Convergence - The Last Science #2.1 - In Plain Sight

B2: Chapter 13 - The Emerald City (Part III) - I

  Cinza fought for breath. The rest of the room was eerily quiet, though the bodies of the guys were still all situated around them. Natalie did her best to avoid looking at any of them. She didn't want to remember what had happened in that room. She just wanted to get away. Her skin was burning, her stomach churning. She felt sick to the point of agony. The sooner they got out of there, the better—but for the moment, Cinza was clearly in no shape to move.

  "It took us a while to determine where you were," Cinza murmured, clutching her side as if she'd just run a mile. "I went to the park, but you weren't there. Nicole had to scry you over the phone."

  "I—" Natalie started, but Cinza held up a hand.

  "I asked around. One of my old... acquaintances told me who you'd been seen with. That park used to be safe... I'm so sorry."

  Natalie's heart stopped. She hadn't wanted anyone to know what had happened to her in that park. "...Tom?" she whispered.

  "He switches names. I knew him as Philip." Cinza shook her head. "I'm disgusted that no one has ever dealt with him."

  "Why didn't you?"

  "Because at the time, I was nothing." Cinza shook her head. "You see me shaped by the life I had forced upon me, through no choice of my own. I couldn't escape, any more than you could escape the fate that befell you in Rallsburg." She paused, looking Natalie in the eye. "These events do not define us. You won't ever forget what happened here. Don't try to. Keep it within you, let it teach you who you will become. You are stronger than they are, and you have a whole life ahead of you yet to live."

  Natalie wanted to believe her, but after the night she'd had, she didn't know how much more she could take. Her face chose that moment to twinge in pain, and she instinctively reached up to touch the bandages.

  Cinza's eyes softened. "What is this?" she asked, pointing at her face.

  "They... they cut me. Initiating. That's what they called it."

  "Ah." Cinza nodded slightly. "I didn't realize you were joining a gang."

  "I didn't!" Natalie said indignantly, then winced as the pain spiked in her face. Her eyes welled up. "I tried to stop them! I didn't want to hurt anyone!"

  "I know. You only wanted to protect yourself. You've never had to deal with something like this before, and you never should have, but it happened." Cinza took her hand, but Natalie slipped away. Something about the touch made her feel nauseous. "I swear to you today, I'll help you find a way to undo their mark."

  Natalie's heart fell. "You don't know how?"

  She shook her head. "I can make illusions of change, but they must be maintained constantly. Others have found ways to change their appearances in permanent ways, but they are all superficial. Colors and pigments. No one has ever managed to actually change the structure of their body beyond the lightest touch upon the surface. A scar this deep is beyond us."

  "I..." Natalie started, her eyes welling up.

  Cinza moved forward, as if to hug Natalie. Natalie leaned into it, wanting to feel comforted by someone, anyone, even someone like Cinza whom she didn't really like—but the moment they made contact, she felt a spike of fear and pain unlike anything she'd ever known.

  Natalie pulled away as if she'd been struck. Cinza looked at her, confused. "Is something wrong?"

  "Don't touch me," she whispered. She backed away fearfully. She turned toward the couch, but it had a dead body. Dead bodies surrounded her. Everything was painful, everything was terrifying, everything wanted to hurt her. Even people she trusted couldn't come near.

  She'd been damaged by them in a way not even Rallsburg had managed, and even though they'd paid dearly for it, she knew she'd feel that pain for the rest of her life. She sat down against the wall while Cinza watched her in pained confusion, and rocked back and forth, trying to comprehend what she'd been through, what she'd done.

  I just want to go home.

  But, of course, Natalie didn't have a real home to go to. Her home had been destroyed, like these men, like her entire life.