I swore that all three of us stopped breathing the instant Blaze spoke those words. His gaze was resolute on me while mine stared blankly back. Amaranth's eyes flittered between me and his uncle. Honestly, I almost forgot he was there. My mind could only focus on Blaze and the words buzzing throughout my consciousness. Eden was my brother? What? I understood that Eden was my brother because that was the bond we had forged for ourselves, but I knew that wasn't what Blaze was getting at. He was trying to tell me that we were related by...by blood? Eternity seemed to pass, but I'm sure in reality it was no more than ten seconds. Blaze then motioned the stunned me over with a little wave of his hand.
Moving slowly, I almost didn't want to reach him. If Eden had been keeping from me that we were siblings, what else had he been hiding? What other lies had he told me? What if the situation wasn't anything like what I thought it was?
"He's really my brother?" I whispered in disbelief.
"Half-brother, technically," Blaze clarified, "You two both have the same mother. I'm surprised you never had any suspicions. You and Eden have the same hair and eye color, and your appearances are startlingly similar as well."
"I am supposed to be green then?"
"Oh, bloody hell. He didn't even tell you that?" Blaze asked in exasperated annoyance.
I shook my head.
"That means you don't have any idea what the injection you've been taken actually does." Blaze pointed out.
"It...turns me green?"
Blaze gave me a tiny smile.
"Well, yes, but what about it has it doing that?"
He chuckled softly when I had no answer.
"Okay. So, it turns you green. However, what do you think would happen if I jabbed some in Amaranth's arm?"
Forcing my dumbfounded brain to cooperate, I studied Amaranth quizzically while I thought. I didn't quite get the full truth just yet, but as Amaranth gave me an encouraging smile there was one thing that was very clear.
"It wouldn't turn him green." I stated.
"Bingo!" Blaze confirmed, "Now, let me give you another scenario. What if we gave the injection to this Purity Waters you go to school with? What would the injection do to her?"
"It..." I trailed off, putting the pieces together until I came to the conclusion that made the most sense, "It would turn her blue."
"Right again!"
"That's why Eden said the injection turning me green wasn't a choice," I recalled from all those years ago in amazement, "It's not some whole body dye. It gives albinos back their coloring."
Blaze nodded.
"But...how does that even work? Why would The Company want to create something like that when this whole mess is because they want people to be albino? What would giving albinos back their color accomplish?" I queried in confusion.
"Those are questions I don't have answers to," Blaze shrugged, "The only thing I can think of is that they were studying how to reverse albinism so that they could figure out how to switch it the other way around. Make people who aren't albino, albino."
I finally took a deep breath. Partly because all the sudden splurging of truths was leaving me winded, and I was sure there was more to come. Otherwise, I needed to do something while a quiet persisted when Blaze gave me a moment to once again try and process it all.
"I can wrap my head around the whole injection thing. Believing its purpose is to recolor albinos isn't that different from thinking it can recolor people in general. Yet, Eden being my brother? That means...Field Seedling is my mother? Jungle Seedling is my father?"
"Yup." Blaze said.
"Eden said he had no idea who my parents were. That all the information listed about them was that they were married."
"A lie."
"I don't...I don't understand this! Why would those two donate to The Company? Part of the reason why Eden was given up for adoption was because Jungle didn't want kids."
"You have to remember that neither of them knew The Company was trying to create children. They were told their samples would be used for nothing other than testing new techniques for checking for genetics defects. I'm sure they were just thinking that donating could allow them to take a nice vacation or something, because it's not like they were going to be using their 'donations' for anything else useful anytime soon. A small payment was given for each sample, and a much bigger one was allotted if they were 'active' enough to provide the scientists plenty of time to study them. With both Jungle and Field having their samples being 'active', they definitely received quite a chunk of change."
Heat unexpectedly flushed my cheeks. The shock was seeping in somewhat even if it felt like I understood less with every word that was spoken. What was also seeping in was some anger. I had accepted that there were things Eden had to keep from me, but stuff like this? He had known how desperately I have craved knowing who my true family was. He had seen how hurt I had been when I believed for a time that Mrs. Waters was my mother, although it made him promising me that she wasn't much more logical. How could Eden have looked right at me and deny us a comfort we both needed? Eden wanted a family, and I was right there in front of him. I suppose he was complacent enough having me chose to be his sister on my own, but, despite knowing we were connected by blood not changing how I felt about him, this knowledge did change things.
"How long has Eden known we are siblings?" I demanded from Blaze, pushing my irritation down so as to not shoot the messenger.
"Pretty much since the beginning. I think you were about eight months old when he was browsing through the records. A few months after he started working on your project or something."
"Why didn't he tell me? Why did Amaranth know, but not me?"
"I would like to ask him the same question myself." Blaze folded his arms.
"It has to be because he doesn't trust me. If he doesn't think I'm even capable of knowing what the injection actually does..." I grumbled.
"Med- Ethereal, no. I don't think that's it. I'm sure he's got it reasoned in his head somehow that you were better off not knowing. Maybe he thinks you would be kept safer by your ignorance. Eden would only ever dare to hurt you in this manner if it would be for your benefit in the long run. You are his reason for living, after all."
A grin spread across Blaze's face when I scoffed.
"Think it sounds too sentimental?" he asked in amusement, "It's the truth though. Eden is totally devoted to you, and in some ways that devotion is quite scary. His idea for saving you before he discovered his best friend just so happened to be involved in a secret organization that could actually save you was...well...uh, I guess you could call it intense."
"What was he going to do?"
"First off, you gotta understand the mentality he was in at the time. Eden was not in a good place, and I truly am being serious when I say that you are what kept him going. As you are aware, his life didn't start out the greatest. Some major bad luck was working against him. Babies are usually the first ones gobbled up by potential adopters. It wasn't as if he had a sickness or something wrong with him that would have scared them away. Eden was perfectly healthy, and probably a relatively cute infant. Why no one decided to take him home is beyond me, and you can be sure that the question of 'why' was a lot stronger in his mind. I won't pretend to know for a second what it's like where everyone is always chosen, except for you. To think you finally might be meeting the ones you'll call 'mom' and 'dad' just to have them pick someone who has only been there for a few months. I'm not saying that those other kids didn't deserve to have loving homes, but the constant roller coaster of hope and crushing disappointment and loneliness didn't do Eden's sense of self-confidence any favors."
