by A. B. Bloom
My head cleared in an instant, what exactly where they planning?
Where were the Intra security? Couldn’t they see what was going on? I clanged through the sea of people and saw the black uniformed guards with their backs turned segregating off the Metas. Some Metas were pretending not to notice what was going on, but I could see Frankie and some others trying to fight through to me, but they couldn’t. The wall of security blocked every move they made and I was left at the mercy of an angry crowd of humans.
Bile rose up my throat as I caught another vision of exactly what they wanted to do with me. The end of me—the Meta who dared to be near a human.
Just then as blind panic overtook me and I stumbled, a hand caught mine. A soothing wave of calm washed through me as the blank darkness of Chase’s mind pushed the other horrifying visions from my own mind. I looked up and saw him, his dark hair, tousled and on end, his face lined with bruises and cuts. “Delly, come.” He pulled me hard, his fingers tight on mine so we couldn’t be separated and I went with him, running my feet alongside his as we tried to escape the mob of humans and the Metas who were clamouring to join in the fight.
“Dad will be here any minute.” He shouted over my shoulder. “The riot will be crushed.”
“Is this all because of me?” I called back, my lungs struggling to breathe as we ran faster than I had in a long time.
“Us. It’s us.” He didn’t look back but his fingers held mine tighter.
He pushed through a doorway and yanked me off the main corridor. We stood in a darkened tunnel and I trembled down to my toes as he wound me in his strong arms and pulled me into his chest. A shuddering overtook my body. “They were going to kill me,” I said.
“I won’t let anyone hurt you.” He kissed my hair, my forehead. Kisses fluttered down the length of my nose until he reached my lips where the warm curve of his mouth pressed against mine tightly.
“I saw the vision of you being murdered again. It was a human who was there in the crowd.”
He pulled away and lifted the corner of his mouth into a small smile. “Don’t worry about me, I can take care of myself.” Smoothing his hands down my shoulders he ran deft fingers over my skin. “Are you hurt?”
I shook my head but reality and a complex convergence of different futures mixed together in my mind until I no longer knew what was real and what hadn’t happened yet.
I reached a hand and used tentative fingers to touch his damaged face. Those gorgeous cheekbones were smattered in cuts and deep purple bruises. “I’m sorry, this is all because of me.” A tear slipped down my cheek, quickly chased by another and another. “If I’d just stayed away from you this would never have happened.”
He cupped my cheek, pulling me in closer and skimmed his lips across mine. How his lips weren’t damaged when the rest of his face was a mess of purple explosions was beyond me. “You came to me for a reason, because I needed you, Delly.” His breath fluttered into my mouth with his words and I inched myself closer. A strong connection tethered me to him. It didn’t care about different races or the fact we were from different planets either, it just wanted me to be with him, in his space touching him. “Not to save my life protecting me from a knife, but giving me a life in this Godforsaken place.”
I pressed myself into his chest, sliding my arms down his back until I could hug him so tightly my arms ached. There was a clamour behind us and the reverberation of loud footsteps echoed through the door. “I think we need to go.”
“But where?” I didn’t think anywhere would be safe. Not for us. If we escaped the mob, then his father would know I hadn’t obeyed our agreement.
With his words, I knew it was all over for us. “We can hide in the fields until everything has calmed down.”
“No.” I yanked at his hand but it didn’t make any difference. He was going to go to the fields and there he would die. Because of me. All along I’d been trying to save him, but it was because of me that he would die. Because he was going to protect me from an angry mob who didn’t think Metas and humans should be together.
The vicious irony of the situation forced a macabre chuckle from deep within my throat. “What?” he asked.
My eyes met his and for a joyous moment I gazed into the deep depths. “I just wish I’d known you longer.”
His lips touched mine again, the briefest flutter of his skin as it brushed my mouth. “We’ve got forever.” He took my hand and I silently followed him as he led me down hidden corridors. All I could think was that our forever was going to be very short.
The shout of chants and hollered calls filled the air as we pushed through the entrance to the farming dome. My comms beeped and I connected with Adrianna although she couldn’t have been able to hear my garbled greeting as my lungs squeezed for air.
“Delly, where are you, there’s a riot.”
“I know.” I panted.
‘They want you, what have you done?”
“Nothing! I haven’t done anything.”
There was a beat of silence on the phone and I knew she was analysing all the many things I’d done wrong to get myself into this situation. She sighed. “Listen, there is a man—a human—he’s leading the group looking for you. It’s the guy Chase beat the hell out of. He wants revenge. I know him, he’s from our afternoon lecture.”
