“Not so fast!” Trey pushed past Ian and was right behind the girl, still leaving his foot prints with each step.
“I should be going after her.” Ian tried to convince himself, but his body would not budge. “They’ll kill me for sure if she gets away. The way I have been kind to her and the special privileges... What have I gotten into?” In his daze Ian watched the Hunter make his way to Recarie. He was sure he was in for a show.
Recarie paid this no mind, the warm air felt cooled on her hot skin and she felt as light as air itself. The Hunter stepped up his pace to try and catch her, but she was already leaping off the building with perfect stride.
“You have to be quicker than that!” Her voice traveled from over the buildings edge.
Trey was unaware whether the comment was directed to him, or to Ian, but it was the Hunter who had his mind set on catching her.
Air pushed up on Recarie's torso and limbs as she was diving off the building and crashing towards the ground. She tried furiously to fly, though somehow it seemed that she had forgotten how. With the hair out of her face, fluttering behind her, Recarie had a clear view of the pavement. Her arms moved from side to side and she kicked her legs in every direction.
“No, no, no, no, no. This is not going the way I planned!” The ground was coming up fast and she was bracing her body for the impact. “Oh!” Luckily for Recarie, she avoided crashing and remembered that it was a feeling that allowed her to make contact with her power. “Panic is what seemed to set my powers off before.” Tapping into that fear, she turned her body and took to flying through the trees in the parking lot.
Ian and Trey were still on the roof, the latter of which was watching his prey get away flying through the darkened, dusty purple sky. Trey wasted no time in pursuing the girl. After grabbing a hold of Ian, keeping him close to his rock covered chest, without warning, Trey jumped right off the roof exactly where Recarie had gone over.
“Are you...” Ian was just about to say 'nuts' when he knew that the Hunter was indeed eccentric.
He felt the warmth from Trey's body and the cool breeze that drifted up his backside. Ian was unsure whether his body was hot or cold at that moment. The whole experience left him mildly uncomfortable. On the other hand, Trey had no care for how Ian was feeling. After all it was his fault the girl was getting away.
Halfway between the ground and the roof, the Hunter reached to his right hip and pulled a tightly bound leather whip. He bent the whip back and then it was sent unfurling towards a nearby tree branch. The tip of the whip just managed to wrap around the thick limb several times allowing Trey to swing and firmly land on the branch below it.
Trey was already off and running while Ian stopped to catch his breath. “A little warning next time might be nice!” He screamed at his buddy, who by at that point was too far away. “Great! Just great! This shift can only get better…”
Chapter 4
Into the Unknown
Recarie was making her way through the forest that surrounded the hospital. It was taking all the coordination she had to keep from bumping into the many trees and crashing to the ground. “Damnit!” Her sweet and innocent voice yelled out. “Why are there so many trees? Come on!”
She dipped and dodged, trying her best not to have to slip through small openings in the forest, but the tree limbs were so vast and so many, that there was hardly any space to move. If it was not the trees, it was the vines and moss blocking her view and constricting her movements.
“There!” Recarie heard the Hunter shout.
“Huh!” She used almost all of her energy to speed up and immediately felt the strain it was having on her heart. This burst of energy did not last long before it made Recarie light headed. Blood started to ooze from her nose and all over her gown. Unknowingly to her, she was almost exactly where she needed to be.
Only several yards away, was a residential neighborhood. Recarie knew this was the one place she might find sanctuary. The barbwire fencing and keep out signs were dead give a ways. Slowing her speed, she so effortlessly glided over the sixty foot fence and over its jagged top. Having crouch behind a row of thick shrubs to catch her breath, Recarie felt her head become clearer and the blood stopped flowing from her nose. Now all Recarie needed was a place to hide.
Eek! Sirens wailed while police vehicles patrolled the many streets of this fenced in neighborhood. Although Recarie did not know it, she had just flown into a Zone.
“Everyone stay in your homes.” The NSSH officers called from their cars.
Now the morning was coming and beneath cracks of purple sky's came the dark orange of the rising morning sun. There was rustling in the bushes behind the fence she had just come from and knew that Ian and his Hunter friend would be there shortly. Instead of dodging trees, now Recarie dodged searchlights from the helicopters in the sky and from the police cars below. She ducked behind a house that was built like a flimsy shed to hold gardening tools, not for sheltering people.
As she finally noticed that this was not a sunshine and smile neighborhood, but one of depression and suppression her heart leapt again. She looked for a haven, anywhere that would hide her from NSSH. “The government shield that’s posted on everything should have been a warning.” Recarie argued to herself.
All residents were locked in the homes made of a cheap tin roof and four drywall walls. Windows were just squares cut into the walls without glass to keep bugs and other junk from floating in. They were only luck enough to have the window because patrol officers were complaining of the stench of stale air that floated off the residents bodies. Everything they were given was only the bare minimum that the NSSH believed they needed to survive on.
“Oh...” Recarie held her hand to her heart. Too pure of heart, her round blue eyes stung with oncoming tears. “How anyone could possibly live in such dilapidated homes? Their faces show the same misery that I felt while in the hospital.” Peering into house after house, Recarie saw that families of up to six lived in the single room homes.
