Fluorescence: The Complete Tetralogy

by P. Anastasia

  I tucked my drawing pad into the crease of my English book and pretended to read along with the teacher and take notes. In reality, I was plotting the next installment of my graphic novel.

  Marcus Velour—AKA the Hart—had decided to remain within the grey area between crime fighting and crime. He helped those in need, stopped assaults on innocents, and intercepted robberies, but all the while pocketing a few rewards for himself here and there. He justified the thievery by calling it “payment” for all of the good he’d done in the city. A sort of Robin Hood vigilante.

  There were moments I had while creating art when I’d see myself bleeding through the lines as I drew—my own experience breathing life into Marcus. The curse of being an artist is that your art is often a reflection of yourself.

  Jane had made us anonymously mail everything we’d taken on New Year’s Eve back to the store. It took a weight off my shoulders, though I could have used the new coat and the store wouldn’t have missed it. But it made Jane and Alice feel better.

  Hell, my own mother wouldn’t have even noticed the new jacket. Always in her own little world—the one without me in it. Still, as much as I hated what she’d done to me, I couldn’t help but think of her once in a while. Mostly while having dinner with Alice and her mother. Dinner as a family—something I hadn’t had in years.

  After the holiday, I’d tried to check in on my mother at the mental institution, but hit nothing but road blocks. I called several people, including social services, but everyone shut me out.

  By law, they weren’t able to disclose her health information to me. Ever since the guardianship transfer had gone through, she was not legally allowed to contact me either. Child services had deemed her unfit to care for me, and therefore she’d been slapped with a restraining order on top of being put away for rehab.

  It sucked, but she’d earned it.

  Half of me wanted to know she was getting better—that she would recover and move on with her life without me. That someday, she would drag herself out of the mud and find a true purpose in life.

  The other half of me didn’t give a shit.

  . . .

  A bicyclist buzzed past us on the sidewalk as we walked home from school. I reached out and pulled Alice toward me and out of the way of the next bike zooming up from behind. College kids. In too much of a hurry to use the bike lane like they were supposed to.

  We passed the little coffee shop she and Sam used to frequent and paused to look in. Leftover specks of artificial snow freckled the corners of the glass.

  We stood there and contemplated going in for a drink. I eyed the entrance, memories of sugary indulgences past pressuring me to give in. The phantom taste of sweet hot cocoa and whipped cream made my mouth water.

  I took a step toward the door, lifting my arm to push the handle. It opened a crack, but wouldn’t budge any farther, as if someone was forcing it closed. Keeping me back. The bell hanging on the inside of the glass began to jingle. A slow, drawn-out hum hung in the air, as if the sound had been paused mid-ring, the clatter of metal bouncing against glass softened by the sudden halt of time.

  Then we fell into a chasm of blinding white light.

  We touched down on solid ground, and the stale, thin air made my lungs feel like they were being squeezed. Alice was still beside me, but Kareena was nowhere to be seen.

  Only us?

  “It has been some time since we have spoken,” said the translator, looking down at me with emotionless eyes. “There are things we need to discuss. It seems not all of those you were meant to start have been activated.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I replied before Alice could speak.

  “The little boy you were housed with—Peter, we believe his name is. Alice did not start him. There was another incident recorded on the thirty-first of December. Another child overlooked. This is unacceptable. We must have all of the marked ones started.”

  “It was an accident,” I lied as well as I could. “But even so, it shouldn’t matter. You asked us to help you and we have. But we don’t have to do everything you tell us.”

  “Yes, you must,” the translator said with a faint sneer rising in his voice. An expression he’d probably learned from Kareena. “We require them all. Every one of them.”

  “But I don’t want to.” Alice looked up into his grey eyes. “I don’t want to start children, please. We don’t know how it will affect them. I’m scared it might—”

  “It is none of your concern.” The Savior tilted his head at her. “We did not ask you to choose for us. We have already made our selections. We have confirmed that your Seeker located each of the sleeping ones, but you two collectively conspired against us and refused to start them. There is no excuse for this behavior.”

