World Without Souls

Chapter 8: Kara

"What?" Kevin and I echo. Ivory looks at us an smiles softly, but it doesn't reach her eyes. Her hair falls around her face in a greasy, clumpy mane, saturated from the now dry blood that leaks out of her pores.
"In Primary School, before I went to Highschool, I fell in love with Charles... 8 years... H-he didn't feel the same way though." She sighs and looks out onto the horizon. Never before have I seen her so weak, so helpless. Sure, in high school it seemed as though she fluttered from one guy to the next in crushing, but now I know why. A distraction of sorts, from the damage he did to her.
Suddenly she gasps in pain and her nails dig into the earth, nails bending back as little lines form cracks under her fingers. Her teeth clench together in an attempt to keep out screaming, letting out only a high pitched wail that escapes from her chest.
"What's wrong?" I ask hurriedly, then mentally face palm myself. What isn't wrong?
"D-do you think, that maybe, y-you have painkillers?" She tries to sound calm, but she can't pull it off. Oh my god! How could I be so stupid? She fucking got shot in the thigh. It's gonna fucking hurt.
I leap for the first aid kit, hands shaking as I rip it open and pour a bunch of pain killers into my palm, cursing as some scatter into the hard dirt. I hold them out to Ivory, who gladly accepts it and plops them into her mouth one by one, swallowing them with only the slightest grimace, as if she'd done it a million times before.
Turning around, I see Kevin and Trent standing there helplessly. Whatever Trent was so distracted about before, it has now fled from his mind with only a little visit every now and again. Ivory slumps back against the tree, exhausted.
"We need to go looking for more supplies." I suggest. "Kevin, let's go."
"But-" Kevin starts, but then looks at Ivory, struggling with pain and Trent about to collapse from exhaustion. "Okay."
We get up and walk down the road, where we had run the previous day. As we stroll, I start to notice little things. No pets are scattered on the street nor any birds in the sky, and one house has all its lights on.
I point to the house and Kevin understands. Pressing a single finger to my lips, we creep up to the house, silent as the night. Inside, we can hear faint voices, and catch slivers of the conversation.
"Charles hasn't got the brains to disobey us-" A deep voice says, sending shivers down my spine.
"Then where's the girl, huh? Where are those four?" Another voice accuses, clearly female and full of superiority.
"It was a mess up, sir, it won't happen again." Begs a boy, who sounds our age. He sounds so weak, yet there's something in his tone, the way he says it, like these people own him.
"It better not, or we will do the same thing to you that we did to Khloe." Terror grips me at hearing my mother's name come out of these people's mouthes. What did you do to my mother? I stand up from where we were leaning against the door, and Kevin pulls me back down by yanking hard on my arm, pain shooting up to my shoulder.
"Stay here and listen!" Kevin hisses at me, and I try to suppress the rush of anger pumping through my blood.
"Khloe is an ignorant bitch. She deserves everything she gets." The boy says defiantly. "This was an accident." Kevin looks at me worriedly. My hands are clenched and my shoulders tense, filled with shock and anger. A single tear rolls down my cheek as I listen to what they say.

The sound of something sliding and falling, as well as the noise of tiny things falling into the ground fills my ears, the man swears loudly.
"Why did you do that?" The woman screams.
"I'm sorry-" the boy is cut off by the sound of feet crunching on gravel. Kevin and I whip around, a chill creeping up our bones. Fright grips us as we see 7 Infected running towards where we lean against the door. Kevin sits there like a rabbit caught in a torchlight, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. I grab his arm and drag him with me as I dive sideways. I close my eyes and wait for the inevitable mouthes to close on me, to feel my skin be ripped up and blood sucked like a slurpee on a hot day, but it doesn't come. The Infected rush right past us. Maybe they didn't see us? I ask myself. Quickly, I get up. Kevin and I scramble over to a window and peer in, curious to know what's happening.
Inside, I only catch the last Infected running after something. A door slams open on the other side of the house. Kevin and I never see anything though, they've disappeared with no trace.
"What do we do now?" I ask Kevin. He simply shrugs, like this is a normal thing, even though his eyes show terror.
"Should we...look inside?" I suggest, and then instantly regret it. It's too dangerous, not worth the risk, not worth quenching my ever growing curiosity...
"Ok." Kevin replies, and pulls me inside before I can utter my change of mind.