There in Blaze's stare appeared a reminiscent, nostalgic glaze.
"The guy was already a mess when I met him in middle school. He had learned it was better to not get close to anyone to prevent himself from getting hurt, so he was that outcast who always has his head down and sat by himself at lunch. Unfortunately, I overlooked him like everyone else did. I saw him, and I only saw the weird kid who I could beat up with a fist tied behind my back if I wanted to. I won't deny that I made a few cruel jokes at his expense with the rest of my classmates. To tell you the truth, I know it seems like Eden and I have been best friends since the start, but it took Coal dying to get us like that. Coal was the one who had the courage and patience to earn the trust of this little, lonely boy who thought he was wholly unworthy of being loved. He was the one who could somehow emphasize and understand him in a way I never got. I felt like quite the asshole when Eden turned out to be perfectly likeable, and even more so because he looked at me for a while like I was some kind of superstar. He was lucky if he could kick a ball properly. I could kick a ball into the air and have it swishing down through the basketball hoop the majority of the time."
Amaranth earned a warning glare from Blaze when he laughed quietly at that statement.
"I'll have you know that that was my main talent back in the day."
"Until you started your more intimate activities, right?" Amaranth teased knowingly.
"Perhaps, but that's not the story I'm telling at the moment," Blaze brushed the jibe off easily, "Anyway, things got better for Eden in high school. It was when he gave up on being adopted. In a way, it was sad to watch him give up hope, but it made perfect sense. The vast majority of people adopt because they can't have children of their own, and they want the experience of raising a child. Why pick a teenager who is only going to hang around the house for four years instead of a young'n they can get that full experience with? Eden accepted thet truth and turned his gaze to the future instead of wishing for his past to be different. He used his smart brain to speed through his classes. Basically, the school let him take the major tests for a lot of subjects, and because he was able to get perfect scores on all of them they gave him credit. It seriously was gym class of all things that slowed him down."
I smiled to myself, thinking back to that conversation of Blaze and Eden's at the park. Blaze continued on.
"Eden grew more confident in himself. A lot of the new 'friends' he made just wanted him to help them with their homework, but that at least allowed him to find a few genuine ones in the mass of people. Then he met that slutty, clown-faced titbox."
Amaranth folded his arms in disapproval while I burst out laughing.
"What? That's what she was!" Blaze professed to his nephew, "That damn bitch, Tawny. God, just her name makes me fucking pissed. Mind you, she started off just fine. I actually really liked her. She had that rough edge to her, but when she and Eden began dating she was almost always a total sweetheart. He treated her like a queen. Yeah, he was close with Coal and me, but this was someone who loved him. She was the first person who cherished him- who touched his heart in a way that no one else had ever done. I wanted to punch Eden sometimes. There were instances where he would tear up with happiness when Tawny called him on the phone asking if he wanted to hang out. He was so pathetically sappy that it drove me crazy. Eden would have done anything for her. He did do everything for her, even if it wasn't necessarily what he wanted for himself. Yes, I am talking about the two of them sleeping together. Eden, the old-fashioned goody-two-shoes he is, wanted to wait until marriage, but when Tawny told him she needed it, needed him, well, I wonder if even I would have said no. I never got the specifics on how their time together went down, but Eden was confident that he at least didn't botch the encounter up."
Every hint of amusement or humor clinging to Blaze's expression slid away. He became serious, somber, and slightly vengeful.
"Eden took that big leap of faith with her. I can joke about it with him now since he's moved past it, but that will never change that it wasn't something he did lightly. Tawny, however, didn't treat the experience the same way. It didn't mean a damn thing to her. She hadn't been a virgin like Eden thought. She had been cheating on him for months, sleeping around with some guy on the wrestling team. The only reason she slept with Eden was because she wanted to see if the sex was good enough to make her stay. As you can imagine, scrawny, bookworm Eden doing it for the first time didn't stand a chance against the muscled jock who had been with a dozen other girls. Tawny admitted everything to him as if she had never cared for Eden in the slightest. As if he had merely been a momentary plaything. Then she had the nerve to say it was Eden's fault she had gone to another guy. His intellect and speeding through school pressured her. Him being so smart made her look bad."
Blaze shook his head, wearing an angry smirk.
"What I wouldn't give to have her see him now. I heard a rumor that she ended up marrying that other guy, but now she's a single mom after they divorced when he got another woman pregnant. Karma came around in that situation. Then we have Eden, who's turned into a pretty good looking guy, all things considered. He's still the same sappy, sweet dweeb he was before too. If she had realized how good she had it, she could be having the perfect life right now. Well, I mean, if the whole Company thing wasn't staring us in the face, y'know. Eden was naturally devastated with the breakup. He took that leap of faith, and all it got him was battered and bruised. None of the scars Tawny left him with healed. He did a commendable job acting fine on the surface, but she was another weight that dragged him down. I don't think he ever would have spiraled as far down as he did if T.R.E.E. hadn't picked him up, but, as we all know, they did. Of course, I didn't know at the time what he had gotten himself into. There was also the whole him meeting Field and Jungle thing, which was just another blow. Eden finally meets his mother, but she still basically looks him in the eye and tells him he's not important enough to be her son. I did notice something was wrong when he slowly started acting weird and phasing everyone out of his life, but it was a difficult time for me as well. Coal and I lost our parents unexpectedly, and then I lost Coal and Desi not that long afterwards. I had an infant to look after when I had no job, no college experience, and my only skill was having sex with random women. I dread to think what would have happened had my parents not left me a decent inheritance with Coal and Desi's life insurance filling in the rest."
Blaze returned the sympathetic smile I gave him, and shrugged.