  “It’s not right!” I said, pulling Alice behind me. “Why should we trust you with children? Why should we trust you at all? We don’t know how it will affect them and you haven’t even told us a thing about your ‘cause’—whatever the hell it is. We don’t want to be responsible for—”

  “Give her back,” Alice said quietly, taking a step out from behind me.

  “What?” The translator stared, unmoved. “Repeat your words.”

  Alice cleared her throat. “Give her—our baby—back.” She swallowed hard.

  “Alice, what are you saying?” I grabbed her by the wrist. “Alice?”

  “We’ll make it work.” She shot a desperate glare my way. “We can. Mom will help us. We can make it work. I know we can.”

  The translator drew nearer and looked down his nose at Alice. “You previously complained of age restrictions. You are not yet eighteen. Why do you want the responsibility back now?”

  “Yeah, Alice, why now?” I tried not to hold her wrist too tightly, but I was trembling with budding fears. We didn’t need the baby. Not right now.

  “You mentioned before something about it being dangerous to travel while carrying her. What if I take her back… and you let us stop doing this for a while? Then I won’t have to start anyone else. You said you needed her, too—that our child could be the key to finding a cure. Now you won’t have to wait as long. Please consider it.”

  “It is a tempting offer, yes,” the Savior said, nodding slightly. He turned and looked at the lineup of other Saviors observing us from behind him. They were easier than usual for us to see. The unusually thin grey haze made them appear only slightly out of focus today.

  He turned back toward us and avoided eye contact. “It cannot be done,” he said flatly.

  “Why not?” Alice asked.

  “It is complicated,” he replied. “We will require more time and…” He stopped.

  “And… what?” I prodded, suspicion tainting my voice.

  “And we would require another fetus.”

  Alice gasped.

  “What? What do you mean?” I took a step closer. “Why would you need a second one?”

  “We underestimated the capabilities of the disease that plagues our kind. Exposure was inevitable, but we were certain it would not be a problem. However, the disease was very strong and the fetus too weak to resist. It perished.”

  “No,” Alice murmured beneath her breath.

  “No!” I clenched my fists. “You son-of-a-bitch,” I hissed. “How long have you known about this!? When were you going to tell us?”

  “She’s dead?” Alice whispered, tugging on my sleeve, her bright blue irises shimmering with fear. “Our baby is…?”

  “An unintentional casualty,” the translator interrupted. “That is all.”

  “You bastards!” I lunged at him.

  White hot light burned my retinas and a jolt of pain shot through me. I slammed into the sidewalk in front of the café and let out a howl. A humming noise rattled my brain. My hand stung with the bloody scuff across my knuckles.

  “Brian!” Alice helped me up off the ground and sheltered my arm with her body so no one would s
ee the glow. A little girl with huge eyes plastered her face against the café window and stared out at me.

  “I was right, Alice. They’re nothing but goddamn liars.” I tucked my arm beneath the flap of my overshirt and quivered as the fiery pain tore through me. Hitting the concrete had skinned nearly my entire forearm raw.

  “I’m not giving in to them anymore. We aren’t doing anything for them.” My blue light began working its magic. The skin started to stretch and reform over the wound. “Let’s get out of here.” I wiped the residual blood onto my jeans and we fast-walked away from the scene. Didn’t need people freaking out about the bloody stain I’d left on the pavement.

  “If they send us somewhere again,” I said through gritted teeth, “we won’t do anything. Okay? We’ll stay still and wait it out. They can’t keep us there forever.”

  “But, what if they do?” Alice sighed. “What then?”

  “They won’t.” I tried to make a fist but it hurt.

  Hopefully… They won’t.

  Chapter 20

  “Brian!?” Jane turned off the kitchen faucet and came rushing toward us. She took hold of my arm and her widened eyes scanned it, up and down, taking in the dried blood.

