A living THING

Chapter 30

      A faint mumbling could be heard in a distance. I couldn't distinguish their voices. My mind was fuzzy and my head was hurting bad. What happened? Feeling a soft fabric around my exhausted body, I tried to get the sense of the place I was in. I inhaled the scent of the fabric. It smelled familiar, very familiar. I recognized it. It was my own, and the soft blanket around me felt like my own silky duvet. How did I get home? Wasn't I... Yesterday we were in... North Amber, those man, Bryce.... Everything dawned up on me. I opened my eyes, as I jumped straight up. My breathing heavy. My eyes were darting around the place, trying to see and at least recognize the place I was in. It was my apartment. I could feel my heart to slow down, as I saw, I am in a safe place. Then I saw both of my friends rushing towards me  from living room. I was so happy to see them safe, to see them here with me. Some tears of happiness and relieve left my reddened eyes.

"Sharlene, Laura!" I sobbed while reaching out for them in attempted hug.

"Oh, Kyra, you are awake." with worry and sadness visible in her face, said Laura.

     She hugged me, I couldn't swallow the hard lump that was sitting in my throat. Sharlene came as well and embraced me tight. I hold them both for a minute with my eyes closed, feeling their comfortable presence. I needed it, as my body and chest felt so heavy, like a huge bolder would have been placed on me. It surfaced me.

     I opened my eyes and my heart stopped, my body froze from what I saw behind my friends. It was him. He was still here, with us, in this apartment. Bryce. He came out from the living room area and now were facing me. His face emotionless, his eyes the same. Like last night, there was not a single trace of light in them, even though the sun was high up in the sky. He seemed to be back to his normal self. I would think the last night was all just a bad dream, but I saw a damage done on his jaw. It wasn't a dream. All of it was real. My heart rate rose, as my fear became real again. I let go of my friends and scurried back in back of my bed as far as possible, keeping my blanket around me for some protection. My whole body was shaking by this point, feeling Bryce's hard stare.

"Kyra, Kyra! Calm down." Quietly said Sharlene. She even didn't gave me a nickname this time. Her face full of worry. "Don't be afraid. Calm down!"

   I shook my head in denial and tried to hide myself inside the wall, even though it was impossible.

"W.. why is he here? Take him out of here! He... h... he is going to ...!" my words refused to come out of my mouth.

     Laura glanced back at Bryce and than at me: "Kyra, try to calm down. Bryce is not gonna hurt you! Just calm down!"

"Y... you didn't see, what he did last night, what he was trying to do to me. He.... he..." Right now I was crying uncontrollably, I hid my face in both of my palms. "He k.... killed those people, and... and he was trying to kill me too."

"Kyra, honey, he did not. He knocked you out because you were going crazy. You were in panic and he didn't want you to run away and get hurt somewhere else."

"But he still killed those man, all of them."

"He had no choice. They could have killed you."

"I don't believe you. It is all a lie. You were not there... If he wanted to save me from them, he could find some other way. He can't go around and kill people, just because of me."

"Shhh. Please. Try to forget last night, and calm down. I feel so bad, that I suggested to go so far into the dangerous part of city. Please forgive. Blame me for it, not Bryce. It is all my fault." Sharlene hugged me and I felt some tears from her falling on my shoulder.

      I sat in my bed for many hours. It was hard for me to calm down. Laura made me my tea, which helped a little bit. My face was sore from constant crying and tears. I was so tired, I wanted to sleep, but I couldn't. Bryce was still here and I still felt nervous and totally afraid of him. The whole explanation didn't help me to change my thoughts about my android. All this time he was standing in living room, looking out the window, seemed to be in deep thought. It was crazy. He could change his act so quickly, one moment he is non emotional with blank face, other his behavior seems to be out of control. He must be infected, even I know this is not how a robot should be, how it should behave and act in certain situations. I just don't understand why nobody else sees it. They all think he is perfectly fine and nothing is wrong in his behavior. Maybe he is pretending in front of others. But why does he not in front of me? I thought my head will explode of too many questions that swam  through my mind. I felt the need for rest. The only place I can think about is my greenhouse. The only place I can truly relax and hopefully forget the events that occurred last night. Though I doubt it. The scene was too violent to get it out of mind so quickly. Last night I finally saw of what Bryce is truly capable of. His strength was inhuman. Looked like he could see their attacks before they even managed to do anything. That old robot was dead in seconds after my robot got his hands on him. What he could do, if even a robot didn't have an impact on him. Bryce was too strong. Like a war machine. And with this virus he is more dangerous than it was intended for him to be. What should I do?