Ominous Order

by Felisha Antonette

  I smack my lips and look away from her. How the hell does she know? She hasn’t even seen me around Kylie yet, and she already assumes we’re together. “What’s with the daunting emphasis, Mother?” I wave Kylie over, and she nods. She approaches nervously with steady steps, and her head hung low. “Hey.” I grab her hand. “Let someone else keep watch for a minute.”

  She turns away from me, and with a few gestures and nods, her spot by the door is replaced by another.

  I pull her down beside me. She squats down, and I say, “Mom, this is Kylie Alexander. Kylie, Lovett Thanatos, my mother.”

  Kylie extends a greeting hand, but my mother refuses to complete the gesture. My mother studies Kylie with tired eyes, and Kylie looks away from her and pulls her hand from mine. I rub her back and wait for my mother’s words. She grabs the bag of freeze-dried fruit, and Sean opens it for her. “I’m very tired,” my mother says.

  “Rest,” Sean and I happen to say together. “We’re done for the day,” he says. “Right, Ky? It’s cool we take the rest to regroup?”

  Kylie quickly nods. And then I realize why she’s so timid, nervous. She doesn’t want to take a break, and she feels guilty about it because she knows everyone needs to rest. I tell her, “What we lose today, we’ll make up for tomorrow. Our group is too big to keep moving around, and staying in the enemies’ den isn’t our best move. We also can’t keep those Guidance members lined up like we’re about to execute them. So let’s allow everyone who’s been captured to rest a bit while we figure this out.”

  Kylie looks at her hands, turning them over, palms up then down. “I can’t stay here like this,” she whispers. “It’s not going away, and when I stay still for too long, I begin feeling tired.”

  “Kylie Alexander?” my mother asks, “I knew your parents. They were murdered by the Vojin.”

  Kylie’s lips set in a grim line. She nods and says, “My brother too.”

  “I know. There was talk about this in the labs. They began preparing for your arrival. You and Luke were the topic of many discussions around here for quite some time. I’d believe the Trade is looking for you, but they didn’t come for me, so I’m convinced they don’t care about you either. Any of us.” Us. Itteix, the part of us that beats our hearts.

  Kylie sucks in a loud breath. She clears her throat. “The only person I have left on this Earth who I believe still cares about me is your son. But his loyalty is to his brother, and I respect that. I don’t rely on anyone, not for what I’m facing.”

  “And what are you facing, Kylie?” my mother asks. “The world, alone? The Guidance believes you will be the one who upends their mission. That you’ve seen the light they’ve hidden from most Creations, and your light will reflect brightly on others. Do you know who you are?”

  Kylie makes a blustering grunt, rises and walks off.

  “How do you know so much about her and what’s been going on?” Sean asks.

  My mother presses her lips into a thin line and lifts her gaze to the rocky ceiling over our heads. “You know how to travel up to the Trade still? The way I showed you?” she asks. She’s being so weird, giving short answers and avoiding our questions.

  “We do,” I answer.

  “Don’t communicate with them here, ever. In any way. Face to face only. Always.” She wipes her hands on her pants and adjusts to stand. “Let’s go. Get the girl.”

  I shake my head and place my hand on her shoulder to stop her from rising. “We’re resting for now, remember? And Kylie can’t travel. She doesn’t know how to. She just found out today what she is.”

  My mother’s mouth falls open. She looks past me to Kylie and mumbles inaudible words.

  “You’re not making sense,” Sean says. “What’s going on?”

  My mother looks at Sean and me with shock in her dark eyes. “This entire time, she had no idea?”

  “Nope,” I say.

  “What about all these other Creations?”

  “I don’t think they’re like us,” I say. “I don’t feel the pull to them.”

  “That poor girl. She doesn’t know her purpose. All this running around and work she’s putting in won’t matter. We need to go so she can find out what she means to this place. What she means to us.” She struggles to climb to her feet.

  “Don’t be stubborn, Mother. Sit down and get some fuel.”

  “You’re the one being stubborn, boy. Get out of my way.” She weakly shoves me aside. “We have little time to help her figure this out so we can make it up there. Let the others rest. While we sit, they’re on the move.”

