Ezeriah looked at herself in the mirror unsure of who she was or was becoming. Lowering her towel, she looked at the mark on her arm. She frowned, wondering what had made her a failure in the project but good enough to absorb the power of the sun. She traced the marking before clutching the towel as she walked out of the bathroom. Into her room, or rather Deyja's sister's room, she got dressed quietly as she heard Deyja's mom chatting busily with Jaxton as she hurried to leave for work. Finally, someone came to the door knocking precisely four times above the door handle.
Ezeriah opened the door. "Good morning."
"It is." Jaxton smiled softly.
"I'm guessing Li scrubbed up more stuff?" Ezeriah asked as Jaxton led the way down the stairs.
"Yeah, sounds like it." Jaxton nodded.
The walked down the steps together, enjoying the silence without Deyja and Li's bickering.
"How are you feeling?" Jaxton looked over at her.
She gave a half-hearted shrug. "I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel after turning into what you guys said I did."
He nodded again. He never was good talking to girls, Deyja simply made it easy. Ezeriah though, she held back. Reserved, as was he.
"We'll figure something out." He smiled at her.
She smiled back, leaving it at that. Again, she couldn't shake the feeling that she knew his face before.
They walked together into the kitchen where Li sat showing Deyja more papers.
"Rise and shine, ice box." Li beamed.
Ezeriah frowned.
"Too soon? Yeah, I thought so, too." Li quickly handed Jaxton and her papers. "Read."
Ezeriah looked down at the accelerated English and turned to just focusing on pictures.
"That tattoo, Ez, means your special." Li pointed, showing them the different tattoo designs. "You weren't meant to drown in the Bay. You weren't meant to be in the Bay, at all."
Ezeriah's frown deepened. "What are you saying?"
"He's saying someone put you in the Bay on accident." Deyja explained. "Which also means, people could be looking for you."
"Or, she wasn't meant to be in the Bay like the rest. She was put in the Bay for other reasons." Jaxton sat down taking a bite of toast from the breakfast Deyja had made for everyone. "I mean a tampered mind, century's years old, superpowers, thrown away carelessly to die. Doesn't add up, right? Maybe you woke up during their experiment. Rebelled."
The word stuck in his chest lodged deep, pulling on his heart to beat faster, releasing adrenaline, setting of a reaction of anxious perilousity.
Deyja and Li grew silent, too.
"I wouldn't, though." Ezeriah spoke softly. "I wanted to live, I did everything, would have done everything."
Deyja frowned. "Maybe then... Things could have changed in the lab."
Ezeriah nodded. "Now what?"
"We take you out. When it's dark, of course. Tattooist know all about symbols and designs and what they mean." Li looked at Jaxton.
Jaxton nodded. "We know just the person."
"Oh, no. Definitely not." Deyja stood up.
"Oh, yes. We've got to get somewhere with this. Get that covered." Li pointed with his fruit at Ezeriah's arm.
YOU ARE READING
The Seal
Science Fiction"I should've died two thousand years ago." Ezeriah glanced up at him as he busily worked on his wounds. His lips were busted and his cheek was seeping blood at an alarming rate. He swallowed hard. " I'm glad you didn't." "Look at the mess we're in...
