Archaic

by Regan Ure

  Although we were calm, there was a certain urgency to escape before the Archaic realized I was missing. In my mind, I remembered the pain he'd inflicted on me. I should have felt fear but didn't.

  He pulled me toward a white SUV. I wasn't sure what type it was because I didn't know much about cars. He opened the passenger side and pushed me in. He quickly climbed into the driver's side and pulled away so fast that the wheels squealed. I didn't look back; I was where I belonged.

  We didn't say a word to each other as he drove away from the school. There were no words needed. The burning need was gone and in its place was a feeling of belonging. I looked straight ahead as I watched the scenery around us. He wasn't leaving the town. I wasn't exactly sure where we were, but it didn't matter--as long as I was with him, I was content.

  Jared was forgotten.

  Mason pulled up in front of a house. I got out of the car and waited for him. He took my hand in his; his hand was cool yet comforting. He walked me inside. It wasn't big. It was probably the same size as my house.

  Inside the living room were two other Hue, which I could tell by their coloring. One of them looked like the one from the clearing. Mason pointed at the one who looked familiar and said, "Dylan," and then he pointed at the other one and said, "Caleb."

  Both stood up and nodded at me. I didn't say anything. It had been the first time I'd heard Mason speak. He sounded exactly like Jared. If I hadn't been looking at him and watching him open his mouth and speak, I would have been convinced that that voice only belonged to Jared. We didn't linger in the living room.

  Mason led me firmly by the hold on my hand upstairs to a bedroom. As I entered, I noticed it was very plain. There was only a single bed with white linen and a simple wooden desk with a matching chair. There were no posters or any kind of personal items. Maybe it was a guest bedroom. Then I realized that the Hue didn't have emotions, so they didn't form attachment to things like the human or Archaic did. Therefore they didn't need personal items.

  He led me to the bed and indicated for me to take a seat on it. I did as he commanded. He didn't sit next to me. Instead he stood a couple of feet in front of me.

  "There isn't long to go," he said as he watched me. He let his eyes run across my features. There was no emotion in his face and no depth to his pale eyes. I didn't need to ask what he was talking about because I knew he was talking about the change. There were only a few days left before the change would be complete and I would be like him.

  He took my hand into his. He opened it gently and so my palm faced upward. His positioned his hand over mine. His eyes lifted and energy from his hand pulled at mine. Our energy, both white, joined in the small space between our hands.

  The completeness I felt in his company intensified for the few moments our energies mixed. Then he lifted his hand from mine and broke the connection.

  "Perfect," he murmured.

  "We'll stay here until it's complete," he explained calmly. He said we and I was comforted by the thought. I couldn't explain why I felt that way. When I felt like a Hue, emotionless, I gravitated toward Mason. And when I was human, normal, I wanted Jared. It didn't make any sense. It was like I had two different personalities stuck in the same body. I knew when the emotionless state ended I would be horrified and scared. He would have to keep me locked up to keep me here.

  "Do you want something to drink?" he asked as he studied me closely. I nodded my head. He turned and left the room. As he walked out of the door, I felt the burning need for him return. I looked around the room. The walls were painted white; there was no color in the room at all and even the carpets were plain beige. The only glimpse of color I saw came from the view outside the window. I stood up and walked toward the window.

  A few minutes later Mason returned with a glass of water. He held it out for me. I took it from him and drank half of it. I handed the half-empty glass back to him and he put it down on the desk.

  I stood silently in front of him, watching him. He walked toward me. He was dressed in jeans and a white T-shirt. I wanted to touch his blond hair. I reached out to touch him. He held his hand out and my fingers reached for it. The feeling when he touched me was indescribable. The burning need disappeared and I felt like I was where I belonged. I was comforted by that thought.

  "The energy in you gravitates to me because it belongs to me," he explained as if he sensed my thoughts and my need to be near him and to touch him. It made sense. He held my hand.

  "Is that how you were able to find me?" I asked. It was uncanny how he was always around when the energy of the Hue took hold of my body and I became emotionless.

  "Yes, the Hue energy in you is like a signal to me. It's stronger and easier to detect when you are Hue-like. When you're human, it is weak and very difficult to detect."

  So only when I was in the emotionless state was he able to find me.

  He watched me process his answer.

  "What happens when the change completes?" I asked, feeling curious.

  "You'll become a synthetic Hue," he explained.

  "Synthetic?" I questioned.

  "You weren't born a Hue; you were made."

  I nodded, understanding his explanation.

  "Up until the change completes, it can be altered but can't be reversed. Once the it completes, it will last forever."

  The thought made me feel peaceful.

  "I don't want it to be altered," I insisted. I wanted to become a Hue and to be with him to feel complete.

  "I know, that's why I need to keep you with me until you complete the change. I don't want to give Jared a chance to figure out how to alter you."

  He smiled. It was a cold smile. He'd beaten his brother at a game and he was winning.

  "How do you know how to alter it?" I asked him. It was a need for knowledge and nothing else.

  "We've been experimenting for a while. It isn't in the Archaic nature to hurt humans, unlike ours. A few humans have survived the initial attack and become synthetic Hues."

  I nodded my head at the information.