  I look at Sean, and we shake our heads, but we won’t fight with her. We’ll tell her a hundred no’s, she’ll get mad enough to land a few punches in the chest of whichever of us is in front of her at the time, and we’ll end up doing what she wants anyway.

  Sean and I follow behind her to Kylie. “Maybe they didn’t torture enough sense into her,” Sean says under his breath.

  “I heard that,” Mother snaps. She makes it next to Kylie and says, “We’re going to see the Trade right now. I didn’t realize how in the dark you were. I thought you were being stubborn, possibly going against your calling because you didn’t want the responsibility.” Kylie’s lips part, but my mother throws her pale, shaking hand up. “Marc will show you how to ride the light.”

  “I’ve not done this in years,” I say to Sean.

  He shrugs and carries a long sigh. “Hopefully, it’s like shooting a gun after you’ve not done so in a while. It just comes back to you.”

  We walk up next to my mother and Kylie. “We can’t do this here,” I tell them. “We’ll need to go someplace dark where they won’t see us disappear.”

  “Fine. You boys shout your orders and let’s go.”

  “Nope. Kylie is running this show. She’ll be barking orders,” I say.

  Kylie instructs the Creations from Desert Hills to keep lookout and watch the Guidance members. The captives rest, snacking on the freeze-dried fruit and water left down here in the bunker. As long as they aren’t ambushed, they should be fine. It’s the safest place in the city.

  My mother, Kylie, Sean, and I slip into a nearby hall, out of sight of the others to hide our light.

  “Tell me, Kylie,” Mother says, “Can you control your inner adjustment?”

  Sean parts his legs wide and crosses his arms. “Judging by the burned to a crisp Creations upstairs, I’d assume not.”

  “Stop it, Sean. This isn’t the time.”

  Sean clears his throat. “Sorry, Mom.”

  The darkness of the tunnel is replaced by the light of my mother’s profile. Sean and I adjust to match her. Her light doesn’t beam out like the hue of a blinding strike of lightning; instead, she possesses a bioluminescent emission of light that lines her silhouette and makes her round cheeks, small, almond shaped eyes, and sharp jaw easy to identify. She smiles, and her radiant silver eyes shine a little brighter. “You boys,” she says, voice soft and hushed as she blinks back tears. A luminous pool lines the bottom lid of her left eye. A tear escapes, skating down her cheek. I jolt forward to catch it before it can hit the ground. “Sorry,” she says as I’m straightening.

  Our tears, in this form, are dangerous. A tear’s impact will cause an explosion that can knock out a small town. Our bodies are weapons, like the universe punishing itself for the loss of us.

  Kylie squeezes her eyes shut, fists balled, shoulders near her ears.

  “Ky,” I say. “You’ve been fighting your emotions for so long your body is having a hard time communicating with your will to change. Stop trying so hard. Relax.”

  “I’m relaxed, Marc,” she snaps.

  She’s stressed out and overwhelmed, nothing about her is relaxed. “I’m not trying to push you, Ky. Just help.”

  “Just give her a little juice so we can get a move on.” Sean with his impatience.

  “She’ll have to figure it out on her own, Seanabe. Go lean against the wall and wait,” my mother says
and waves her hand behind her. Sean doesn’t move, but he’s silent.

  Kylie breathes, breath rushing past her puckered lips, and she allows her muscles to relax. “There are all these feelings surging through my body. I feel my blood rushing; I feel anger, and fear, and anxiety, and affection on top of my flesh like it’s fabric.”

  “It’s just a little reprogramming,” my mother says in an encouraging tone. She gives me a nudge against my arm with her elbow and nods toward Kylie, who still has her eyes closed, breaths even as she tries.

  I purse my lips and narrow my eyes. She just said to let her figure it out on her own. I conceal my form, burying it under my flesh. “Alright, Ky. Look at me.” She flicks open her ice-blue eyes. They’re soft with despair. “There’s no structure to this.” I press my hand to her chest, and she shivers. “From right here. Every time. You want to feel it, like you feel your heartbeat.” I thump my thumb against her chest, to the rhythm of her heart. “You can compare it, if you must, to the emotions that draw the biggest reaction out of you, the ones that race your heart and stall your breaths.”

