Separian - Book 1

Chapter 33

My signature didn't glow very often. According to Mike, it happened more when I slept than when I was awake. When I glow, he glows, not to mention anyone else in range. The deeper my subconscious mind traveled, the brighter the illumination. One night, it glowed so brightly that he swears if he could have seen me through the light, I would have been floating.

Quinn, Michael, and Marissa clung to my side like glue from day one onward. Whenever I left a room, they left the room. Whenever I slept, they slept, so as not to miss a moment of our time together. Mike did so mainly for my company, Marissa too, but on some level they all feared I would rage out of control if they turned their backs on me for even a second. Quinn's reasons for shadowing me changed every time I asked her about it. One day it was to keep me safe, another day it was for company, another day she'd even given me the excuse that she thought I might turn narcoleptic if they didn't monitor my sleep habits. To be honest, the last excuse I believed more than any of the others. My sleepless nights were growing worse.

Some days, I never slept, other times I slept for days. This put a slight damper on my training. While I was still eons away from measuring up to even the weakest of Separian here, I was still learning at a rather escalated pace. However, that pace was forced to come to a halt whenever I slept. Often, I would have to relearn whatever it was I'd just begun to grasp before falling asleep.

In addition to being the least well-trained one on campus, I was also the youngest; a fact I was made acutely aware of whenever I spoke out of place. It didn't help that I was respectful by nature. I made the mistake of calling Quinn "Ma'am" on more than one occasion, and I'd paid the price for it. I spent the following hours after each instance with an ice-pack on my face, and a rather hollow apology from her that usually resulted in her standing a few extra feet from me. But being my senior, sizably larger than me, and all around stronger, there was an air of respect that was demanded of me. If she didn't want to be called "ma'am", then out of respect, I shouldn't refer to her as such. Right? Eight years over me put her older than even my own brother and even he I struggled not to call Sir, sometimes. Though, he was a Marine, and had the training and uniform to match. It was more like a name for him than a title.

My age was also a factor in why the other Separian were wary of me. And with good reason. I didn't fault them for it. In fact, I was actually on their side about it. My maturity was above someone my age, but a person my age, at least a normal person, was busy learning in school and usually not ready to handle all the world around them had to offer.

They often wondered if I was suppressing my emotional state because I was around a group of adults, save Mike. And in truth, I didn't really know. I'd always adapted to whatever the active conversation demanded of me. For young adults, it was sports and college. For normal adults, it was sports and children. For old people, it was sports, weather, Elvis and grandchildren. I hated talking about sports.

Three weeks had passed and I was growing tired of the same routine. Yes, three weeks. It was worse than the time I spent with Amy, when I watched how the time flew passed me. Maybe it was my age and immature attention span, but I wanted to do something that was actually fun. Like visit Amy at college. I wondered if my three superiors would go for it.

Why did I need their permission? Because in the evening of my first day, after I'd gotten off the phone with Amy, I intended to go and visit her. So I washed my face, combed what hair I had after I'd cut it several days prior, and made for the front door of the mansion I stood in.

Before reaching the bottom of the stairs, Mike, Marissa, and Quinn were all in my path; explaining to me "Now that we know who you are, we can't just let you come and go as you please." Essentially, after a long and very exhausting debate, it was decided that I was not a prisoner, but I was on house arrest, in the loosest translation of the term. At least according to them. I felt like I was back in the forest cabin with Ana and Casey. Trapped. Unable to leave unless I fought my way out and killed somebody.