Extraordinary Mistakes

7. Impossible

May 2017

Three months had gone by since Amy died.

Ever since the fatal flaw that Rachel would sometimes not feel like herself. Her skin isn't hers. Everything around her seems foreign and weird. Nothing feels real anymore.

Matthew keeps trying to convince Rachel to just kill someone, anyone, or not even kill, just torture a bit, whatever she feels like. Every day she and Alex are properly trained, as Matthew calls it. He believes that if they can endure everything that he puts them through, then they'll be unstoppable. Amanda promises her daughter that if she commits the fatal flaw, they wouldn't be anymore. 

Day after day, Amanda, and Matthew keep blaming Alex for Amy's death.

"It wasn't his fault!" Rachel stands in front of him.

"It was, Alex. It was your fault and no one else's," Matthew says.

"They killed Amy because of the massacre. Because they think we did it, that I am the Angel of Death! Because you told them so!"

"The government blamed us, Rachel. Do you honestly believe that denying it would've done anything? What? You think the people would've believed us instead? I did what I had to. Admit it to show other deviants that they shouldn't cross us like the Ariston community did. Everyone believes that you are the Angel of Death. So you are, my dear. In a war, the illusion of power is power."

"We're not at war anymore!"

"We'll always be at war!" Matthew closes his fists. "We are evolution's next step and even animals have more rights than we do. We are the ones who should be ruling!"

Matthew takes a few steps forward and looks directly in her eyes.

"This is why, Rachel, you will never be a leader. You wouldn't be strong enough to make the necessary decisions. If you were, you would've committed the fatal flaw already. You would've done that for your people."

Rachel starts to form a fireball in her hand, but immediately puts it out.

"Thanks, dear, for proving my point."

Matthew and Amanda decide to punish her for her insolence. They put her in a locked box for two days. In there, it's the first time she truly feels lonely. Not because of the box itself, a place she'd grown up in, but because for three months, she hasn't felt the sensations that she used to anymore. The other person's feelings. Was it just a dream?

After locking her up, Matthew enters his bedroom, Amanda is already lying wide awake in tears.

"Rachel's old enough. Alex is talented... ish. Why are you against it, darling?"

"When we regain the confidence of our people. There will be plenty of other suitable partners."

"True, but she could always have another then."

"They'd be a third generation on my side and a fourth on yours. That's rare. If we're lucky, one baby would be a deviant. But two?"

"You're right, perhaps it's better to wait a little longer and find a more talented match for her. I'm lucky to have you by my side, Amanda. I'm sorry that I don't say it enough." He kisses her.

***

Amanda releases her daughter from the box. She runs to the garden where Alex is being trained. One thing pops out immediately, his clothes. Alex is wearing Matthew's suits. Which made no sense, they were too big for him, and they had other clothes for him to wear. For Alex to be wearing this, it was given by her father, he would be upset to say the least if the boy used those.