As we stumble through the battered door, the first thing I notice is how alight it is. Every lightbulb, every lamp, every lantern is turned on. The room is awash in the warm yellow colour the light brings.
The next thing I notice is how messy it is, evidence of the recent struggle. Splintered chairs lay sideways on the floor, piles of papers are scattered across the room. Bags overflowing with things sit near the door, ready to be taken at a moments notice. On the bench, little sacks sit, filled.
"Wow." Whispers Kevin. Wow indeed.
"Let's look around, there might be something useful." I suggest, heading towards the little bags. Picking up one, I untie the ribbon and peer inside. Inside, a jelly-like liquid fills three quarters of the sack. The liquid sparkles like a million diamonds liquified and is completely clear. Carefully, I gently poke it. My finger doesn't even break the surface, it simply wobbles and bounces.
Putting it back, I pick up the next one. Inside, coin sized brown balls fill up three quarters of the sack. Inspecting one, I notice its' surface is flaky and it could crumble into dust at any slight pressure.
Seeing how many bags are left, I spy an empty backpack pinned under a fallen chair. I grab it and scoop all the bags lined up along the bench into the backpack to study better later with Ivory.
At the end of the bench, a fallen bag has spilled out it's contents. Hundreds of small, glittery, green, 3D squares litter the table and have spilled over onto the floor. Maybe this is what summoned all those Infected? Suddenly frightened, I turn around to see what Kevin is doing.

Kevin kneels on the ground, surrounded by all the paper, squeezing it into another backpack. I stroll over to the backpacks that sit patiently by the door. Peering inside, the contents are not what I expect. Inside, little gadgets I've never seen or heard of before fill it to the brim. They have weird shapes, and look ever so confusing. Before I can decipher more, Kevin's voice cuts through my thoughts.
"I've got all the papers, we should go before-" he stops eruptively, tilting his head to the side a bit, as if trying to hear something far away.
I concentrate and try to listen. Clear as day, the sound of people running echoes from down the street, through the windows and into our awaiting ears.
"They're coming!" I cry, and Kevin swears. We run through the door, I manage to grab one of the big bags before leaving the house. Almost immediately, they slam into the house. Their puffing can be heard easily in the silence of the night.
"Where is everything?" The man's voice thunders.
"We'll figure it out later, please. Ashlyn's hurt, we need to help her.." the boy pleads, his voice a little shaky.
"I bet Ivory has something to do with this!" The man screams accusingly. "Because you didn't fucking kill her, decades of studies and effort has been STOLEN!"
"I'm sorry, it's just.. she has people with her. 2 boys and a girl." The boy explains weakly.
"Well, next time, kill them too!" The sound of skin hitting skin and someone falling leaks out of the house. Sobbing soon joins the no longer silent night air.

Did you get all the bags? I mouth to Kevin. In response he holds up the backpack filled with papers, joined with weird foods I've never seen before.
Let's go. Kevin mouths back, and we take a few steps before I notice a paper lying near my feet. It must have rushed out with us. I pick it up and look at it, terror runs through my veins. Soon Kevin notices I'm no longer beside him and turns around. I beckon him over and together we stare, horrified at the picture.
The picture shows two girls. The girl on the left is clearly Ivory, and from the looks of it the picture was taken this year. Her hair is up in a high pony tail and her face is frozen in an immortal laugh. She wears a red t-shirt, the picture only shows the girls from the waist up. The right girl is a girl I've never seen before. Waist length black hair and pale skin, diamond blue eyes. She wears a dress with the pattern of cherry blossoms on it. She too is laughing. The girls stand, wrapped in eachovers arms, enjoying life.
It's quite a nice picture, really. But it's the chilling words written along the bottom of the picture that scare us. Only two words, but they are filled with strong darkness.
Destroy them