The Shattered Genesis (Eternity) (110 page)

             
“I don't give him that m...”

             
“Very much.” Adam answered cheerfully, “Far more than we need. His offerings are to appease us, which I am sure you already know, given your brillia
nce.”

             
I wanted to remind him that flattery would get him nowhere but I knew that it was not the time, at least not yet.

             
“Adam!” Don protested the spilling of that secret.

             
“Exactly. Your people are angry, Don, but it is alright.” I let go of him, “You ar
e going to absolve their anger and fear right now. You are going to go up there and tell them that we are going to war. You are going to tell them that it has been brought to your attention that they are unhappy with the share they have had to contribute.
You will tell them that when we return from this fight with the Bachums, revisions will be made. Adam, you will stop exploiting our hard work.”

             
“I would hardly say that I am exploiting your hard work. I am simply accepting what I am being given. I am simp
ly...”

             
“Thank you so much. I am glad we agree.” I cut him off and beamed brightly at him. I expected to see the beast in him emerge right there in front of me. Something told me he did not appreciate being mouthed off to. He was the leader of his people,
for the sake of all deities and Gods. He was the king of an evolved, superior race. Surely he would not take any orders from a lowly almost fully-evolved human. But he smiled slightly and leaned against the wall again to observe the scene before him.

             
“Did
you expect anger at your insolence?” He asked me as he wiped the blood from his hands onto a towel I had not noticed he was holding.

             
“I did, indeed.”
             
“I know I did!” Don interjected furiously.

             
“I find it very fascinating, as boggling as the rest of you
, Ms. Olivier. I find it quite enjoyable.”

             
My face betrayed my confusion and surprise. His smile widened.

             
“I like a woman with feeling.”

             
“As opposed to a corpse? What are you even talking about right now?

             
“Think about it.

             
“Anyway,” I ignored Adam and
looked back at Don, “Do you understand what I have said? Do you understand my reasoning?”

             
“I suppose.” He smirked at me, “Remind me to put in my will that if I should die, you may take my place.”

             
I smirked back.

             
“How much do you want to bet people would
like me more?”

             
“You're so clever.” He replied irritably.

             
“Yes. I am.”

             
“Children, shall we adjourn to the front porch?”

             
“Indeed, Adam. Let us adjourn.” I strode ahead of the two men, thinking that their current state of minds were polar opposites. Don
was seething, believing that I was trying to steal his almighty throne. He loathed that I had used such force on him. He felt like less of a man. Well, that certainly had taken very little to accomplish.

             
Adam, on the other hand, was bouncing in light, air
y good-humor on the inside. The feeling of bewildered joy filled me up, reminding me of spring rain, the light in James's eyes, Penny's lighthearted, girlish giggle, and oddly enough, the smell of Maura's perfume. At the end of that stream of vividly beaut
iful, sedating memories, I saw the moment when I had first seen Adam. I threw myself backwards out of the thoughts, my heart pounding with the same potent fear I had felt that night. I blinked several times, chancing a glance back at him. I jumped slightly
to find that he was just behind me.

             
Why had I felt such sublime sedation upon seeing his face? Why had my heart soared so brilliantly?

             
His pale white hand grazed my back just once, sending shivers down my spine that neither repulsed nor scintillated me.
He leaned forward, pressed his smooth lips to my ear and whispered in a tone of malicious seduction:

             
“Well, isn't that interesting?”
             

XXX

             
“It has been brought to my attention that you all are not happy with the provisions that have been made.”

             
There
was a noticeable shift in the tension that had been bounding through the crowd already. Those that we lived with were now afraid of Don's wrath. Earlier, they had only been ready for the fight with the Bachums.

             
“It's alright,” Don held his hands up and cl
osed his eyes for one dramatic moment, “I understand. If you may allow me to be candid for a minute, I will tell you that I need all of you. Because of that, your happiness is very important to me. When we return, revisions will be made.”
             
Don's eyes found
me in the crowd. He scowled for but one quick second. I smiled in satisfaction at him before he looked away.

             
“We are walking now into what might very well be the first and only fight with the Bachums. Adam has given us an advantage, though I cannot lie t
o all of you and say that this will be easy. We are going to have a hell of a time trying to take them all down. They have guns, grenades and other weapons that Daniel Olivier made sure were on board. The Bachums have also aligned with the other natives.”
             
There was a gasp in the crowd and a sudden rustle of whispers.

             
“Nobody worry. They have not accepted their evolution. We have. We are stronger and faster. We're able to fight until the last breath with ease and precision. We have nothing to fear once we
can get past the guns. Now, let me make this very clear...”

             
A change was coming over him. It was as sudden as the appearance of James at my side. The latter avoided my eyes when he grasped my hand. I stifled the urge to inquire where he had been.

