The Fledge Effect (15 page)

Emily froze at the frame of her bedroom
door. Her fingers couldn’t resist the touch of the
hand carved, glossed, wood one more time. Her
heart weighed heavy inside her chest. The
golden box, that held a cherished memory just
as precious as the color she chose for its containment, taunted her.

Her hand trembled over the metallic,
glossed, lid. Putting it back in her purse was easier said than done, she realized.

Casting a lazy stare at her window, a
brush of darkness swooped by. Her steps were
quiet, and met the crème colored curtain
against the back of her hand. She grabbed a
handful of the drape, breathing steadily while
the dark shape returned. The outline was that of
a tall man.

She reached towards her hip, patting
herself on both sides.
The car
, she thought, realizing where she had left her gun.

The figure remained. She jerked back
the curtain, dropping the railing onto the carpeted floor. She took a deep breath, grabbed the
silver bar, and opened her eyes before shifting
her body in front of the window.
Her heart jumped. It was only a raven perched
outside on her windowsill. Still, uncertain of
staying much longer, she swiped up her
memory box, placed it inside her purse, and left
out the front door.

She didn’t look back. Instead, a tight
squeeze in her stomach urged her to leave right
away. The silence eased her mind to focus. But
then again, the silence turned her gaze upwards.
Everybody is gone, she noted. No cars were visible. And the usual line of cars to head to the
market, are nonexistent.

She swung her arms around, alerted by
their disappearances. The only remaining vehicle belonged to Jeremiah Daly. “Hmmm,” she
said. The windows did not reveal any inhabitants inside, until the city councilman stepped
out. He said his goodbye’s to Mayor Daly, before
passing his sight unto her.

She took long strides to cross over to his
yard. Before she could knock, it swung open
with force. Mayor Daly shifted his shoulders, as
he rubbed his throat, and then stifled a cough.

She’s never noticed before, nor has she
ever intended on being so close to him, but a
single-image was tattooed on his pale, white,
wrist: A Celtic sun. The sight, alone, stunted the
words about to come out of her mouth.
Ugh, a
tattoo on an elected official? At least it isn’t a
tramp stamp,
she thought.

