GENESIS

CHAPTER 7: SIDE CHARACTERS

The trip was longer than expected. I thought we were going back to GENESIS, but we passed it so I was mistaken. I grasped the back of the seat in front of me and waved my hands to get them to see me.

'Where are we going?' I signalled, and Ria pointed to the screen at the front. A red dot, us, was travelling faster than the other cars, and we were headed right towards a green landscape with nothing but trees. I leaned back and relaxed. A long trip will give me enough time to sleep. I dozed off, my hands behind my head.

☆

I was in a house. Rotted walls and green carpets were all around me. I felt dizzy. The house suddenly went into a narrow hallway, smashing me until I had to walk down to the end. That was the problem. It was endless. I saw a light at the end, but it just went on forever and ever. A book suddenly appeared at my feet. My hands were like jelly, so I had trouble picking it up. My hands wrapped around it and the book flashed open. My eyes soon recovered from the black spots I was seeing. I looked down at the book. There was some kind of ancient writing in it, thick black and bold. The words suddenly dispersed and whipped into the air, like black snakes curling from smoke. I fell backwards, but I didn't touch the floor. I just fell, and fell and fell...

☆

'Aurora! AURORA!' Someone yelled in my ear, shaking my shoulders. I gasped and opened my eyes. I was breathing rapidly, my arms and legs twitching. A green lizard guy was sitting on the piles of boxes, and smiling a very charming smile.

'Get up. We're here!'Ria yelled from up front, bags heaped over shoulders. Her laugh was solemn as she barged up to a wooden hut in the middle of nowhere. I touched my head, unsure of what to do. That's when I realised why there were so many boxes and bags in the car. A happy yell echoed through the woods.

'WOO-HOO! God, I feel FREE!' Sasha yelled, her inner extrovert showing. I laughed and Mira shot me a grin.

☆

That night, we set up and had our dinner outside. I chewed on a chicken leg while Mira ate these bland green biscuits, Ria had a chicken and yogurt wrap, and the rest just ate either a meat meal or something sweet. The kids (Sasha and Mizuki) had meatballs with a side sandwich. The fire crackled in the middle.

  'Hey, um. What do you think,' Adrienne said with a mouthful, 'of doing something fun tomorrow? I mean, we've been working a lot, and honestly, I could use a day off.' We exchanged glances, and it was a pretty good idea after all. But Mira stepped in.

'Are you guys forgetting why we're actually here?' She said with a raised eyebrow, 'We have to stay low. Not go prancing off to some play centre.' She was right, of course, but no one here can stay still that long. I stood up and walked a bit further away from them. The grass was soft, so I decided to stargaze. I was there for about five minutes until I heard rustling behind me. Sasha, Mira, Mizuki and Persephone were laying with me. Sasha and Mizuki cuddled together and fell asleep. Persephone was really close to me, like does personal space mean anything anymore? Mira feet were stretched out far and tumbled into mine.

'Oi, scooch,' Ria huffed, and I separated from Mira so she could sit there. The ground was wet, but no one cared. We were all together. Well, the girls were. The boys went back up to the cabin. That didn't matter. We all fell asleep by the time the sun went down.