Gifts

by Ethan Marsh

I awake to a big bump. I tumble into the air, then fall back down. Something big and hard slams into my head. I snap my eyes open and gasp. A wooden box had hit me. I rub the knot that will soon come to be.

  Who am I? What am I?

  I sit up and look to the locket tied around my neck. It's still there.

  Right then, I remember everything from before, the sushi restaurant, the restroom, Tedd. I look down at my hands. They are not red anymore, I assume, and hope, the same with my face. Another bump scares me. I whimper with fear, but not from the rattle. Not that at all.

  I appear to be in a large box, moving very fast, maybe sixteen hundred unimeters per hour. Boxes, big and small surround me. There is a large metal door behind me that is locked. I decide not to unlock the door, not knowing what dangers could lay beyond. I am in a vehicle of some kind, I can tell my the speed. It is a lot like the subway, except for the fact that I am alone. The subway, is anything but alone.

  Everything stops moving. Boxes come flying at me, but this time I block them with my fists. This time, I am not in paralysis.

  “Hello? Anyone there?” I yell, hoping someone would respond, but yet not wanting anyone to. No answer.

  I hear a big screech, and then the metal door opens. I throw my hands over my face, and a box is thrown into the air, slammed whatever opened the door.

  “Oh.... my....” I gasp.

  I don't know what to do. I jump behind a box. My hands turn red again, but not nearly as bad as before. Anxiety, fear, excitement? I do not have a clue for what the cause could be. How could I do this. Guilt. That must be the cause.

  Everything is okay, everything is okay, I think. But I know that everything is not.

  I peek out from behind the box and see that there is nobody there. My whole body gets really hot, like a hot flash, only I feel like I need to burn off energy. My heart pumps through me, telling me to run away, to scram and leap for as far a s a being can, but I remain calm, taking all of my energy to.

  Curiosity pushes me to the door, and as I open it further so I can get out, my body takes over and I start to feel the same feeling as I did at the sushi restaurant. This feeling scared me. I don't usually get scared very often, but this scares me. A lot. I know one thing. I have to stay calm.

  As I am moving closer to the freedom, a man gets up from the dirt ground. I had never seen him before.

  “Roman!”

  “Who is that?” I scream in fear.

  “Roman! It's me, Henry! You have to follow me.”

  “Wha..What? I don't even know who you are. I'm sorr-”

  The man murmurs something to himself, then shoots up an offer. “Listen, do you want answers about it?” he asks, pointing to my hands.

  How could he possibly know about it? I don't question him. I immediately jump out of the box, following.

  Henry walks me to the front of the box, this part had seats and cup holders. It looked a lot like the subway, only one of the seats had buttons and levers next to it.

  “Get in the sub Roman,” Henry commands.

  “Where are we?”

  “I'll tell you later, there's no time.”

  “No! Tell me now!” I scream. I feel babyish, having a temper tantrum, screaming in someones face. I did not mean to yell at him, it just slipped out..

  “Calm down. We are in the Corrupt. No man's land. Now quiet.”

  The Corrupt. It sounds scary, yet inviting. I have never heard of it, but apparently I have not heard of many places.

  “Who are you?” I ask, feeling frightened by the stranger.

  “I'm your pal... Henry.”

  My life flashes between blinks. I remember now, his face, the worry, the woods, my guardian. I gasp, then reaching out for him.

  “Henry!” I yell, hugging him as tight as I can.

  “Yeah, yeah kid. Come on.”

  I stop hugging him to ask an important question. “What's happening to me?” I hope for an answer. That's what I need. An answer is just what I need. Henry yawns and doesn't reply to me. I decide to leave him alone. I still feel the urge to move pumping through me, my hands are still red. I scratch at my hands, not because they are itching, but I cannot find any other way to deal with the energy that pumps through me, just begging for something catastrophic to happen just at this very moment, when I am on the way to safety

  “Ignore your hands, boy,” Henry demands. Since he knows more than I did about them, I stopped messing with them, but I couldn't resist the urge to wiggle my legs back and forth below my seat.

  Henry takes his attention off of me and pulls a green painted lever and the whole sub starts to shake. Then, he presses a few buttons on a keyboard on which the alphabet is laid out on each key. The alphabet on the keys is not the Insorian alphabet that I use. I wondered if Henry speaks a different language than the people in the Destitute zone do. He probably needs to considering that he travels around the zones. After Henry was finished pressing the buttons of the alphabet, he pressed a red button and pulled a red lever and the sub started moving. Moving faster than when I was in the box part of the sub. I grab the leather seat, squeezing the material as much as I can.

