The Shattered Genesis (Eternity) (93 page)

             
“I know that we had sex after only...” I stopped and threw up my hands in irritation, “You know what, I get enough of your sarcasm when you speak. I do not need to hear it telepathica
lly, as well. So shut up, James!”

             
“And there it is!” James commentated happily, to the delight of Alice and Quinn.

             
That aforementioned vulgar hand gesture? James got two.

XXX

             
When I found Violet and Nick, they were lying in the dew-covered grass out in
front of the house. They were on their sides facing each other and grasping hands. In the blue light of a new dawn, I could see the affection in their eyes. In my sister, I saw the same lightness of love that was present in my own eyes every time I looked
at James.

             
I should have been happy for her. Instead, I lost my temper.

             
“Get up!” I snapped at her and several feet away, in the tree line, a trio of birds took flight. I kid you not, my anger even startled the still half-asleep wildlife.

             
Nick immediate
ly jumped up, stammering as he attempted to explain exactly what he and my sister were doing lying side by side on the front lawn as the sun began to rise. After the night of indulgence, I dared not speculate how far their affection had carried them. I shu
ddered to imagine that Violet had moved from infatuation to a physical romance with the young man.

             
“Brynna, just don't, alright? You were actually cool last night. You were chilled out and having a good time. Why do you want to spoil it?” Violet asked as
she slowly rose onto her feet. “More importantly, why do you want to ruin this for me?”

             
“If my one concern in life was to achieve a social status of 'coolness,' I would die miserably unfulfilled almost certainly.”

             
“Yes,” Violet nodded with her eyebrows r
aised, “you would.”
             
“Be quiet, for the sake of all deities and Gods!” I covered my face for a moment with a shaking hand. “I understand that he is quite handsome and...”

             
“...and he's a nice guy who protects me and likes me.” She added, “What more do you
need to know? I don't ask questions about you and James. I trust your judgment.”

             
“I swear, it was a simple two-word command. Be quiet. I do not believe that is a difficult direction to follow. What occurred here last night is not to be repeated ever again
. The consequences of such mindless frivolity will rear their ugly heads. That much is certain.”

             
“What do you mean?” Violet asked, and she was completely serious all of a sudden. “Did you see something? What is it, Brynn?”

             
“I did not see anything. But I
feel trouble brewing and that is plenty. Now, if you two had... had...”

             
James had walked up beside me as I struggled to say the word. I was not a prude, as I am sure you have gathered, but when it came to my sister, I was simply not comfortable discussing
carnal matters with her. The awkwardness would surely be the death of me.

             
“James, will you take her for a walk before her head explodes?” Violet asked him, “Seriously, man. Listen to her stammering. She's like a robot that just got water thrown on it. He
lp me out.”

             
James chuckled as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

             
“Just for the record, Brynn, that didn't happen!” Violet called to me.

             
As enough distance was put between Violet and me, I looked up at James.

             
“She is being truthful, isn't she?”

             
Jam
es kissed my head and grinned.

             
“I don't know, baby. Is she?”

             
I scowled at him in fury. He was toying with my emotions and turning my concern into a joke. I certainly was not laughing.

             
“I am just ecstatic that my worrying over my sister's choices in life
is entertaining you. Believe me when I say that I have yearned my entire life to amuse someone with my anxiety.”

             
“Let me assure you, my dear Brynna, that your anxiety neither amuses nor saddens me. Merely, I am befuddled by it, for the sake of all
deities and Gods.” I glared at him even more scornfully, “See?
That was another one of my attempts to talk like you.” His lips pressed to mine in an obnoxiously over-the-top kiss. “You are quite humorous.”

             
“You are quite aggravating.” I pulled away from h
im, “And the all-access pass you have been enjoying in regards to my body? Consider it expired.”

             
I walked ahead of him, smiling slightly to myself. I heard him chuckle but then, the sound slowly died away.

             
“Wait, are you being serious?”

             
“I do not know,
baby.” I replied as Frank held the front door open for me. “Am I?”

             
All whimsy evaporated when my eyes met Frank's. A sudden wave of emotion came over me; in the depths of the tidal mass, I saw fear, grief and fury. James, seeing my body tense as though I
had just received a physical blow, was at my side in a blink.

             
“What is it?” I asked Frank quietly.

             
Instinct was driving me forward before I could hear his answer. I was hurtling up the steps two at a time. My heart raced in frenzied terror, sensing that
something terrible had just occurred. The Peace Fruit... It brought out the worst in those that succumbed to its twisting, smooth-as-silk vines...

             
Every dark desire of man could be achieved while one was intoxicated by its juices. Conscience disappeared a
nd the most vulgar, despicable acts could be carried out without fear of guilt. I had known that to be true even as I allowed myself to lapse deeply into the blissful hypnosis. Even as I did not fear the crash on hard earth that would surely result from th
e high, I could not avoid the trepidation felt when imagining what might await me as I fell. Now, I would see it firsthand.

