Absorption Distortion

Chapter 14

With each step Alex could feel the sand beneath his feet. It was warm against his skin from lying in the hot sun. The sound of waves crashing can be heard in the background, we the odd seagull cry. There was no one on the beach. He looked around, unable to see the door from which he came through. He could see building rooftops in the distance but preceded forward, imprudently hoped to find Sarah sunbathing on the beach. As he reached the shore, he felt the warm water rise up and over his feet. It was a beautiful place, and Alex was already in no rush to leave. He took a moment to sit on the beach, watching the waves crash onto the sand. There were seagulls flying above him and joining others out on the water. He laid down in the hot sun and put his hands behind his back, using them as a pillow. It wasn't long before his body's time clock caught up to him and he fell asleep on the sand. 

Being so asleep, Alex hadn't noticed how many hours went by. He just laid peacefully on the beach. The repetitive waves crashing on shore provided soft background music. It wasn't until the hot sun disappeared behind a dark cloud that Alex slowly started waking up. He opened his eyes slowly and looked up, seeing the blue skies being consumed in dark clouds rather quickly but he was too out of it still to take it in. He felt something on his head and removed one hand from under his head, scratching it. He squinted in the sunlight and sat up. He lowered his head and looked at his arms, feeling slight tingles of pains. From all the skin that was visible, it was bright red, and blistering. As his brain started to wake up, he felt the strike of pain come over him. His exposed arms, feet and face are blistered with second degree burns, which tingled as drops of water fall from the sky. 'But this is not possible!' he shrieked in thoughts, not able to move his lips to speak the words. He didn't realize how bad it was until he trying to move. He felt the relief of the sun being covered by the clouds and looked up, realizing that this kind of a burn is possible. This is Distortion, this is not Earth. Just as he finished the thought, the rain began to pour. As it hit his inflamed red exposed skin, it electrically and he couldn't hold back letting out an agonizing scream. He hunched his body over to cover the blisters on his arms and face but his feet exposed were sending spiking throbbing hot shoots of pain up his legs. He tried to bury one in sand but that didn't feel any better, in fact the sand was only make it worse, so knew he needed to move. Quickly. He turned onto his knees, biting his lip as his feet hit the sand and he crawled using one hand to hold him up. The intensity of rain began to make the sand muddy and it started to stick to his arms. All he can feel is the stinging going up his arm and the water falling down his face electrifying it in pain. In the split moment of feeling the agony, he wasn't concentrating and couldn't see the small dip in the sand he was about to put his hand in. As he slipped with his hand, he fell onto his face. As the wet sand sticks to his face he rolls over shrieking in pain. The salt in the sand burn in his exposed skin, "AHHHHH!!!" he yelled  but the sound of thunder in the clouds drowns him out. He clenches his fist but can't close it, the pain growing unbearbale. He attempts to wipe his hands and feels the sand on them, he needs to clean his eyes to see where to go but lying in the sand is all he can do, feeling the sting of his intense sunburn immobilizing him. The intense UV rays form the sun were stronger then they were on Earth. He realized quickly how fragile the world Sarah created had become but with every rain drop, the pain overwhelms him and Alex passes out. He laid helpless on the beach with his body continously getting drenched from the rain. 

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Sarah looks at her glass on the table, half filled with red wine that Payton had only just poured. They sat at a small round table in the center of a large room filled with candles. There is a fireplace to one side. The glass roof above them ting as rain begins trickles down upon it. Payton sat across from Sarah in a sleek black tuxedo, both plates empty from the meal just they finished at sunset. He peered across the table into her emerald green eyes with a longing admiration for his wife. She looked back at him with a smile, reaching for her wine glass and smelling it, raising it to her husband. He picked up his glass and raised it. They both took a slow sip of their wine. They had been enjoying a pleasant conversation over dinner, with Payton lathering his wife in compliments, which she was not shy to return. They had been married only a year, but felt like they knew each other for a lifetime. Both former biochemists involved in biophysics and genetics, they found a love for their work and for each other. Eventually discovering each other had abilities, they moved away form biochemistry and created Fernbrooke. A safe haven for specials and humans. But with the pressing human world that was Earth, Sarah felt the need to separate herself from Earth and Distortion seemed inevitable.