you said you could help.” Liam mutters over his shoulder to his mother.

  He places the items on the floor and fixes her with a hesitant stare. She can feel both Marty and Raven tense beside her, and she knows it’s time for her to get patched up. Just when she was forgetting she was hurt too, she feels the pain as if from far away, returning.

  “I can help. It just won’t be easy for any of us. I have the proper paperwork for your travel, just so you know.” Paula says, still working on Daisy.

  Liam reaches for her clenched hands, and lightly opens then and pulls then towards him. At his touch, her wrists notably sting from the scraps from her restraints earlier. Not taking her eyes off him, she watches as he wets a cloth and dabs at her wrists and washes away the dried blood. She feels Marty and Raven both scoot closer to her, as she flinches from the pain and it makes her feel slightly better.

  Liam and Paula work swiftly as the rest of them take the time to have a moment of silence and peace. After washing her wrists, he cleaned away the blood from her ankles and every touch makes her flinch. This close to Liam, the cinnamon smell of his coats her senses and his light touch sends light static sparks into her skin. She flinches from it, but it just comes off as pain to the others, and Liam doesn’t say anything about noticing it too.

  “It’s alright now Moira. Just close your eyes and rest now. “Marty murmurs into her ear.

  Eventually sighing into his side, she does close her eyes. Letting everything that’s going on around her travel to the back of her mind she slowly lets herself drift back into the darkness that has been calling her since she woke up in the car. As she falls into a deep sleep, she’s left with the feeling of Liam’s scent lightly tickling her persona.

  ***

  The next time Moira wakes up, she finds herself in a dark room. Her whole body tenses in alarm, until she’s laying down on a soft warm bed, and she’s not alone. As her eyes adjust to the dark room, she sees that Raven and Daisy are asleep beside her. She’s relieved to know that they haven’t left her yet, she worried that they would realize that she is trouble, and leave her. She moves a little and test how badly she’s still hurt, but to her surprise, she’s starting to feel slightly better.

  Waking up fully now, she feels the stiffness of the scrubs she is still wearing, and remembers that she probably bled all over them. In the hopes of not waking the girls, she slowly sits up and scoots to the bottom of the bed. As she moves she feels fabric pulling from her skin at her wrists and ankles, and she notices that they are covered in bandages. She remembers that Liam was helping her before she fell asleep. She wonders suddenly how she even got into this room, and knows someone had to have carried her in.

  Now at the foot of the bed, Moira scoots her feet over the edge and lightly places them on the floor. Thankfully the floor is carpet, and feels warm under her sock covered feet. Standing up, she looks around the room to find the door, and that’s when she sees Marty. Across the room near a dark door is a rickety old chair, and he’s asleep sitting up in it. Smiling, she figures he probably sat there in order to keep watch or something, knowing him. And obviously, he must have fallen asleep after a while. On the floor near him, she eyes a stack of clothes and walks over to them in hopes of finding something for herself.

  Bending down quietly so not to wake anyone, she picks through the assorted items. She finds a pair of small sweats and a sweater and deems them good enough. As she turns around to go to the door, she sees something on the floor that makes her pause. Looking closer, she finds that it’s Ray curled up near the bed. This makes her heart swell, that he didn’t leave them alone either. Quietly, she turns back to the door and slowly turns the knob in the darkness. Pulling it open, she lets in a dim light from the hallway and she quickly goes through so she doesn’t disturb anyone.

  Once outside the room, she quickly and quietly closes the door. When she turns around, she finds herself at the end of a hallway, and before the opening of said hallway, is another door. Moira starts down the hall, and passing the other door, she notices that it’s half open. Peering inside, she sees that it’s a bathroom. Sighing in relief, she steps inside and searches for the light switch along the inside wall. Finally finding it, the room is flooded with light, and she has to blink her eyes as she pushes the door closed behind her.

  Stepping up to the small sink, she wishes she could have a shower, but she doesn’t want to remove the bandages covering her. So instead, she strips off her clothes and using the scrubs she was wearing, she wets them and lightly washes up. Before she gets dressed, she finds herself staring at the incision along the right side of her abdomen. Touching it lightly and feeling the stiches, she wonders again what Fletcher did to her when she was knocked out. She can only imagine why they would cut into her, so she stops thinking about before she drives herself crazy. Fully dressed and warm in the sweats, she stares at her reflection in the mirror and is startled at what she sees.