  The ride is very smooth, though it was very fast. The way that the sub moves along the single rail implanted in the track made me feel relaxed. I lay back on the leather seats and go over the events that have happened. It all seems to be okay things, until I come across the thought of my guardian. My old guardian. He is dead. I will find who killed them. And why this being would do such a thing to bring this much cruelty to me.

  I wake up to the screeching roar of the sub. I blast out of my catnap, sitting up straight on the surprisingly comfortable seats. The sub was stopping. I fix my hair and look to see that Henry is still awake. Before I go to look, I hope and pray that he is.

  I confirm my thought when he pulls a black lever. The large door where I had stepped in, leads me out to the destination. Henry follows close behind.

  In front of me stands tall, a large chrome painted building (very fancy, in my opinion.) Glass windows lined up in stripes, all the way to the top of the building. I could see the moons' reflection off the perfectly cleaned glass, I doubt that there is one smear on any of the windows.

  Henry takes a long, white jacket out of the sub and puts it on, slipping it past his shoulders. He then starts to walk towards the building, so my instincts tell me to follow him. I couldn't stop wiggling my hands, I was still freaked out about this whole thing a lot, but I ignored most of my feelings now, not on purpose. All that I can think about was my red hands and what is happening to me. I continue to follow Henry.

  The automatic motion door is the wall between the building and the small lot where many subs were ported. I walk in, after Henry.

  The interior is much like the outside walls of the building. Everything is painted white, including the pieces of clothing that people are wearing.

  Henry takes me to a small room that branches off of the 'main' hallway that we are present in. The door squeaks softly, but I hear it as a screech, like a thousand mice, attacking their prey. The lights were off inside the cutaway room.

  “Roman, put this on,” Henry says in a hushed tone, handing me a white jacket much like his, only mine did not have a name on it. It seems as if he is trying to be secretive. I hesitate, but then obey the order. I took out my bag and pulled out a flashlight to see before I slid the jacket on.

  My eyes are not very good in the dark. They never have been. I have twenty-five, twelve vision, whatever that means. I take off my hoodie and place it back into my bag. Underneath my hoodie, I wear a black tee shirt, which probably hasn't been cleaned in awhile.

  I trust Henry right now, so I quickly put the jacket on and put my flashlight back into my bag as Henry starts to move out the door. I continue to follow him.

  The lights that I walk into almost seem to blind me, as if by pupils have neve
r encountered the strange phenomenon that is light, even though they had fought much worse at the sushi restaurant. I wince at the though of it, still keeping in mind Tedd.

  The building is very large, I don't have one clue what it could be used for. As me and Henry walk through the long, rather endless hallways, there are mainly two types of rooms that I see. The majority of the rooms were small, where a person is simply sitting at a desk, looking at a screen, typing on a keyboard. Instead of typing on a keyboard, sometimes they were talking into a small device, having a conversation with someone. I wonder how they doing that. The technology of the new days...

  There are a couple of rooms that intrigued me, but I am not sure why. These rooms were loaded with equipment and two or three people with masks covering there faces. They stood over a long table One or two of the people held metal tools in their hands. I can see the anxiety in their hands, which are trembling, as well as their faces, with their eyes wide and their eyebrows quivering and tilted up at a forty-five degree angle. One of the people glares at me with such anger and despise that only one who owns true hate can show. I quickly look away and continue following Henry.

  Many people stare at me as they pass me by. They look like they are scared of me, or angry with me in some way. This happens a lot while me and Henry are walking. I shudder at each person who gives me a nasty stare, or any kind of grim look at all. Did I do anything to them?

  Words themselves cannot even explain my happiness when Henry stops at a small door, obviously locked tightly. I look up to see a yellow and black striped sign:

  CAUTION!

  AUTHORIZED PERSONNELS ONLY!

  I continue to stare at the sign, not daring to look down from the mystery until I have it cracked its code.

  I am curious, yet freaked out by it. Mostly because I don't know what it is, but I don't think that I am an authorized personnel. Even if I am, how? I haven't done anything that I know of that would classify me as authorized.