My heart jumped into my throat where it sped wildly. Everything was playing out just like my vision of the future had predicted.
We were running down a row of corn when a shout lifted through the air, “This way.” Chase grabbed my hand tighter in response.
“Adie, I’ve got to go. You and Frankie, stay away, please,” I begged. “Tell him I’m sorry and it was never meant to be like this.”
“He’s already searching—” her words faded off and I lost contact.
I didn’t think I could take much more. If Frankie came searching for us, he too would get hurt.
The fall of feet landed closer and closer and Chase looked around in desperation. Then they came into vision, crowds of humans. Some were armed with rocks and tools; one man, whose face was a mish mash of purple, pink and yellow, led the way. In his hand, he held a glinting blade.
Chase straightened, his fingers dropping mine as he lifted his hands and placed them on my shoulders, bending slightly so he could look me in the eye. “Hide in the corn please, Delphine.”
“No.” I pushed myself against him but he held me back, his eyes never leaving my face. “Do as you’re told and they will forget about you.”
“No, they won’t.” I shook my head. “They aren’t going to forget. It’s me who’s in the wrong.”
“No. Trust me. Just go and hide.”
With a sharp shove, he pushed me back against the dirt, my back sliding down the corn, scratching my skin as the thin cotton of my scrub top rose. He looked at me apologetically and I knew he didn’t want to hurt me. “Please.” He mouthed the word and my heart sank. Against my own wishes and judgement, I scurried back in the dirt leaving the human behind in my stead protecting me.
Once I was out of sight I changed the game and decided I would do anything to save him, the boy who would take a blade for me. Anything.
I bleeped my comms. “Commander Walker,” I snapped waiting to be connected.
“Miss Hama,” his voice was cool. Clearly, he didn’t know what was going on within his jurisdiction.
“Walker,” I hissed as low as I could. “It’s Chase, someone is going to murder him.”
A stealthy silence met my words. “And you know this because?”
I swallowed deeply. “Because I’m a prophet and I’ve been trying to save his life.”
Walker sucked in a breath. “Where are you?”
I heard the approach of heavy feet. ‘Right about where the mob is heading. You’ve got security filming all these places, right?” My tone lifted a little as I heard a minor scuffle break out in front of me. “Farming dome, field eight I think.” And with my words I disconnected and crept fo
rward on my belly. One thing for sure, there was no way I was going to let this play out without me trying to save him one last time. If I didn’t it would all have been for nothing.
I slunk along, my hair catching in the lower branches of the towering corn, my elbows burning and scraping with every move I made. When I neared the edge, I could see the back of Chase’s boots and around them at least twenty other pairs. One scuffed set was pacing forward and the words “Meta lover,” reached my ears.
Chase stepped back but I knew he was only trying to block the path to me. I’d already seen this played out once. “You don’t know anything about her, she’s worth more than any of you.”
His words were a dramatic miscalculation and the scuffed boots lunged forward and I didn’t need my prophet ability to know that a knife was heading straight for Chase’s chest where it would slide in as if through butter.
I scrambled from the dirt, launching myself into the air and throwing myself like a shield in front of Chase’s body. A sharp sting pinched my side, but I was too busy focusing on Chase to give it much thought.
“Delly!” My name ripped from his chest and a gasp ran through the air around us.
“Richards, you’ve done it now. The Metas are doing to voodoo your arse.”
With a roar, Chase leapt from the ground where he was strangely holding me and chased at the humans. They scattered in the wake of his anger and he saw them off before returning to me. “Delly, what did you do?”
I blinked up at him, but the sting in my side made me wince. “I was trying to save you, Chase, that’s all I ever wanted.”
“You did, you did.” To my horror his eyes blinked with moisture and one droplet threatened to spill. His hand was holding the sting in my side but when he lifted his fingers to smooth my face they were painted with red.
Red?
It took a long moment to understand what the red was and when I did the world tilted a darkened grey and the tapering corn above our head took on the sombre cast of the reapers scythe.
“Would it be wrong to tell you I’ve fallen in love with you, Delphine Hama?” His words stumbled over my name and that one tear slid down his face. I clung onto it as the darkness deepened and the pain in my side grew sharper until breathing began to hurt.
“I don’t think that would be wrong,” I told him. I went to smile, but instead I closed my eyes and went to sleep.
