She looked at him strange. “Actually, your breath smells great. Like amazing . I thought maybe you had used my toothbrush. That’s why I had left it in there.”
“Oh…No, I didn’t realize you were fine with sharing a toothbrush with me, but I can if you need me to.”
She looked at him strangely. “My tongue was in your mouth just a little while ago. I would think that sharing a toothbrush is a lot less intimate than that.” She paused then before continuing, apologizing again. “But no, your breath is perfect. It’s not that…I’m sorry.”
Noah kissed her on the forehead. “It’s okay. Just let me know when.”
She looked up at him with her deep brown eyes. “I didn’t know it was possible to fall more in love with you.”
He smiled at her, holding her tight. She meant the world to him, and he would do whatever it took to keep her safe. They laid in bed silently for a while, just listening to each other’s breathing. He thought again about telling her of the giant monsters, but he didn’t want her to have nightmares. He decided he might tell her in the morning.
Suddenly he remembered their parents. “Oh! Did you call your mom? ”
Madison was starting to fall asleep. She didn’t even open her eyes as she responded. “Yeah, while you were in the shower. She was fine with everything.”
“Really? Your mom doesn’t care?”
Madison seemed more interested in sleeping than talking. She sighed. “Noah, I’ve had a crush on you for several years now. She knew it would come to this eventually. She’d rather know what I was doing than me not tell her.”
“Oh…what about my parents?”
“I sent them a message. I’m sure they aren’t happy about it, but they want you to marry me, so they’ll get over it.”
Noah was confused. “My parents want me to what ?”
She sighed again. “Noah, your parent’s love me. They’d probably trade you in for me if they could.” A sleepy smirk appeared on her face in response to her own joke.
He decided to let her sleep after that. He thought about trying to sleep too, but he felt wide awake. For a while he watched TV with the volume really low, not wanting to wake her up, but also trying to stay aware of the noises outside. Finally, around 2 AM he turned off the TV and stared up at the ceiling while focusing on Madison’s warm body against his.
He wished they could stay like this forever – he wasn’t looking forward to the trials that awaited them the next day. They needed to decide on what to do tomorrow morning. They obviously wouldn’t be going to school. Should they just tell everyone they are running off together? While it wouldn’t be a popular decision, it would sound reasonable. They would probably become the talk of the school. However, what other options did they have? Going back to their normal life didn’t seem possible.
In passing Noah briefly realized it might be possible if he just killed everyone who knew about him, but then shuddered at the thought. Just because he was a monster physically didn’t mean he had to actually turn into a monster mentally. Finally, just before 3 AM, Noah drifted off into a deep dreamless sleep.
Chapter 11: Plan A, B, and C
Noah suddenly woke up feeling wide awake. Having been in a very deep sleep, he had surfaced back to consciousness so abruptly that he wondered if something had startled him. Looking at the clock, it was 6:07 AM. Something was different. He was different, but he didn’t know why he felt that way. He looked down at Madison curled up against him. She was still sound asleep. A strand of her dark brown hair lay across her cheek, barely touching her slightly parted lips.
Beautiful , he thought to himself. She looked like an angel.
At first, he laid there quietly thinking, but then he decided that since she was still asleep he should try to get an idea of any limitations his blood-ability had. He needed to accept that it was a part of him now, especially since he knew he would end up using it again if either human or beast showed up to kidnap or kill them.
Holding up his hand, he started pulling out his blood until he couldn’t anymore. His heartbeat stayed normal as several liters of crimson fluid floated in the air above them. It seemed like he could shape it however he wanted, and he knew from experience that even thin threads were strong enough to cut through metal.
Noah tried to purposefully detach a drop of blood from the rest, but he couldn’t do it. He could connect blood from two separate strands and transfer the bulk of one strand to another, but it had to stay attached to him in some way. He wondered if the cells in his blood were connected somehow, maybe by some invisible force, which is why a thread could cut something as sturdy as metal. The atomic forces that bound metal atoms were weaker than whatever force bound his cells together.
Deciding to have some fun with it, he turned the blood into a six-foot long sword. Weapons were supposed to feel like extensions of your body, and this one literally was. He then brought the crimson pool around his arm, forming a red gauntlet. Extending the blood out along his fist, he created a long spike which then turned into a joust.
In order to see how long it could become, he transitioned it into as thin of a thread as possible and was surprised to see that it filled the whole room. A giant cloud of red string floated in the air from door to window. He brought it all together again and created a large thin shield. He wished he had made a shield before, when Madison had been shot, because then they could have avoided the hospital altogether. However, he knew he hadn’t had the chance to really think about what he was doing. It was his instincts that had taken over and saved her life.
Noah finally pulled his blood back inside his body and sighed. This blood was the reason why the military was after him, but at least it gave him a weapon to fight back with. He gently squeezed Madison against him and looked down at her angelic face.
She was staring right at him.
“Oh! You’re awake!”
She just silently nodded in response. Had she seen what he was doing?
“How long have you been awake?”
She gently tightened her embrace on him. “For a while.”