  “It’s nothing,” I replied, tugging away from her. “I’ll be fine. It healed.”

  “Oh, thank God. What happened?”

  “We had a little talk with the Saviors,” I said. “And I didn’t like what I heard.” I went over to the sink and twisted on the faucet, leaving rusty red fingerprints on the chrome. Warm water poured over my hands and I lowered my forearm beneath the spout. “They told us we weren’t doing our job—that we had to start every single ‘marked’ person. Even children.” Crimson water swirled down the drain. I turned off the water and then grabbed some paper towels to dry my hands.

  “Jesus, I wish they’d just leave you two alone!” Jane quickly checked Alice’s hands for blood.

  “I’m fine, Mom.” Alice pulled away and took a seat at the kitchen table. She dropped her head down. “There’s more,” she muttered.

  I took a deep breath and came up beside Alice. “Yeah,” I said, putting a hand onto her shoulder. She was quaking. The green light ignited beneath my hand. Warm, faint jolts of static energy pulsed through my fingertips. “They…” I cleared my throat, but a lump formed. I choked on the words. “The bastards killed our baby.”

  Jane gasped, staggering back against the kitchen counter. She bumped into a glass and it toppled over, splashing water everywhere. I lunged for the nearby hand towel and passed it to her before too much dripped onto the floor.

  “She caught whatever disease is killing them and…” The skin of my face felt taut and warm. I cleared my throat again. “She… died. They weren’t even going to tell us.” I swallowed hard and fought back against the sadness creeping through me, tightening my throat. The next few breaths were difficult, as if an iron weight was pressing against my chest.

  Be strong for Alice, I kept telling myself.

  “They killed her? Why would they let that happen? How? I thought they were more competent than that… that they knew what they were doing. I mean…” Jane’s voice broke. “I understand you didn’t really want a baby right now but… for them to just let her die. Oh, dear God.” She covered her mouth and shook her head. “They’re monsters.”

  “I know.” I pulled a seat out beside Alice and sat down. “And we’re not doing another damn thing for them ever again. They don’t give a damn about us. They don’t care at all about how we feel about any of this.”

  Alice took my hand and stared up into my eyes, her lower lip quivering.

  “If they want their dirty work done, they can get someone else to do it,” I said. “Screw them. All of this crap we’ve been through for them, and they’ve not done a single thing for us in return.”

  “They fixed you,” Alice said, placing her trembling palm on my chest. “Your heart, I mean.”

  “Surely we’ve paid them back enough for that by now. The baby. All of those people we started. Damn. I’ll take the pacemaker back if I have to.”

  “Don’t say that. You don’t mean it!”

  She was right.

  I didn’t want it back.

  I’d never felt so free and alive as I had since the night my fluorescence healed my heart. My body worked the way it was meant to and I didn’t have to fear for my life every time I got hyped up about something. But then, I had other things to be grateful for. I wouldn’t have Jane without the Saviors. I wouldn’t have had the freedom or the ability to stay with Alice.

  I’d still have my mother and all the close-minded skepticism she brought with her.

  I wouldn’t have shit worth living for.

  “Do you wanna go somewhere, Alice?” I stood up and reached out a hand for hers. “For a ride. We can go to the beach or whatever. Anywhere. Just to get some air?”

  “I-I guess. Sure.”

  “Jane? Is it okay?”

  “I suppose.” She shrugged. “But don’t you have to work tonight?”

  “I’ve got a few hours before I need to be in. It will be okay.” I intertwined my fingers with Alice’s and we headed toward the garage.

  I shrugged on my jacket and got on my motorcycle.

  “Your helmet, Brian?” Alice held it out to me.

  I’d deliberately left it on the nearby shelf.

  I shook my head. “I don’t need it. I’ll be fine.”

  I’d heal if…

  “What? But…”

  “I’ll be alright, Alice. Don’t worry.”