"But we can talk about my story another time. By the time I got my mess sorted out, Eden was already neck-deep in his. He had cut off his connections to everyone but me. I could tell his job was draining the life out of him, but, obviously, he couldn't explain why. I did what I could to help. He came to me with strange requests though. Eden wanted me to help him bulk up. That was all good and well. Then he wanted me to teach him some of the fighting techniques I knew. A little more bizarre, but okay. Next he wanted to know how to shoot a gun. I got some warning bells with that one, but, still, no answers came. I was too complacent to prod when I should have. I foolishly believed that Eden was the kind of person who could handle anything on his own. The years went by, and he seemed to stabilize. Within the span of a few months though, he broke. The hell he was living in beat him down until he was willing to do anything to end it. I mean, he was bad. He was...suicidal."
I swore my heart stopped beating. My chest certainly froze up. Blaze ploughed on through the air thick with tension.
"It was pure luck that I called him on just the right evening. I suppose there were some slight warning signs too. Even though he was depressed as hell, he remained good at returning my texts. However, in the two days leading up to that night Eden didn't answer a single thing. It was eight in the evening on a Friday, and I was exhausted. I was going to call him in the morning, but something whispered to me that it had to be then and there. So, I called him. Eden tried to pass off his strange tone as him being exhausted too, but before long he was sobbing. Couldn't get a word out other than that he needed help. I jumped in the car and drove the couple hours to his apartment. Sobbing nonsense was what I continued to get for the longest time, but Eden composed himself enough to tell me the truth. About what T.R.E.E. was. What The Company was. That he had a little sister. What they were doing to her. What they were going to do to her. How he had been trying for years and years to break her free, but that it looked like there was only one way he could do that." Blaze said, his voice growing heavy.
"What was he going to do?" I repeated my original question, my whole body swirling with horror.
Blaze paused. A reluctant glint struck his eye.
"Eden was going to sneak a knife in when he went to work the next morning. He was going to stab it through your heart while you slept before stabbing it through his own."
I had never heard silence before. That was what I believed in that moment. Much more than the idea that Eden was my brother, the idea that he would ever seriously contemplate something like that was ridiculous. Eden was a rock. He was so unfailingly positive and optimistic that it was annoying. Even when he was down, there was always a way to keep moving ahead for him. He had spent years trying to instil the same mentality in me. In that moment, I wished I had listened more. I wished harder that he would come back soon. Blaze's story wasn't doing much to stop me from worrying over Eden's safety.
"He just couldn't take it anymore," Blaze continued, choking up a little and sounding like he wanted to cry, "Eden had been unwanted since birth. He felt insignificant. The girl he had treasured abandoned him without a second thought. His chance at having a meaningful relationship with the woman who gave birth to him amounted to nothing more than a dream that would never leave his head. The job he hoped would give him a boost towards the life he wanted to make for himself took him prisoner instead. With every month that passed, there seemed to be less reason to try anymore. Then he met this tiny, beautiful baby, and finally, finally, someone loved him. He was a hero in your eyes. He was the most important person on the planet to you. You gave him everything he wanted, and Eden was already yours long before he knew who you were. You can imagine though how finding out you were his sibling changed everything. He wasn't just failing some random baby. He was failing his little sister. Eden was your big brother, but year after year went by and nothing he did got you any closer to freedom. There was no choice for him but to watch this precious life be manipulated and exploited for the benefit of selfish assholes who would have shot you in the head the second you stopped being useful to them."
My gaze had fallen to the floor
"I had no idea," I mumbled into my chest, "Eden never looked as if he felt that way. He was always happy, always smiling whenever he walked through the door."
I hurriedly scrolled through all my memories to see if I could pull up some Friday where Eden acted strangely, but I couldn't think of one.
"How old was I when he planned that?" I wondered dismally.
"You were seven at the time," Blaze answered, "Had just turned seven, actually. It was you spending another birthday in your prison that set Eden off. He was still crying when he showed me a candy bar he had tried to sneak in as a present, but they had caught him. Makes me wonder how he was ever going to get a knife in. The point quickly became moot though. As soon as Eden was done telling me his secrets, I got to tell him mine. Funnily enough, it was one of my 'acquaintances' who got me in my first line of 'work'. She was older than I thought she was, and she had a good eye for spotting potential recruits. I haven't seen much of her in recent years, but she was the one who helped me get the 'Save Ethereal' project rolling. You should have seen Eden's face when he realized there was a way to rescue you without requiring the two of you dying. His depression disappeared instantly, and he put all his spare hours into learning what he could of T.R.E.E.'s defenses so that we could put together a plan to get you out. It took three years, but we got the primary goal accomplished- as you are aware. Now the second phase is about to be completed. As long as nothing major gets in the way, everything should go off without a hitch."
My stare lifted from off the floor when Blaze put some forced optimism into his tone as he spoke his last few sentences. When I glanced up, he was sporting a grimacing, sympathetic grin.
"Sorry," he apologized, "That story really killed the mood, didn't it?"
"Beamed it with a shovel, rolled over it with a car, and chewed it through the blender before burying it six feet under." Amaranth joked, making my heart jump because I had actually gone ahead and forgotten he was there.
"I-It's alright," I said, the departure of the bizarre adrenaline running through me leaving me wiped, "It was a story that had to be told. It'll help me put a lot of things into perspective once I process it all."
"You take your time doing that. You're safe here, so don't worry about stressing over anything else. Feel free to ask any questions too," Blaze comforted before putting his hand on his hips and speaking much more like his normal self, "I've got a question for you two though. Are you hungry?"
"Yeah. Come to think of it, I haven't even had breakfast yet." I realized.
"I'm getting hungry too. Blaze and I usually don't eat until around this time, often because of the problem we've run into today. What we could have eaten went bad overnight since Blaze bought the practically expired stuff again. That's why I was talking about going to the store when I first came out." Amaranth explained.
"Well, you won't be complaining for the next few days. If Ethereal's here, there's no way I can pass up her legit cooking skills. I'll just have to splurge and get decent ingredients so she can whip us up her masterpieces." Blaze pointed out.
Blaze grabbed his wallet and took a momentary leave. Amaranth and I snacked on the remaining pretzels to curb our appetite until he returned. We contemplated watching more television, but that idea was given up when we started to cuddle on the couch. I knew Eden was perfectly fine. I had spent the past eight years watching him be happy. Still, being told of what could have happened shattered my sense of security somewhat. It wasn't even the thought of Eden planning to kill me that bothered me. I was more upset by the fact that he had been going to kill himself. I didn't like the thought at all. It took Amaranth's touch to calm me down again. Innocently snuggled up at the beginning, the more I relaxed the more other thoughts flooded my head. I had thought it was strange that Blaze had left Amaranth and I alone so many times, and now we were alone once more.
