Adorn

[ 3 ] Lose Control

Serena and I stumble with one another toward the bar. The bartender, a tall, lean guy with tattoos all over his forearms shakes his head as we approach.

"Take it easy, girls," he says, not able to contain his smile. "Hands on the sensor, please." Right away, he's all business, again.

Serena giggles, accidentally letting a burp slip. "Excuse me!" I laugh inwardly, turning my head away so the bartender can't see the intoxication in my eyes.

She passes the sobriety test, still in legal limit thanks to the handy pink pill. Her eyes look from the cute bartender to me. With a wink, she pulls my hand toward the transparent countertop.

"Maddy's turn," she says loudly over the band.

I line my palm and fingers on the neon green outline of a hand. A slight vibration tingles my skin. Finally, it stops, and I pull away.

"It's blue," I say. "Now can we have another drink?"

The bartender shakes his head, bewilderment crossing his face. "If I find out you two are messing with that enhanced shit, you're outta here for good. Got it?"

Serena stands straight, shoulders back and salutes. "Yes, sir." Then, she blows him a kiss. She's always been a flirt. That's what I love about her; she doesn't hide her true self.

She doesn't need enhancements to be special.

"I want..." My voice trails off. Looking to my left, I notice a short girl with a red uniform and black knee high boots drinking a glowing green drink. "Venus Flytrap," I say to the bartender.

He narrows his eyes. "That's pretty strong. I'm not sure -"

Someone brushes their body against my back, wrapping an arm over my chest.

The bartender smiles. "Marek, how's it going?"

I roll my eyes, shrugging him off me. He's the epitome of the "popular" enhanced person's.

Marek maneuvers beside me, leaning one elbow on the bar top. He doesn't stop staring at me as he says, "Put all their drinks on my tab."

I let out a fake laugh, finally turning to face him entirely. "Where's the eye candy tonight, Marek?"

He smiles. I hate how handsome he is, and he knows it. I hate him in general.

"You're my eye candy," he says slyly. "And you’re welcome." His eyes linger on the drinks in front of us.

I grab the drink, careful not to spill the sweet concoction. Looking over at Serena, I nod toward the band on stage.

Her eyes widen, peeking around me at Marek, then at the stage. "Oh, right! We better get a good spot." She grabs the drink and begins to walk away, saying over her shoulder, "Thanks for the drink, Marek! I always knew you were good for something!"

A low growl comes from Marek. "Why do you hang out with that...thing?" The fact he's calling my best friend "thing" gets my blood boiling.

I press my hand against his muscular chest, and not in an intimate way. Shoving him backward, I take one step forward, glaring. Marek suddenly looks nervous.

"Alright, Maddox, I'm sorry. Just settle down, take it easy." He holds his hands up to surrender.

"What's wrong? Why do you keep backing away?" I say, noticing my vision changing.

Marek's image changes. I can see his heart rapidly beating inside his chest. Every bone structure is visible.

"What's happening to me?"

The pulsation of the instruments on stage deafens me. Pair of hands latch onto my shoulders. I think its Marek, so I push him away, pressing my hands against my head.

Don't touch me! I hate you! I'm screaming inside my mind. Everything is too loud, so loud it's unbearable.

"What's happening to me?" I cry, moving my lips to speak, but unable to hear a word spoken.

Falling to my knees, I lose sight, feeling warm tears roll down my face.

~*~

I wake with cotton mouth, smacking my dry lips together. The taste has never been so bad. Rolling over, I notice I'm in my bed. Shivering, I yank the covers up to my chin.

"Rommy, change bedroom temperature to 70 degrees."

"Changing temperature now," says the synthetic voice. "Temperature now 70 degrees Fahrenheit."

"Ugh, this blows," I mumble, pulling the blanket over my head as it's being yanked away at the foot of the bed. I sit up. "What the hell?!"

Aron smirks, standing near the end of my bed. He tosses a bottle of my pink pills on top of my bare legs.

"I think I'm supposed to be the one asking you what the hell. What were you thinking, Maddox?"

Rolling out of bed, I stop before standing, and press my hand against my throbbing head.

Aron walks in front of me, shaking his head. Always the disapproving brother.

"So stupid," he says. "Those pills are junk! Your enhancements went on the fritz because you've been taking them with your loser friends."

This time I stand, pushing Aron with all my strength. He barely budges.

"Shut up," I breathe angrily, still woozy from the night before. "They're not losers. Serena is my best friend!"

Aron says, "Soon not to be. Father's orders."

Tears well up around my eyes, daring to spill over. "No. He can't order me to stop being friends with her. It will never happen. She's the only person who has ever cared about me besides our mother who is dead!"

Emotional pain crosses over Aron's face. He narrows his eyes. Looking down at his feet he tries to regain his composure.

It's the first time I've mentioned our mother in a long time. Her death during the last war struck the city of Variegate and our family hard. Horrible as it sounds, I try not to think of her sacrifice to save us all.

Aron looks straight at me now. "Believe it or not, I do care about you. That's why I'm so hard on you about your enhancements. If you don't get them under control, they could hurt you or someone else."

I shrug, trying to act cool. "It only hurt me. So lay off, okay?"

"Marek is being treated for head trauma, Maddox."

Even though I despise the guy, I don't want to see him hurt.

"What happened?" I swallow, trying to wet my dry throat. "It was because of last night, isn't it? He's going to die because of me, right?" Panic shivers down my spine.

Aron touches my shoulder, settling me back down onto the bed. "He's not dead. But I won't lie and tell you he's okay. That's why you need to train. So...get dressed."

A tear escapes my eye, trickling down my paralyzed face. I can't seem to move, or even blink an eye.

"Will I be punished?"

"Father is handling it. Meet me at the training building in an hour," he says, and then leaves me sitting inside my quiet room alone. It's suddenly too hot.

"Rommy, change bedroom temperature to 65 degrees."

"Room temperature is now set at 65 degrees Fahrenheit."

I fall back onto my bed, staring up at the ceiling, wishing I could escape this reality and make my way back to those woods with the two boys.