             
She had awoken just after James and I had crept from the room. She had been rubbing her still-heavy eyes as her little feet pattere
d against the cold hardwood floor of the hallway. The white curtains billowed in the early morning breeze but she walked through with ease, paying them no mind. It had been the smell of blood that had jolted her to full alertness. A door had been left ajar
just beside where she was standing. Her childish curiosity had pulled her forward. Her hand had pushed open the door. The man was still in there, standing over the two bodies, his eyes still as blue as blindness...

             
“Brynna...” Frank's voice said behind m
e, “James, stop her!”
             
“Where is she?” I was muttering, unable to raise my voice above a crackling whisper. People gaped at me as I walked by and whispered behind their hands.

             
“That's her sister...”

             
“She's more like her mother than anything...”

             
“God, po
or girl...”

             
“Where is she?!” I was able to speak loudly now as my eyes darted wildly around the hallway. I clawed and pushed my way through the gawking crowd of spectators. Up ahead, I heard her animal grunts, hisses and even a feeble roar.

             
“Brynna, it w
as not his fault. It was the Peace Fruit...” Don was beginning to say, “Listen, we cannot judge him for what he did. That's not what we're about here...”

             
I pushed Don Abba with so much force that he was thrown several feet away. The door to that same room
Penny had walked into was closed. Scratches ran down the length of the wood on the other side.

             
“Don't go in there!” Don exclaimed, “They're not supposed to change this young! We don't know what's wrong with her!”

             
I threw open the door to reveal the diml
y lit, blood-splattered room. Inconveniently, the sun rose on the other side of the house. Its light had not yet reached the dark space before my eyes. The effect of such darkness was eerie, especially given the circumstances.

             
“Penny?” I whispered and my
eyes changed over to white. Even with my enhanced vision, I could not see her. A man was breathing laboriously on the floor, barely alive but still so far from death. He was the same man I had seen through Penny's terrified eyes. The claw marks on his body
were neatly cut from his forehead to his chin but as they moved down his torso, they sunk deeper and as a
result, his flesh was torn sloppily.

             
“Penny?” I looked around frantically for her. In the corner of my eye, I saw a blur of movement dart under the
bed. Outside, the onlookers gasped and grabbed onto one another in horror and also, perverted, voyeuristic excitement.

             
“Come on, baby. That's enough.” I forced the eruption of fear inside of my chest to calm. I needed to emanate warmth and serenity for he
r. Her killer instincts were switched on and she would not come to me while I was afraid. The animal inside of her would only be soothed by the maternity I carried for her. Only through my motherly affection would she be soothed.

             
“James, mellow out.” I hi
ssed at him over my shoulder.

             
“What?” James whispered back, “What the hell are you talking about right now? I'm just going to reach under and grab her!”

             
“No! She's not herself. Calm yourself down.”
             
“Are you still high?!”

             
I scowled at him and barked in
a furious whisper when I spoke:

             
“Shut up and do what I say!”

             
“Well, shit, you asked me so nicely, why would I not do that?” He rolled his eyes and sighed heavily, standing perfectly still. He opened one eye to look at me. “I can't do it when you're stari
ng at me like that!”

             
“Fine, I will look away.”

             
I did. A long moment of silence.

             
“This is stupid.”
             
“Goddamn it, James!” I exclaimed loudly.

             
There was another loud flutter of movement under the bed and a roar that was a little stronger.

             
“Alright, I'm
doing it.” James told me, “ I'm calming down. You win.”

             
I felt the peace wash over him. It was natural, another positive perk of our evolution. That serenity radiated through the air and wrapped tightly around Penny like a soft baby blanket. Together, our
combined tranquility coaxed her from her hiding place.

             
Consider it Pangean parenting.

             
Her huge brown eyes met ours as she scampered to us. Her tiny arms wrapped around my neck as my own grasped her tightly. James encased us in his strong embrace. Outsi
de in the hallway, I heard some of the onlookers clapping. I could have lit them all on fire with the look I cast their way.

             
Penny moved so that she could hold onto James. Her soft whimpers began as she buried her face in his neck.

             
“
Shh...
” James whisper
ed. He kissed her head as we moved through the crowd. I kept my hand on her back as I scowled at Don.

             
“Come on. Everything's okay, baby.” James was telling her softly, “Brynn and I are right here.”

             
I did not need an expert on forensics to explain to me w
hat had occurred. The man had killed two women while under the influence of the Peace Fruit. Penny had stumbled upon him as he stood over their mutilated bodies. In a quick move to eradicate all witnesses, he had attacked her, thinking that she would be ea
sily dispatched. Unfortunately for him, he had not realized that the same powers that we were slowly grasping had begun to take hold of my sister, as well. She had killed him to defend herself.