"Have you ever thought..." I began, wondering where on earth I was getting the courage to ask what I was going to ask.
Although that courage did falter for a moment. Amaranth looked at me curiously, and those red eyes on me instantly set my heart beating faster.
"About what Blaze was taking about. About us. Did...did you ever think about trying to do something when we were alone?" I questioned.
To my surprise, Amaranth didn't get nearly as flustered as I imagined he would. That's not to say he wasn't mildly embarrassed though.
"Well, it's not like I never thought about it before," he admitted, his voice softer and fluctuating in pitch, "I've wanted to do things. But, have I ever thought that, yes, I was going to make a move to see how far it could take me? No. I knew I would never get to the end result. Part of me simply didn't want to go there, and part of me didn't want the frustration of getting turned on only to have no pay off."
"I'm not bothering you right now, am I?" I asked teasingly.
Amaranth flashed me a bright smile.
"Now that you mention it..."
"Should I move?" I pouted a fake pout.
"Please don't." he laughed.
I rested my head against his chest for a minute, but my mind jumping all over the place had me sitting up before long anyway. With one curiosity out of the way, my memories pulled to the surface something Amaranth had told me that morning. It struck a nerve with an insecurity that had been building since Eden had dropped the bottle.
"Ethereal?" Amaranth questioned in confusion when I did suddenly sit up and go stiff.
I clasped my hands together and fidgeted nervously.
"You saw me before when I was white. You knew I was white this whole time." I said quietly.
"Yeah? What of it?"
"You...I mean...I-I..." I stuttered out hopelessly, "I guess I just have to wonder how that influenced you wanting to date me..."
Amaranth instantly propped himself up further.
"Are you telling me that you think I was so desperate to be with you because you are white?" he asked indignantly, sounding rather insulted.
I only shifted harder.
"Do you really think I give a damn about what color you are?" he implored.
Stiff silence passed until I forced myself to look his way again. Amaranth's expression was serious- determined to get across to me that his deep love for me that I sometimes shied away from was genuine. Seeing that, I smiled pitifully and twiddled my thumbs.
"No." I replied honestly.
I twitched lightly from slight humiliation from my own stupidity when he moved closer. Amaranth wrapped an arm around my back and pulled me up to him.
"Good, because I don't. If you wanted to take the injection forever and remain green for the rest of your life, I wouldn't care. Meadow. Ethereal. They're the same to me. I love them both, because they're both you."
Amaranth gave me a look when I couldn't stop myself from chuckling when he leaned in to give me a grand kiss.
"What?" he wondered.
"That was a very good answer."
"Eh, you learn a thing or two when you've been raised by someone like Blaze. Apparently, I have my dad's talent for romantic sentiments as well, according to him."
"A talent I quite enjoy." I giggled.
"I'm sure." Amaranth agreed in amusement.
At that, I was tightened a little more against his chest. My giggles immediately ceased as his lips touched mine and they intermingled gratefully.
Weirdly enough, Amaranth and I got much more wound up than normal even as we had protested earlier that we had no desire to get quite so intimate. Something about knowing that Blaze was alright with us doing it and seriously half-prodding us to do it knocked down some barriers without us knowing. Blaze's actual presence killed the mood though. I spotted him coming, and Amaranth and I pretended we were discussing meals plans so at to not arouse suspicion. Blaze had bought enough groceries to fill their cabinets in a way I had never seen them filled before. He also required Amaranth's assistance to bring up all the new blinds he bought for the windows. I had a feeling Blaze had spent more money on this one shopping trip than he had in the past several week combined.
I whipped up a hearty breakfast while the two boys got the blinds set up. We decided not to totally block the windows just yet though. The building wasn't that big, so Blaze and Amaranth's place took up the whole floor. Since they lived at the top, it was rare that anyone would just so happen to wander by. As long as I was mildly green, the blinds rolled halfway down would prevent anyone on ground level from getting a glimpse at my changed color, on the incredibly slim chance that they happened to know me in the first place. Blaze, Amaranth, and I sipped on some coffee to relax after all the work was done. Blaze gave us the rundown that he would be popping back and forth throughout the day. He would mostly be helping Eden and the rest of their friends, but him checking up on us would keep all of our nerves from going haywire.
The day passed surprisingly uneventfully. Amaranth and I spent the day doing our normal things, and we got so into all the goofing off that someones I wholly forgot what our situation was like. Reality only began to strike me again when I went into the bathroom after dinner. Meadow as I knew her was already long gone. The new, barely green girl before me was hardly recognizable, and Ethereal would be taking her place by morning. I was in that bathroom staring at myself for such an extended length of time that Amaranth had to knock on the door and ask if I was alright.
I walked out teary-eyed, and Amaranth lead me to the couch for another comforting cuddle when I did cry just a little.
"I'm really going to miss her." I said for an explanation.
"Meadow, you mean?" Amaranth asked.
"Yes. I didn't think turning white for good would have me feeling like this. I always believed I would be ecstatic. But, it feels as if I'm watching a friend slowly die. I'm losing someone I didn't realize I cared this deeply for. I know that Meadow's me, so you can say that she'll never be truly gone, but..."
"She will be gone," Amaranth affirmed, kissing my fingers lightly, "I don't care about your color, but 99% of the people on this planet will. You are going to be treated differently as Ethereal. You are going to have to act differently as Ethereal. Meadow won't be there to be your shield anymore."
I nodded weakly.
"It has to be rough, huh?" Amaranth continued, "I honestly don't know how you've been able to be so complacent through all these years. Well, I suppose I do know. You're strong. You should have some time to grieve for what you're losing, but, if you were able to survive becoming Meadow, you'll be able to handle being yourself."
"I've got people like you in my life as well." I pointed out, blushing.
"Mmhmm. That you do." Amaranth agreed, giving my fingers another kiss.