  Maybe Henry is. I look down from the yellow and black frame when I hear a click. The door is open. Henry walks in, but I just stand there, not knowing what to do. He looks back at me, and I look directly at him, then he looks at me harder, which cracks me. I walk in, cautiously creeping behind Henry's back, so I am not seen.

  Inside the room, many screens scatter up along the walls, in the most ridiculous of patterns. On the glowing pieces of stainless steel, tables and charts filled with data and documents packed with words are shown.

  I don't know what they mean, and I don't really want to anyway, so I take my attention away from them, focusing my mind on the many other “wonders” in the room.

  There were only a couple of people in the very large room, most of them staring at me, instead of turned around in a swivel chair. I try to ignore them, but I can't help to look back at the expression on their face, the expression of their body. I analyze it, thoroughly searching for what they could possibly be thinking and feeling.

  I look down at my hands. The pieces of flesh and muscle are still piercing red, like they were on fire.

  “Dr. Jones! Welcome!” A woman's voice said. A rush of relief comes over me. I turn around to Henry, as he walks towards the voice. It lasts for seconds, which feel like minutes going by very, very slowly.

  Dr. Jones? Is she even talking to us? A doctor is the last thing that I would ever expect Henry to be(However, he is wearing a large white jacket, and there are only so many jobs that would allow you to own one of those.)

  “Hi, Dr. McKensie, nice to see you once again. This is Roman,” Henry said moving away so I couldn't hide behind his back anymore. I step out of the way, trying to be brave, as I tilt my head down and my eyes looking up, trying to look as desperate as possible.

  My fake expression drops when I see her. Her short blond hair lays down on her shoulders, then coming up in the tiniest of curls. Below her bangs, large, rectangle glasses rest upon her face, and back to the arc of her ear.

  She is about the same height as me(five feet, six inches; I think?)

  “Well hello Roman, I'm Connie. I have been looking forward to seeing you.” I look back, about to greet her as she has greeted me, but Henry pulls me away for a second, yanking the jacket that I had put on earlier. The look on his face made me think that this was very important to him. He crouches down to get to my eye level.

  “Roman, follow this lady, she will tell you the information that you want to know. I'll be right in this room when you come back,” he says quietly, hushing his tone as much as someone could ever do.

  “I will. Thanks Henry,” I say, feeling anxiety pile up on my shoulders. Henry stands back up, and walks away to a screen and plops into a leather chair. That leaves me, and Connie. I turn around to her and look her in the eye. Her finger reaches up and bends back and forth, almost pulling me towards her.

  I follow Connie into a much smaller room. There are much less screens and a bed, with layers wax paper piled on it. Lots of equipment covers the walls. I sit down on the bed, hoping that I am supposed to.

  “So Roman? Are you from here?” she asks, as she is gathering papers, then finally shuffles them and then sits down in a swivel chair, that looks like the same one that the others outside in the larger room are sitting in. I do not know how to respond to the question. I guess I should tell the truth.

  “No,” I answer simply.

  “Oh, really! Where are you from?” I want to say I live where I was with Tedd, but sadly I didn't know where that was.

  “The Destitute zone,” I say, and right away her eyes widen a little and I can see by the look on her face that she felt sympathy for me. That sympathy, I need badly.

  Connie is the only person who sees sympathy for me. I don’t see that same look in other peoples’ eyes. She quickly ignores the topic, but I feel as if she still wants to discuss it.

  “Okay, Roman, I am just going to do some simple tests, so you just lay down and relax,” Connie says. She is very laid back. It seemed like stress didn't bother her.

  Relaxing was not easy for me to do. It probably wasn't a good thing, but I hadn't gotten used to the urge that I have been feeling, so I always shake my hands or feet and ankles. I continued to do this since I couldn't help it. Eventually, Connie notices that I am uncomfortable, in a way.

  “Everything okay, Roman?” she asks. I decide to tell her the truth since she might reveal something.

  “No, actually. I've been acting really weird lately. Its really...odd. It only happens at random times-”

  “What's going on?” she asks with enthusiasm, probably not caring if she interrupted me. She leans closer, her elbows on her knees, screaming for an answer.

  “Well, my hands and sometimes my face gets really red. Like on fire, burning red. It's like a really, really bad case of eczema, only its not that at all. But when it does happen, I have a strong, urge, that I need to exert energy, move, run, anything.”

