Unnatural

Unnatural


1. History: Helena Troi


They came…and then they destroyed. We had no idea who they were, no one did. No one knew why they wanted us, our planet. We of course know now. What they wanted from us. They want our bones, our blood, and our minds. They want our spirits. If only we had this knowledge two hundred years ago. Maybe…someone could have made a difference. It doesn’t seem as such…does it? If we understood their means of conquest…how could we possibly stop them from annihilating our way of life? My theory…is that minds react differently to the slightest changes in world scale catastrophes. To one man an invading force that wishes to utterly destroy his home would have to be defeated at any cost even if his home would have to be forfeit, his wild nature would not cease until the invader is gone. The same man, that understands his home would be preserved however, whether he is victorious or defeated, would take a completely different approach to the situation. A head strong decision once made when facing total annihilation that would lead to the man’s doom would be replaced with a carefully laid out plan that might yield a better outcome.

Could we have won against the Telnari if we knew they wanted our land and our labor instead of our deaths? Maybe, maybe not. These things don’t concern me, only the facts. I am but a simple librarian with a…modest flare for history. Many come to me everyday with questions of the past. Questions of heroes. Questions of villains. I myself don’t believe in heroes. However it seems everyone I have spoken to can’t help but keep the memory of our fallen warriors alive. It’s as if…they need to believe that men and women of great strength and valor existed in the past…that our race was once a formidable foe for the Telnari invaders. Hope swirls in their weary hearts that perhaps mankind can redeem its past failures and several gifted individuals will help us all rise up from under the oppressive feet of the Telnari empire.

“It’s all a bunch of rubbish if you ask me.” The words flowed out from the far end of a musty library hallway.

One man with short blue hair that extended down over his eyebrows smiled as he turned around to face the origin of the female voice. “Come on, Helena you’ve got to admit that there’s at least a slim chance that I’m right about this.”

Helena Troi, a humble employee working inside the west district Champion Library, pushed her glasses back over her eyes with the tip of her finger before glancing up at the man standing a few feet away from her. “No, Daniel I most certainly do not.” Her hands lifted a few strands of her long caramel colored hair back behind her shoulders. “Now will you please retrieve your mind from the dim reaches of space and bring it back to planet Earth before someone besides me gets an earful of your nonsense.”

Daniel let his gaze wander over Helena’s attractive figure while trying to drown out the annoyance he always felt when the woman in front of him used her strict British accent to belittle his opinion. “So what if someone does hear me? It’s not like anyone cares about anything I have to say, present company included.”

Helena sighed and let her lips form a warm smile. “You know I didn’t mean it that way, Daniel.”

Daniel knew that Helena could sound gentle and comforting if given the right reason and he had no problem giving her one. “I only said that if our ancestors could nearly beat back the Telnari with the limited technology we had back then…” he turned after Helena sighed again in annoyance and walked past him “…then maybe we can mount some kind of an offense by stealing theirs!”

Helena slowed her pace and turned, facing Daniel. “Yes and I suppose you and your gambling buddies are just going to waltz right onto the military base and…” she couldn’t help chuckling before she continued “…hot-wire…a few Scram Armors and Jets then after a long and vigorous campaign, overthrow the damn Telnari Empire.”

“You hit the nail on the head, Hely.” Daniel made an agreeing gesture with his arms.

Several days went by and Helena stayed true to her daily routines. White sparkling pearls of bone shined behind her moist full lips. An enticing rose blossom fragrance wavered around her neck and spread around her clothes. Helena stood in front of a broken wood door with scraped paint and several small holes decorating it. The door had no lock and Helena held her breath as she gripped the rusted bronze handle. The door squeaked open slowly and a cold chill rushed in, swirling around Helena’s ragged brown trench coat.
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Like I said before. The Telnari didn’t leave us with nothing to live for. They merely made that special something…or someone more of a challenge to find. To the human race of the past, my home, like so many others, would most likely be just above a desolate wasteland when compared to what we once had. Of course, the entire human race didn’t live in the lap of luxury. To several millions of our ancestors my home would be considered a slum…a small undesirable piece of a city where the unfortunates damn the fortunate. Well…unfortunately…my home is just like everyone else’s…save a few privileged individuals who have risen into Telnari favor. A lot of my fellow humans would consider these favored individuals to be traitors to the human race. These so-called traitors defend themselves with a strongly based argument that there no longer is a human race. Which side is right? The wealthy humans only wish to live comfortably just like the poor. So which side is right? Which side is good and which side is evil? I don’t concern myself with such things, only the facts. I’m just a simple librarian with a…modest flare for history.
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“Get away from him! Get away from him! Get her away! Get her off him!” An infuriated male voice boomed over the ambience of the city.