“Emily… What are you doing here?”
“T-the houses… Where is everybody?
They were just here… Wait, why are you still
here?”
“Emily, calm down,” he grinned, “I’m
sure they are just out of town, or doing shopping. Don’t worry. Maybe you should just go
home and rest.”
“
All
of them are just
out
?” she scoffed at
his lack of ability to realize his own town is
abandoned.
“Yes. Maybe.”
“Tell me what is really going on here.”
He furrowed his brow, shaping his lips
in a tight ‘O’. “What do you think is going on
here?” His voice was tight, and severe. She expected to hear the response
, “Nothing. There is
just a huge sale going on in the next town over.”
But, it’s not as if she would believe it anyhow.
Instead, she took a few steps back,
shaken by his reluctance to shed some light on
to what is truly going on here.
His eyes buried deep into hers. She
swallowed hard, backing away. “I-I don’t know.
Goodbye.” She knew lying could kill him.
“Maybe you should go…
out
… as well.”
“I will be.” His sinister voice, deep with
cold hatred, sent chills down her spine. She
couldn’t shake the feeling until he slammed the
door shut between her and his tight gaze.
A man stood by her car. His cheeks
creased with a smile placed upon his face. His
shoulder pressed up against her door. “Hey.”
“Hey?” she said, hesitantly approaching
him. Her knees trembled, stumbling her typically poised walk. His face calmed her nerves, as
a lightness swept over her shoulders.
“Everybody is gone,” he said, snuffing
out his cigarette beneath his boot. “Are you
Emily? I’m Mike.”
“Depends…”
“On what?”
“Do I know you?”
He rubbed his nose, revealing the exact
same Celtic sun, Mayor Daly had on his wrist,
under his black suited sleeve. Emily’s heart
jumped. “Who are you?”
He pulled back his lips in an openmouthed chuckle. “Don’t worry about who I am
exactly.”
She shoved him back from her door,
swung it open, hitting him in the gut. He held
back his arm, hurling a full forced punch to the
back of her head. Her body flung against the
frame of her car, and bounced her temple off the
metal body. It knocked her unconscious. Her
mind faded to the day her daughter had been
taken away from her. She knew that tattoo
looked familiar, but couldn’t remember until
now.
The caseworker
, she thought.
She must be
involved, too.
Mike’s face rose towards Mayor Daly’s
house, where he stood gazing out his window.
Mike returned a nod, and bent down to pick
Emily up from the pavement. But, he curiously
stared at the contents her purse had piled out of
their specific holding places.
He raised the golden box, placed it close
to his face, and opened the lid. Glowing with
new anticipation, he snapped it shut, placing it
safely inside his coat pocket. He bent down towards her ear, and said, “
I had a secret once…”
•••
Nick’s palm lightly impacted George’s chest. An
absent heartbeat alerted something fierce inside him. “You okay?”
George stared blankly out of his window. Blurry shades of brown, leafless, trees
passed by.
“Hey. Are you okay?”
“As good as I am ever going to be.” He
answered in an adenoidal tone, holding a brief
second of eye contact, “Yes. I am okay.”
“Good. Good.”
“Are you going to tell me where we are
headed?”
“We are headed towards New Haven after we stop by Emily’s house. With everything
going on, that is where everyone is headed. Besides, Emily said she’d be here.”
George chuckled.
“What?” Nick blinked.
“It’s ironic, really. If you think about it.”
Nick took his advice. Within a few seconds, his eyes brightened. “Oh! Yes.” He chuckled nervously. “Funny how things work out.”
Only the hum of the vehicle filled the silent air.
Nick focused his sight on a woman,
mid-twenties, jogging down their way. Her pink
sports bra barely kept her chest down when her
muscles tightened with each quickened stride.
Despite a slightly low temperature, she glistened under the sun.
Damn
, he thought, bewildered by her beauty.
The sound of the back door releasing,
broke his throbbing tension.
Katie!
He slammed on the breaks, receiving
many hateful responses from the passerby drivers. Swirling his shoulders around, Katie happened to slip out of the backseat.
“Dammit, George! No child safety locks
on this shit?”
“Eh… It’s an empty promise to ever be
fixed.”
Behind them, in the rearview mirror,
Nick watched as Katie did what he had once
done. He didn’t realize how gruesome it actually
was, until at this moment.
George wasted no time getting to her.
Blood gushed out from the pretty blonde’s neck
at each gnaw. He fought Katie off, matching her
anomaly of strength. The woman would live, but
not in the typical sense of humanization. Instead, she would have to live the life as a bloodthirsty predator.
Nick’s throat became taut with dryness.
Tightened fists on the steering wheel almost
held no grasp in stopping him.
No,
he thought.
In his mind, his voice sounded more like his father’s than he expected. Remembering the way
his father always deepened his throat after
clearing it of any possible obstructions.
George piled Katie up between the two
front seats, releasing Nick of his animal urges.
Nick shook his head. “How?”
“What?” they simultaneously said.
“How did you… How were you able to
refute your natural urge to munch on that
woman too? I would have hit the ground running, going to town, on that bimbo.”
Katie fiddled with the lace frill on the
hem of her dress. He wasn’t talking to her, she
realized. Ashamed of her actions, her eyes
drooped.
“That is the difference between you and
I.”
“What is?”
“I don’t kill no one. Even if I have to,
unless it is to protect my country, friends, and
or relatives.”
“What? You need to eat in order to survive.”
He pursed his lips together, refusing to
believe such balderdash from Nick. “I don’t
care,” his lip wobbled. “Killing is wrong.”
“Based on your dog tags, there, I will assume you have done much killing in your time.”
“Nope.”
“What do you mean?”
“I… I went AWOL. The murder… It was,
was, too much.”
Nick’s eyes gloomed. “Terrorists?”
He hesitated for a brief moment, taking
a deep breath in. “Yes… Only, we were the terrorists… We killed more than they ever have.
We sold children, and raped women. I never
agreed with my fellow unit, but needless to say,
I left.”
“Desertion?”
“Yes. Am I proud of what I have done?
No. Am I ashamed that I could not stop the violence? Yes. Every day, I replay what happened
inside my head. Each time it plays, it gets worse.
I’ve tried to just let it go, but my heart won’t let
me forget.”
“Where have you been hiding?” Nick’s
question came without answer. He peered, out
of the corner of his eye. George rubbed his face,
stifling his tears. He sat back in his seat, placing
his upturned wrist over his eyes. “Well?”
“Nowhere, really. Just laying low for a
while.”
“Doing what?” Nick pressed.
