After Darkness II

by J. F. Johns

  'What happened?' he asked making his way to Scarlet's side.

  'She just appeared like this,' Morgana explained. 'Put her on the bed, she'll be more comfortable. Something clearly has gone through her chest. It'll take a while for her body to repair, the two wounds are quite...' Morgana noticed Eric's horrified look and she rolled her eyes at him in annoyance. 'She'll be fine, Thorn. Our bodies don't break easily.'

  'We shouldn't have left her fighting Petra alone.'

  Morgana placed her hands on her hips. 'Maybe next time we should just let you handle the situation? I'll gladly drop you off on a roof and let you fight Petra all by yourself.'

  Eric stuck his tongue out at her. 'You wouldn't dare, Morgana. You love me.'

  'You're a stick up my butt, Thorn. One I can't pull out.' Malcolm and Eric both chuckled, which made the Prototype more irritated. 'You're both like children,' she said. 'One just has to say butt or boobs and you're off.'

  Malcolm and Eric laughed harder this time, and Morgana waved them away as she turned to leave. 'Whatever, you immature idiots. Call me when Scarlet is healed.'

  As soon as the Prototype left, Malcolm and Eric high-fived each other.

  Someone slapped them across the back of their heads making them jump. They turned to find Scarlet narrowing her eyes at them. She settled more comfortably on the bed and shut her eyes, pretending to be asleep.

  'That hurt,' Eric moaned, rubbing his head.

  'Good,' she replied, her lips curling upwards.

  'This wife of yours has a terrible temper,' Malcolm muttered.

  Eric stared at his friend for a long moment, then turned to glance down at Scarlet in amazement. She opened her eyes too, as if the word 'wife' had surprised her. It was the first time someone had called her that. Dimples appeared on Eric's face.

  'Awkward.' Malcolm moved away from them. 'I'm going now because...' He didn't finish, quickly rushing out.

  'Wife.' Eric savoured the word, shutting his eyes.

  'Husband.'

  Eric's heart stopped as the word left her lips and he leaned in closer towards her on the bed. 'Say it again.'

  Scarlet chuckled. 'You're so creepy sometimes, Eric.'

  'I know. But say it again.'

  She laughed. 'Husband. My sweet handsome husband.' She caressed his face as he leaned forward to kiss her softly on the lips. If only the kiss could last longer, but Eric wasn't sure how hard it was for her to breathe, so he quickly changed and climbed into bed next to her.

  'Well, I have to say, as far as weddings go ours was outstandingly entertaining.'

  'Someone could've gotten killed, Eric.'

  'But no one did, that's gotta count towards our total score. I'd like to see Malcolm or Camille or anyone else top that off when they get married.'

  Scarlet smiled sweetly at him. 'Let's make sure the world is a little less crazy next time.'

  He took her hand, their fingers entwining together as they lay on their backs.

  'Say it again?'

  Scarlet chuckled, grabbing a small cushion next to her free hand and throwing it against his face.

  Chapter thirty-three

  Terra awoke with a massive headache and a very dry mouth. She rolled around beneath the sheets and was startled to discover that she was yet again in Kalem's bedroom. The light had been left on and Terra relaxed against the bed, warm and safe. She hated waking up in a dark room. It brought unwelcomed memories to surface, bringing her back to the night she was shot in the face and her mother had been killed.

  Sitting up, she rubbed her face trying to wake up. Had Kalem left the light on on purpose? Did he know about her fear of the dark? Probably. This was yet another thing she couldn't remember. Perhaps Scarlet knew of a way of bringing her memories back through the bond they shared? She'd have to ask. Anything seemed possible now.

  Terra noticed the discarded dress from the wedding on the floor. If the dress she'd been wearing was on the floor, what was she wearing beneath the sheets? Had she put pyjamas on last night? Quickly standing, she let out a shriek at discovering that she was in underwear. Had Kalem seen her like this?

  'Oh, no. This is beyond embarrassing!'

  The door to the room opened and Kalem appeared as if he'd been called. Terra cried out, ducking back into the safety of the bed, covering herself as best as possible.