“No! Daddy!” Terrified screams erupted from a young girl huddled over a man who appeared to be having a violent seizure.

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Darkness covers my world. By my world I mean the human cities that the Telnari have given us a…limited dominion over. These invaders have apparently studied our entire history much like myself but on a much grander scale. They studied us before we learned the value of knowledge. They are a very cautious species that prey on every weakness they can find no matter how trivial. Most humans prefer the light as opposed to the dark, we look forward to the time when the sun breaks through the darkness and shines its warm bright light on us. That no longer happens for us. Not with the domes the Telnari built over our cities. No one really knows the extent of the technology they put into those things, however, every few hours or so, billions of electrical currents surge through them giving us one more reason to hate our current living situations.
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A common police officer with a full suit of modern day armor held a nine-millimeter handgun over a young girl and her sick father. “Get her off of him now!”

A frightened citizen grabbed the girl by the waist and barely managed to pull her back while she kicked and screamed. “It’s alright, I got you!”

“No! Daddy!” The girl shrieked.

The unconscious man lying in the middle of the street twitched and then his eyes shot open. A soulless black covered the man’s pupils and dark blue veins ran through his eyeballs. His pale hands reached out and grabbed his daughter’s ankles and with superhuman strength pulled her from the frightened citizen’s arms. An inhuman growl flowed from the man’s throat and a black bullet from the police officer’s gun ripped open a hole in the man’s forehead. Frightened screams sprouted all over the surrounding area while the girl lied still on the corpse that was once her father. Slowly her head turned and her eyes met the bloody remains of his face. The girl released all of her devastating emotions with one ear piercing scream then fainted while tears streamed down her face.

Helena let out the breath she gathered before exiting her small apartment. “Mutations again…damn drifters.” Her eyes took in the chaotic scene as over twelve police officers secured the area incase of a viral outbreak. “Will they ever learn that lives outside the domes are no longer meant for us humans?” The librarian made her way towards the library.

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To understand my world you must live in it. There is no other way. I can continue telling you of my experiences, my analogies of the many beliefs of the people around me. I wonder…if I have any beliefs. Should a simple librarian concern herself with such things? I saw another corpse reanimation today. Right when I walked outside my apartment. Those stubborn rebels, freedom fighters are what they call themselves. They’ll never learn. They insist on living out in the wastelands where they’re either killed by a Telnari extermination squad or each other after the undead virus infects their bloodstream. I suppose the wastelands in my view would be the same as a slum to my ancestors. This one weakness we humans have against disease was exploited by the Telnari without them even realizing it. After countless years of travel and countless planets conquered, billions of bacterial organisms clung to their solid forms and followed them here, to my world. The results of these viruses are ancient myths turned modern day menaces. Werewolves, Vampires, even Dragons…they all exist now, all of them fully scientific, leaving the few brains left in the human civilization with nothing left to criticize or deny.
“Love.” A silent voice whispered.

“Hmm?” Helena glanced up from her television and a near middle-aged man with short brown hair and medium sized glasses covering his eyes filled her vision.

The man continued to stare into the dusty brown book he held in front of his face with his right hand. “Can humans truly understand love anymore?”

