Immortal

04. Rejection

I looked grim, as I walked through the doorway of my home. It felt like it had been ages since the last time I had stepped foot inside. Lately I had practically been living at the lab. The pain to my chest flared with my breathing. I shouldn't of stepped into the ring. I made a mental note not to do something that stupid ever again, though that mental note would be forgotten. This would the first of many stupid incidents. The environment at home felt strange. Empty. The whole house was pitch black. Eliam hadn't been back in several days either.

I sensed a presence had been here recently though. The motion activated lights lit up a little dimmer than usual. The table had paperwork sprawled on it. The couch was empty, the floors were no dirtier than they usually were. My eyes scanned the room looking for any slight inconsistencies. Some of the cabinets had been left open, as if the last person here had left in a hurry. A syringe caught my eye from under table. My eyes narrowed on it, the faded image of my mom crossed my mind and the hairs on the back of my neck stood at point. The label on it was faded but I was pretty sure this was one of the two she'd used on us.

I gripped the syringe in my hand tightly and grit my teeth. "Samuel." I froze at the sound of a voice behind me. My hand shifted ready to use this empty syringe as a weapon. The voice behind me was light, breathy, unfamiliar, I didn't know who it belonged too. I slowly turned toward the voice. There was a girl who couldn't be much older than I was standing there, her eyes were a little misty. My grip on the syringe loosened slightly but I plastered a fake smile on my face.

"You shouldn't surprise people like that." I said as light of a tone as I could make myself sound. "You could get hurt."

"Oh, im so sorry!!" She said blushing. Absentminded my brain commented on her way of being. I made my face neutral. "I just.. came to say thank you for getting my brother out of that fight." She said slowly.
So that's where she looked familiar. Her face looked a little like his. Her light brown hair was in braids.

"Don't mention it." I muttered "I probably will only ever do that once for him." I said and she nodded grateful to the one chance. "I brought you fruit, as a thanks." My eyes stared at the basket looped into her forearm. She set it down on the table, and then left without saying anything else. How had she gotten her hands on fruit? My stomach growled as it usually did. I wasn't very hungry, since I had gotten accustomed to the hunger pains and going several days with minimal food.

I'd never eaten fruit before so I didn't have any idea how it was supposed to be consumed. The fruit looked strange. Some of it looked hairy, others had a sort of rubbery colorful texture. There was one fruit that was spongey in texture and felt strange. There were some that reminded me of the bread experience my brother and I had gone through. I left it alone. Not daring to eat any of it, maybe Eliam would know how its consumed.

I took another look at the syringe and wondered if it had been her who walked into our home. It couldn't have been, it was someone else. I moved toward the disposal hole in the wall and tossed the syringe into it. Anything thrown into it was usually incinerated instantly, it was a standard for almost any home. Though ours was smaller than most homes in this sector my brother and I didn't mind it. I slowly let myself relax, dismissing the thought of someone having been here as paranoia.

I let my guard down too quickly, that was my mistake. "Oh my, Look how big you've grown." Another woman's voice came from the hall few feet from me. I cursed under my breath, and sniffed the air. Sure enough there was a very faded smell of roses that clung to the air. My first guess had been correct. I turned to look at were the voice was coming from. In the poor lit area of the living room I saw her outline. My mother looked aged, she had grey streaks in her messy curly hair. Her eyes looked tired as if they had witnessed too much. Her clothes were wrinkled, and unkept. The light in her eyes looked dimmer than before, now they just reflected back at me dully. Nothing like the last time I had seen her. I didn't make eye contact with her.

"You look terrible." I said discarding all sense of any kind of manners I'd been taught. She smiled wearily at the comment. "You here to give me another vaccine." I stated coldly, forcing her to recount her last visit. She shook her head no very slowly. Her eyes stared at something past me, and I remembered the basket of fruit still on the table. "You have fruit?" She said noticing the basket behind me. "Yeah, earned it." I said stepping in front of the basket. "Do you know how to eat it?" She asked me. I could see a mild ring of hunger in her dull eyes. I almost lost my neutral expression, and exposed myself with embarrassment on the lack of knowledge on eating fruit.

I forcefully kept my expression blank. "Of course I do." I lied through my teeth. "What do you want." I demanded. "You couldn't of come just for a basic house call."

"I suppose not." She said quietly noting that wasn't welcome in this house. "I came to drop off your brother." She said. I blinked in surprise, what could Eliam be doing with her? The being who she revealed though was a sleeping kid strapped into a harness on her back. He had jet black hair, and features like mine and Eliam. He seemed comfortable sleeping against her shoulder. He was even drooling slightly. "His name is Alaric." She told me. My expression shifted upon seeing this kid.

"Why would I want him?" I said angrily. "He's your little brother." She stated in a harder tone. "He's your fucking kid. You can't just come here to dump all of your mistakes." I snapped at her. "He's better off with you than where he was!" She suddenly yelled at me angrily, and then realized her voice was raised and paused. "Im sorry, but, he has no other options." She started again with a gentler tone.

Again with the same excuse of no other options. "Dump him on someone else's doorstep, we don't have room for him here." I snapped coldly. She glared daggers at me that made me flinch. I knew the look, It was the cold deadly expression of a mother. It was the first time I had seen it on her face, that meant she cared for the kid on her back and wouldn't leave him with just anyone. "He needs his brothers." She said again her tone was more stern. Parent-like.

"Why." I said still infuriated that she didn't fight for us like she was this new kid. "He grew up separated from me, they were using him for experiments. Medicines, cures. Making him sick. I wanted him free." She practically screamed it at me. "Who raised you to be so selfish?" She spat. I felt like I'd been slapped in the face, and I glared at her. "Well obviously Not you, but I give you the credit." I said in a calmer tone, and she flinched.

Her eyes looked wounded. She looked fragile. As if the wind could rattle her bones and break her at any moment. She unlatched the harness Alaric was strapped into and set him down on the couch. He was still in deep sleep, and he curled into a small ball the minute he felt the couch under him. She caressed his black hair lightly and kissed his temple. She turned and glared at me. "Hate me if you want, but your brother is faultless in this. Don't hold it against him." She spoke with a shaky voice.

"Get out." Was all that came out of my mouth after that. I watched her go. I saw her broken expression as she crossed the doorway to the outside world again without him. She didn't say anything else, she just walked out. I stood staring at Alaric who was asleep and looked better fed than I did. His jacket was made of better material than any of clothes I'd ever owned, and he looked peaceful. Sleeping on our beat up couch without a care in the world, and muttering something about food in his sleep.