“It's not so bad.” A woman with an island accent said out of nowhere.
“Wha...!” Recarie jumped, being so deeply in thought and not noticing the mocha colored woman sitting on top of a red sedan next to her.
“For most of us we know no other life.” She opened one of her closed eyes and eyed Recarie up and down with her violet eyes.
What a state the girl was in. Dull and muddied mauve hair, damp splashes of blood all down her hospital gown, dried tears on her dirty face, Hunter’s flames floating from her body, and quivering from what the woman recognized as uncertainty and fear.
“Poor child.” The woman patted Recarie on the head as a friendly gesture. “You can go in my house and clean up.” She flicked a lock of soft lemon yellow hair off of her shoulder. “There is a wardrobe of clothes about your size inside. Feel free to take what you wish.” Recarie did not move from sheer confusion and the woman’s temper flared.
“Look!” She yelled silently. “If you don't get going, that Hunter on your tail is sure to catch up to you and I am sure you do not want to spend your days in a place like this.” Her arms spread out and signaled to the Zone she lived in.
Recarie turned around and got a good look at the crumbling shacks and felt the peoples despair. “Thank you.” Recarie got the point and rushed into the house, still floating several inches off of the ground. “I’ve already been caged once… And that’s more than enough for me.”
The woman sat still on the car as if nothing had happened as a NSSH vehicle strolled past ignoring the fact that she was out of her home. She returned to her meditation pose and cleared her mind of all negative thoughts that clouded her being.
After failing to locate a handle, Recarie pushed the screen door to the shack open. To her left she found a corner that was cut off from the rest of the one room home by a plain off white shower curtain. Recarie could not recall ever having a proper bath or how to clean her own body, but she cast off the soiled gown and hopped b
ehind the curtain. There were three long yellow tiles that formed a square along the wall with the purpose of keeping water from spilling out of onto the white tiled floor. Only one handle was on the wall with the option of cold water, and not hot.
“Ugh!” The first blast of cold water sent Recarie into the border tiles, stubbing her toes in the process. Though after two minutes her body had adjusted to the temperature and became bearable. She did not find a bottle of shampoo or conditioner, but a fresh unused all-purpose body cleaner bar that she washed all parts of her body with. The bar was also used to clean her hair and face. As soon as she knew there was no more dirt clouding her form, Recarie wrapped an idle pink cotton towel around her and hopped back out of the shower.
In no time at all, she had located the wardrobe the woman outside had mentioned. It was an old weathered wooden double door closet that sat against the north wall of the house. Paint chipped and faded from all over and the brass handles had tarnished from years of use. Recarie grasped the curved handles and was not sure what to find in the closet. Closing her eyes she pulled on the handle ever so gently and the wardrobe opened.
“Ah!” A delighted giggle escaped through Recarie's naturally rose painted lips.
She was surprised at how modern the clothes on the hangers before her were. Small hands dove right into the clothes and she pulled out the first couple of pieces that caught her glittering eyes. The first thing she put on was a black halter top that showed off her midriff. To accompany the halter top, a pair of snug black shorts and a matching rhinestone, thick black belt. Then she added something not too many people would dare even try on. She put on a beige over skirt that showed off her shorts.
As a final result, Recarie looked like a goddess from the clouds of heaven. All she needed now was a pair of shoes, and as the woman only had one pair of strap up black pumps, she pulled them on and admired the final look in the only mirror of the house. It was a full length body mirror that was just a rectangular piece of glass leaning against the wall. The people living in this neighborhood were flat broke poor and made do with what they had.
“Ah!” A sigh of satisfaction spread across Recarie's little tan face, only to have it fade as quickly as it had come. “Exactly how did she come to acquire these clothes? Hm.”
Her hair, limp and damp, hung messily over her shoulders and down to her knees. Not knowing what to do, Recarie looked around the room when she saw a dresser with a brush and elastics on it. This was the woman’s makeup dresser and one lonely, short wooden stool was tucked underneath it. Recarie, inspecting the items on the desk, identified each one. But she did not know how to use them from personal experience, only that she observed the many nurses using these items as they passed time in her room.
The one with a handle and many bristles was used to comb a person’s hair, so Recarie choose that one first and straightened the mess that was hair. It was the first time she had tried brushing her hair with something other than her fingers.
“Shit!” Yet more swearing from such a sweet creature. Recarie was brushing too quick of her hair when she snagged the bristles on a knot.
Taking a deep breath, Recarie started over again and placed the brush at the top of the head as she had seen the women in the hospital do, but their hair was already straight Recarie was not prepared for having to brush out all the little knots in her hair. More cussing followed until she had untangled every knot and bound her thick wavy mauve hair back with an elastic just like she had seen the nurses, both male and female, do. Little wisps of hair fell from her scalp and hung above her eyes, giving Recarie's face shape.