  Her hair hangs limply over her shoulders, and her face is as pale as a ghost. Her eyes are wide and puffy, and look strangely glassy to her. What makes her gasp though, is the way her bottom jaw is swollen and peppered with light bruises. Touching her jaw, she remembers someone pulling out one of her pointed teeth when she was under her persona. Opening her mouth wide, she finds one of her molars in the back missing, and her gum is red and swollen. She looks to her hands then, and finds that her left pinkie nail is gone. As she wiggles her finger and see’s the red raised skin left behind, she can’t believe that she forgot about it.

  Not wanting to dwell on things she can’t change, she goes for the bathroom door and quickly makes her escape. Once outside in the hall, she makes her way to the end of it and realizes she’s just outside of the kitchen. Eyeing the fridge, she hopes it has something to drink inside, and heads straight for it. Before she reaches it though, she hears soft voices coming from the other side of the room.

  As Moira nears the living room the hunt for a drink is forgotten. The voices get louder the closer she gets and can make out Liam’s deep drawl, followed by the voice of his mother. She doesn�
��t understand what they are saying until her name is mentioned, and it makes her listen more closely. The way they are talking softly together, it makes her think that they are discussing something important, that they want to keep to themselves. So she decides to stay where she is and not let them know she’s there, until she finds out what is so secretive. She can almost smell the spicy scent of him, and it makes her pause. Not knowing if he smells her the same way, she steps back along the wall until it fades from her senses.

  “It appears that Fletcher thinks she’s important. He can have the state in lockdown, if he’s inclined too.” Liam’s mother, Paula says.

  “What I don’t get, is why he even wants her so badly. How is she different?” Liam asks.

  Moira holds her breath, this is something she’s been wondering her whole life. She always assumed it was because she was coincidently left after her mother died. But what if it’s not just about her being a specimen?

  “That’s what I’d like to know. When you were looking into her father before, nothing came up about her. After you went to him, did he say anything about it?”

  “All Daniel said was that she was special. Just from being around her, I know that she is too. I’ve never reacted to anyone like I do with her, except for you and dad of course.”

  With a sigh, Paula says, “You were right about the way she smells. I picked up on it as soon as she got out of the car, all cinnamon that one.”

  “Wait until you touch her, it’s like being next to a live wire. I thought only dad felt that way. What do you think it means?”

  Moira doesn’t know what it means either, but she has to bite the inside of her cheek to stop her gasp from forming. How can she feel like his father to them? Is it because his dad attacked her mom? God, she hopes not, she thinks.

  “I’m not sure Liam. But, I’d like to know who her mother is. Maybe it will clue us in on what’s going on.”

  “I don’t know who she was. All I know is that she’s dead.”

  Moira can’t believe they are talking about her this way, as if she isn’t even really real. She can feel her skin tingling in the way that lets her know her persona is building. She closes her eyes, and tries to push it down, but it feels stronger somehow. Her skin feels pulled tight, and she has the feeling of things inside her shifting. Leaning back against the wall, she tries not to make a sound, as she feels her hair rising into the familiar auburn curls.

  “Hmm, that’s a pity. Fletcher has one up on us with that, but at least we have the girl. Your father will know what to do.”

  “It’s lucky I was here the same time Moira was. If I came any sooner to talk to the local pack, we could have missed this opportunity.” Liam says.

  “Yes well, we just have to be extra careful. Can’t have anything ruining our cause now can we?”

  Moira gets filled with rage then. How can they be so indifferent towards her? What do they mean, they’re cause? She’s so mad, that her head starts to throb, and her skin feels like its covered in tiny insects crawling inside. Every bruise and cut she has suddenly burns and she can’t stop the cry of pain that escapes her lips. The voices in the other room stop and she hears one of them get up and start towards her. In a panic, she uses the wall for support and tries to get away before they find her spying on them.

  ***

  Before she gets to the entrance of the kitchen, the cut along her abdomen flares to a burning pain that makes her double over with a scream. Her full persona comes to the surface then, and she can feel her teeth and nails forming with pain filled clarity. Her body feels like she’s receiving every bruise and cut for the first time, and her newly sharpened vision gets blurred through her tears. The stiches in her side feel like they are being pulled apart now, and Moira falls onto the floor with a scream. She barely hears Liam and his mother come around the corner over her cries.

  On her hands and knees now, she digs her nails into the dingy carpet as another wave of pain courses through her. Liam moves towards her, and is saying something, but she flinches away from him not caring. He pulls away, but kneels beside her and looks to his mother who has stood frozen in the same position in the doorway. Moira looks towards her too, and can’t stop the hatred she throws at her with her eyes.

  “What’s happening to me?” Moira yells in between screams.

  By this time, Raven and Marty has come up behind Paula and are looking between them all in confusion. Liam tries to come closer to Moira again, and she scoots away from him crying and grasping her pain filled middle.