             
The for
mer raised his voice several octaves to an authoritative thunder. His eyes bugged and the desire for bloodshed that was already being whispered about in our group hit a crescendo in the face of his self-righteous energy.

             
“We are most like the natives that
were already here! We are the ones that are supposed to live! Those people believe that they are above us! They believe that we have shunned God, and maybe we have. But we need to prove to them that they are not protected. We need to show them the wrath o
f red anarchy!”

             
“That's right!” A man behind me yelled.

             
“Bring them down!” A woman shrieked in the back of the group.

             
“They believe that we have aligned with the devil! They believe, in all their self-righteous Bible verse-spewing nonsense, that we are
evil and undeserving of life! Well, we are going to show them that though they may follow their laws and beg for safety from God, we are
unstoppable
. We are not going to be swayed by fear! We are going to take our rightful place in this land!”

             
“YEAH!” Sev
eral men behind us yelled before throwing their fists into the air. I looked back at them in aggravation; they had startled me and I did not appreciate it.

             
“They shot our people! They shot Angie, taking her away from her husband...” He beckoned to Angie's
husband in the crowd, whose murderous need for revenge was justified, “and their four children! He took Frank, who was loved greatly by his wife, by all of us! He was the first volunteer for the security detail! They took Perry, Hiroshi, Abdul, John, and
Katie! They took our brothers and sisters!”

             
“KILL THEM!” A man in the back shouted. Roars of assent followed his bloodthirsty cry. Oh, the pot was bubbling now. Even I was beginning to mentally prepare for war. Even I was ready to make them suffer for tho
se they had taken. Our house consisted of many people, all of whom had become close. One family's loss was everyone's loss. It was time to inflict the same pain on those in the Bachum camp. It was time to show them who truly was the superior race.

             
“They f
ollowed them through the gates of our home and would have killed us all, had our other brave family members not stopped them!” He beckoned to those of us who had dispatched the insurgency.

             
“They will know how seriously we take that offense. They call us
freaks! They call us traitors to our kind! They say our powers make us unworthy of happiness! Well, we will show them today that
they
are the traitors!
They
are the ones unworthy of life! We will never let the Bachums forget that when you take from us, we take ten times more from you. Now, I ask you: Who will join me?!”
             
The explosion of noise was immediate. The men and women surroundin
g us were roaring their
commitment to the cause. If James, Elijah and I were fans of such pious shows of faith, we would have roared, too. We would have thrust our fists into the air to show our allegiance. The three of us certainly felt the same fury and
were ready to inflict the same violence, though we would not show it. We stared straight ahead, our eyes burning brighter than the torches that lit the scene.

             
The time had  finally come to stake our claim on this land.

XXX
             

             
“Keep Penny close.”

             
“Why?”

             
Violet was becoming more like me every day. Every command had to be questioned; even the most simple of instructions required detailed explanation.

             
“These people are not themselves. They are angry and itching for violence. They want revenge on those resp
onsible. No rash action is unjustified.”

             
“I don't think that they would hurt Penny and me, Brynn. We haven't done anything to them.”

             
“We are our father's children. Being his is plenty. We should be back by night tomorrow. Until then, stay up here. I have
left plenty of food in your room.”
             
“You stole food?!” Violet whispered in terror, “Brynn, do you have any idea what Don will do if he...”

             
“He is not going to find out. He is coming with us.”

             
“I don't like this.” She said in a shaking voice, “This is ba
d. You're right, no one is acting like themselves. They're acting insane.”

             
“They
are
insane. Losing seven of our number had its desired effect. However, I sincerely doubt that the Bachums are aware that we are coming so soon. It is best to strike them whe
n they are reveling in their victory.”

             
“Just be so careful!” She hugged me tightly.

             
I wanted to pull away. Then, my hands moved up by their own will and smoothed the back of her soft hair. I closed my eyes, enjoying that moment of sisterly love. It had b
een so long since I had allowed myself to be embraced by her. I had left her so quickly upon realizing that she was old enough to stand on her own. I wanted to apologize for my coldness; I never should have put such distance between us. My pride was still
too strong. Any apology that I wished to be heard was stifled by my belief that I was always right.

             
I pulled away and rested my hand on her face.

             
“I never wished for you to see such awful brutality.”
             
“I know.” She reached up to swipe at her tearing eyes
.

             
“I have never wanted to kill anyone. But those people attacked us unfairly. They killed seven of our people. I might not be Don's biggest fan but I do feel great fondness for those we live with. I feel their pain and some have lost their family tonight.
I cannot imagine.”

             
“I know. You don't have to explain yourself to me. If you'd let me, I'd go with you.”