  'Don't you know how to knock!?' she cried out.

  'I'm sorry.' He stepped into the room backwards, not daring to turn around. 'I thought you might still be sleeping and brought you some clothes because...'

  Terra swore under her breath.

  So clearly he'd seen her in her underwear. Great. Awesome.

  'Just leave the clothes on the bed and wait outside!' He did as he was told and she quickly pulled on the thick jumper and jeans. Brushing through her brown hair with her fingers wasn't the best solution, but there was no comb at hand, so it'd have to do. Terra really missed all her belongings back home, but she wouldn't dare step foot inside her house until Petra was stopped.

  'Is everyone okay?' she asked, closing the door behind her.'Scarlet was injured. But she's fine. Prototypes heal pretty fast.'

  Terra was relieved. Surely if she hadn't been so damn tired the bond would've woken her up, alerting her of Scarlet's suffering. It came in handy having a monster attached to Scarlet and the twins. Terra had no idea how it worked, but it was good to know that if anything happened to her, someone would find out.

  'I want to speak to Scarlet,' she said. 'I've been thinking... I don't think my memories of you are going to come back. But maybe Scarlet... through the bond we have... Maybe she can do something.'

  Kalem thought this through. 'Perhaps.'

  She waited for him to elaborate, but he didn't. Shrugging, she made her way up to the attic and knocked twice on Scarlet's door.

  A very tired looking Eric appeared, ruffling his messy blonde hair. Terra covered her face at the sight of his almost nakedness -he was wearing boxers- and began blushing.

  'Is she okay?' Eric asked frowning. 'Does she have a fever? Her face is awfully red.'

  'You're naked.' Kalem's tone came out a little harsh and Eric glanced down at himself with a teasing smile.

  'Young people nowadays are such prudes.' He waved them in as he turned around to get dressed. Scarlet sat in one of the armchairs by the chimney, which had been lit. It brought a lovely orange glow to the entirety of the room, its warmth calming Terra's nerves.

  Scarlet beckoned her to sit in the empty armchair and Terra fell into it. Her hands caressed the soft green material, its softness making her sleepy.

  'Are you okay?' Terra asked.

  Scarlet smiled, and when she did such a thing it was hard not to fall under her spell. 'I'm quite all right, Terra.'

  The room began to grow a little too warm. Scarlet couldn't feel temperature, so she never felt the cold or the heat, but Terra could and the thick jumper Kalem had given her to wear wasn't helping. She turned around in the seat to see where the cyborg was, but he must've left alongside Eric because the room was empty.

  'There is something you want.'

  Terra turned her attention back to the blonde Prototype. 'How did you know?'

  'Well, you either came here to check on me or you require something.'

  'I could've just come to chat.'

  Scarlet smiled as she glanced at the fire, its orange flames reflected in her blue and black round eyes. 'Yes, you're right. You could've just come to chat.' Those dangerous eyes focused on Terra, and Terra sighed, knowing full well that Scarlet could see right through her.

  'I want to remember Kalem. I thought maybe you'd know a way for me to get my memories of him back.'

  Scarlet remained silent for such a long time Terra wondered whether the Prototype hadn't heard her -even though that was impossible because they had exceptional hearing- or if she was just thinking super hard.

  'I cannot bring back that which has been taken,' Scarle
t finally said, her face tight. 'I can't give those memories back to you, Terra. I'm sorry. I don't have that kind of power.'

  Terra nodded, her chest tightened in disappointment. She knew this would probably happen, but it still stung. It was such a strange sensation to know that a part of her mind had been tampered with, and something so personal had been taken away from her without her consent. It was infuriating.

  'I can't give them back to you,' Scarlet said. 'But I can do something else.'

  Terra's hope rose for a split second before she slammed a barrier across, making sure she couldn't be disappointed again. 'How?' she asked, her voice breaking.

  'I can share with you the memories I have of you and Kalem.' Scarlet shrugged. 'It might not be much. But maybe it's something.'

