Life's Little Teardrops

33. Stubborn Introductions

The light lilac hair and thick black eyeliner give her away immediately. She is not someone that you could mistake for another JuV kid.

She is the most incredible sight I've ever seen. She has light lilac hair which covers her whole head and falls in tight curls, her skin is a luminous pail shade but on her face is covered in strange swirls of what looks like eyeliner, her eyes are like a child's or someone who has gone mad. Her eyes are a light and happy shade of blue with Snow White outline's.

I sit with my legs still in the tunnel and look into her eyes with a look of incrediation. A look of fright, amazement, awe and pleasure. A dream come to life.

"Hello, we've been waiting." She says with a small grin. I don't have to wonder what other people she means because I've met them before in my dreams. "Who are you?" I ask sounding slightly frightened.

It is the most strange feeling that for a moment I think I might be dreaming again. They are just as I dreamt but I can talk to them.

The girl smiles a little larger as we stand up. "We're the Order Of The Black Rays." She says.

At this my vision goes blurry and I'm not sure if it's my brain making the connection that the people from my dreams are Ridley's colleagues or sheer shock from her words, but tears begin pouring down my face without warning. I hear myself shrieking in my ears and as it echoes through the cement building and through the wire cage I am surprised to realize it is exactly like my dream.

The room has grey walls and cement floor with a cage just like the lobby's in which we stand. As I cry for no reason the girl looks concerned and wraps me in a hug. She is the same heigh as me and is mostly cold, she also smells like a mix of perfume, toast, and raspberries. The other three people stand around us as I stop crying and separate from the hug.

"You're April." I say wiping my face. She is Luna's sister, the one Ridley told me about.

She looks unsurprised I know her name as She places her hands on my shoulders. "Yes. And you are Eliza Dutton." She gestured one hand towards the three others in the cage.

They couldn't be any more like the dreams.

The girl who must be Margo is almost the same size as me, wearing black Jeans, a white T-Shirt, a leather jacket, has unprofessionally dyed white hair and a small smirk.

Rorry next to her is tall and slim with dirty blond hair, a monster T-shirt and black skinny jeans.

Then there is Darren who has scruffy black hair, a gold nose ring, a blue shirt and black skinny jeans.

They all look pleasant except for Margo who is smirking at me.

"Hey." I say with a small smile.

"Hello. I'm-" Says Rorry before I cut him off.

"I know who you all are but I need to know how I got in there." I say gesturing to the trapdoor.

It is several minutes before they respond.

"You don't know how you got here?"Rorry asks with a huge stress on attitude. He is kind of rude sounding but looks like he's be a nice guy.

"No." I scoff at him in an attempt to secure respect."You were probably sleepwalking." Margo says snootily.

After a few moments of witty banter I get around to the cure.

"Ummn. I'm going to get the cure supplies in a few days I think so we can actually prepare it." I say in a slightly awkward tone.

They all seem to be intrigued and each one has at least one tidbit to contribute.

"Yes. It'll be easy to get the stuff." Says Rorry sarcastically leaning against the fence. He seems like the cliché BadBoy from High School Movies, just as much as Margo looks like the stereotypical stoner.

"You know the Valley Kids with be gun happy right?" Margo says smirking which makes her black lipstick look wildly unnatural.

The Derango Valley is twenty miles away and was packed with white Trash teens who spent their time shooting beer cans off their tailgates. I had been with my friends to a few of their school's BasketBall games but never really socialized with kids there.

"You'll love it down there, I youst to buy lollipops from a store there." April says grinning with childlike pleasure.

Darren just looks at me for a while before nodding.

He hasn't said a word to me yet.

"Ya. But once I get the stuff one of you will have to sort out the rest." I say trying to asses how much they know about Trin's condition.

"Ya, I've heard she's infected. Do you think she'll make it to the cure?" Margo asks with a little more chill in her voice and a genuinely friendly face.

"She'll be lucky to make it to the day I leave." It sounds cold and impersonal but it is true.

As I say this I hear a door open and Ridley comes out of a door behind me. She is wearing black sweatpants and a Pink Floyd T-Shirt. Her hair is in a high ponytail that looks more fit for a cheerleader than a teenage delinquent with scientific genius.

"You're down here? You could have gotten me in So Much Trouble!" Ridley says with wide unlined eyes. She has no makeup on but she still looks extremely unnatural, something not many can pull off.

I turn towards her with a slight grin as I open my mouth to explain, only nothing comes out.

"She slept walked into the study and came out the tunnel. She doesn't know how she got in there," Margo says helpfully with a dimply smile and wide eyes. I get a strange feeling she's not as rude as she seems.

"I don't think she even knows were she is." Rorry Pipes up from his side of the cage. He doesn't say it in a helpful tone, but in a tone of ridicule.

Ridley walks over to me with an irritated look and unlocks the gate to the cage. It's only now that I realize I don't know how I got into the study.

"Well since you've all got acquainted and clearly know each other by now I guess we can just go." She says with a slight giggle in her voice.

April looks disappointed to see me go but I give her a smile and wave to the others. Me and Ridley walk to the door and as soon as she shuts it We're in a furrowing conversation.

"You realize you could have blown EVERYTHING, right?" She says clearly pissed off in a way I haven't seen. "You could have messed it all up. You could have gotten me killed and yourself arrested!" She yells while waving her hands through the air.

"Sorry. I didn't-" I begin to defend myself.

"Lock yourself in your room if you have to but don't mess this up!" She says exhaling quickly.

She is talking loudly which means that people must be asleep and it has to be at least 3:00am for that to be true.

I smile largely at her and begin yelling. "YOU DO REALIZE I HAVE TO LEAVE MY ROOM TO GET THE SUPPLIES RIGHT?" She smiles as we walk down a long corridor which has a few doors on each side, I've never seen it before.

"Ya. Trinity's condition is degenerating by the way." She says with her smile faintly fading. I might have found it infuriating that she smiled as she said it if she hadn't continued. "I can't believe I was so stubborn. I just wanted to be right so bad, I didn't want to have to do more work. I'm sorry I didn't listen about..." Ridley paused leaning towards me.

"Leon." I offer, she nods and smiles.

"It's okay. We're all a little stubborn sometimes, I just don't want you to put your trust in something that won't work." I say quietly as we turn down a more light hallway. This building is so much larger than it looks from the outside.

"Are we going to tell Trinity she isn't the Intelligent Mind?" She asks with a low sincerity.

It's only now that I realize the event of yesterday, the argument and her sisters name.

"I think so but, I have to talk to you about the order, okay?" I say in a nervous voice. I need to find out more about Erin, Is she the same one who's been sending me the notes? Yesterday I simply assumed she was but now I'm realizing she can't be, Ridley said she was sent away somewhere.

"Okay. I'll meet you on the roof tomarrow okay? I have to get some sleep." She says with a tired voice and as we step into the Lobby she goes a separate route.