“Operations, under covert supervision.
Not very good supervision, but it was there.
Watching.”
“By who?”
“A man named Boss. That isn’t his real
name, though, you know. No one does know it,
exactly.”
He approached Foxtail Road, carefully surveying the street for signs of Emily. Parked in front
of her house, was a car. Its doors were wide
open, and clearly abandoned. His tires
screeched as he parked next to it.
On the ground, Emily’s license took
place upon the pavement, just beneath the car.
He picked it up, gesturing George to follow him
inside the house.
He twisted the doorknob with ease. He
could sense the house was empty. Her bedroom,
untouched, didn’t show any signs of struggle.
George stood next to him, after searching the rest of the house. “Nobody is here.”
Nick’s eyes caught the glimpse of sunrays escaping through her window. Under it,
her curtain rod, and curtain, lied over the floor
in a pile. “What do you make of this? She never
takes these down. She is always worried someone might be peeping on her.”
“She should be worried.” Mayor Daly
said.
They swung around in a heartbeat,
jumping at the voice that was not one of theirs.
Nick growled at him. “What are you doing here? Where is she, you, sonofabitch?”
“I don’t know what you are talking
about. I’m just referring to her being worried
about someone spying on her.”
“Why?” George said, clicking his
tongue.
“Who knows, really?” he smiled. “There
are so many creeps in this world, everyone
should be skeptical of their surroundings.”
“Look,” Nick said, “I know she was
here. Did you see where she went?”
“She was never here. I didn’t see her.”
Nick jumped at him, but George held
his arms back. “You’re a liar!” he spat. “All of
you crooked bastards are liars!”
George said, with gruff, “Let it go. He
won’t tell us nothing.” He allowed Nick to shrug
up his arms, and fix his coat.
The mayor circled the room, stopping
at the window. He turned, piercing his gaze at
them. “You know, I recall seeing her, now. Yeah,
yeah. I remember now. But, then, she hopped,
willingly, inside some strange man’s car.”
Outside, Katie sat, waiting for them to
get back into the car. Then, the car door swung
open. Mike pulled her by the arm, yanking, and
twisting, unable to snatch her with ease. He
grunted, as she refused. But, he was able to release her from the vehicle. He wrapped his arms
around her waist, carrying her towards his vehicle. She screamed, and wailed, catching the attention of Nick, and George.
They bolted out the door, racing towards Mike. Nick looked at George, “Do you
consider her to be a family or friend? Because,
she needs us. I may kill to eat, but I will kill to
defend as well.”
George nodded, stood next to the man,
whipping his arms around, and then knocks
Mike to the ground. Katie was already inside the
jeep. It was yellow, as to not raise any suspicion.
Honor roll bumper stickers, and a tiny family of
stick figures covered the back.
Nick attempted to unlatch the door. The tires
spun, screeching as the sped off.
George punched Mike, several times, in
the face. He screamed, “Where did you take
her?”
“I don’t know!”
“Tell me!”
“I’m just a delivery boy! I know nothing!”
“What’s your name?”
“Mike. Mike Polanski.”
George’s eyes filled with fiery rage. The
grip of his fingers, tightened uncontrollably
around the man’s neck. His eyes popped, face
turned purple, and he kicked his legs. “Who do
you work for? Who?”
“I-I don’t know his real name.”
“Who?”
Mike gasped for air. “Boss.”
George loosened his grip. He didn’t recognize the man before him. It made him wonder
how many more are doing what Boss tells them.
It made him realize the despotism before everyone.
“I don’t know what he looks like. Nor do
I have any influence on his actions. I do what I
am told, or he will have me killed.”
“Boy. You best count your lucky stars. I
could have snapped your scrawny neck in seconds.”
George treaded towards the jeep. “Nick.
Let’s go.”
After they settled into their seats, Nick
clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth.
He stifled a dry laugh. “He’s lying. Man, I just
know it.”
“Who?”
“The mayor.”
“How can you know that? Sure, he gives
off a bad vibe, but that doesn’t mean you should
jump to conclusions.”
“Emily is a paranoid woman. Strange
men give her anxiety… There was one other
thing…”
“What’s that?”
“If someone
willingly
got into a vehicle,
why would you need to emphasize the willingness? Why not just say, ‘she got into a vehicle’?”
George felt, somehow, it would ease his
mind from his troubling past. However, he
knew the memories would never fade. This
time, he promised not to let it happen ever
again. No matter the cost.
I’ll take the bad ones,
as long as I can create at least one good
memory to turn to
, he thought.
“And what delivery boy doesn’t know
their destination?” As a teenager, Nick shared
his experience with making deliveries. He didn’t
work alone, but knowing where you are supposed to be was step one in working efficiently.
“A bad one.” George shifted into his
seat, using his hands as advantage to lift his
weight.
Nick chuckled, dropping his gaze towards the center console. George’s fingers bent
slowly with motion. They held on by just the encasing of its skin.
“I feel weird,” George’s voice cracked.
“Will you eat anything?”
“No.”
Nick scoffed. “What about an animal?”
he joked.
George threw a stern look. “I was a vegetarian before this happened to me.”
“I know of way you can eat, without being a
killer. But, we have to head to New Haven.”
“What about Katie? We have to find
her. They have done experiments on her at that
lab in Meriden, worse than the ones we, the
Renegades, ever has done to a person.”
“Wherever they took Emily will probably be the same place they are taking
Katie.”
“You go to New Haven. I’ll look for
Emily and Katie.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Now go.”
The mayor left her house, raised his
phone to his ear, and pretended not to watch as
Nick drove off.
•••
Damned to live another day in this twisted
world, Emily never knew existed until now, she
began to question of its intentions. Why this is
all happening, revved a darkened turmoil deep
inside her core. Imagination kept this possibility placed neatly in the back of her mind, but
didn’t realize how real it could get. Or, that, it
could ever happen.
As a scientist, she knew messing with a
human genome is tricky. A highly prolific geneticist may have been able to create this. Yet,
not a single person has ever come forward to
claim such a title.
She feared what may come, or may happen. Her hope, lost in the blatant shroud of imminent danger, never fully flickered away. It effulged faintly, diminishing immensely.
The only light, bright and radiant
enough to jolt her awake, came from the two
blinding lamps sitting in front of her and a little
girl.