  Connie does not say a word after I stop spilling words out of my mouth. She has a small relieved look on her face. She takes a deep breath, then opens her mouth to speak:

  “Okay, Roman. Since you already know a little bit about what's been happening to you, I will add to the knowledge that you have.” I sat up from laying down on the wax paper bed, now my elbows on my knees, my eyes grabbing the information out of her skull.

  I don't say anything, because it would boost my excitement level. I wait for her as she pulls down a screen and grabs some little suction cup like objects from a drawer. She walks over to me, sticking them onto my head, and I didn't bother to move them off, the energy in me was going crazy. The screen flashed to life.

  “So, I am just going to tear the whole bandage off here, basically this is a normal brain,” she says as she points to a blue picture. It is fascinating, but nothing compared to the image to the right of it. “..and this is yours.” A large orange picture of a brain shows up on t
he screen. It looks very different from the first picture. This brain has more veins in it. It also was much larger than the first picture. This is my brain?

  “Roman, this might scare you, but don't worry. There is a certain substance located in your body that gives you this 'energy' feeling,” she informs. I lean in even further, begging for more.

  This is all news to me. I want to say that it was good news, but I don't think I can answer that yet. “so your body is most likely having a reaction to this odd substance, causing this. The scientists that have been studying this call it adrenalin.”

  Adrenalin. The word echoes in my mind, spiraling around the phenomenon.

  It is odd to know that I am different from other people. I always thought that I am normal. I go inside my head for a second and think how this substance is affecting my brain.

  I wonder if the adrenalin has been in my body for my whole life. If it hasn’t, when did I get it? And why? I have so many questions to ask.

  Connie eventually points at my hands. “If I had to make a prediction, you will learn to be very happ-” Henry slams the door open. He doesn't make any noise, just grabs my arm and pulls me out of the room. I pull my arm away from him, but he gives me a glare. I choose to cooperate.

  “Wait! Connie!,” I scream, crying for more information on this adrenalin. Henry is much stronger than me, pulling me out of the large room, and out into the hallway.

  He stops for a second, as I freeze, about to load him up with questions. There is no time to.

  “Run!” he says as he's dashing away, not stopping to tell me anything about what is going on. I wasn't taking the chance to lose him again, so I follow him, running as fast as I can. Henry is much faster than I thought a fifty year old man would be. I have to remember to trust him.

  Both of us sprint down hallways, back the way we came. I continue to look at the fascinating rooms. They are acting as everything was normal, and so was everyone else. I am the outlier.

  Henry and I sprint out of the building, and onto the drive-in where we walked in. I stop for a second, not because I'm tired, I am not tired at all. I just had to think for a second, put together all of the facts and all of the information that I have received. Henry stops moving as he climbs into the sub. He looks at me. I hesitate for a second, then dash to the sub, and leap in. I pull the door shut, then lock it. I sit down behind the drivers’ seat and glare at Henry, not trying to show much anger, but the strong and powerful emotion escapes me anyway. I take a deep breath, and try to relax. I am too stressed out.

  “Okay, what is this about?” I demand, slowly, making sure that he gets all the words processed into his mind.

  “They're here,” he says.

  “Who? Who's here?”

  “We don't have time for this, Roman!”

  “Who is here, Henry!?” I scream as I look him straight in the eye, squinting a little.

  “Tedd.”

  IX

  Henry breathes in deeply, then out. I don’t think for a second.

  “Why is Tedd here?”

  “He's here...” another deep breath. “...to find you.” I ignore his answer. There was something more that I wanted to know at the moment.

  “How do you know Tedd?” I ask, now my questions move fast-paced, I feel the energy is starting to take over me once again.

  “I used to work with him. Here,” he replies, which kind of shocks me. It seems odd that Tedd used to be a doctor. I wouldn't even try to guess what Tedd does for a job. He seems so perfect. I want to be perfect, too.

  “Of course he's here to find me. I'm here sitting in a truck after I blacked out on Main Street, wherever I was. He is my guardian, supposed to protect me,” I blurt, just saying whatever sounded right in my head.

  “Sorry Roman, but in the Corrupt, nobody has a legal assigned guardian. The government doesn’t care for the Corrupt. Also, Tedd is not really here to find you, but to take you. To kill you.”

  This rattles me all over. I don't even hear a word out of Henry's mouth until he says this. To kill you. Tedd, the nicest guy I've ever met, and I was just told he was out to kill me? I couldn't believe it for a second. I don't believe it. But I will have to play it safe.

