Colour Kill

Chapter 9

A month has passed since I found Kerry, Jevi, Mel, and Royce. Of course, an emotional storm still floods me with questions about the Alpharei, but in the last month, I have gotten used to a routine that has kept me busy. And of course, all their company helps tremendously. Mel is still cold with me, but I don't mind.

I hear them all chatting outside. Slipping on my jeans I make my way out of the tent. Instantly the sun warms my face, they all sit on the logs just talking. "morning guys" I announce as I stroll closer to them "Morning Ga -what the fuck ?" All their mouths drop to the floor " What ?" I stutter as confusion creeps down my spin
"Your hair" Royce mumbles. My eyes follow his outstretched arm that's pointed at me. Looking down shocked wipes me out like an avalanche. " What the fuck" I shout out. my hands gripping the edges of my hair, that until last night was just below my shoulders but now is flowing freely at my waist.

Kerry and Mel keep alternating at looking at me and my mutant hair " Your about two inches taller too" Kerry points out. Unease starts to tear through my body like someone just threw a stone into a peaceful pond creating violent ripples. No, this can't be happening, I thought everything was beginning to go back to normal " I need uh .... to go for a um.. walk" I stutter to them. I don't wait for a reply, I just sprint farther into the woods letting my body run wild past the damp ground and the trees that whisper in the wind. Thoughts of the Alpharei and my sudden growth spurt start to drown me and I feel my self fall deeper and deeper into the darker depths of these terrible unknown waters. There is nothing I want to do more than dig a deep hole and bury my self but I have to tell them about the Alpharei. Squeezing my fists, I start to walk back to camp. "I told you guys she is weird" I hear Mel say. Why can I hear her? I'm too far away. "Leave it goddammit Mel" Kerry snaps at her. Stopping in my tracks, I wait to hear anything else but the only sound it the rustling of the lush green leaves in the early autumn wind. Letting myself fall to the floor, I cross my knees throwing my flustered face in my hands. What is wrong with me? Tears start to roll down my hot cheeks, Taking a few breaths I push my self off the floor, wiping my tears away. I sprint back to the camp.
They need to know.

Their eyes burn through me, once I pass the safety of the trees and into the clearing where I'm vulnerable under their watchful eyes. "I need to tell you guys something"
" Gaia, are you okay, what is it?" Kerry asks with her eyes brows raised.
"Don't worry just please sit, I need to explain"
I take a deep breath once they are all sat down.
"So after the chambers, the people took me down a corridor and at the end of it, it said Alpharei research centre."
"And?" Jevi asks
"Well, my full name is um ... Gaia Alpharei Jones". Straight away Both Mel and Royce snap their heads up "Did you say Alpharei?" Mel asks immediately.

"You know that name?" I ask urgently
"kinda yeah" Mel replies " When we were little our mum would drop us at this woman's house, she was called Madame Argen, when mum had to go to work one day she dropped us at Madame Argen's. I found a file that said Top secret in her bedroom and I managed to look at the first page It said: "Alpharei, for a better future". Madame walked on me she got mad, really mad and ripped the file out of my hand and threw it in the fire and I don't know why but it just always stuck in my head the way she got so angry "
we all sit there in silence.
"Where did this woman live," I ask.
"New Orleans, where me and Royce are from"
A better future.
Frustration, confusion, anger, irritation, sorrow. There are not enough words to explain the thoughts going through my head. A pair of large hands grip onto my arms, I fall back into someone. Turing my head I see Jevi holding me. "Gaia are you okay?"
"Yeah" I lie. I push myself out of Jevi's arms and sit down on a log. Kerry moves from where she's sitting and plots herself next to me. My gaze stays plastered on the fire. And this is where my life gets more messed up then it already is. Today is my eighteenth birthday and I have magically grown overnight. "It's my eighteenth birthday today" I mutter. Kerry looks up at me with a sweet smile. "Oh shit, that is weird..." Royce states,
"Royce!" Kerry hisses, narrowing her eyes at him. She turns back towards me with a small smile "Happy birthday" she mutters, squeezing my hand. Behind me, I can hear the sound of twigs crunching as Jevi walk around in circles. "Why don't we go see this woman?" Jevi asks.
"No !are you crazy? it's dangerous, we will be eaten by Wendigos" Mel protests.
"we have Gaia to protect us" Mel shoots up from the log.
"No! Why would we leave our lives in the hands of that freak?"
"Mel!" They all shout at her. My heart drops to my stomach like a stone in the ocean. Freak. I'm a freak. "Guys she is right it's okay we should not have to risk it"
"Gaia it must be killing you not knowing the answers" Royce states.
"No guys we are not going, it's okay I will be fine" I stammer
"For God sake Gaia! we are going I'm dying to know my self" Kerry exclaims.
"When should we go?" Jevi enquires
"We can go now! It is still early morning it will take us a few days to get down there" Kerry shouts, she takes a small pause "Well come on then what are you guys waiting for? let's start packing up!" She barks.
They laugh well not Mel and scramble away. Roy and Jevi start taking down their tent as I walk over to Mel who is stood at our tent just staring at it. "We should take this down," I tell her, beginning to pull up the pegs. She says nothing and just helps me take down the tent.