  Terra leaned back, her forehead furrowed in a deep frown. Would that help? Or would it be worse? Having a taste of something without the whole thing seemed like torture, but then again, not having anything at all and knowing that it was there, mere feet away...

  Turning her body towards Scarlet, Terra nodded. 'Yes. Do it.'

  Scarlet stood from the green armchair, placing herself right in front of Terra. She seemed to be hesitating because her hands twitched. She licked her lips before letting out a sigh as she extended her hands out towards Terra.

  Why am I hesitating so much? Terra thought, her nerves growing by the second. Shaking her head, she grabbed Scarlet's hands, not daring to overthink anymore.

  Scarlet's black eye began to glow, the darkness leaving her body, its tendrils leaping out and crawling over every inch of the room. It attached itself to Terra, slithering into her own black eye. The room vanished, as well as the world, and Terra saw.

  Chapter thirty-four

  Terra made her way up onto the roof and sat down, hugging her knees against her chest. Scarlet had shared the few memories she possessed through the bond and now Terra wasn't really sure how to deal with it. The memories had been few but significant. She had seen the way Kalem had looked at her through Scarlet's eyes. There had been one memory that had made Terra's heart squeeze. Scarlet had been walking down the hallway and had stopped in front of Kalem's small room. She'd opened the door to the bedroom, Terra sleeping peacefully on the bed, Kalem next to her, his robotic arm across her body protectively.

  Terra should've felt relieved, but she didn't. Why? Because her emotions hadn't changed. Kalem was still Kalem; a cyborg she hardly knew. A part of her had expected her feelings to return. What a foolish thing to believe! Whatever her feelings had been, they were long gone. Everything about Kalem had been erased at the hands of Petra.

  Something so personal had been taken from her, and Terra's body shook with fury.

  A sound behind caused Terra to whip her head around, vexed by the interruption of her thoughts. The feeling of annoyance vanished immediately at the sight of Malcolm climbing out the attic window. From all the people that could've appeared, he was the least she expected to see.

  'Oh,' the cyborg said, noticing her. 'I didn't see you there.' He moved backwards, as if he were planning to leave.

  'You don't have to go.'

  'You were here first. I don't wish to bother you.'

  Terra shook her head. 'No bother at all.'

  Malcolm made his way to her side but didn't sit too close. The silence became a little awkward. Terra had never really spoken to Kalem's father.

  'You seem worried,' he said.

  'Oh?'

  'It's pretty obvious, actually. When someone comes up here to sit alone it's because they're upset.'

  'Is that why you came here?'

  Malcolm shrugged. 'I have two people to constantly worry over, so yeah. I guess so.'

  Terra nodded, letting her chin rest over her knees. Miss Wang was clearly cooking something because the smell was filtering through, making its way up towards them. Lemon and meat, vinegar and spices. Terra's stomach rumbled.

  'Miss Wang is busy at work,' Malcolm muttered.

  'Huh?'

  'Nothing.' Malcolm waved the words away, smiling. 'So, what's upsetting you? You can tell me if you want to. Or we can just sit here quietly as we enjoy the smell.'

  Terra wanted to be quiet, but the need to share what she was feeling with someone took over. Before she could even stop herself, she blurted out, 'I don't think I'm ever going to remember Kalem.' As soon as the words had left her mouth, she cringed. It probably wasn't the ideal situation talking about Kalem with his adoptive dad, but still. It felt good saying it aloud to someone.

  Malcolm remained silent for a couple of minutes, which made Terra bite the inside of her cheek, worrying whether she'd overstepped some kind of line.

  'Then maybe you should just start from scratch,' he finally said, breaking the silence that was making her sweat. 'Create new memories. The truth is... I promised myself that I wouldn't get involved but...' He sighed. 'Kalem was always a loner, you know? He was never good at making friends. No matter how much Camille tried forcing him to. I guess she was worried she was doing a bad job or something.' Malcolm chuckled. 'Which is ridiculous. But Kalem was happy like that, being alone. He wanted to be strong to become the best fighter. All he did was train and train and train.'

  'Has he never had a girlfriend?'

