Fluorescence: The Complete Tetralogy

by P. Anastasia

But our happiness was bittersweet, and the weight of reality quickly dragged me back down. Fear. Uncertainty. Things could change at any moment.

  “I love you, Alice,” I said, taking her hand into mine and brushing my thumb across the ring. “I’d do anything for you. Anything at all. You know that, right?” The subtle shade of pink in her cheeks looked stunning beneath the warm hues of sunset.

  “Yes. I do, Brian.” She averted her eyes. “And sometimes knowing that scares me.”

  “Why?”

  “I worry about you getting hurt. I mean… you didn’t even want to take your helmet with you today.”

  “Maybe that was a naive thing to do, but I’m not stupid, Alice. Still, I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t take a bullet for you.”

  She fell silent.

  “Alice?” I pressed my fingers to her chin and tipped her face up toward mine. “Don’t feel bad. And don’t feel sorry for me, either. Remember, I’m the one who heals. I could take that bullet if I had to.”

  Chapter 21

  I had to be at work in an hour. Hardly enough time to change and head back out, but now wasn’t the time to worry. I squeezed the rubber grips and focused on the road. Car engines rumbled all around us. Alice tucked her hands into my jacket pockets.

  Someday, I’d buy her an even better ring.

  One that was more…

  Our surroundings blurred.

  Shit!

  My wheels locked and I went flying headfirst over the handlebars, straight toward the rear window of a white SUV.

  Street signs softened out of focus. Speeding cars slowed to a crawl. Alice drifted behind me, caught in mid-air over the asphalt. We tried to reach out to each other, but just seconds later we came slamming back down onto the ground. The thud of my helmet hitting asphalt made my ears ring. I came to my knees and shook my head, disorientated.

  Alice cried out in pain. I scrambled to my feet.

  “My hands!” she shrieked, holding out her arms.

  “I’m here.” I slid off my helmet, tossed it aside, and then carefully removed hers. It was dark as hell and I could barely see. Only faint moonlight and a few buzzing, flickering streetlamps loomed overhead. Alice’s palms had been scuffed raw, muscle tissue showing through in patches of shiny, open skin. I tugged off my gloves and then took her hands into my own, her warm blood seeping through my fingers.

  “It hurts,” she whined, squirming and tugging for me to release her. “Let me go, Brian!”

  “I know it hurts, but you have to calm down,” I said. “Just breathe in and out. Slowly. I’ll heal you, but you have to give me a minute. I’m trying.”

  She gritted her teeth and groaned, stifling a moan with each shallow exhale.

  “Just breathe.” I cupped her trembling hands and concentrated on the wounds—on the peels of supple white flesh curling up around them. Fresh blood drizzled down my palms. Alice sobbed and sucked in a congested breath.

  Blue fluorescence started to appear, radiating from deep beneath my skin at first and then quickly rising up and skittering across veins near the surface. The open patches on her palms began to smooth over with fresh skin. The wounds eased closed.

  “Better?” I asked, examining her hands as well as I could in the darkness. They felt smooth and intact again.

  “Yes. Thank you.”

  Water dripped into my ear and I shook my head. Cold droplets of rain fell on the back of my neck.

  “Damn it! Rain?” I couldn’t recognize where we were, but as usual, the air tasted stale and bland. I looked around. Empty streets, abandoned storefronts. Dim alleyways. I couldn’t see much in the distance. It was lit only by beat-up streetlamps shuddering on and off. “We need to find shelter.”

  A clap of thunder rumbled and, seconds later, a white line of lightning bolted across the sky, highlighting our surroundings for an instant.

  “Where are we?” Alice asked. She rubbed her arms briskly. Her teeth chattered and she took short breaths through her mouth.

  “I don’t know, but we need to find Kareena and get the hell out of here before we get hypothermia from this goddamn rain. Let’s get moving.”

  We pushed forward down the street until we came to a crossing with signs posted. Brent Street. Briar Lane.

  Where in hell?

