Our Perfect Worlds - Part 7

Mara: Isolation

TW: 18+ | Descriptions of Violence | Mature Language

PT 360, The Desert of Sinkholes

I couldn’t sleep. The winds of the desert blew with a latent fury, daring me to step outside of the safety of the half-dilapidated house we took shelter in. Redman took time boarding up the shattered windows as I watched like a deer in headlights. His snores invaded my senses. Even in his sleep, he constantly bit at me. Memories of my now previous life played in my head like a worn out tape. Some faces were oversaturated, and others were featureless.

I can’t…remember everything. Am I broken? At this point, nothing brought me safety. I scanned my thoughts, attempting to drum up an idea that would save me from this situation I was forced into. Every time I tried to remember something important, it was overwritten by the visage of Nami’s body. Her glasses lay shattered on the ground. Her hand absent-mindedly reached for the place I had been.

Maybe some of Redman’s lessons rubbed off on me, though. It was through this reflection that I realized how much I did not know. As a child, I would ask Nami why we had to stay so far away from the conduit city, and she’d always change the subject. Places where there should’ve been sleepovers, makeovers, and joy were covered in dark. I tried to think, but there was nothing there. Did it ever happen? Am I real?

I could remember some of the times in school. Nami had me attend a private school for conductors and conduits. I reflected on the experiences with my best friend, Annie. She was the best at everything, and probably the most popular kid in class. Everyone was scared of her during training because she had the same thing I have.

Nami and my teachers called it the wild-current. While conductors and conduits have to group up in pairs, we can use both abilities in one. Annie would always start by creating a little ball of sparkles. It glowed a vibrant green, like an elixir of life. She herself would turn into energy, zipping across the room in a giant flash of lightning. She would say, “when you don’t have to coordinate with a partner, things become a lot easier.”

I think that was why everyone loved her. It was her independence. Conductors and conduits even studied together. Annie? She needed none of that assistance. The first time I met her, I was against her. I didn’t have a good handle on my powers, so she quickly tossed me to the ground. As tears of embarrassment filled my eyes, her blurry hand reached down towards me. She helped me stand up, and cheered me on.

This new sense of clarity allowed me to remember the few times I went to Annie’s house. It was the largest in conduit city! Amongst the spires of the city was a gothic-looking mansion too big for a house of only three. Annie lived there alone with her older sister, Chiaki. The last time I was there, I was tackled to the ground by their puppy. A rain of sloppy kisses and yelps rained down before Chiaki’s voice echoed through the corridor, causing him to gallop over to her and sit at attention.

That was probably the loudest I ever heard her voice get. She pointed me to Annie’s room in a half whisper, allowing me to freely roam the halls. The mansion was tinted with the smell of lavender, causing my nose to wilt. Sketches of scientific inventions lined the walls. They were too complex for me to understand. Annie hugged me when I arrived. Her energy was decidedly the opposite of her sister’s. While Chiaki was standoffish, Annie radiated energy at all times. We sat in her room, which was far less large compared to the rest of the mansion. We played some sort of space video game for hours, taking turns on the controller. Nobody at school had the game, according to Annie. It was a side-scroller multiplayer game that we hacked away at for hours. My hands were called to the controller like a puppet calls his own strings. My fingers slid expertly from one button to the next. Annie called me a monster. She said I had the instincts of a goddess.

Of course, she used this game as a lesson. She said that if I were to pour my passion into conduction the same way I did into that game, I could be as strong as her.

Games…they really are-

My train of thought was shattered as I heard Redman sauntering around the house. I poked my head out of the bedroom I’d been hiding out in, only to hear the clicking of a stovetop. He began to cook some sort of soupy concoction that he found leftover in the cupboards. The smell was bothersome, with a slight metallic twang that penetrated through the dead air of the rickety building.

Though his skills did not indicate a master at work, he did what he could to care for me. His eyes wandered to me, stinging with a latent concern. He asked how I slept, and I didn’t answer. I was not going to answer to a lunatic like him.

We ended up sitting on each end of the dinner table. He served me the stew, which bubbled mysteriously. Whatever spices he’d added helped me slightly enjoy the taste. Nothing was even about the way it went down. Redman ate with his head down, seemingly lost in thought.

Anger welling within, I finally asked. “Why do this?”

He looks up at me. A smile is etched across his face. He wanted me to ask, didn’t he? “I know this is a hard change for you. I am one of thousands of disposable puzzle pieces to the Dimension Regulation Unit.” He started, like he was beginning the tale of a play. “People in the desert of sinkholes have no original dimension. Thus, they have no value to them. I was told to get you. Don’t you understand the position I am in now? If I didn’t get you, you’d be hunted by someone far worse than myself. I’m tired of being a toy. I am taking back control. I’m taking everything I can and I’m running. If everything goes right, we will go off the grid. We’ll live a normal life. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

I think the worst response he could get was silence, so I didn’t respond. I shrugged my shoulders and continued to eat. Redman still seemed satisfied, like he’d ridden himself of the burden of death through an excuse as pathetic as that.

“It’s alright. You’ll understand when you’re older.”

The rest of the night my nerves bit at me. I felt like I was gonna die. The thought of him following me again made me sick. He thought he was saving me, but all he was doing was dragging me to hell with him. Redman spent the rest of the night planning something out. His perfect escape plan. He got the TV to work for me, so I absent-mindedly watched some sort of black and white detective show for the day, until he fell asleep.

So I peeked through the open door of the house. The storms had died down. Perfect. I began to trudge forward in complete darkness. The desert had no smell, and all I could hear was a distant wind as I embraced the shadow. I’d started in the general direction we’d come from, and was saved when my foot sunk into a fresh tiretrack. I followed them, my footsteps crunching violently below me. My heart raged as I began to run. Run away from Redman. Eventually, I saw the blinking lights of conduit city appear in the distance.