  "Through further experimenting we figured out how to alter the change."

  I took in the information.

  "The altering isn't complicated," he added. Even if it wasn't complicated, the Archaic had no idea how to do that.

  "How did you figure out how to alter the change?" I asked.

  "Simple, we were curious to see if it could be done, so we experimented."

  I should have been horrified by what I was hearing, but I wasn't.

  "Is the altering painful?" I asked. I was curious because I remembered how much the initial attack had hurt.

  "Yes. It's worse than the initial surge of energy that initiates the change."

  Even as a Hue, I could remember the pain. I didn't think there could be anything more painful than that, but apparently there could.

  "Why is that?" I asked and he cocked his head to the side.

  "Because it has to be replaced. It's like ripping every cell in your body and replacing it. You can't survive without the energy once you have been exposed to it. If I drain your energy, you will die."

  "Why do some humans die and others change when we get a surge of your energy?" I continued with the questions.

  "All humans are different. Some human bodies are able to adjust to the foreign mutation and can then contain the energy and survive. The humans that die can't adjust."

  I nodded my head. I understood. No energy meant death for me. Simple.

  "Are you hungry?" he asked as an afterthought. I nodded my head. He let go of my hand.

  "I'll be back soon." He must have understood the burning need that affected me when he wasn't around.

  I walked back to the bed and sat down. I was starting to feel a little strange. The rush of emotions flooding back over me like a tidal wave made it take all the self-control I had not to scream in horror. I was with Mason.

  Oh no!

  I was petrified. I glanced at the closed bedroom door. I couldn't get out
that way because Mason and the other two Hue would stop me. Rushing over to the window I looked out. There was no one outside. My hands began to shake as the fear took hold of me. I had never been so scared before. I glanced back to the bedroom door.

  That wasn't even an option. If I went out the bedroom door, the only way out was past three Hues, which for me would be impossible. Needing to slow him down to give me enough time to escape, I put the wooden chair under the handle of the door and angled it in such a way that it would help keep Mason out. Although, I was sure that with one zap he could blast the door open.

  Then I realized I had my phone in the pocket of my jeans. I took it out but realized with horror that my battery was dead. I couldn't call Jared.

  The tracker.

  Jared would be able to find me. All I needed to do was escape and stay somewhere safe until Jared found me, but first I needed to get out of the house.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  From what I could remember, I'd left my last class twenty minutes before the end of school and it was now fifteen minutes after school had finished. I'd been missing for about thirty-five minutes. I was sure Jared would be looking for me. Needing to get out of the room before Mason returned, I shoved my phone back into the front pocket of my jeans.

  I peered out of the window and I gulped. I was petrified of heights, but I didn't have time to be scared. Slowly, I climbed out of the bedroom window. Luckily there was some sort of wooden vine climber attached to the side of the house. It was flimsy, but I didn't weigh much, so I managed to use it as a ladder to get down the side of the house safely.

  As soon as my feet touched the ground, I was running.

  I kept imagining Mason would appear out of nowhere to stop me. I began to panic, because I had no idea where I was. Luckily from what I remembered Mason telling me, as soon as I was normal again it wouldn't be easy for him to find me. I just had to get away from the house and out of sight and wait for Jared to track me down.

  He would be looking for me already. I continued to run down the road. I glanced back over my shoulder. There was nothing. But fearing I would be discovered, I needed to get out of sight.

  When I rounded a corner, I saw the boundary of the forest; I could hide in there. I pushed myself and continued to run like my life depended on it. If Mason caught me now, I feared he would lock me away. I was lucky I was able to escape so easily although something gnawed at my subconscious that it had been too easy. Brushing the thought to the back of my mind, I continued to run.

  I made it into the forest. My lungs hurt and I was breathing hard. It would now be harder for Mason to find me. I slowed down to a walk and struggled to catch my breath. Sweat dripped down my face. The forest was dense and it was difficult to navigate the rough and damp terrain without falling. I made my way as quickly as I could, farther into the forest. The branches scratched my arms, but I didn't feel the pain because I was high on adrenaline. I found some very dense bushes and crawled in among them.

  The ground was damp and it was cold, but I didn't dare move so I sat with my arms wrapped around my knees and I waited. I didn't want to move or make a sound in case Mason and his sidekicks had managed to follow me. My heart hammered in my chest with fear. It echoed in my ears. Even though I was nowhere near Mason or the house, I still didn't feel safe. The truth was I wouldn't feel safe until Jared found me.

  Hearing a sound I held my breath. I heard the sound again--I tensed. There was definitely someone there, but I couldn't be sure who it was, so I pressed my hand to my lips, trying to stop myself from making a sound that would give me away.

  "I can't see her. Are you sure she's here?" It was Jared. Then I remembered Mason's voice was exactly the same, so it could be Mason. There was no way of identifying the owner of the voice through the thickness of the bush that hid me.

  I nearly cried with relief when I heard Tyler say, "Yes, keep looking."

  "Jared," I cried in a panic as I crawled out from in-between the bushes.