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I suppose now you’re wondering why some psycho is sitting at one of the reading tables asking no one pointless questions right? Heck if I know. But…it might have something to do with the Telnari law that every human physically capable of reproducing must follow. You see…we are all required to ensure the preservation of our species. The only way for us to accomplish this is to either have sex with someone of our own choosing or let the Telnari arrest us and extract or inject whatever is needed for the whole reproduction process to work.
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“Well of course people still understand what love is.” Helena answered. “It’s just no one has that much time to find it anymore."

“Nor the will.” The man added.

“Well…I suppose not.” Helena agreed.

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My time’s almost up. If you haven’t found someone on your own by age thirty then they find someone for you. How much time do I have left? Well I’m not telling you, most women these days are still very sensitive about their age and I happen to be among that majority.
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“So are you going to join them?” The man asked with his gaze still focused on the book.

Helena scoffed at the question. “Are you daft? I have joined. They gather here several times each month.”

The man chuckled briefly before closing the book. “Telnari don’t care much for rebellion gatherings?”

“Hell if I care either. It’s like this everywhere, they gather and talk and when their stones get hard enough they try to mount some piss head attack and always get slaughtered.” Helena replied.

“My name’s Albert Rune.” Albert introduced himself after laughing for over fourteen seconds at Helena’s comment.

Helena glanced down at Albert’s extended hand and pushed her glasses up from her nose with the tip of her finger before shaking it. “Helena Troi.”

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Daniel is my arranged partner the Telnari picked out for my…impregnation. I still shudder when I think about how they stripped all of the filth and substance humans built around sex for over the past ten thousand years. Sometimes I do wonder if I still understand what love is. My brother thinks that love is still out there for everyone. That’s why he joined the west district resistance. Everyday he comes in here trying to get me to come to one of his meetings and help strategize, and everyday I show him my distaste towards the whole idea of a rebellion. Have I gotten the cogs in your brain turning on this subject yet? If not then I suppose I should just spit it out. Yes, Daniel is my brother. I guess the Telnari didn’t take all of the filth out of sex after all.
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“So are you going to join the resistance?” Helena let her gaze rest on Albert who accompanied her down one of the many broken down streets of the west district.

Albert glanced at Helena with a hint of surprise in his eyes before resting his gaze on a group of heroin addicts huddled around a barrel fire near one of the many thousands of crack houses littered around the city. “Me, join the resistance? Oh heavens no. I’d rather just live out the life people are allowed to live peacefully and quietly.”

“Cheers to that, Albert.” Helena smiled.

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I could just choose someone, anyone. Any man would do when the only other option I have would be my own flesh and blood but as I’m sure you know by now the Telnari have little regard for human life beyond what they can exploit from it. They consider us no different from the other mammals of this planet, the ones we still have dominion over. We breed them just like the Telnari breed us and after the first hundred years of Telnari rule, like the animals we rule, we stopped complaining about it. Albert could very well be my cousin, brother, and uncle all rolled into one so I’m in no hurry to go leaping into some stranger’s arms when I can be with someone who brings me more comfort in one argument filled hour than most women feel in an entire lifetime. No…unless I actually do find true love then I would have no regrets having my brother’s child. He is rather handsome after all…it’s not like civilization will ever amount to anything anyway.
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A dark jagged crimson line painted a small patch of skin underneath Helena’s left shoulder. All five of her fingers pressed gently against the scar as vague forcefully forgotten memories resurfaced, briefly flashing before her eyes. One image was of a small boy who had wandered into her housing tent. The same anger and fear that swirled inside her chest erupted from inside the other residents of the tent.

“Get out! Get him out!” One enraged man yelled in a whisper.

“Send him out into the arms of the Telnari? What’s the matter with all of you?” A woman protested.

Helena positioned her glasses back over her eyes with an aggressive push from the tip of her finger then frowned down at the young boy. “He shouldn’t be in here! Whoever brought him here knows that!”

“I…I…they wouldn’t…they wouldn’t let me see my mommy so I…” The boy whimpered while on the verge of tears.

One of the younger women near Helena’s age resting in the tent sat up from her hard wooden bed. “Julian?” Her eyes widened for a brief moment before a frightened gasp escaped her lungs.

Julian ran across the tent towards the woman as she climbed out of her bed then fell to her knees with open arms. “Mommy!”