  Kylie rolls her eyes and sighs heavily.

  “Want me to show you what that feels like?” I ask her, smile breaking through.

  Sean and my mother’s illumination shines upon her face. Her brows knit, and then it clicks. Her lips pinch as she fights her grin, and she looks away from me. “No.” she grabs my hand, which I move from her chest to her neck. “I think I got it.”

  “You do. Make it happen.”

  I back away, but she keeps her hold on me. “Don’t let me go yet,” she says and closes her eyes. She sucks in a breath, and on the release, she slowly fades out, flickering with illumination. She’s allowed herself to be converted into her Itteix identity, and I bring on mine. Doing so decreases the level of heat she gives and makes her more comfortable to touch.

  Kylie meets my gaze, the blue in her eyes mixing with the Itteix silver irises. Every strand of her hair is detailed, infused with a light that shines brighter than her flesh. I push my fingers through it and pull her to me. “Can I show you something?”

  She nods.

  I reel her close, and our bodies buzz, warming, shifting our silvery-blue to purple.

  Kylie splays her arms at her side. “This is so cool. I love this color. Can I do this with anyone or just you?”

  “Just me. You’ll have to be this close.” I slide my thumb over her cheek to see the nerve react by shimmering with light beneath my graze.

  She places her hand over mine on her cheek. “I feel you much more intensely like this.”

  “If I kiss you, we’ll burn brighter, like the sun, but…”

  “Purple,” she says, finishing my sentence.

  “Alright, cut the mushy stuff. She’s got it. Now let’s get this show on the road,” Sean says, fading out into a wisp, like a thin line of smoke.

  There’s a soft poof sound behind me. Kylie’s quickly figured this one out. My mother is next, and I’m last. We sore from the tunnel, out of the building, through the clouds, and up through the sky to the building of the Trade.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  I feel like I’m a part of the wind, one with the cool air of the Earth. My body moves like a ribbon, flexible and fluid. I see the world as I normally would, but I hear it in every cell of my body, from the ash sizzling as it falls to the ground, to the whistling of the wind whipping through the clouds, and the running engines keeping the Trade building hovering in the sky.

  I’m the last to land, my body seeming to use the atoms in the air to reform my frame. My feet easily find the ground as I solidify. As I cross the sidewalk, I cool down and fade into my more familiar form. Being another being is hard to adjust to. I never wanted to be something else. I’ve grown to love my Creation body, and I don’t enjoy the amount of energy it takes to change from one form to another. I don’t like the onslaught of sensations I must concentrate on in order to change into my Itteix form.

  Like a small island, the Trade’s headquarters hover over Highrum, away from the distraction of the city, but in view of it. One oval-shaped building is the only structure on the island. It’s surrounded by oak and pine trees and tall sunflowers and fields of lavender.

  The scent whips past my nose as the wind blows, and I’m nearly lifted off my feet. A few bushes line the walls of the simple, stainless-steel gray building. It goes up a couple stories but is nothing to bat my eyes at. The land surrounding it more beautiful.

  I’ve never been up here before. Never had a reason to. I thought we were unable to have contact with the Trade, and discomfort rolls through my stomach at the thought of doing so as I follow Marc’s mother to the pearl-white doors.

  I suck in a breath to calm down. The air here is even cleaner than Highrum’s, but it’s cooler. Without the smog from the fire raging below in Highrum, the late afternoon sky shines brightly.

  An aircraft rises from the roof of the building and hovers over our heads briefly before turning west and diving toward Earth, disappearing in the clouds. The door opens at our approach, revealing a bright lobby accented by marble floors and countertops. The walls are the color of a gray sidewalk, and the ceiling is made of blue-tinted glass.