I carry the tent, once we are done, to the car. I throw it in the boot of the car then moving out the way the let Royce put some of the bags away.
I stare at the empty camp where the tents used to be. Everyone else has filled themselves into the jeep. A sigh floats out from my mouth looking back at the clearing, I don't know what's going to come out of this but it must be better than not knowing. With one more look at the place that nearly became my home, I open the car door and clamber in. I sit at the back of the car with Kerry and Mel. Looking around the car I examine their faces. Finally, in three years, I have friends. So is it a mistake dragging them into my problems? I really can't lose them.

Roy starts the car and he reverses, I open the window and point my head out, letting the shades of green fly past as we start to reach the end of the woods. Clearing her throat Mel turns towards me. " Listen Gaia I'm sorry for calling you a freak" A smile of triumph forms on my lips. "It's okay" I mutter softly back.
Mel sits back and faces out of the opposite window. The car bumps up and down as we exit the edge of the forest onto the road. Royce accelerates down the road engulfed in a city of trees.

The car drives down a lonely high way passing, countless fields, and trees that all look exactly the same "Eye spy with my little eye something beginning with T" Royce says excitedly.
"Oh well done Roy this is a super hard one" Jevi mutters annoyed rolling his eyes "Let me guess, now this is just a super random guess, but do you see a Tree"
Roy groans. "Ugh how did you get that one, I thought really hard about that one," He says
"Oh, I don't know Roy maybe because maybe there are trees fucking everywhere!" Jevi exclaims loudly
"Oh, I get your point," Royce tells. I burst out laughing and soon everyone in the jeep has joined me.

"I think we can stop here for tonight" Royce mutters as he opens the door of our trusty black jeep. We have been driving for around twelve hours. My legs are cramp and the bottom half of my body is numb from the constant sitting down. Following after Royce we all spill out of the car letting out sighs of relief and messaging sore parts of our bodies. We have settled to spend the night in an abandoned petrol station on the highway. I walk towards to gas station with my gun perched on my arms ready for any upcoming Wendigos.
"Guys wait here" I command them. I push the glass door to the petrol station open. Tiptoeing in I walk down the empty aisle, nothing remains on the shelves. I'm nearing the end of the aisle. Then I hear it.
A Wendigo. Its heavy breathing makes me tense and I grip the gun tightly. Turing the corner the Wendigo perches itself in the corner. With no hesitation, I shoot it and watch it fall to the floor. I turn away from it and walk back up the aisle to the exit. Opening the door I stick my head out. "Guys coast is clear, come in"

I shut the door and walk back to the Wendigo.
the door slams as they walk. They appear from the isle stopping as soon as they see the Wendigo. "Don't worry it's dead" I tell them, their faces twisted in disgust.
"Yeah but it is still disgusting" Mel mutters cautiously eyeing the dead body.
"Anyone wanna dump it outside?" I ask already, knowing the answer.
"Oh hell no" Royce says taking a step back.
"Ugh okay, I will do it" I slip off my jacket laying it over my hand so I don't have to touch it directly. As I'm tugging its body I notice black swirls on its arm. It's a tattoo. Sometimes you forget some of these monsters where once humans, well at least that's what we think. People have reason to believe that at first there was the original Wendigos, then they plagued some people by biting, not everyone they attack turns into a Wendigo, it is only the ones that survive from the attack.

Once I dump the body outside, I walk back inside. The others have started to lay out sleeping bags in the corner. "Here is your sleeping bag" Say Jevi, throwing it at me. I lay out my sleeping bag next to Kerry then sit on top of it cross-legged. "How did you guys know about the colour system" I ask. Abruptly they stop what they were doing, next to me Royce sits on the floor, Kerry does that same on the other side. "Well the first Wendigo I saw, there was a pain in my arm I looked and saw the chip glowing green" Kerry says looking at me "Yeah that happened to me too I think it happened to everyone, after a while people began to notice the pattern on how the Wendigos hunted and connected the two together" Jevi mutters quietly.
"Did you ever get the pain from when you saw your first wendigo Gaia" Kerry asks cautiously trying to make sure I see okay with her asking question about me being colourless. "No, I didn't" I tell her. I never did get a pain, I bring forth memories from years back when I learned about the Wendigos. An extremely strange man told me about how everything worked. He said he would tell me how he knew, but he never did. Does he have something to do with the Alpharei? Maybe. Maybe not.
"Don't you guys ever wonder how we got the colour chips?" Asks Royce, slumping himself in his sleeping bag. "Yeah, all the time" Replies Jevi. I used to wonder all the time about how we got the chips, I mean it must have happened at birth otherwise we would remember it. And whoever did it must have been doing it for at least a century because everyone alive was affected. "Do you think the chips have anything to do with the Alpharei ?" Mel questions.
"I have no idea but they definitely know something" I reply.