  We kept walking, sticking close to the sidewalk and the meager overhang that stretched out over the doors along the strip of abandoned shop buildings. Graffiti. Broken windows. I took a step and heard a crunch beneath my shoe. Glass. The crackling sound sent a shiver up my spine.

  Maybe it was the rain. The damn cold rain. It kept coming, pouring down, making it hard to see.

  Never-ending.

  No sign of Kareena.

  “Do you think she’s here?” Alice asked with a shudder, holding the collar of her jacket tightly closed at her throat.

  “Maybe. I don’t know. I don’t even know where we are.” The rain clattered against the rooftops and down the gutters, sputtering out toward our feet. I stepped over a rush from a downspout and turned to make sure Alice got across okay, too.

  We fast-walked another two blocks in the shadows before the rain slowed and we could finally get our bearings… or at least try. Very little had been marked in this whole place. The broken shop windows were old. What signage we had found had most of the lettering worn off. Wherever we were, it hadn’t been inhabited for years.

  We found a broken-down pick-up truck with rusted out sides and checked the license plate. Michigan. Just on the other side of the street was another torn up convertible with what looked like… gunshot holes riddling the door. The leather seats had been destroyed. Steering wheel removed. No license plate.

  My shoes squelched with every step. I brushed a hand through my hair to slick it back. My jeans dripped. My soaked shirt stuck to me beneath my jacket. I felt disgusting. I tried my cell phone in vain. It wouldn’t turn on.

  Of course.

  “Where in the hell are we?” I thought out loud. “What kind of ghetto is this? There’s no one here. Why would they send us here? What could they possibly—”

  “Brian!”

  An unmistakable high-pitched voice sounded from the distance.

  “Kareena!” Alice and I said in unison, glancing at each other.

  “Kareena!” I called back again.

  We heard voices. People arguing.

  Thunder rumbled and the sounds were muffled.

  Then Kareena called out again.

  I took Alice’s hand and we ran toward the sound.

  Down another street corner. Past an abandoned garage. Past a mountain of busted up car parts. Lightning struck again and the sky lit up white. A tall chain-link fence blocked our way.

  “Damn it!” I shoved my hands against the cold metal and pulled back. Further down, curls of broken wires sagged toward the ground. Places where links had been cut or rusted.

  I searched along the fence until I finally came across an opening large enough for us to squeeze through.

  “Be careful, Alice,” I said, carefully prying back a section of wire. She ducked down through the tear and came out the other side. I followed.

  “Help!” Kareena shrieked. Her voice was closer now.

  We hurried toward the sound. Down a dark alleyway. A sharp turn around a corner. There she was—beneath a bright blue-white streetlight—being restrained by someone. Hot pink fluorescence flowed beneath the skin of her face.

  “Get… your hands… off me!” Kareena screamed, straining her voice. She struggled and tried to wriggle free. One of her arms had been pulled tightly behind her back and the stranger had his other arm hooked around her neck.

  “Let her go!” I yelled, shielding my eyes from more drizzle while trying to make out the face of whoever held Kareena.

  “Let go, you bastard!” she moaned, grunting and jerking her body around. He twisted her arm further back behind her and she yelped in pain.

  “Who are yo
u?” I took a step closer to them and was able to make him out a little more. Dark skinned. Black hair, maybe. Tall. A little muscular, but not enough to intimidate me. I couldn’t tell much else.

  “You’re here,” he said, and then shoved Kareena to the ground. She coughed hard and held her throat. “Took your sweet-ass time. Didn’t you?”

  “What do you want from us?” I asked, raising my voice against the booming thunder.

  “I’m here to make sure you do your job,” he replied, his voice low and gritty. “And I’ll break you one at a time if I have to.”

  He shot a glare toward Alice.

  “Don’t you dare touch her!” I roared, stepping in front of her.

  “He’s one of us!” Kareena said, struggling to catch her breath. “I… saw it… inside him.”

  “What? What do you mean he’s one of us?” I locked eyes with the man and took another step toward him. I could see now he was older than me, but not by much. Probably in his late twenties.

  “Who are you?” I asked again, wiping the rain from my brow.