  She came around to the front of the bike and set the helmet on the handlebars.

  “No. It’s not okay, Brian,” she said, her stern gaze cutting a hole straight through me. “I love you and I won’t let you get hurt because you’re being a jerk about what happened earlier. I know you’re angry and upset, but so am I. It’s no reason to be self-destructive.” She crossed her arms and looked away. “Take it. Or I won’t go with you.”

  “Okay. Okay.” I shoved my helmet on, feeling like a total ass. The one time I try to rebel…

  “Thanks.” She straddled the bike behind me. “I can’t lose you, Brian,” she said, leaning forward to hug me. “I just can’t.”

  “I know, Alice.” I flipped the starter button and the engine rumbled beneath us. “I know.”

  . . .

  “What do you think they’ll do if we quit starting people?” she asked, holding tightly to my hand as we walked along the shoreline. Rolling waves of sea foam tumbled toward us, narrowly missing our shoes.

  “I don’t know. But I’m not afraid of them. Someone needs to stand up to them so they’ll learn not to mess with us.”

  “I’m scared.” She stopped and tugged on my arm. Bright tangerine-colored sunlight reflected off her eyes.

  “Don’t be.” I smiled and kissed her. “You have me.”

  She closed her eyes and sighed.

  We walked further down along the shoreline until we found a quiet place to stop. I lay back against the sand and filled my lungs with cool salty air. Alice rested her head against my outstretched arm, nestling close to me.

  It was harder than ever to clear my head. So many things I couldn’t change even though I wanted to. We were teenagers, but we had to act like adults now. We had to think that way, or we’d never find our way through this mess. We’d never make the right decisions.

  So much static. So much anger bubbling up inside.

  The thought of them killing our child made my heart hurt. I tried to not let it eat at me, but I was crumbling inside. They had destroyed a part of us, and that I couldn’t ignore.

  “Did you want her?” I asked, my fingers slipping beneath the hem of Alice’s shirt to caress the soft skin of her abdomen.

  She closed her eyes.

  “I don’t know,” she said softly. “I didn’t—when all this first began and I wasn’t mentally prepared—but then I started to ac
cept the possibility of it all and… now that she’s gone, I feel kind of, well…”

  “Me too.”

  I pulled Alice a little closer. She wrinkled my shirt with her fingers.

  “Maybe when all of this over with and things are better…”

  “When will things be better?” she asked, lifting her head abruptly. “What if they never get better?” She sat up and pulled her knees to her chest, a stifled whimper sounding from her throat.

  “I don’t know,” I replied, coming up beside her. “Maybe they will or, damn it, maybe they won’t.” I tucked a hand into one of my jean pockets and rummaged around. I felt the cool touch of metal and closed my fingers around it. “But that won’t stop us from living—from being who we were meant to be. We have to move forward with our lives, Alice. We can’t let the Saviors hold us back.”

  I took her hand and turned it over, palm up.

  “We work well together.” I pressed my closed hand gently into hers. “We’ll make our own choices.”

  My fingers unfolded and the ring released into her hand.

  “I was going to wait to give this to you, but why bother? There’s no difference between one day and another anymore. They blur together. They come and go. Like dreams.”

  She cupped her hand and examined the ring. Light glistened off the delicate s-shaped swirls of gold embracing the silver band. In the center, the curls came together to cradle a small sparkling white diamond.

  “Consider it a promise,” I said. “A promise to someday ask you the question that already burns in me every night.”

  “It’s beautiful.” She grinned.

  My heartbeat quickened as she slid it onto her left ring finger. It fit perfectly, thanks to Jane’s help.

  Alice reached her arms out and hugged me more tightly than ever. “Don’t ever break your promise,” she uttered, her face nuzzling my chest.

  Such warmth against me. Her sweet scent mingling with the ocean breeze was perfect—unforgettable. I ran a hand through her satiny hair.