The plan was for Amaranth to sleep in his own room and for me to swipe Blaze's bed for the night, but that didn't happen. Blaze hadn't been back for five hours. I remained upset and somewhat scared about Meadow's steady death. Amaranth hung out in Blaze's room with me while it took me a long while to find the mentality that would allow me to sleep. What contributed to that greatly was Amaranth being right there, and as ours eye both grew wearier and wearier neither of us brought up the suggestion that it was time to head off to his bed. Instead, we ended up curling up together as we drifted off. The sensation of falling asleep with another person snuggled against me was foreign and strange, but I definitely didn't dislike it. I actually wished it hadn't taken so long for the two of us to try it out.
I imagined I would be restless that night. Nightmares brought on by the stress of the situation and the truths I had learned had been my anticipation. What I got was a calm night of sleepless dreaming where I didn't stir once. The morning light streaming in to hit my face was my wake-up call, and as I fluttered to consciousness I realized I was in the exact same position as when I had fallen asleep. Slightly sore from the stillness, I was grateful Amaranth was waking as well. We shifted, stretched, and got our eyes to adjust to the new influx of light.
Then reality sank in. Long hours had passed, and the last of the injection had disappeared from my system. Sometime during the night, Meadow had taken her last breath, and Ethereal had taken her first one in years. I accepted the change with grace when the truth sank in, but it took a greater amount of time for the same to happen with Amaranth. Having trouble moving because of my grogginess, Amaranth took it upon himself to set me on his lap so he could stare at me. And, boy, did he stare. His eyes were constantly flittering about taking it all in slowly. I remarked that this was the first time he and Ethereal were truly meeting. Yes, he had seen me white before, but that had been years and years ago when I had been sedated unconscious.
"This is really you." he whispered after a moment.
"This is me."
"I have to admit that I'm a bit shocked. I didn't think you would look this different. Even with just a hint of green you were still Meadow, but this...you are definitely a different person. You're Ethereal."
"And do you like her?" I wondered.
"I love her." Amaranth grinned.
I gave him some more time to stare, but eventually I got him going to his room she we could both change. We had slept in, and I had woken up starving. There was also the fact that I wanted to show off. I liked Amaranth's shocked expression, and his eyes were wider than ever before when I walked out of Blaze's room.
"Geez," he said in awe, "It's like you've got a spotlight on you."
"Really?" I giggled.
"Really. It's probably half due to the fact that I thought you would still be wearing green clothes. I didn't think you had anything that was all white."
"Eden has bought me several white outfits over the past few weeks," I revealed, "We knew I would be white before too long, so it made sense to plan ahead. Not that I'll stick to only white for the rest of my life from here on, but I felt like this was a special occasion."
I held my hand out and examined it. As bittersweet as it was to have Meadow gone, I couldn't deny that I thoroughly enjoyed being myself.
"I see you're wearing that shirt again." I motioned to Amaranth's ensemble.
"It's comfy, looks good, and I know you like me wearing it, sooo..." Amaranth shrugged merrily.
"True," I agreed, "I quite enjoy it on you."
Breakfast was made and quickly devoured. Having accepted the majority of the situation, the ecstatic emotions I suspected I would feel began to blossomed. I was bouncing around like a giddy little girl having gotten a present, which had Amaranth in stitches. He turned on the radio, snatched me, and had us dancing a goofy dance to burn off some of my energy. We were going at it more appropriately when I accidentally spoke something I was thinking in my head.
"I could definitely get used to this."
"Which part of this, exactly?" Amaranth queried.
"Oh, um..." I fumbled, failing to think of an acceptable lie, "Us being together. Constantly."
"So, you're saying that you like living with me 24/7? That you wish we could have it be like this all the time?" he assumed teasingly.
"Doesn't it sound nice to you?" I wondered back, avoiding answering directly as best I could.
"Sounds like a dream," Amaranth spoke grandly, "We can have it be that way, if you want. My parents got married right out of high school. Why not follow their lead?"
I swore my face was on fire, and that fire only burned brighter when Amaranth burst out laughing.
"Kidding! Just kidding!" he promised, "Wow, I think you might actually be a chameleon. Your cheeks are bright red now."
"Shut up." I mumbled, smiling hopelessly despite myself.
The two of us were still making fools of ourselves an hour later. It took a phone call to calm us down. We were discussing building a pillow fort when Amaranth's phone rang. I stood nearby as Amaranth answered it; the voice on the other side being loud enough for me to hear every word.
"What's up?" Amaranth asked.
"More than I would like." it responded in exasperation, the voice belonging to Allium.
"Yeah? What have you got going on?"
"Too much. But, mainly, do you have any idea what's going on with Meadow? I was calling and texting her all day yesterday, but she didn't answer a damn thing. I've gone over to her house this morning, but she's not there. No one is."
"Oh, she's..." Amaranth stalled, glancing my ways.
I checked my pockets, but I already knew my phone wouldn't be there. I hurriedly searched my brain for the last place I had put it down, and I realized with a silent groan that I had left it on my nightstand at home. The revelation helped explain why I had heard nothing from my friends yesterday. With Amaranth not quite knowing what to say, I motioned for him to give me the phone.
"She's over here. Let me give you to her."
I took the phone he offered, and made my voice hoarse, deeper, and slightly raspy.
"Sorry about that, Charming," I began before he could say anything, "I've been over at Amaranth's house since yesterday morning, and I left my phone at home."
"Why have you been at his place so long? And what's up with your voice?"
"I've been at his place because of my voice, or, more specifically, what's causing my voice to be like this. I caught some sort of stomach bug. I'm doing alright at the moment, but the nausea comes and goes."
"Sorry to hear that," Allium said sympathetically before growing confused, "But, why are you at Amaranth's then if you're sick?"
"Eden's work has him at some convention out of town for the weekend. He didn't want me home alone in case my condition got bad, so I'm bunking with Am until he gets back."
"Oh. Eden's out of town. That's why."
"That's why what?" I asked.
It was my turn to be confused. The way Allium spoke, it felt as if I had missed something.
"Well, uh, my mom has been trying to get in touch with him, but he hasn't been answering anything either." Allium explained almost nervously.
"I think he's participating in some panels or something. He probably has his phone off. Do you want me to try and pass along your mom's message?"