The woman wrapped her left arm around Julian and gently caressed the back of his black hair covered head with her right hand. “Julian…you’re supposed to be with your father.”

Tears streamed down Julian’s face as his helpless gaze met his mother’s confused gaze. “Daddy…daddy’s…the shadowmen killed daddy!”

“Rachel. Rachel? Rachel!” Helena’s words swirled around the young mother’s ears but never broke through the wall of shock that formed around the now broken woman.

Rachel trembled as she held onto Julian. A silent whimper crawled up her throat then seeped out of her mouth a few seconds before her grief allowed her brain to form words. “No…NO!”

Another one of the men living in the tent covered Rachel’s mouth with his right hand and then found himself struggling to keep the frantic widow still and silent. “Rachel get a hold of yourself or you’ll get us all killed, including Julian!”

Helena ripped Julian from Rachel’s arms as gently as she could and she too found herself struggling to stay alive by silencing her cellmate’s son. “They’re going to hear us, Rachel!”

Almost as quickly as Rachel began her grief stricken struggle with one of her cellmates, her entire body became slump and motionless. “Grey…” She managed to whisper before fainting.

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I can barely remember those times. Back when I was serving out my sentence. Well I shouldn’t really call it a sentence should I? Back when we had courts and juries people got different punishments, different sentences. Now we all have one. It’s bestowed upon us the day we’re born. Every human born must live and work at one of the Telnari facilities for seven straight years of their life. It doesn’t matter when you decide to carry out this sentence. Most of us choose to get it out of the way while we’re still young, so we can have some kind of life to look forward to. After the term is up the Telnari toss us aside like the rubbish we are. They don’t care what we make of ourselves then, just stay out of their way, or…
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“Mom! Mom!” Julian ran over to and fell to his knees in front of Rachel.

Darkness engulfed the weak lights in and outside the beige tent as Julian cried over his mother’s unconscious form. Everyone except the small boy turned their now terrified gazes to the slightly parted entrance of the tent.

Small beads of sweat sprouted from the pores on Helena’s forehead. “Get him out of sight, hide him!”

“Where the hell are we supposed to put him!?” A woman shouted.

Before anyone else could speak, the tent doors flew open and a black mist filled void covered the entire entrance. Every human trembling inside the tent backed away from the dark entity with pure terror covering their faces. A black substance dripped from the dark cloud as it advanced into the tent, filling up every space the humans left unoccupied. Julian slowly gazed up at the void, trembling out of control.

One of the women among the group of humans pointed her finger down at Julian. “Him! It came here for him!”

Helena’s breath left her, as the void seemed to absorb every ounce of substance from the tent, even the sound of her own body. “No!” Before she consciously realized what was happening, she had already thrown her body in front of Julian.

Everyone stepped back from the chaotic event unfolding inside the small prison. Helena’s eyelids quivered uncontrollably, refusing to cover her drying eyes. Short silent grunts escaped the immobilized woman every few seconds as her body remained still. Blood ran down the left side of her body from the open gash just below her shoulder.

Unfamiliar sounds echoed inside Helena’s ears. Darkness surrounded her vision even after it refocused. Only one horrid image burned itself in front of her eyes. “No! Get off him!”

The black mist broke off from the entity in front of the tent entrance, releasing its hold on Helena, then rejoined with itself on the roof of the prison cell, never loosening its grip on Julian’s head. “Stupid humans…” Instead of echoing inside the tent, the creature’s voice vibrated inside each prisoner’s mind.

Rachel’s eyes shot open and after taking in the sight of her son being held by the Telnari, she whimpered through her gritted teeth, while Helena fell to her knees then hit the dirt ground face first after loosing consciousness. “Julian!” She only managed to lift one knee from the ground before another thick line of mist shot forward from the tent entrance, ripping through the center of her chest. “Nn…nn…no…”

Julian disappeared into the mist in front of the entrance with a horrified scream while his mother, Rachel, was pulled into the ceiling, vanishing from the petrified prisoners’ eyes. A handful of moments went by and the Telnari guard remained still. After a minute, which to the prisoners seemed like an hour, the black void pulled itself out of the tent, leaving the humans with their fear.