  No questions asked, Henry pulls the levers that start the sub, and speeds down the tracks we came from. No destination in route. The ride is quite frightening, especially because I have no clue where we are going, and I'm not sure Henry does either. He drives for about ten minutes on the dirt tracks, then drifts onto a speedway. The sub was moving at least ninety kilounits per hour(twenty kilounits per hour faster than the speed limit.) I notice that Henry had not even out his safety belt on yet. We gain speed, zooming down the speedtrack as the speed throttle was almost as far as it could go. I am done with silence.

  “Slow down, Henry!” I shout, not really caring in what order the words come out. All I want is for the sub to slow down. Stop.

  “I have to keep you safe,” he says, keeping his eyes on the road. His eyes are bloodshot and hair was in a 'rats' nest'. He had probably not bathed in weeks, but neither have I, so I won’t criticize him.

  “Just slow down a little. Nobody is behind us. It's only two hours right now, and you shouldn't be driving,” I say hopeful, praying that he will slow down, or stop. Stop..

  He ignores my suggestion though, like I thought he would when I proposed the idea.

  A siren alerts Henry. It is faint, but he hears it. It is as if his ears were already ready for it.

  His hand reaches for the speed throttle so that it touches the max limit. The sub could not move any faster. At least we will stay at this speed.

  “Henry! You need to slow down the freaking' sub!” I shout. I have known since the beginning that Henry is a dangerous, shadowy character, but I never thought that things would become this horrid.

  The sub shakes along with a big crash. I shake in my seat, wondering what in the world the crash was. Henry does not get startled. He swifts onto the next track, continuing at the fast speed. Maybe someone wrecked the sub? I start to cry because I am not nearly as courageous as Henry. I am scared.

  “God damnit!” he mutters, swerving through the different lanes of track. He extends his index finger, then slams on a small blue button and lights in front of the sub turned off so the track could no longer be seen.

  “Henry! Turn the lights back on!” I scream. All he does is continuing to swerve. I wonder why he was doing this.

  If he was trying to keep me safe, why would he put me in danger?

  Another crash alerts me as well as Henry. The windows that protect the side of the sub are now shattered, leaving bits and pieces launched into Henry's arms.

  I have to do something. I am in danger, and I am not going to die in a sub crash.

  Not here. Not now.

  “Hen-”

  “No! I said no! Do you want to die? No, I didn't think so. So trust me god damnit!”

  A tear falls from my eye. It is not because I am sad, but because I am scared. I can't show my vulnerability. I won't.

  I unhook my safety belt, then stick my head out the window behind me and and see that there is a large grass patch coming up off the side of the track in about a quarter thousand units.. I know that this is the best thing for me. I turn the lock and pull open the door.

  “What the fu-”

  I say nothing, but simply, “Goodbye. I hope that I can see you once again.”

  I climb to the outside of the sub and shut the door closed. I hang on with dear life to the handle that could open the door again. The grass patch was coming up very very soon. I now grab onto the handle with one limb, the other hand gripping the compass, my compass, as I think, did Tedd write that letter? I let it go.

  I only think one thing. It repeats itself over and over again in my mind.

  “Will I survive?” There was no way to know yes or no, so I go with yes. My h
eart races as I come to decide.

  I jump.

  X

  I have never experienced flying. This changes. Now. Everything is moving in slow motion. I see Henry cursing up a storm still sitting in the seat that he was, blood on his face from the glass bits that launched into his body. I can't hear him at all, though. I feel bad for what I am doing, abandoning him. I imagine that he is disappointed in me. I think of his guardian, how he/she was murdered. He is just like me, only without being special. I feel the wind pressing up against me as I float in the air, falling slowly to the grass patch below. I have my compass in my hand, the locket is no longer around my neck. The compass will keep me safe. It has all along, and it will now.

  I turn my body behind me, and see sirens yellow and purple, which I have never seen ever before, and I don't think I am alone in that vote. They are not the colors of the police department, fire department, or anything.

  I look down to the grassy patch. It does not like the comfiest grass in the world, but dirt is underneath, which is a lot better than concrete. Beyond the grassy patch is a cliff that leads to a canyon. I hold my breath and my chest tightens when I realize that...

  I am jumping too far. Into the canyon.