"No. That's...that's alright. She might as well wait until she can talk to him in person."
"Um, okay." I shrugged, not quite grasping the way the conversation was going for some reason.
"Mind if you give me back to Am?" Allium requested.
"Yeah, no problem."
I was frowning slightly when Amaranth took his phone back. He had heard every word as well, so the conversation picked right back up. I stayed where I was so the two could have some more privacy when Amaranth parked himself by the front door. From what I could hear it sounded like they were talking about a different topic, but I couldn't get that bizarre tone of Allium's voice out of my head. It more than his words that had my thoughts running blank. He sounded exhausted, stressed, definitely exasperated, and a tad irritated. I wondered if it had to do with me forgetting my phone. Allium had the knowledge that I had had a time limit. What if my sudden silence and the house being empty when he checked this morning had him fearing that Eden and I had done another runner? I didn't doubt that he had at least considered the idea, and I was relieved there had been some kind of opportunity to let him know I was still around.
And off my brain went again. I was still around for the moment, but there was a chance I could take off as well. Yet, I couldn't do that without fulfilling my promise to Purity. She had recently been dogging my footsteps as sneakily as she could hoping that soon I might tell her everything. I cursed myself for forgetting my phone. It would have been so perfect to send her a picture message of my new face to surprise her before I called to explain. Telling her over the phone was the only way to do it now. I don't think Eden or Blaze would approve of her coming over. Perhaps once Blaze returned, or if Eden chose to reappear, I could get them to get my cell. I probably had a million messages to sort through anyway, for I'm sure Sunset and Sunflower had tried to contact me too.
Staring out the windows hoping to see Blaze coming back, I realized that Amaranth and I had forgotten about the blinds. Here we had been dashing about making some noise and drawing attention to ourselves without even bothering to at least cover the windows. In all actuality, it was a good thing Blaze or Eden hadn't come back. They hadn't seen how irresponsible we were being. I stepped forward to start remedying the situation when I paused because it felt like there was wind brushing up against my back. Had Amaranth opened a window without me knowing?
I never got the chance to turn around. I didn't have a chance to make a sound. I was looking at Amaranth, and then I suddenly lost my ability to breathe. Several brief seconds of shock had me standing there almost calm when the gloved hand engulfed my mouth and nose. My lungs instinctively inhaled, but they were only met with a sickening sour stench that had me actually nauseous. My thoughts as well as my sight was swirling and morphing into a blur of fuzz. My limbs grew heavy, it was next to impossible to move, and my vision darkened. Terrified, trying to get a gasp of clean air did nothing other than pull that foul concoction coating the glove into my system. I squirmed and managed to make some sort of tiny cry of alarm, but the person attached to the hand kept me firmly pinned against him.
"ETHEREAL!"
The man had clearly snuck in so expertly that Amaranth didn't even notice what was going on until my strangled cry alerted him. His phone clattered to the ground as he instantly rushed towards us with a vengeance. Unfortunately, he moved all of about two feet before another man unexpectedly bolted forth from behind us to charge at him. I was being suffocated unconscious at a horrifically rapid pace, but my gaze still immediately spotted the gun he held in his hands. The green and gray man used his sudden appearance to knock Amaranth off balance, sending him slamming to the floor. The pitiful whimper I let out was nothing compared to the screaming going on in my mind as the gun was pointed right at his head. I didn't have the chance to wonder if I was going to see my boyfriend's brains be splattered all over the hardwood planks, but that was because Amaranth lunged up and at the man's waist with lightning reflexes that caught everyone off-guard. The blast of the gun rang out. All the bullet pummeled was the cushioning inside the back of the couch. Amaranth slammed the man painfully with a thud against the half-wall while madly scrambling to snatch the weapon he held. I dared to hope that he would succeed, but Amaranth's minor advantage was seemingly short-lived as another man bolted from behind where I was to join his companion.
I never stopped screaming in my head. However, all control of my body had been lost. My consciousness dimmed and dimmed despite me fighting desperately to keep it. I only remained aware of anything for a few more seconds. My vision turned towards the darkness, and the sounds of the fight and two more gunshots were little more than muffled echoes. There was no way for me to protest when the first man easily yanked me up over his shoulders and took me out the back way. I bounced and shifted uncomfortably as he moved with haste, but I ignored my pain as one more gunshot was all I could focus on before the cold word of the black, forced slumber stole me away.
Forcing my dumbfounded brain to cooperate, I studied Amaranth quizzically while I thought. I didn't quite get the full truth just yet, but as Amaranth gave me an encouraging smile there was one thing that was very clear.
"It wouldn't turn him green." I stated.
"Bingo!" Blaze confirmed, "Now, let me give you another scenario. What if we gave the injection to this Purity Waters you go to school with? What would the injection do to her?"
"It..." I trailed off, putting the pieces together until I came to the conclusion that made the most sense, "It would turn her blue."
"Right again!"
"That's why Eden said the injection turning me green wasn't a choice," I recalled from all those years ago in amazement, "It's not some whole body dye. It gives albinos back their coloring."
Blaze nodded.
"But...how does that even work? Why would The Company want to create something like that when this whole mess is because they want people to be albino? What would giving albinos back their color accomplish?" I queried in confusion.
"Those are questions I don't have answers to," Blaze shrugged, "The only thing I can think of is that they were studying how to reverse albinism so that they could figure out how to switch it the other way around. Make people who aren't albino, albino."
I finally took a deep breath. Partly because all the sudden splurging of truths was leaving me winded, and I was sure there was more to come. Otherwise, I needed to do something while a quiet persisted when Blaze gave me a moment to once again try and process it all.
"I can wrap my head around the whole injection thing. Believing its purpose is to recolor albinos isn't that different from thinking it can recolor people in general. Yet, Eden being my brother? That means...Field Seedling is my mother? Jungle Seedling is my father?"
"Yup." Blaze said.
"Eden said he had no idea who my parents were. That all the information listed about them was that they were married."
"A lie."
"I don't...I don't understand this! Why would those two donate to The Company? Part of the reason why Eden was given up for adoption was because Jungle didn't want kids."