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You have to understand, when measured against one another; the Telnari give as much regard to their laws as we give to ours. But when one of us humans violates one of those laws, there’s usually only one punishment. I was mortally wounded that day and I still don’t know how I survived. This slanted scar above my left breast isn’t the only mark the Telnari gave me. I honestly can’t recall where most of them came from. This one stands out in my mind only because…it was the first, and I promised myself, that it would be the very last time I almost die for someone else. I’m one of a small percentage of humans who have had a Telnari inside them and lived to tell about it. Of course I don’t talk about it at all, with anyone. So why me?
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“Has the mist poison been bothering you again?” Daniel ran his hand over the scar below Helena’s shoulder.

Helena avoided her brother’s questioning gaze while trying her best not to tremble as he touched her. “Why do you believe we even have the right to be freed?”

Daniel leaned back in his seat and interlocked his hands behind his head. “Hell I don’t know. We probably don’t but that doesn’t mean life doesn’t suck. I want it to change.”

“All change comes with time.” Helena said calmly.

“Yeah…but if we don’t have any say in how those changes come about then they might just signal our extinction.” Daniel pointed out.

“It can’t go that far, Daniel. It can’t…they need us.” Helena stammered.

“Only until everything on this planet that can power their machines has dried up. Then who knows what they’ll do with us.” Daniel said grimly.

Helena glanced up at several casually dressed men and women walking past the table she and Daniel were sitting at. “Looks like your gambling buddies are here…”

“You should join us for once, Hely. See that even though we are all just a bunch of pissed off drunks…some of us have some solid ideas.” Daniel suggested.

Helena sighed while she pushed her glasses over her eyes with the tip of her finger.

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I don’t believe in the resistance.They’re all just a bunch of drunks gambling with their lives every time they have one of their gatherings. Why did it have to be my brother who decided to help organize this lunacy? Well…I suppose they’re all my brothers and sisters somewhere down the line. But I grew up with Daniel. I don’t want to lose him…
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“Tonight’s the night ladies and gentlemen!” An enthusiastic female voice silenced an agitated crowd.

“The night for what? More talk? Planning? Sitting around telling everyone how the shadow reapers ruined our lives?” One man asked.

“Ruined our potential lives you mean.” A woman standing in front of the seated crowd corrected. “No, the planning’s over. Now it’s time to strategize.”

“What’s the fucking difference?” Another woman asked.

Daniel silently stepped into the library storage room and pressed the left half of his back against the wall while folding his arms. “We take action after the strategizing is over.”

Everyone turned to Daniel as Helena peeked inside the small room. Her glasses slid down to her nose and her finger positioned them back over her eyes.

“Well, well, look who finally decided to gamble tonight.” One man chuckled.

“Oh, piss off.” Helena snapped.

Daniel unfolded his arms then walked up to the front of the group joining the woman standing there. “Crystal, the map.”

Crystal Miller, the woman standing next to Daniel Troi, laid out a large map onto a table in front of her. She spread her hands out over the map while leaning forward then gazed up at the group of civilians in front of her. “East District. The only military base the shadows have is between us and East District, right in the center of the city.”

After everyone except Helena had gathered around the table, Daniel pointed to the center of the upper right portion of the map. “Getting in isn’t going to be easy. “

Before Daniel could continue his briefing, a cold chill engulfed everyone inside the room. Helena held her hands together under her chin as she slowly turned facing the storage room door she had just closed. Slowly, everyone gazed back at the entrance to the room with blank stares. Helena turned and faced the door, then with a trembling right hand, opened the entrance revealing a dark void spread throughout the library.

“No…” Helena managed to whimper.

“It can’t be just one of them making a void that big…there’s gotta be at least twenty of them…” Daniel muttered.

“Did anybody bring any weapons? Ron, Howard, Jack, Maggie?” Crystal whispered.

Silence answered Crystal’s question. Five seconds later everyone began rising from their seats.