  Malcolm cocked his head, thinking. 'Not that I'm aware of. Sure, he's liked a few girls in the past, but he'd just shrug the interest off. It was almost as though he couldn't be bothered. I think he thought that falling in love would cause him pain.' Malcolm brushed through his brown hair. 'I guess we have Camille to blame for that. She suffered a lot many years ago when her girlfriend was murdered and... Even though she wants Kalem to be happy, she's scared something like that will happen to him, too. And being a parent, well... Certain things just rub off on your kids even if you don't want them to.'

  Terra wasn't really sure what to say to any of that. Before she could reply, Malcolm continued to speak. 'But then Kalem met you and... He just changed. He went from this quiet kid that preferred his own shadow for company than a real actual person to... to someone who wanted to get to know you, spend time with you. His whole face would light up when you walked into a room.' Malcolm smiled so brightly it made Terra realise why he was so popular among women. He was terribly handsome.

  'But I don't remember any of that,' she protested. 'That's what's so annoying.'

  Malcolm nodded. 'Perhaps you shouldn't worry about that. Focus on the present, on what you see now. You don't need a memory to see Kalem's face light up when you appear. He still does it now.'

  Terra's mismatched eyes widened as her face warmed at the thought. She looked away from Malcolm, feeling awkward and embarrassed. He was right though; she'd been focusing so much on what she had lost that she hadn't given much thought to what she had actually gained.

  Kalem was still there. Yes, perhaps she couldn't remember him but he wasn't dead or gone. She could get to meet him all over again.

  Standing with a new found energy, she glanced back down at Malcolm. 'Thanks.'

  'No problem. Just remember; if anyone asks, I'm the wise one. Not Eric. Me.'

  Giggling, she rushed back inside, hoping to find Kalem to start anew.

  ...

  'It is done,' Curtis said in a very sombre tone.

  Morgana glanced down at the casket with the sleeping boy inside. Technically he wasn't sleeping; he was in a sort of comatose state from which he wouldn't be getting back up. Curtis had extracted the microchip, and unless they implanted it back inside his brain, he'd stay like that for the rest of eternity.

  If only it were Petra lying in the damn casket.

  'So now what do we do?' Vladimir asked, not a single crease of worry on his beautiful angelic face.

  'Celebrate?' Everyone turned to look at Eric who shrugged and waved them all off as if they were mad.

  Morgana made her way towards one of the many tables in the basement and leaned forward to stare at the glass box where Curtis had plac
ed the microchip in. To think that such a thing was inside her own brain was a little unnerving. She knew that their bodies had been created in labs; hearts, muscles and organs all created through real organic tissue and robotic parts. Though by now Morgana guessed that there was more machine to them than anything else. If she cut her arm open, no blood would appear. Which was great when she was fighting, but it was hard sometimes not to feel like a machine with a fake beating heart when almost every single part of her body wasn't natural.

  'We must destroy the microchip,' Scarlet said.

  'What if we use it as a bargaining chip? Force Petra to leave if she wants her brother back,' Eric argued.

  Scarlet shook her head. 'As soon as she has her brother back she'll just return to her old ways. We can't risk it. It must be destroyed.'

  Eric let out a long breath. 'She'll go mad. This will start a war.'

  'We're already in a war, Thorn,' Morgana said, crossing her arms against her chest.

  Vladimir and Persephone remained quietly to one side, observing but never intervening. Morgana was pretty sure they'd be okay with whatever everyone else chose to do with the microchip. It felt suddenly wrong to make such a decision on behalf of others. 'What do you think?' she asked, gesturing at them.

  Persephone turned to look at Vladimir, clearly not wanting to answer without hearing what he had to say first. Vladimir on the other hand shifted his attention towards Scarlet. Morgana knew the kid had always had a special affinity to Scarlet, which had always made her envious.

  'It must be destroyed,' Vladimir finally said. 'They're too dangerous.'

  Morgana rubbed her arms, nodding. It was done and decided. There was no point in arguing over this. Everyone knew it was just too risky to keep Viktor 'alive'. They needed to be stopped and this was the only way. Now all they needed was to find a way of getting Petra into another casket.