I was stopped in my tracks by new signs of life. Red dots locked onto my body. Lasers moved at the speed of light, before I could even blink, lasers folded me in half. Sand kicked up in an inferno as I fell to the ground. Darkness again. I couldn’t even see the moon.

My hand dug through the sand, embedding sand into the crevices of my nails. I leaned up, breathing heavily due to the shock. I sent a rock flying into the nothingness. “Back the fuck away from me!”

They were closing in on me. I have to use my power. Just like Annie did. I saw shadows prowling in the distance and embraced the lightning. It vibrated around me, crackling from my fingertips. I envisioned myself turning into energy, just like Nami had done. There were three men in black with those futuristic guns ahead. I fired like a horizontal flash of lightning. Turning into energy and reforming ten feet ahead of where I had just been. I left a trail of fire in my wake, which was accompanied by the skeleton of the man in black.

His body was incinerated, his skin dripping off his body like candle wax. I heard a click from their guns, signaling more danger than before. Before they had the chance to fire a shot, I was in front of them holding out a hand that radiated with lightning, their guns melted into their skin.

Their screams overstimulated me. I needed them to shut up. I smashed my hand into the first man’s face, which melted upon impact. From behind, the other brandished his weapon atop my head. I kissed the sand once again. He slammed his foot into my stomach, followed by a shout that was forced from my own gut. He took advantage of his superior strength, and sunk his hands into my neck. It was something new. A feeling I’d never felt before. I wrapped my hand around his wrist, begging to be set free. My powers activated, setting him ablaze. His entire body went up in flames so fast that he didn’t even get the chance to let out a shout. I threw his ashy body off of myself and limped forward towards the city. I wiped the blood from my eye so I could see. The blood didn’t come off. It was stuck to my fingers, like it was burnt into my body when I smashed my fist into the man’s head.

I cried to myself as I walked through the city. Once I reach Annie, she’ll give me the best hug of my life. I didn’t think of the men from back there. They were in my way. I’d die if I didn’t kill them. Maybe that was what Redman was thinking when he killed Nami.

Annie and Chiaki’s home looked more dark than usual. I climbed up the stairs and slammed my hand against the door. There was some commotion inside, but Chiaki answered the door. Her hair was tied up in two buns and she was in her pajamas.

She spoke like she didn’t even remember me. “Can I help you?”

This was followed by Annie’s concerned voice, she peeked out from behind Chiaki only to jump when she saw me. She pulled me in and gave me a hug. It wasn’t as warm as the last time. The air was sick with something else. The lavender smell had gone away.

Annie croaked, “oh my god…! What happened to you?”

I spoke through fearful tears. “A man in red killed Nami. He took me. I came to you because I don’t know anybody else!”

I felt Annie’s gaze linger for a moment. She looked to Chiaki, who gave a seemingly unfavorable response.

“What did he say to you?” Annie asked.

I responded confusedly. “I…I don’t know. He said I was some sort of subhuman.”

Chiaki budded in, monotonous as ever. “Alright. Annie…”

Annie hissed, “no…”

Chiaki wrestled me free from Annie. She stared darts into me. Before I could utter a sentence, she sent a kick directly into my chest, sending me reeling outside and down the stairs. I looked up at Chiaki, a newly lit fury raging in my chest.

“We have to take you in.” She announced to nobody.

Annie put her hand in front of her big sister, and stared down at me apologetically.

“Please close your eyes. I can’t stand to do this knowing it’s you.”

Green lightning gathered around Annie.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

I heard a muffled Chiaki and Annie arguing.

“We didn’t have to be that hard on her. Chiaki, you need to have a heart.”

I was clothed in darkness. Could my eyes open? Was I dead? My body felt energized. Nutrients were being fed into my body, but I couldn’t taste or feel anything. It was like my consciousness was separated from myself.

Annie followed, “what? Are you not going to respond? Stop acting like a doll!”

Then my heartbeat followed. My hand wasn’t hovering over my heart, but I could feel it. I was alive. This place felt familiar, though I had no prior memories of it. My hair brushed across the side of my face as my senses began to return. It was waving back and forth all around me.

The new voice was deep but adenoidal. "Silence, both of you. Vitals are returning.”

I opened my eyes. I was inside of some sort of preservation tank. Even though I was bathed in water, I could breathe through my nose. Bubbles of water floated upward with every new breath. There was a man staring at me from behind glass. He was elevated above Chiaki and Annie, who stood in front of me. I looked around. To my horror, I saw many other Maras. They looked like carbon copies of me, naked and floating in orange-tinted water like mine. I deduced that the man was Dr. Samsa, the father of the girls. His glasses were tinted a vicious orange, obscuring his eyes.

I shouted, my voice reverberating off the glass. “What do you want from me?!”

Samsa answered, ignoring my temperament. “You could be the perfect specimen. The first created with a wild-current.”

Annie added, “this is what Nami was protecting you from. Now that she’s gone, you are the only one who can carve your way forward. I-”

An array of shots rang across the lab. The glass of the preservation tank was the first to shatter. As I slid out, a bullet blew Annie’s skull open. Chiaki let out a gasp and a scream, but since she was without a conductor or any way to protect herself, she was shot too.

I stared at the ceiling. The liquid from my tank began to mix with Annie’s blood. Samsa stood up out of his chair. He looked down at the culprit. Redman, who held his gun directly up at him.

I couldn’t scream. I couldn’t stand. My vision became spotty. Everything went black.