A steady beep pulled me from my sleep and I blinked into white brightness. Mom was leaning down, her face inches from mine. Tears flowed from her eyes and somewhere else there was another steady sob. I couldn’t turn my head to find its source.
“Delly?” Mom’s voice choked on my name and I tried to smile but everything felt frozen. “They’ve given you meds to heal you, it might feel strange for a while.” She leant over and kissed my forehead. “Brave and foolish girl,” she whispered under her breath, so low that I thought I may have imagined it.
A low cough pulled her back from me and I searched the space around me until Chase filled my vision. “You’re alive,” I whimpered. If my body hadn’t been frozen with whatever medication I’d been given I would have been shaking with relief.
“I’m alive, I think you just stole my words.”
He leant down and brushed a kiss against my mouth and I looked in alarm at my mom. “It’s okay,” he whispered. “I’ve been winning her over with my human charm.” He gave me a wink which warmed my blood a little.
“Okay, okay human, shift so we can all squeeze in.” Frankie all but knocked Chase out of the way as he and Adrianna worked their way alongside my bed. How many people could fit in this room?
Anya stepped up, her face streaked with tears. “How could you start a riot, Delly, of all the things to do.” She frowned at me. “I thought I was the one destined for trouble.”
“It’s true, you are.” My throat was parched with thirst and I desperately hoped someone might think of giving me a sip of water at some point soon. The two empaths in the room reached for the jug of water. “All on form I see.” I offered rolling my eyes which was the only part of myself I could move.
Mom smoothed my hair. “How do you feel, Delly?” I thought about this. The nasty sting in my side was gone. I was alive which I considered a bonus, as was Chase. Even better.
“Fine, I feel fine.”
I was exhausted though. The last couple of weeks had finally caught up with me and I felt a tidal wave of exhaustion wash me down.
“We’ll leave you to rest,” Mom said, her lips glancing my forehead again. The second time in as many minutes, more than she had in months. She leant closer. “He seems nice.”
Nice? Really? I didn’t know if nice was good or bad but I was willing to go with it. As everyone stepped out the room, Chase came to my bedside. “Thank you, Delphine.”
“You’re welcome.”
After he’d gone I stared at the strip lights in the ceiling for a moment trying to get my head around everything that had happened. ‘Thank you from me too,” said a low voice. I startled and the looming shape of Commander Walker moved towards me.
I wasn’t entirely sure if he was genuine or not so I remained quiet, only giving the minutest nod of my head.
“I haven’t been the best father to Chase. I’ve made mistakes I know that. But thank you for giving me a chance to make them right, Miss Hama.” There was a pause. “I hope that I shall be able to repay you.”
My eyes flickered and met his.
“When you leave sick bay, you will find your family have been moved to new accommodation. I hope this will be to your liking.”
“New accommodation where my ability can be beneficial?” I asked.
His face remained smooth. “I have no idea what ability you are talking about, Miss Hama. I figured it would just be easier for you and my son to be within closer proximity for the remainder of your time on the Complex and within an area where your safety would be paramount.”
We stared at each other for one long moment.
“Thank you,” I said.
“Thank you,” he returned.
After he left, it was only a few minutes before Chase slipped back in and clambered onto my bed, sliding himself alongside me. My body charged with electricity at his close proximity.
Of the many things seen and unseen in my life. Chase Walker coming in and linking his future with mine was the one that I wouldn’t be letting go of.
I closed my eyes and settled my head on his shoulder. That’s when I saw it. Us, a different us, an older us, my head still resting on his shoulders. Filling the background were the shouts of children.
“Chase?”
“Sleep, Delly, you need to rest.” His arm wrapped itself into a protective layer, drawing me in close so that I could only smell him, not the cloying scent of the sick bay.
“But, I can see us.” I smiled, my eyes still closed, just in case it evaporated and never came back.
“What?”
I lifted my lips to his jaw, sweeping them across the soft skin that warmed my mouth. “The unseen.”
In that moment, the power of the last prophet manifested itself into its true gift and I was at peace with it and with me.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my novella from THE COMPLEX!
All reviews are appreciated.
If you would like to read more from THE COMPLEX series, please click on the link below:
The Complex Website
A book hoarder and coffee addict by heart Anna Bloom loves to write extraordinary stories about real love. Based south of London with her husband, three children and a dog with a beard, Anna likes to connect with readers, fan girl over her favourite authors and binge watch Supernatural while drinking lots of wine.
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