  Stepping away from the others, Paula walks towards Moira the way you would to a skittish animal.

  “I see your persona is back. Does it feel like your insides are being pulled apart?” She asks as she kneels beside Liam and faces her.

  Moira feels overwhelmed having the two of them so close to her, the sense of spices fills her up and cause her crawling insides flare making her cry out again. Falling onto her side, she curls into herself as her stomach is stretched tightly.

  “What’s wrong with me?” Moira pants out in a whisper.

  “Nothing is wrong, your body is healing itself. I’ve just never seen it happen this quickly though.” Paula shares a look with Liam that Moira can’t decipher.

  Not having the strength to question them, Moira moans as the stiches get pushed out of her stomach. Raven pushes aside Liam and Paula, and comes toward Moira. She lightly touches her hair, and pushes it off her sweaty forehead. Moira can see that she’s crying now too, and is full of relief when Raven lifts her up a little to place Moira’s head in her lap. Moira lets Raven’s arms around her anchor her, and try not to be consumed as her body wages are war with itself. Slowly all the pain that she was filled with gets dimmer until it finally disappears. Shaking now, she feels so cold, that it doesn’t seem possible she could be sweating so badly.

  She blinks back tears, and looks around at everyone, and apparently they have been talking while she was out of it. Paula is back to standing, and it looks like she’s arguing with a very pissed off Marty. Daisy and Ray, who Moira didn’t hear come into the room, are beside him and are trying to talk him down. Raven has taken to rocking her back and forth, like trying to sooth an upset child. And finally her eyes land on Liam, who hasn’t moved from the spot next to her. He looks so sad, that she almost doesn’t want to say what she’s going to.

  “I’m not different from you. I was born into this, just like a lot of people. I shouldn’t be special enough for some cause you have.” Her voice comes out hoarse, and she has to clear her throat to continue.

  “You are different Moira, even if you don’t see it. Not everyone heals as fast as you just did, you look completely recovered.” He reaches out to indicate that the bruises lining her wrists are gone, but she scoots closer to Raven.

  Moira hating that he could be right, gets angry again. And instead of feeling pain, she feels stronger and she practically spits out her next words at him.

  “If I’m different, then it’s your fathers fault. He infected my mother when she was pregnant with me!” Raven’s hold on her tightens, as the shaking gets worse with her anger.

  Liam’s eyes go wide, and his mother stops her arguing with the others and turns to face Moira.

  “What did you just say?” Paula asks as she gets closer to her son and places a hand on his shoulder.

  “My mother, was a nurse at the facility he was kept at. The night he escaped, he attacked and infected her in the process.” Moira whispers.

  She hears the others in the room gasp with surprise. Liam’s face shuts down of any emotion, but he doesn’t look away from her.

  “He told me about the nurse he possibly infected. Said he didn’t mean to hurt her, but she tried to stop him. He didn’t say anything about her being pregnant though.” Paula says in awe.

  Moira glares at her, when she says, “No kidding? She wasn’t showing yet, so I doubt he stopped hurting her long enough to ask.”

  “What happened to her?” Liam asks quietly, as
he looks at the floor.

  “You know what, she died. She never showed signs of infection, until my birth. It was all too much for her, and it killed her.” Moira says between clenched teeth. Not even Raven’s arms around her, can’t stop the feeling of hatred Moira feels.

  “I’m sorry.” Liam whispers.

  “That would make sense I suppose. The infection Marshall has is the original one, and it gets weaker as it goes down the line. It would seem, you got more of it than your mother.” Paula states as if it’s a completely logical scenario.

  “Why would you think that?” Raven asks before Moira can.

  “She is more like Marshall, than his own son is. They both can heal faster and both have this lingering recognizable scent to them.” Paula answers Raven, but her eyes are on Moira.

  “You smell it too?” Moira asks in surprise.

  “Of course I do. I’m sure you can smell it on Liam also, since he carries his father’s blood. It’s a lot stronger on you though. Marshall might have some ideas as to why.” Paula stands up then, and walks out of the room pulling her cellphone from her pocket.

  Marty, Ray, and Daisy come up to them and give Moira a look like she’s going to sprout seven heads or something. There is still something that doesn’t make sense to her though, and she asks Liam something.

  “What I don’t get, is why Fletcher would make such a big deal over me?” Moira says.

  Liam finally looks up to Moira and gives her a knowing look.

  “If what my mom said is true, then it’s obvious why they would want you, Mo. My dad is in hiding, and you’re the closest thing that mimics his infection. You’re the next best thing, to experiment on.”