"You have to remember that neither of them knew The Company was trying to create children. They were told their samples would be used for nothing other than testing new techniques for checking for genetics defects. I'm sure they were just thinking that donating could allow them to take a nice vacation or something, because it's not like they were going to be using their 'donations' for anything else useful anytime soon. A small payment was given for each sample, and a much bigger one was allotted if they were 'active' enough to provide the scientists plenty of time to study them. With both Jungle and Field having their samples being 'active', they definitely received quite a chunk of change."
Heat unexpectedly flushed my cheeks. The shock was seeping in somewhat even if it felt like I understood less with every word that was spoken. What was also seeping in was some anger. I had accepted that there were things Eden had to keep from me, but stuff like this? He had known how desperately I have craved knowing who my true family was. He had seen how hurt I had been when I believed for a time that Mrs. Waters was my mother, although it made him promising me that she wasn't much more logical. How could Eden have looked right at me and deny us a comfort we both needed? Eden wanted a family, and I was right there in front of him. I suppose he was complacent enough having me chose to be his sister on my own, but, despite knowing we were connected by blood not changing how I felt about him, this knowledge did change things.
"How long has Eden known we are siblings?" I demanded from Blaze, pushing my irritation down so as to not shoot the messenger.
"Pretty much since the beginning. I think you were about eight months old when he was browsing through the records. A few months after he started working on your project or something."
"Why didn't he tell me? Why did Amaranth know, but not me?"
"I would like to ask him the same question myself." Blaze folded his arms.
"It has to be because he doesn't trust me. If he doesn't think I'm even capable of knowing what the injection actually does..." I grumbled.
"Med- Ethereal, no. I don't think that's it. I'm sure he's got it reasoned in his head somehow that you were better off not knowing. Maybe he thinks you would be kept safer by your ignorance. Eden would only ever dare to hurt you in this manner if it would be for your benefit in the long run. You are his reason for living, after all."
A grin spread across Blaze's face when I scoffed.
"Think it sounds too sentimental?" he asked in amusement, "It's the truth though. Eden is totally devoted to you, and in some ways that devotion is quite scary. His idea for saving you before he discovered his best friend just so happened to be involved in a secret organization that could actually save you was...well...uh, I guess you could call it intense."
"What was he going to do?"
"First off, you gotta understand the mentality he was in at the time. Eden was not in a good place, and I truly am being serious when I say that you are what kept him going. As you are aware, his life didn't start out the greatest. Some major bad luck was working against him. Babies are usually the first ones gobbled up by potential adopters. It wasn't as if he had a sickness or something wrong with him that would have scared them away. Eden was perfectly healthy, and probably a relatively cute infant. Why no one decided to take him home is beyond me, and you can be sure that the question of 'why' was a lot stronger in his mind. I won't pretend to know for a second what it's like where everyone is always chosen, except for you. To think you finally might be meeting the ones you'll call 'mom' and 'dad' just to have them pick someone who has only been there for a few months. I'm not saying that those other kids didn't deserve to have loving homes, but the constant roller coaster of hope and crushing disappointment and loneliness didn't do Eden's sense of self-confidence any favors."
There in Blaze's stare appeared a reminiscent, nostalgic glaze.
"The guy was already a mess when I met him in middle school. He had learned it was better to not get close to anyone to prevent himself from getting hurt, so he was that outcast who always has his head down and sat by himself at lunch. Unfortunately, I overlooked him like everyone else did. I saw him, and I only saw the weird kid who I could beat up with a fist tied behind my back if I wanted to. I won't deny that I made a few cruel jokes at his expense with the rest of my classmates. To tell you the truth, I know it seems like Eden and I have been best friends since the start, but it took Coal dying to get us like that. Coal was the one who had the courage and patience to earn the trust of this little, lonely boy who thought he was wholly unworthy of being loved. He was the one who could somehow emphasize and understand him in a way I never got. I felt like quite the asshole when Eden turned out to be perfectly likeable, and even more so because he looked at me for a while like I was some kind of superstar. He was lucky if he could kick a ball properly. I could kick a ball into the air and have it swishing down through the basketball hoop the majority of the time."
Amaranth earned a warning glare from Blaze when he laughed quietly at that statement.
"I'll have you know that that was my main talent back in the day."
"Until you started your more intimate activities, right?" Amaranth teased knowingly.
"Perhaps, but that's not the story I'm telling at the moment," Blaze brushed the jibe off easily, "Anyway, things got better for Eden in high school. It was when he gave up on being adopted. In a way, it was sad to watch him give up hope, but it made perfect sense. The vast majority of people adopt because they can't have children of their own, and they want the experience of raising a child. Why pick a teenager who is only going to hang around the house for four years instead of a young'n they can get that full experience with? Eden accepted thet truth and turned his gaze to the future instead of wishing for his past to be different. He used his smart brain to speed through his classes. Basically, the school let him take the major tests for a lot of subjects, and because he was able to get perfect scores on all of them they gave him credit. It seriously was gym class of all things that slowed him down."
I smiled to myself, thinking back to that conversation of Blaze and Eden's at the park. Blaze continued on.
"Eden grew more confident in himself. A lot of the new 'friends' he made just wanted him to help them with their homework, but that at least allowed him to find a few genuine ones in the mass of people. Then he met that slutty, clown-faced titbox."
Amaranth folded his arms in disapproval while I burst out laughing.
"What? That's what she was!" Blaze professed to his nephew, "That damn bitch, Tawny. God, just her name makes me fucking pissed. Mind you, she started off just fine. I actually really liked her. She had that rough edge to her, but when she and Eden began dating she was almost always a total sweetheart. He treated her like a queen. Yeah, he was close with Coal and me, but this was someone who loved him. She was the first person who cherished him- who touched his heart in a way that no one else had ever done. I wanted to punch Eden sometimes. There were instances where he would tear up with happiness when Tawny called him on the phone asking if he wanted to hang out. He was so pathetically sappy that it drove me crazy. Eden would have done anything for her. He did do everything for her, even if it wasn't necessarily what he wanted for himself. Yes, I am talking about the two of them sleeping together. Eden, the old-fashioned goody-two-shoes he is, wanted to wait until marriage, but when Tawny told him she needed it, needed him, well, I wonder if even I would have said no. I never got the specifics on how their time together went down, but Eden was confident that he at least didn't botch the encounter up."