“Is there any other way out of here!?” Maggie shouted.

Helena trembled uncontrollably in front of the void while tears streamed down her cheeks. Daniel hesitated for three seconds then let go of his control over his emotions and ran towards his sister. Somehow the humble librarian sensed that it was Daniel running towards her.

Helena turned swiftly and her eyes immediately centered on her brother. “Daniel, no!”

A long line of mist shot out ferociously from the void. An unnatural growl echoed inside the storage room as the mist ripped through the air. Helena glanced back as the mist came within two inches of her face and turned her gaze until it centered on her brother. The arms of mist caught Daniel by the forehead and lifted him up towards the ceiling where another large gathering of the void was forming.

“Shit!” Crystal shouted before pulling a Baretta Nine-Millimeter from the back of her pants.

Only two bullets flared from the gun before a massive formation of mist collided with Crystal, slamming her through the back wall of the storage room. Helena gazed up at the ceiling as the mist slowly engulfed Daniel. Twelve seconds of unnerving sounds cracked and squished inside the librarian’s ears before a hideous form fell from the mist in front of her feet. The top half of a skeleton with strips of red flesh and bits of organs steamed on the floor while the bottom half of Daniel’s torso lay motionless still connected to the skeleton.

Helena fell to her knees in front of Daniel’s corpse as the void spread out along the walls, snatching up everyone inside the storage room. “Take me…please…I have nothing left…”

“Helena get down!” Howard lunged forward tackling Helena to the floor.

Helena gazed up dazed and disoriented just before an arm of mist ripped into the small of Howard’s back. Stunned, Howard coughed up blood onto Helena’s chin and right shoulder blade then was pulled into the mist covering the ceiling. A deep breath flowed into Helena’s lungs as her eyes centered on another line of mist lowering towards her from the ceiling. Two different sets of hands unexpectedly wrapped around each of Helena’s arms and pulled her body off of the floor. Despair and devastation shut off most of Helena’s awareness to the current chaos surrounding her. She barely noticed Maggie being ripped from beside her and pulled into the side of the wall before Jack led her through the hole in the back of the room. Jack nearly stumbled over Crystal’s broken body before he managed to pull Helena and himself into a steady run down the street. Maggie spun in an awkward form through the air then hit the floor beside Ron, who was desperately trying to locate the gun Crystal dropped. Somehow, his eyes managed to lock onto the weapon quickly collecting dust on the floor five feet in front of him.

Ron dove forward into a mad crawl for the weapon then froze as the mist covered the hole in the back of the room and launched a line of itself out towards the rebel, latching onto and completely covering his face. “Mmm…ma…” Ron’s hand trembled as he gripped the gun. “Ma…ggie.”

Maggie gasped as Ron’s head was ripped from his shoulders and disappeared into the void. She swallowed hard as the gun slid to a halt in front of her knees then grabbed the weapon from the floor and quickly aimed it forward. Several seconds went by, as the last survivor of the group of rebels remained silent. Her gun slowly wavered from the left to the right. The void wavered around her with occasional deformities resembling veins pulsing through it. Sweat trickled down the left side of Maggie’s forehead just before a possible target flashed in front of her left eye causing it to twitch.

A frightful grunt escaped Maggie before her grip on the gun tightened. “There!”

Two small yellow orbs peeked out from behind the mist on the back wall of the storage room. A second later a black bullet from Maggie’s gun shot through the air. The orbs suddenly vanished into the mist just before the bullet ripped through the black substance causing an equally dark liquid to spew out in all directions. The following screech echoing in Maggie’s mind made her lose focus, almost forcing her to drop the gun. The mist poured out from the broken back wall and quickly began reforming in front of Maggie. Short deep breaths escaped the rebel before she finally lifted her gaze from the floor to the creature towering over her.

