Evolution

Evolution: Chapter 13

Heat boiled through me from day to day.

I didn't bother Sloane about it, because I knew if something was wrong with me, she would have caught it before. Instead, I just waited for it to roll over me. Sometimes it would last for a couple of hours.

On the luckier days, it would just flash past.

"You've been out here for a while." A smooth voice commented, making my head snap up, "It's okay. I found this place hard to vibe with when I first got here too."

A shudder run through me, as the last of my internal heatwave wiped the floor with me. Apollo didn't seem notice, his expression was open when he came beside me, his eyes welcoming me to confide in him.

Since we'd arrived here, I'd gathered that he was one of those genuine people. Everyone spoke to him, when he moved from his post outside. It made me wonder who he was, before he became a Chimera.

That was another thing that deeply fascinated; what did it feel like to be human?

"There's a lot of you." I admitted, feeling their strange scents wrap around me at every turn, "How did you find your way here?"

Not many of them spoke about it. I just assumed that it was personal, or maybe it was hard to think about. Even Apollo seemed to hesitate at the question, his features pinching in thought, and he tried to smile again.

I could see that the question had thrown him, and I felt regret bubble within me, "Sorry." I apologized, feeling stupid, "I don't always know what questions are too personal, and what aren't."

Trying to figure out what was going too far was...exhausting. Freddie often found himself stepping over an invisible line, that only the Chimera's seemed to see. He'd come out with something, and they would glare at him, or make rude comments.

It made my fingers curl painfully into themselves.

"It's okay." Apollo assured me, bobbing his head in understanding. I'd learned that his long-twisted hair are called dreadlocks. Hayden commented about them, suggesting he was rebellious, "Everything that brought us here, happened through suffering. Talking about how sickness, and death, saved our lives is...strange. You know? It's the kind of pain we remember in silence."

My mind flashed back to the small group of humans I'd bypassed to get here. Had everyone, at some point, been as sick as them? It was hard to imagine. Looking at Apollo, made it impossible to imagine him so close to death.

Especially when his dark skin had an almost bronze glow to it. Out there, I didn't see any eyes that danced like his did. Maybe they just stood out more because they were brighter than his skin, filled with acceptance and warmth.

"I wouldn't understand." I shrugged, leaning against the fence around a vegetable patch, "I only know my own pain."

His expression was sympathetic as he looked at me, "You and Freddie should come out tonight." He encouraged with a lazy grin, and I cocked my head at him, "We do this hang out over the weekend, your friend Tyrion chopped up enough wood for us to even do a bonfire."

"What do you hang?" I questioned curiously, which made him blink at me, "Do you cook it? In the fire?"

The way he grinned at me, making it certain that I made a mistake. Apollo laughed heartily, like I'd told a brilliant joke, "You're funny." He approved, which didn't answer my question, "So, will we see you there? I'd ask if your roommate was coming, but..."

"She's on house arrest." I shrugged, turning my head back to the house. Close enough that I could see it, but far enough so that her scent wasn't as pungent, "Besides, she's not much of a people person."