In a tin box next to the brushes and elastics, were many tubes and clear cases with pressed powders. Recarie choose a random tube and twisted the bottom and out from the top came a light rose pink colored lipstick. Three movements over her lips and the girl just became a little brighter with color to her face. Even with her natural rosy lips, it brought out the life in her. She went on to experiment with the pressed powder eye shadows, but not the blush as her checks were naturally rosy. There was also no need for the mascara that sat on the desk either, as Recarie had thick and long eyelashes already. The girl now looked a whole three years older, more mature for that matter.
“This is some powerful stuff. It just… It just makes me look alive.” She placed everything back where she had found it.
Soon, Recarie felt rejuvenated, energized, and full of life. She was pleased with the outfit assembled from the woman’s clothing and crept over to the door to thank her for all her help.
“Hurry up or we'll lose her!” Ian screamed running through the thick forest of trees. His legs felt weightless and he was tired of the golem slowing him down. What Ian failed to recognize was that Trey weighed a good five times more than he did, so it took him longer to run vast distances.
“Quiet boy!” The Hunter barked back. He was now thoroughly feed up with Ian. “If you had done your job...” His voice died down and trailed off. It was also Trey's job to guard Recarie and he could not yell at Ian for failing to do his job when he too had lost the girl. “I mean,” Trey tried to save himself first. “There is Zone up ahead. We will have better luck catching her there.”
In all truth and honesty, Ian was not quite sure if he even did want to 'catch' Recarie. Besides her killing all his friends and superior officers some odd months ago, he did not see why they could not simply let her go. Blood flushed through his face, but this was not the first time. Most times when he thought about Recarie, he got hot and his palms sweated. It had all come to the point where Ian could not and would not look her in the face, all unaware why.
Branch after branch fell while Trey cleared him a good sized path. Still continuing at his pace, he managed to catch up with Ian who had, for some reason, started to daze out and slow down.
“Don't feel so bad.” Trey slapped Ian on the back, grabbing an extra piece of D.N.A. without the boy knowing it. “If you are thinking about your commander, he has just relayed new orders for you, or should I say us.” He went back to chopping down tree limbs.
“Oh, and what did he say?” Ian hung back waiting for the Hunter to clear the way for him.
The sight of a ghastly neighborhood surrounded by a barb wire fence was coming up. Trey gave a grunt of disgust, not only for the abomination called a Zone that was coming into view, but also that he would have to check in and out of it.
“Just more paper trails.” Trey went on one of his usual ‘The Man,’ rants.
Fed up with the stalling, Ian grabbed Trey by the arm, as much as he could anyways. “What did he tell you?!”
“Oh, just that since you lost the girl on your time you are responsible for catching her and bringing her back to the NSSH headquarters.” He could not help hide the smirk on his face.
Ian slunk back, walking even slower than he had been. “Well that’s...” His words stopped and depression took its place among his list of daily emotions.
Seeing his friend looking worse than he should, Trey thought of relaying the rest of the message, or most of it anyways. “He also says that there is a promotion waiting for you back at the office.” He looked over his shoulder to catch Ian’s expression.
His little head perked up and his eyes were so bright, it was like the sun had been shining. This did help Ian’s mood, it really did. The day was looking a little less smoky.
“But you have to catch the girl first.” And just like that, Trey had crushed the boy’s spirit for the second time that morning.
That morning was not all bad, though. During the conversation they had managed to walk around to the front of the Zone to the check in/out station where two guards in standard white NSSH uniforms took their identification cards and allowed them entry into the neighborhood.
“Ugh!” Ian cringed at the atmosphere in this Zone.
All he wanted was to crawl back into his soft leather chair back in the NSSH office where he worked. This girl had been just one accident after another and it caused her to los
e her cuteness in the process. Now he had to acknowledge the existence of the morbid Zones and the poor, sorry souls that inhabited them. He watched other super ability enabled humans peek from behind the tattered curtains with their physically and emotionally starved eyes. It was all too much for him to take. Unlike these people and families, Ian would be leaving there of his own free will when his business was over.
“Oh...” He moaned in pain. His stomach was churning with guilt.
“You need not worry about those folks, kid.” Trey went off calling Ian names again as he tried to console him while the strolled through the neighborhood following his tracking flames. “These people really do not mind it so much here.”
Even though Trey told the truth, Ian was finding it hard to believe. The houses were set up in uniform rows and only had several feet of yards per house. How could anyone not mind living in such a place as this?
Down one of these rows, was the woman sitting on the red car, enjoying the setting moon and the rising sun. Recarie had just floated into her house only seconds before. She was fully aware of the Hunters presence and his youthful assistant searching the hell they called a neighborhood.
“Too close for comfort.” The dark woman whispered as she saw Trey's trail leading straight to her door step. “...” She chanted several phrases and the trail dispersed into thirty different directions. “This will buy her some time.”
Following the single trail of Hunters flame, Trey was sure he would find the girl. At least that was true before the one flame separated into dozen of flames leading the duo in multiple directions. Trey took the lead and pointed Ian down one lane as he ran off down another. Ian had almost hoped he had not followed the Hunters orders. The same pathetic sullen faces that had gazed so mournfully at Recarie ducked and hid from the man’s view, but not before he was able to glance at them. It all made him want to vomit.
Misery Saves the Night Page 7