Two claw toed feet covered in armor unfamiliar to the woman in front of them clicked on the wooden floor. The armor covered the ankles up to the knees of the two bulging legs connected to the feet. The Telnari soldier was well built with features similar to that of its human slaves. The hairless body of black skin and muscles expanded and retracted as deep growling breaths flowed in and out of the Telnari’s stomach and chest. When Maggie’s gaze centered on the head of the creature a silent whimper escaped her. A large black beak of an eagle and the sharpened eyes and ears of a wolf formed the Telnari’s head. A roar from the beast brought a full set of razor sharp fangs into view. Another whimper escaped Maggie as she raised her gun to the Telnari’s face. The Telnari engulfed Maggie’s hands and her gun in its right hand then crushed the weak human bones and flesh along with the metal weapon. A pain filled shriek blasted out from Maggie’s mouth as blood poured out from the Telnari’s hand. The Telnari released the rebel and the deformed combination of Maggie’s destroyed hands and weapon hit the floor with a moist thud. Somehow Maggie managed to gaze up into the Telnari’s black soulless eyes before the beast warrior raised its right hand and two-inch claws grew from its fingertips. Maggie’s face hit the floor with four deep slash wounds on her left cheek. A weak gurgle brought blood up from Maggie’s throat onto the floor as the Telnari’s hand rolled the woman onto her back then wrapped around her neck. The beast lifted Maggie into the air, bringing her face one inch from its own. With her consciousness quickly leaving her, Maggie only caught a glimpse of the dark substance covering the Telnari slowly split on its forehead then ooze down both sides of its head. After the black liquid completely removed itself from the Telnari’s body and settled on the floor, a brown furred beast with dark silver armor covering its feet, ankles, thighs, groin, forearms, chest, and shoulders, stood surrounded by the remaining mist generated by the seven other Telnari inside the room.

The Telnari tossed Maggie to the side and her body vanished into the mist covering the wall then turned to the hole in the back of the room. A portion of his blackened yellow beak lifted revealing a few of his teeth as he snarled then dashed forward. The black void split in half and after the Telnari vanished behind the remaining left portion of the storage room wall, pulled back into the storage room door then disappeared out the library entrance.

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He’s dead. My brother’s dead. It’s funny isn’t it? I was the only one among that group of idiots that was satisfied with the life the Telnari forced us to live and…they took everything away from me. No…not them…not alone…
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“Stop. Stop!” Helena shouted with despair and annoyance in her voice.

“What the hell is the matter with you.?” Jack shouted with equal annoyance.

“Don’t you get it!? Don’t you understand!? I don’t want to escape! I have nothing left to escape to!” Helena screamed with tears streaming down her cheeks.

Jack grabbed Helena’s shoulders and shook her violently. “Listen. Listen to me!” Feint sounds of Telnari growls turned Jack’s head from the left to the right of the alley he stood in with Helena. “We don’t have time for mourning right now!”

“Where will we go...? The wastelands…” a sarcastic grief stricken chuckle escaped Helena “oh even better…just take me back to my damn apartment. I’m sure I’m going to be having a few guests over any minute.”

Jack hesitated for a moment trying to think of something, anything that could enrage Helena and temporarily destroy her despair. “Damnit…” Only one thing managed to surface in his mind.

Helena’s eyes widened with shock after Jack pressed his lips against her own. For a handful of moments she considered just standing there until the Telnari found her and her savior then she felt his tongue sliding against her lips. An enraged slap from Helena forced Jack back. “Bastard…”

“That’s right, that’s exactly what I am. Now do you want to be with the bastard that just violated your personal space or be caught by the monsters that murdered your brother?”

Helena sighed then lowered her head in defeat. “Fine…”

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The answer was an easy one, at least I thought it was. The Telnari caught up with us…Jack and I…and we were separated. I don’t know what happened to him. I can barely find any humanity left in me to care. How do I keep surviving these things? I’m going to find out. I’m going to find out why everyone around me must die and I remain alive to carry the burden of their spiritual grudges. I want it to end. I don’t want to be alive. I don’t want to be human. I don’t want to exist. But…first…I will find out why I have to watch everyone either get everything they want, or die trying…and why I am always left in between. I don’t know what to call these emotions surging through me right now…what I do know is that they don’t concern me, only the facts. After all…I am…I was…a humble librarian with a modest…flare for history.