He sighed. She had seen. He decided to apologize. “I’m sorry.”
She looked confused then. “Why are you sorry?”
“I didn’t mean to scare you.”
She held her head up then, looking surprised. “I’m not scared. More amazed really. I know you would never hurt me.”
He leaned in and kissed her forehead. She smirked then. “That sword was pretty cool.”
Noah groaned. That had been one of the first thing he had created. She hadn’t just been awake for part of it, she had watched almost the whole thing! He had been testing out his blood for about half an hour, and she had just watched silently. She tried to reassure him.
“I liked it, and I knew you would stop if you realized I was awake, so I just watched. It was cute watching you play with your new toy, making swords and shields like a little kid.”
“Hey, that shield might save your life someday.”
She gave him a big grin. “Excuses, excuses. ”
He grabbed her ribs with his fingers and started tickling her. She thrashed around trying to get away, laughing all the while. He teased her. “Now who’s the little kid?”
“Oh, you! Let me go, so I can go to the bathroom.”
Sighing, he released her, and she gently punched him in the side before hoping out of bed. He sat up and turned on the TV to check the news. Nothing new seemed to be on – they were running the same stories as yesterday. No new information was available.
Suddenly, Noah heard Madison gasp in the bathroom. Rushing to the door, he asked what was wrong.
“Nothing,” she said urgently.
Noah was skeptical, “Are you sure?”
“Yes. I…” She paused for a few seconds. “Can you grab my purse for me? I should have pads inside.”
“Oh. Okay.” He didn’t want to know more information. He grabbed her purse by the bedside table. “I have it.”
“Okay
, I unlocked the door, but don’t look! Just slip it through the crack and I’ll get it.”
He knew this wasn’t a good time to tease her, so he just did what she asked.
“Thank you!” She said as she grabbed the purse from his hand.
He closed the door, and went back over to the bed. It didn’t take her long for her to be done. She came out looking a little pale. He wasn’t sure if he should be worried or not, so he decided to ask. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” She changed the subject fast. “We should probably decide what we are going to do today. ”
Noah was concerned, but he didn’t want to be too invasive of her privacy. He decided to let it go for now. “Well, you should probably get something to eat. You look a little pale.”
“I’m really not hungry.” She looked at him suspiciously then. “And what about you? You should probably get something to eat.”
Noah wondered when choosing to eat had become a subject of peer pressure. It was like they were daring each other to do something neither wanted to do. He sighed. “We’ve both been stressed, so I can understand why you’re not hungry, but you really do look pale.”
She taunted him. “Fine, I’ll eat if you eat.”
Noah sighed at the ridiculousness of the conversation. It had become a ‘I’ll jump if you jump’ kind of challenge. “Well, let’s start with the coffee at least,” he said pointing to the complementary coffee pot in the room. He really didn’t have an appetite.
She nodded in agreement.
As he began brewing the coffee, the aroma filled the room. He always wondered why coffee smelled so good, but tasted so bitter without cream and sugar. When the small pot was done brewing, he decided to try it black before adding anything to it. Taking a sip, he was surprised by the taste – it had flavors he hadn’t expected.
“Wow, this is really good! I think the grounds are artificially flavored.” He handed the cup to Madison for her to try .
She took it tentatively. Noah knew she wasn’t a fan of black coffee, but she gave it a try anyway. He was again briefly surprised that he had remembered something random about her. He hoped it was a sign that his memory was coming back.
Taking a sip, she made a grimace in preparation for the bitterness, but then looked at it surprised. “Well, it’s tolerable.”
“Do you want me to put anything in it for you?”
She shook her head no. “It’s fine. I’m not in the mood for anything sweet.”
They sat down on the bed and passed the cup back and forth as they discussed their plans for the day.
“What do you think we should do now?” He asked.
“Not school!” She said with a grin.
Noah was surprised by her eagerness since she was an A student. He didn’t think his grades were bad either, but he thought she liked school. “Well, yeah, but we need to figure something out. We can’t go back home either.”
“Yeah…” She looked down at the cup of coffee. They both knew life wouldn’t be normal again.
He was cautious as he continued. “You know, they are really only after me. Maybe they will leave you alone if I turn myself in.”
Without hesitation, she punched him in the shoulder as hard as she could, spilling some coffee on the floor. “Absolutely not! I want to stay with you . I don’t care what that means. ”
Her punch didn’t even phase him, but he decided to pretend like it hurt. “Ow! Sorry, I was just saying.”
“Promise me you won’t do something stupid like that!” Her gaze was intense.
“Okay, okay! I said I’m sorry.”
She set the coffee down and wrapped her arms around him. “Seriously. Don’t leave me.” The sadness in her voice was obvious.
He hugged her back. “I won’t. I’m sorry.”
They were quiet for a few seconds as they held each other tightly. Madison was the first to break the silence. “Why don’t we think about it from their perspective?”
“The military?”
She nodded in response. “Like, what do they know? Do they know about your blood? I’m sure they’ve found the bodies by now. What’s their next move?”
