Adrian (The Write Awards 2013)

23: Antennae that Kills

Adrian feels empty. Not in the same way that he did on that fateful day in the park, where I could literally feel his absence, but in a way that is more frightening when looked at in a different light. He's here, he's whole, and he's real. But with each shake that courses through him comes the realization that his pain is also real. I don't think that is anything he has ever felt before, and that leaves him empty.

We've been sitting here for a while now; maybe a good ten minutes. Just as I'm wondering what Darren is doing, I hear the front door open, followed by heavy footsteps that echo throughout the house. He must have come inside looking for us, but now is not a good time. At all.

Suddenly, Adrian sits up, wipes his eyes, and clicks off the record player. The silence is deafening for a moment. "I'm okay," he whispers. He then raises his voice to say, "We've got to get out of here. It's too dangerous."

"Okay, but where do we go? I thought you were taking us somewhere safe." My voice is barely above a whisper, partly because I feel like Jax is watching and partly because Adrian seems so fragile, like the slightest disturbance could set him off. Maybe my tone of voice will offset my words.

"I was taking you to somewhere safe," he counters. "But I didn't expect us to end up here. Just don't freak out, okay?"

"I'm not freaking out," I say between clenched teeth. "If anybody is freaking out, it's you."

He runs a hand through his hair. "I'm not freaking--"

His words are cut off by a piercing scream, so loud and full of terror that it makes my stomach jump up into my throat. Is that Darren? Adrian and I both stand and look at each other, not exactly knowing what to do. We could stay up here and save ourselves, or we could go downstairs and help Darren--or whoever it is down there. It isn't a very hard decision. After all, Adrian has never been one for inaction.

"Let's go," he says, and we both run over to the ladder that leads downstairs from the attic. Adrian goes down first, and I follow quickly after. As soon as my feet hit the floor, we're running down the stairs as fast as we can.

When we get to the first floor, I can tell that the screams are coming from the back of the house. I lead Adrian that way, and we find Darren in the living room, surrounded in a see of bugs. They look like giant roaches, each a little bigger than my foot. Their antennae, however, are this sick-looking, neon green. They wiggle around like they have minds of their own. These roaches are everywhere, forming a giant sea throughout Adrian's entire living room.

Darren sits on the couch where he screams in agony. A bug sits on his leg, wrapping its own legs around his thigh. What must be hurting him the most, however, is the bug's antennae. They're lodged into his thigh like needles. The color is draining from his face rapidly. Adrian and I are watching from where we stand in the entryway. I'm frozen in my spot, unable to move as I watch the horror unfold. But Adrian reacts differently.

He runs into the living room as if the bugs aren't even there. Soon enough, however, they start crawling up his leg and attaching themselves to him. He manages to swat them away before they can get a good grip on him. Somehow he makes it to the couch without any injury.

I can hardly watch. All of those damned roaches are going towards both Adrian and Darren relentlessly. More bugs attach themselves onto Darren, and he's too weak to fight them off. Adrian takes a pillow and swats them away from them both as fast as he can.

"Cleo!" he shouts. "Use your powers! Do something!"

"I can't! They're not--they aren't working!" I'm barely heard over all of the chaos. What do I do? What do I do?

"Just try it!" he pleads. "He's dying!"

An idea hits me, so insane that I doubt it's even worth thinking about--but it just may work. With all of the talk about me being more powerful because of my experiences on Earth, maybe there's a way that I can steal the power from the bugs, and use them to my advantage because I'm in Adrian's house. I can only try.