The Illness

Chapter 1 (Morrison Mackey)

"Okay, so the mesosiderite is up ahead, about 50 meters southwest." Said Cristy through the ear piece. She was tracking the meteor back at the lab on her computer I could never figure out, she was the brains and I was the brawns. There was quite a bit of static coming through because I was deep in the oak and bushes. She said the meteor was by a building but what building would be all the way out here?

"Roger that." I responded jokingly. I intended to sound like those stereotypical spies in action movies.

"Shut up." She groaned. "Okay now once you head up those 50 meters, walk about 40 paces North and you should see a faint glow from the meteor. It also smells like shit." She said back indifferently.

"Oh great, not only will I be feeling like shit but I will smell like it too" I said begrudgingly. "I mean how do we even know this is really where the rock is, we have been searching for months at different locations and we haven't even been close to finding it." I unsuccessfully tried making an excuse because I really didn't have the physical energy to find and collect a rock that we probably will fail to find.

"Trust me, I did the equations this time not the machine and I know it'll be right, just please trust me this one time." Cristy said trying to convince me through the static."

"You said that the last 80 times." I said with annoyance in my voice.

"Just find the goddamn rock Mackey." She said with a passive aggressive tone.

"Alright, alright, you don't have to get all pissy on me." I said teasingly.

"God you're a pain in the ass." Cristy said back in a similar tone, but I couldn't respond because I was in shock of what I was seeing. I couldn't speak. "Hello? Morrison why won't you respond? You know I didn't mean it man." But I wasn't offended by what Cristy had said.

"No-No, tha-I-I-it- oh my god Cristy." I said poorly, trying to form comprehensible sentences.

"Morrison what's going on? Are you okay?" She sounded worried but I was more than okay.

"Cristy we found the meteor! We found the fucking meteor! Holy shit!" I was grasping my hair, half laughing in between sentences with my eyes wide with disbelief.

"Holy shit. Holy shit! You better not be pulling my leg Mackey!" Cristy said with a tone of excitement and an undertone of sternness.

"Cristy it's literally right in front of my eyes!" I can't believe we actually found it. I was still laughing because I couldn't fathom finding a rock I thought was a myth Cristy made up.

"Then get the mesosiderite, what are you waiting for!" Cristy responds back urgently. I was just about to get that rock until I heard grunting voices and footsteps.

"Wait hold on, I hear something." I stopped moving so whoever those people were that were getting in my way of retrieving the meteor, wouldn't hear me. I dropped my voice down to a whisper.

"What? What is it?" She sounded distressed and annoyed through the earpiece.

"Hold on, let me get closer." I cautiously tip-toed to the damaged and ancient-looking house that possessed the rock. It looked abandoned but I still heard voices that sounded like they were still in highschool. "There's some kids in there, let me try and take a look through the window."

"Those kids better have not contaminated that rock. I have been looking for that rock for ages and I will fucking kill them if they touch it." She said indignantly, and also might I mention, very loudly into a machine that is right against my ear.

"Yeah, I know you will now shut up before they hear you." I said in a sarcastic voice, dropped down to a whisper.

"They can't hear me moron, not through this earpiece." Her voice was full of tension and stress.

"I don't know Cristy, I'm pretty sure Australia can hear you right now." I said sneeringly, but once I looked through that window the irony was completely wiped from my voice. The kids were actually, and stupidly touching a glowing rock, with the stench of a thousand sewers. Cristy was right, this did smell like shit.

"God this is so heavy and it stinks, let's just leave it here. It adds good lighting anyways and is a very stylish décor piece." One of the kids said. He had blue eyes and blonde floppy hair, he looked like a very typical American boy.

"All three of my alters can smell this, and I'm the only one with a nose right now. We need to throw this out if we want this to be our rehearsal and hangout space." Hangout space!? Yeah right! We need this rock and those nuisances need to get out my way. I moved slightly so I could get a better view of where they were placing the meteor.

"Wait hold on? Did you guys here that?" They heard me move, are these walls really that thin? I quickly moved my back under the window, against the wall out of their sight. A girl with dark skin and coily black hair moved to the window to see what was there. Luckily, she didn't hear me and walked away with suspicion etched on her face. Once she walked away I moved back to my original position in the corner of the window.

"Maybe it was a demon coming to kill us, I mean this house does look pretty old." A girl with a hijab on said. She looked alternative, or emo, or goth, or punk? I don't know, I can never tell they all look the same to me. She had on thick eyeliner and dark lipstick.

"Your jokes are always so dark, they creep me out." The coily haired girl said.

This is bad. This is really bad. They have all contaminated the rock and we don't even know the effect the rock will have on those kids will so this just puts a huge brick wall in our path,, plus Cristy will be royally pissed when I tell her what events have taken place.

"Cristy" I said anxiously, hoping she doesn't blow up my earpiece with her angry voice.

"Yeah?" She already sounds irritated and anxious all in one. I was in for a bad treat.

"They touched the rock." I said, shutting my eyes tight hoping that will prepare me for her wrath.

"Tell me you're actually pulling my leg this time Mackey!" Now she was royally pissed, and I was royally fucked.

"I'm not..." I was still so anxious for what was coming up next"

"Goddamnit Morrison!" And there she blows. My ears are now paying the price of upsetting Cristy with this news. Now my head is aching from angry screams.

"What are we gonna do Cristy?" I was walking away so those kids in the house wouldn't hear me. Our plan was terribly ruined and we didn't know how to fix the years in the making scheme we've brewed.

"Fuck! I don't know Morrison. I can't think of anything..." There was a pause of silence between earpieces, we were both trying to come up with a way to get rid of this brick in our path. "...I really wish we didn't but for the sake of this mission, we might have to kill them."

There was another pause of strained silence. We were ordered that if it was necessary to kill or torture people for the sake of this operation, we had to. It was the last resort but the longer the silence went on I think that Cristy and I both knew that this scheme would be brought onto a new path of blood, conflict, and pain.

"But they're just kids Cristy." I said reluctantly.

"I know, I know, but you know what we were told and I think it's necessary, I mean we have been on this case for years and I'm not about to let a bunch of moronic kids get in our way." You could hear the tightness in her voice.

This new path was going to be backbreaking and complex but hopefully it's easier than getting through this incredibly inconvenient barrier we've come across. And Cristy was right, we have been on this case for years, it has been a grueling journey and we shouldn't let a bunch of irresponsible kids get in our way. This new path is necessary.

"You're right Cristy, let's alert Grey about the new plan."