  “We have to help her!” Alice pushed past me and ran to Kareena’s side. The man lunged for Alice and caught her by the wrist. He twisted her arm back behind her and she wailed in pain.

  “Alice!” I bolted at him, fist first.

  Contact! He reeled backward. My knuckles ached from the impact, but the sight of that bastard tumbling to the ground and holding his face made it worth it. I rotated my wrist. Shook it out.

  “Are you okay, Alice?”

  She quickly helped Kareena to her feet and then came running to me. We huddled together and backed away.

  “Yes. Thank you,” she replied, and then gasped. “He’s up!”

  “You little son-of-a-bitch!” The man came to his feet, his lips curled into a nasty sneer. His eyes were hidden in shadow. Lighting struck and a glimmer of light reflected off the blood drizzling down his cheek. He swiped his fingers across his face and huffed.

  “You’ll pay for that.” He clenched his fists and rolled his shoulders back.

  “You don’t scare me,” I growled, gesturing for the girls to back up.

  He chuckled. “I don’t have to take shit from you kids. I told you, I’m here to make sure you do your job.”

  Amber light sparked across his chest, emanating through his shirt, beginning around his sternum and then forking up across his collar bone toward his shoulders.

  Jesus. He was one of us.

  I froze in place and locked on to him.

  He stretched an arm toward me and flattened his hand, spreading out his fingers and pointing his open palm at me. The gold light skittered through his body, illuminating his arms and hands all the way down to his fingertips. Veins of fluorescence flickered beneath his skin.

  I took a step back and swallowed hard. His fluorescence appeared brighter than any of ours.

  “What did the Saviors say to get you to come after us?” I asked. “Did they make you some kind of promise? Well, they won’t keep it! They’re lying bastards. They’ll never—” An invisible jolt of energy shot through me like a punch to the gut. I lost my breath. My knees hit the ground. I hunched over, digging my hands into gravel and earth. Straining to suck in air.

  Nothing came in. I wheezed. Tightness closing my throat.

  Shit…

  The energy pulse shook me to the bone, squeezing my chest tight and crushing my lungs and heart. I couldn’t breathe.

  Alice came to my side, shouting things I couldn’t make out. Pressure built in my ears. Ringing. Then a dull buzz deafened me.

  My head ached.

  I doubled over. Unable to comprehend the muffled words I was hearing.

  Finally, my blue light sparked to life. The color grew bright and hot, leeching through my skin like plumes of dry ice fog. The pain subsided. Slightly.

  “You’re a freaking coward!” I shouted as soon as I gained the strength to lift my head. “That’s all you are. You can’t trust the Saviors. They’re liars.”

  “Enough!” His light grew even brighter, jagged veins blazing like yellow fire within his chest. It hadn’t even physically touched me, and yet, I could feel its energy, sucking the strength right out of me.

  A tingling sensation washed over me and my vision blurred.

  I felt lightheaded.

  I gritted my teeth hard. Bright splashes of color flashed across my field of vision, distorting my surroundings. Blackness. In and out. Fading spirals of light.

  “Brian!” Alice put her hand on my shoulder. “Brian. Please. Come back to me.”

  I strained to pull myself upright, but I couldn’t focus. My head felt heavy. Everything around me was spinning. Light flashed through my arm, the color a more potent blue than I’d ever seen before.

  I wiped my face with the back of my hand.

  Warm. Crimson.

  A nose bleed!?

  I hadn’t even taken a damn hit.

  “Are you okay?” Alice brushed my wet hair out of my face and wiped the rain from my forehead.

  “Yeah,” I said, wiping my mouth again. Tasting iron.

  Lightning flashed. The back of my hand glistened red. I took a deep breath and sat back on my ankles.

  “So,” the stranger said, looking down at me, “are we gonna play nice now? Or would you prefer to keep bleeding?”

  I bit my tongue. If only I hadn’t been too weak to fight back. My body was so drained.