  His strong hands lifted me up. Relief flooded through his features. I stifled a sob as his arms wrapped around me. The dam had erupted and the tears fell unchecked down my face. I was crying so much I couldn't speak. The sobs shook my body. I'd been in so much danger and now, in Jared's arms, I was safe.

  He let me go. I watched him scan me quickly to see if I was injured and then he picked me up, holding me close to his body as he carried me out of the forest. Tyler followed closely behind.

  Tyler's car wasn't parked far away. He opened the back door for Jared, who put me in the car and then climbed in after me. I crawled onto his lap because I didn't want him to let me go.

  "You're safe now," he soothed as he held me. Tyler climbed into the driver's seat and started up the car. I heard Tyler in the background on the phone. "We found her. I should be there in ten minutes." Then I heard him disconnect the call.

  I lay my head on Jared's shoulder. The tears had finally slowed. He pulled me tightly against his chest--he didn't want to let me go either. We'd come too close to losing each other. I couldn't think about it because a wave of despair washed over me. I took a deep breath.

  All that mattered was Jared and having his arms wrapped around me. Feeling safe. The car stopped and I looked up to see that we were parked outside a strange house. I gave Jared a questioning look.

  "We need to keep you safe so, until all of this is over, we'll be staying here."

  Was this an attempt to keep me hidden from Mason so he wouldn't be able to find me? But as I'd learned, Mason could find me the next time I became a Hue--so it didn't matter where I was. I would never be safe.

  It felt so hopeless.

  I shifted off Jared so that he could get out of the car and I got out after him. He held my hand tightly and pulled me toward the strange house. Jared walked in first. It probably belonged to one of the Archaic. I hadn't even made it past the hallway before I felt a pair of arms wrap around me.

  "You're safe," Catherine whispered as she hugged me tightly.

  I couldn't talk because emotion had overwhelmed me, so I simply nodded my head and hugged her back.

  "We don't have much time before she becomes a Hue again and we need to get some stuff organized," Jared reminded us.

  She released me and I followed Jared as he moved through the house. Neve was standing in the kitchen when we entered. She rushed over and hugged me. "I'm so glad they found you," she said.

  "Me too," I whispered as I hugged her back.

  As she released me, I saw Jared take something out of the fridge. Soda. Perfect. I am thirsty. After he handed one to me, I gulped half the can down as quickly as I could. Neve and Jared hovered around me.

  "You can't go back to school. You're staying home for the rest of the week," Jared stated.

  I nodded as I took a seat by the kitchen table. Jared and Neve sat down on either side of me.

  Thinking back to how I'd escaped out of the restroom, I realized, it had been too easy for me to get away from the Archaic at school. I was worried that if I managed to do it again I probably wouldn't be able to escape again. I shuddered at that thought.

  "You can't go home, either. Mason knows where I live, so we're going to stay here. This is Neve and Tyler's house," he explained.

  "There's no point because as soon as I become emotionless, he can pick up on the Hue energy," I explained to them. Jared and Neve looked taken aback by my information.

  "How do you know this?" he asked, sounding surprised.

  "He told me. It also explains why he is always around when I'm in an emotionless state. He can feel it."

  "So there is no way to hide you from him when you enter an emotionless state?" he questioned further.

  "No." It was a hard blow. It meant that they couldn't really protect me from Mason. It also meant that he would probably find me and take me away from them the next time I entered an emotionless state.

  "What else did he tell you?" he asked, and I tried to think back.

  "He said something about me
not being able to live without the energy. The Hue know how to alter the change, and he said that it can be altered up until it completes. When the change completes, I'll become a synthetic Hue," I explained. "I asked him how they knew so much about it and he said it was because they were curious and they'd been experimenting."

  "What did he mean when he said alter the change?" he asked.

  "I don't know." I knew it was important but I'd been in an emotionless state and at the time the details hadn't been so important to me. If I had been my normal self I would have been desperate to know the answers.

  "So, there is a way to alter it, but not a way to stop it," said Neve more to herself than to us.

  "If we can't keep you hidden, we need to make sure we're prepared for a confrontation," said Jared as he stood up and pushed his chair back.

  "Confrontation?" I asked.

  "He's going to come for you, but I'm not going to let him get you," he replied. The hard look in his eyes made me shiver.

  "I don't want you to get hurt," I said as I grabbed his arm to halt him. I didn't want any of them to get hurt trying to protect me, and it would be like fighting a losing battle anyway. Even if they managed to protect me from Mason, I was running out of time and soon I would turn permanently into a Hue.

  He gave me a cocky smile and gave me a brief kiss on my mouth.

  "We're trained fighters. You don't need to worry," he assured me. I let go of his arm and he disappeared out of the kitchen. I looked to Neve for confirmation.

  "He's right. We know what we're doing. We've all been trained to protect ourselves."

  It still didn't make me feel any better. It was at times like this that I wished I were a normal teenager with normal teenage problems again. This was all so worrying.

  "Anne," I said in a panic. Neve grabbed my arm.

  "Don't worry," she soothed. "She left for her business trip to the city for the week. Everything has been arranged. She left you a note at home and it said she would call you later."

  I sighed with relief. It was hard trying to handle all this stuff, but trying to keep it from my grandmother was becoming more and more difficult.