He realized she was right. They needed to think about it from the enemy’s point of view. Noah thought for a minute before responding. “Well, I did leave people alive who saw what I can do. So, they probably know about my blood. They didn’t know about it before, which is why they were cautious, but not cautious enough. They used metal restraints and had guns pointed at me, not realizing they would be useless.” He paused to think before continuing. “They don’t know I haven’t been able to control it either. Otherwise, they would have known that kidnapping you wouldn’t work.”
Madison chimed in. “Right. They’ll probably be more cautious if they try to approach us again. ”
“Did they say anything to you?”
Madison’s expression was suddenly depressed. “They didn’t tell me anything about you. All they said was that they needed to do tests on you, and that they would keep you alive if I was quiet and compliant. However, if I said anything or did anything they didn’t like, then they said they would…” Tears were appearing at the edges of her eyes.
Noah hugged her tighter. “It’s okay. I’m okay.”
“It was horrible watching. I wanted to stop them, but I knew they would kill you if I did anything. I’m surprised I didn’t have nightmares about it last night.”
“You did sleep pretty deeply.”
Madison abruptly poked him in the side then, cheering up a little. “Hey! Did you do something to me while I was sleeping?!”
Noah felt embarrassed. “What? No! I was just saying you didn’t stir at all.”
“Good. I want to be awake for it.”
“You’re awake now,” he said seriously.
Madison rapidly changed the subject. “So, where should we go after this? We can’t go home, and we probably shouldn’t chance staying in a hotel again. Our little act might not work next time.”
“I guess we should run away together? Go camping permanently?”
Madison looked down at the floor, her face somber. “That might be what we have to do. Bye-bye internet, phone, electricity…running water.” She paused before co ntinuing, “Or we can just escape to another country and at least have some of those necessities.”
“Leaving the country might be difficult without a passport. You could still just go home, and I could turn myself in with the condition that they leave you alone.”
“No!” She didn’t hit him this time, but instead wrapped herself around him more viciously. “I need you. I need you , more than I need those things.”
“You need the internet huh?”
She looked at him stunned. “It’s a necessity!” But then she looked down. “But one I can live without, if it means I can stay with you.”
“Wow, I beat the internet huh?”
She didn’t respond, instead burying her head into his side.
Noah sighed. “Maybe we should just turn ourselves in together then. We sort of have a common enemy, so maybe they won’t try to experiment on me if I agree to help them with that.”
Madison looked shocked. “Common enemy?”
Noah forgot he hadn’t told her about the giant insects yet. Should he tell her now? She really didn’t like insects. Especially big ones. Hypothetically, if he had told her insects as big as people existed, she would probably have a heart attack. Thus, he couldn’t imagine how she would react finding out that insects as large as buildings existed. He decided to change the subject, hoping she wouldn’t pursue it further .
“Why don’t we run away together and go live in the woods somewhere? That will be plan A. If they find us, we can try negotiating with them. That will be plan B.”
“What if they won’t negotiate?” She wondered.
Noah grimaced. “That will be plan C.”
“And what is plan C?”
Noah didn’t say anything. He looked away and stared
at the wall. Madison figured it out on her own. She looked down at the floor again, and simply said, “Oh.”
Without looking at her, Noah whispered, “I did say that big shield might save your life someday.” He could see her nod slightly in the corner of his eye. Then thinking about it, he added, “Although it might actually be more effective if I just cover your entire body with my blood.”
That shocked her. “Umm…that could be…weird.”
He nodded in agreement. “But effective.”
“How would that work exactly?”
“What do you mean?” He wondered.
“Like, I need to be able to breathe, so you can’t cover me up entirely.”
“Well you saw me make a sword. I can probably make a mask that will let you breathe, but prevent bullets from hitting you.”
“Will I be able to see?”
“I’m not sure. If I make the gaps in the blood too large, then it could be dangerous. You might just have to trust me. ”
She shivered at the thought of being blinded in essentially a skintight suit. She leaned in to him. “I trust you, but let’s not do that if we don’t have to.”
He squeezed her before answering. “Actually, we should probably try a mask out to make sure you can breathe okay. Otherwise, I might have to do it in an emergency and not know you can’t breathe.”
She dug her head into his chest again. “Okay.”
He kissed her on the top of the head, and she sat up straight. He placed his hand on the back of her neck and had threads of blood crawl up through her hair.
“That feels weird,” she said with a shiver. Then she added, “It’s warm.”
His blood traveled around the sides of her face, creating a band down around her chin.
“Are you ready?” He asked.
She held her thumb up in response. Noah willed threads of blood to branch out from the band around her face, creating an oval dome. He was careful to leave small gaps in the blood, like the tiny gaps in fabric.
When she didn’t immediately respond, he wondered if she was alright. “Are you okay? Can you breathe?”
A muffled voice came from the crimson mask. “Yeah, actually this isn’t so bad. I can kind of see too – barely. It’s like looking through a T-shirt. Although…” She paused as her body moved oddly. “I can’t move my head at all. Are you able to allow me to move around?”
The Keras Genome Page 11