  “I don’t know what they said to you up there,” I wheezed, laboring just to breathe, “but you’ve lost your mind. There’s no one here. Who the hell are we supposed to start? This place is abandoned.”

  “Oh, there are people here,” he said with a chuckle. “You just have to look for them.” He pointed at Kareena. “Seeker! Why don’t you make yourself useful and start seeking?”

  “I’m not your bitch.” She clenched her fists. “I don’t have to do anything.”

  The amber light sparked in his chest again and Kareena gasped, stumbling backwards a few feet.

  “Okay. Okay,” she yelped, before he could use his fluorescence against her. “Whatever. Just please don’t hurt me again.” She bent down at my side. “I’m sorry, Brian.” She wrapped her arm around mine and Alice took my other hand. They helped me to my feet.

  “Thanks.”

  Alice stuck close by me and helped to steady my steps as we followed Kareena through the streets. The stranger lingered close beside her, threatening her with a nasty glare every time she stopped to look back at us. His golden light—though faded considerably—lingered. A dim, haunting glow.

  I wanted him dead.

  We didn’t even know his name, but he was a turncoat. Forcing us to do the Saviors’ dirty work even though he had no idea who we were or what we’d been through.

  “There!” Kareena called out, pointing down an alley in the distance. “I see someone.”

  We followed her down the alley until we came to a pair of blurred outlines huddling together. Children. Orphans, or homeless. Or both.

  I felt a flush of warmth in my arm. Blue light flickered through my fingertips.

  “You need to heal them, Brian,” said Kareena, motioning for me to go ahead of her. “They’re ill.”

  “What the…” I coughed hard. The trauma to my body had made my lungs tight. “The hell do the Saviors want them for? They’re probably homeless. Sick. They need help, not this! Not this curse!”

  “It’s none of your concern.” The man crossed his arms. “Let’s call it a social experiment, shall we?”

  Chapter 22

  “Do it!” He jabbed me in the arm and I swerved toward him, clenching my teeth and tightening my fists. The smug look on his face had me one second away from decking him again.

  But, on second thought, I couldn’t risk it. Not after what he had just done to me. I couldn’t deal with the feeling of my organs hemorrhaging again. Pressure choking me. Crushing my insides. Jesus, I’d thought I
was going to die.

  “Alright!” I replied. “Stop pushing us around.”

  There were more homeless people. Young ones. I healed them and Alice did the rest. Most of the adults weren’t infected. One very old infected lady had made a shelter of moldy cardboard boxes and plastic tarps. Being forced to start such devastated people was like some kind of sick torture. Payback for the rebellion we’d staged earlier, perhaps.

  “Do you even know what they want them for?” I asked. The stranger sneered and turned away from me. “Have you even thought about it? About what they want with us? Why all of these people?”

  “Shut up.” He shot me a penetrating glare. Golden light sparked beneath the open flaps of his jacket. “Shut up and do your job.” He zipped up his coat and propped the collar up around his neck, shaking his head and grumbling to himself. The cold was probably getting to him, too.

  Alice and Kareena had gone up ahead to start someone else. I had stayed where I was, keeping a close eye on him.

  My drenched leather jacket did little to keep out the rain. It kept coming and going in short bursts. Thunder rumbled beneath our feet, and white streaks of lightning shot across the black sky every so often. I wanted to go home. I wanted to take a shower and go to bed early. I didn’t even care about…

  Work.

  Damn it. I was going to be late, if I even made it in at all.

  “What’s your name?” I asked, trying to break the silence while also keeping an eye on Alice up ahead.

  He looked at me and furrowed his brow. I still couldn’t make out his face clearly, but he had facial hair—a goatee, what looked like a trimmed mustache and some narrow sideburns. Dark skinned. Hispanic?

  “David,” he replied flatly. “Now stop asking questions.”

  “Brian.”

  Maybe telling him our names would humanize us—make us real to him. “The tall girl is Kareena and the shorter one—”

  “Alice. I heard you earlier. She your girlfriend or something?”

  I didn’t know how much I wanted him to know.

  “You could say that.”

  “Oh?”

  “It’s complicated.”