Prevolution - EN

The salty scent of freedom - part 1

I woke up very early the next morning, as my thoughts were only about the events of last night and those that were likely to follow today. I was still not sure what I thought of Jeneva and her whole demeanor. On the one hand she radiated an incredible familiarity as well as confidence to me, but the things she had said yesterday just like that without any firm basis on success made me doubt her.

Still, a sprout of hope was already beginning to grow steadily in me since last night, the more I thought about the chance of escape. Besides, I would do anything to give my sister the sweet smell of freedom. She'd been raised in isolated captivity since she was a child, and I wanted her to finally live a semi-normal life on the surface. Yes, our world was no longer the same, but it was still possible to live in it and make the best of it.

While I went about my daily tasks for the organization and took care of a few things for Marco, my decision fluctuated almost hourly. Sometimes the desire to finally get out of here and escape Marco's abuse of me prevailed, sometimes the fear for Lia caught up with me like a whirlwind threatening to sweep me off my feet. I would never forgive myself if I allowed her to be hurt, let alone worse. But I didn't even want to think about that. Back from my last assignment, I made my final decision.

I would take the risk and implement the escape plan together with Jeneva. No matter what risks the whole operation would entail, anything was better than being the prisoner of a psychopath and his organization for the rest of my life. Who knows what else Marco and his men would do to Lia someday once she was my age.

Goosebumps filled my entire body at the mere thought of it, which is why I tried to distract myself. In my sleeping area, I rummaged through the few belongings I had and considered what would be useful for the coming escape. I couldn't take too many things with me, as a bag or similar would be conspicuous to the guards. In the corner of my eye, a few other hybrids flitted past me, also having their sleeping place here.

Mostly they didn't pay any attention to me or gave me contemptuous looks because they thought I was Marco's lapdog. This was no different today, except for one person whose shadow suddenly appeared next to me, startling me. Actually, I wasn't really jumpy, but the whole situation and the prospect of escape tonight made me nervous. I was a little surprised, though, when I saw Lilith standing next to me.

"What's wrong with you? You're usually brimming with self-confidence, but today you're strutting around like a shy deer," she stated, looking down at me.

Unsure if I should tell her anything about today's plan, I just looked at her for a few seconds. The most contact we had with each other was when I caught her trying to escape again. I actually liked Lilith, but I wanted to take absolutely no chances and she probably wouldn't believe me anyway. Not even I believed we could make it.

"I'm just not feeling that special today. That's all," I replied simply. I hoped she would be satisfied with that. However, Lilith being who she was, she was not satisfied with that.

"Thanks to you, I had to spend a night in the darkroom and my escape never works out either. So I guess it's less surprising when I've been watching you for a while and know your everyday behavior. And you, are definitely not yourself today!"

"Lilith," I whispered her name, more menacingly than I actually intended. "Whether or not I'm acting out of the ordinary today, it's none of your business. You better not stick your nose in my business, or do you want to spend another night in the chamber? I'll ask Marco myself."

How I hated having to play this card, but it had the desired effect. Disdainful eyes pierced me one last time before Lilith turned away and left without another word. For years I lived in isolation in this organization, for the good of my sister. The humans disregarded me for being a hybrid, and the hybrids despised me for working too closely with the humans who treated them like animals. On the outside I always kept a cool composure as if none of this mattered to me, however, sometimes the isolation did hit me harder than I thought.