HUMAN-LESS

Chapter 5: Follow Me into the Dark

03:45

This is not an effort to put my family back together. We all drifted further and further apart because we wanted to. Aliza was sick of everyone treating her like she was breakable so she made a choice.

Her ticket out was suicide.

At first, I blamed myself, but not anymore.

More than anything I wish to have this family dead.

I feel the blood begin to trickle down my hand, flowing tenderly between my fingers, sending shivers down my entire body, like a delicately calibrated and precisely shot pistol. So I close the wound.

I used to want to save the world but the more things I lost the less I cared for the humans. Turning into a monster does that to you.

Somewhere in the building, I can hear the whisper of a radio and I allow myself to get caught up in the music for a moment.

By the time I get out of the shower, still dirty, after scrubbing my body raw, thinking I should finish this on my own, there he is.

I check my appearance in the small mirror. Small blood vessels are becoming visible around my neck. It's not just blood. It's a family plot.

My Father was a bad man. He didn't have a nice heart; he wasn't a hero either. Jared built a golden cage for me but that's still a cage.

He responded best to displays of violence.

The bathroom is clean and warm but the shower valve is old, a few curtain rings are missing, the toilet seat is gone and the mirror is cracked.

"Won't you come out?" I question him. Even from a distance, he likes to watch me.

Ira hands me a clean towel and I wrap it around me.

I cannot afford to forget that there are enemies around every corner of this damned world and all of them would be happy if I suddenly stopped breathing.

"You're hiding something we need," Ira takes a deep breath "Information we must have about this virus." He frowns but doesn't move. His words remind me of walking on tiptoes across hot sand.

"Nobody noticed as it swept around the globe until thousands began to die."

Their genetics are damaged beyond repair for their genes self-destruct. No one wants to reveal what they are.

Ira opens the small window. We both listen to the sound of the wind through the trees. The smell of earth after rain alleviates me.

"Tell me just one thing," he pleads "Maybe we're not supposed to know everything."

Ah, there he is. His voice is soft and his eyes fix into mine.

When the body counts quickly starts to rise, questions are inevitably asked.

If they want a fight I'll bring a war or at least 43 convenient ways to murder a man.

He blinks a few times and then looks at my neck. He is also drawn into secrets he doesn't understand.

Once upon a time, I was sweet and innocent and then shit happened.

"Be ready at 6. We might find something in that old military base." I will always be true to myself.

Blood will be spilled. Pray it won't be yours.

He leaves for he knows enough, for now. There will be no miracles here. This is family business.

Ira nods and slips past me out the door.

I feel my way through the dark, my hands brushing the walls and the corners of the furniture. The low rumble of thunder comforts me.

The yearning for a home to which I cannot return, a home that never was, creeps in as I lie down on the cold bed and close my eyes then attempt a siesta. Just don't forget I learned from the best how to be heartless.

Coming up: bad news.