  Small offices surround the lobby, and just behind the lobby desk—placed in the middle of the floor—where a petite woman with jet black hair and a pearly white smile sits, is a staircase that rises to the next and last level of the Trade’s headquarters. I can’t see what lies on those levels because of the high railing that serves as a wall for that floor, but I can imagine it may be where they keep their mysteries.

  Lovett walks to the counter in full Itteix form, and her voice echoes around us as she says, “Someone here isn’t properly doing their job.”

  The young woman behind the lobby desk slowly loses her smile. Her eyes even frown as she listens to Lovett’s complaint about being captured by the Guidance, held against her will, starved, and deprived of her rights. Marc, Sean, and I, each in our Creation form stand back, keeping our stance strong and our gaze straight ahead. Creations—no one, really—are not allowed to address the Trade. We speak when spoken to. Those of us who do not follow the rules are deemed rebellious, showing our lack of respect for those who approved our creation. As it stands, there would be no us if it weren’t for them.

  A tall man in a collared navy-blue shirt and beige slacks descends the stairs. His chin is extended as he holds his head high in a way that implies he’s one of power, that even by his presence he deserves our respect. And he gets it.

  A hush falls over the lobby when he makes it to the landing. He comes around the desk, stands beside Lovett, and places his hand on hers that rest on the counter. “We may be a few hundred miles above earth, but that doesn’t mean we are not affected by the things going on there. Half of the population is gone, dear friend. We are under a threat. You and your life are very important to us, and so is every other citizen of the America.” He takes a step away from her and presses every finger of his left hand to his chest saying, “I, Trade Officer Audrey Grandin, would like to apologize on behalf of the Trade to you Lovett Thanatos, for making you feel devalued and insignificant to us as a citizen.”

  Lovett fades into her human form and nods. “I suppose since what’s in the past has passed, all I can do is accept your apology.”

  Trade Officer Grandin smiles, the skin of his once tight cheeks wrinkling. His smile is huge because of the big size of his teeth, but it fits his face. His hair’s slicked back and shiny. The blue tint of the ceiling windows makes his black hair look blue. The earpiece stuffed into his right ear blinks a tiny blue light from the side.

  The two turn and head for us. Trade Officer Grandin strides, and with every one of his steps, Lovett, a foot shorter than he is, takes two.

  They stop a foot in front of us. His gaze burns through me on his walk over, and the closer he gets, the more intense it becomes. Now, with him standing right before me, I feel like I’m set on fire. My cheeks bu
rn hot, and my stomach turns.

  “Trade Officer Audrey Grandin Sir,” I say in a strong tone.

  “Kylie Alexander. Marcain and Seanabe Thanatos. To what do I owe the pleasure of this unexpected visit?”

  Because of the way Lovett strolled in here in her alien form without a care for being shot down or captured as we risk with the Guidance, I openly admit, “I never knew I was an Itteix until a day ago, and I think the Guidance is out to capture, test, and have me breed for them.”

  Grandin throws his arm out to the left, gesturing to an office room enclosed by tinted blue glass.

  We march over and sit around a table with Grandin at the head of it. The door’s closed, and the room is a lot cooler than the lobby.

  Gaze on the table, I blurt, “There are babies in the Guidance building that need to be rescued. I also have the code to shut down the mind control of the Fourth-Generation Creations.”

  “The code, now.” Grandin strikes up from his seat and rushes to me, holding a hand to his ear with the earpiece.

  I read the code back to him and explain what’s going on with the babies being held in the Guidance building. He doesn’t repeat anything I say, but after I’m finished, he asks, “Did you get that?” then drops his hand from his ear. Hopefully, they’ll save those children asap and do what’s best for them.

  For a while, his attention seems otherwise occupied as he listens to the voice coming through his earpiece. Nodding once, he says. “Acknowledged.” He turns his attention to us. “We’ll have the babies rescued within the hour. They are safe. We’ll raise them without the Vojin influence. They will have the Creation gene but will not have a twin, which means they will possess the healing ability. The Fourth Generation Creations have been terminated. They will terrorize the Creations no more.”

  “Great.” Sean claps once. “Mission one, completed.”

  I raise my hand. “Can I start by asking for a shower and some real clothes?”