Mutation [ON HOLD]

Chapter 05.

"DO YOU EVEN have any idea where we are going?" I asked Sean, who was busy feeling around the tunnel.  We've been down for at least half an hour now, and so far I've only crawled ten yards.  Sean was meticulously inspecting the floor for any booby traps.  

His rationale for this was this:  "I'm a warrior.  You're a girl.  Someone needs to be the man here."  

Sexist pig.

"Relax, I know what I'm doing."  I scoff in disbelief as he hit the top of the tunnel with his head.

"Yeah, you really know what you're doing."  I readjusted the backpack on my shoulders.  Anais had packed it for us in case we faced any dangers.

At that moment, a gentle voice was heard in my head.  He really doesn't.  Do me a favor and turn on your Owl night vision to see the tunnel clearer.

That voice sounded all too familiar.  Anais?  Anais was back in her house, probably helping my mother.

Yes.  You should help Sean with his work.  I know he seems confident at what he is doing, but that's because one of a fighter's job is to conceal any sign of timidity, no matter how dangerous the situation.

I thought back to her, frustrated.  I'm trying to help, but he won't let me!

Just turn it on, please.  Think of an owl's eyes in your head and visualize your eyes slowly morphing into it.

I turned on my Owl night vision following her directions and suddenly everything in the dark tunnel was clearer than daylight.  It was not exactly the same way I saw in the day; my eyes lost color vision.  But it was all clear to me.  I could see a long worm wriggling its way into the dirt.  I could even pick up the light rays coming out of the small headlamp Sean was wearing.

"Turn that light off.  It's making my vision blurry."

Sean looked at me, confused.  "Why do your eyes glow in the dark?  And how come it grew twice the size it was before?"

I simply shrugged, concealing my excitement over my ability by acting as if I were as cool as a cucumber.

As we crawled through the tunnel, I suddenly remembered the voice in my head.  Anais?  Why are in my mind?

I inserted a disk that allows us to communicate with each other in times of need.

Where's my mom?  My lip gave the slightest quiver as I thought of my mother standing up against a gang of werewolves.

Anais's voice was hesitant in my head.  I'm not exactly sure.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN NOT EXACTLY SURE?

I believe she has been captured by the werewolves.  Taken for treason.

At that moment, I could not stop the fury from engulfing my body.  And you just hid under in the basement like a coward?  You couldn't have at least tried to protect my mom, your good friend?  

Tam, I am powerless compared to them.  I am a mere scientist rebelling against them.  They would kill me right on the spot.

No, you are not justified with that reason.  You could have at least tried.  You could have thought up of a plan using that mad scientist brain of yours.  My mom trusted you, but I didn't.  And I was smart not to.  You are nothing but a spineless coward who destroys children's lives by preventing them from being normal!  I was shaking with anger coursing through my veins.

Don't talk to me.  Don't you EVER talk to me until you find my mother.  I blocked out her pleas in my head.  Sean was staring at me with a mild curiosity but didn't push it.

At least he had more sense than his mother did.

 ***

"I believe we are here."

I was ninety percent confident it was the place we had to get out of from the tunnel.  Behind the curtain of leaves draped over the opening of the tunnel I could see a thin outline of light.  I looked at Sean, my hands tightening on a blade I had pulled out of the pack.  He stood in a defensive pose, like a true warrior he is.

"Together?" I asked him.

"Together."

We somersaulted out through the curtain of leaves.  I was immediately astonished by the beauty of the forest that laid before us.  Birds were chirping, leaves were gently rustling, and a stream was trickling water.  

Maybe it's just me, or I felt like I belonged here.  

Sean interrupted my moment.  "What do we do now?"  Shrugging my shoulders, I reached into my backpack for answers.  I was not going to contact that filthy coward just yet.  On a folded piece of paper, it stated the directions we had to follow to get to --- well, wherever we're getting to.

"First, we have to reach the Wild Forest," I read.  I gestured toward the wilderness.  "I think we've reached here."  Sean, being an impatient boy, snatched the paper from my hands. 

"Careful, don't rip it," I said, wincing as a I saw a little tear at the corner.  These were our only set of instructions and if we lose these, we may be trapped in here forever.  At least until the Supernaturals find us and torture us to death.

Sean was still silent.  "What?" I asked.  He looked at me with a bemused expression.  "We have to climb the tree and situate ourselves in the nest of the Fanglax birds."

It was quite simple actually, once you put past the facts that the whole forest was filled with trees and the fact that we had not the slightest clue what a Fanglax bird was.