Every hint of amusement or humor clinging to Blaze's expression slid away. He became serious, somber, and slightly vengeful.
"Eden took that big leap of faith with her. I can joke about it with him now since he's moved past it, but that will never change that it wasn't something he did lightly. Tawny, however, didn't treat the experience the same way. It didn't mean a damn thing to her. She hadn't been a virgin like Eden thought. She had been cheating on him for months, sleeping around with some guy on the wrestling team. The only reason she slept with Eden was because she wanted to see if the sex was good enough to make her stay. As you can imagine, scrawny, bookworm Eden doing it for the first time didn't stand a chance against the muscled jock who had been with a dozen other girls. Tawny admitted everything to him as if she had never cared for Eden in the slightest. As if he had merely been a momentary plaything. Then she had the nerve to say it was Eden's fault she had gone to another guy. His intellect and speeding through school pressured her. Him being so smart made her look bad."
Blaze shook his head, wearing an angry smirk.
"What I wouldn't give to have her see him now. I heard a rumor that she ended up marrying that other guy, but now she's a single mom after they divorced when he got another woman pregnant. Karma came around in that situation. Then we have Eden, who's turned into a pretty good looking guy, all things considered. He's still the same sappy, sweet dweeb he was before too. If she had realized how good she had it, she could be having the perfect life right now. Well, I mean, if the whole Company thing wasn't staring us in the face, y'know. Eden was naturally devastated with the breakup. He took that leap of faith, and all it got him was battered and bruised. None of the scars Tawny left him with healed. He did a commendable job acting fine on the surface, but she was another weight that dragged him down. I don't think he ever would have spiraled as far down as he did if T.R.E.E. hadn't picked him up, but, as we all know, they did. Of course, I didn't know at the time what he had gotten himself into. There was also the whole him meeting Field and Jungle thing, which was just another blow. Eden finally meets his mother, but she still basically looks him in the eye and tells him he's not important enough to be her son. I did notice something was wrong when he slowly started acting weird and phasing everyone out of his life, but it was a difficult time for me as well. Coal and I lost our parents unexpectedly, and then I lost Coal and Desi not that long afterwards. I had an infant to look after when I had no job, no college experience, and my only skill was having sex with random women. I dread to think what would have happened had my parents not left me a decent inheritance with Coal and Desi's life insurance filling in the rest."
Blaze returned the sympathetic smile I gave him, and shrugged.
"But we can talk about my story another time. By the time I got my mess sorted out, Eden was already neck-deep in his. He had cut off his connections to everyone but me. I could tell his job was draining the life out of him, but, obviously, he couldn't explain why. I did what I could to help. He came to me with strange requests though. Eden wanted me to help him bulk up. That was all good and well. Then he wanted me to teach him some of the fighting techniques I knew. A little more bizarre, but okay. Next he wanted to know how to shoot a gun. I got some warning bells with that one, but, still, no answers came. I was too complacent to prod when I should have. I foolishly believed that Eden was the kind of person who could handle anything on his own. The years went by, and he seemed to stabilize. Within the span of a few months though, he broke. The hell he was living in beat him down until he was willing to do anything to end it. I mean, he was bad. He was...suicidal."
I swore my heart stopped beating. My chest certainly froze up. Blaze ploughed on through the air thick with tension.
"It was pure luck that I called him on just the right evening. I suppose there were some slight warning signs too. Even though he was depressed as hell, he remained good at returning my texts. However, in the two days leading up to that night Eden didn't answer a single thing. It was eight in the evening on a Friday, and I was exhausted. I was going to call him in the morning, but something whispered to me that it had to be then and there. So, I called him. Eden tried to pass off his strange tone as him being exhausted too, but before long he was sobbing. Couldn't get a word out other than that he needed help. I jumped in the car and drove the couple hours to his apartment. Sobbing nonsense was what I continued to get for the longest time, but Eden composed himself enough to tell me the truth. About what T.R.E.E. was. What The Company was. That he had a little sister. What they were doing to her. What they were going to do to her. How he had been trying for years and years to break her free, but that it looked like there was only one way he could do that." Blaze said, his voice growing heavy.
"What was he going to do?" I repeated my original question, my whole body swirling with horror.
Blaze paused. A reluctant glint struck his eye.
"Eden was going to sneak a knife in when he went to work the next morning. He was going to stab it through your heart while you slept before stabbing it through his own."
I had never heard silence before. That was what I believed in that moment. Much more than the idea that Eden was my brother, the idea that he would ever seriously contemplate something like that was ridiculous. Eden was a rock. He was so unfailingly positive and optimistic that it was annoying. Even when he was down, there was always a way to keep moving ahead for him. He had spent years trying to instil the same mentality in me. In that moment, I wished I had listened more. I wished harder that he would come back soon. Blaze's story wasn't doing much to stop me from worrying over Eden's safety.
"He just couldn't take it anymore," Blaze continued, choking up a little and sounding like he wanted to cry, "Eden had been unwanted since birth. He felt insignificant. The girl he had treasured abandoned him without a second thought. His chance at having a meaningful relationship with the woman who gave birth to him amounted to nothing more than a dream that would never leave his head. The job he hoped would give him a boost towards the life he wanted to make for himself took him prisoner instead. With every month that passed, there seemed to be less reason to try anymore. Then he met this tiny, beautiful baby, and finally, finally, someone loved him. He was a hero in your eyes. He was the most important person on the planet to you. You gave him everything he wanted, and Eden was already yours long before he knew who you were. You can imagine though how finding out you were his sibling changed everything. He wasn't just failing some random baby. He was failing his little sister. Eden was your big brother, but year after year went by and nothing he did got you any closer to freedom. There was no choice for him but to watch this precious life be manipulated and exploited for the benefit of selfish assholes who would have shot you in the head the second you stopped being useful to them."
My gaze had fallen to the floor
"I had no idea," I mumbled into my chest, "Eden never looked as if he felt that way. He was always happy, always smiling whenever he walked through the door."
I hurriedly scrolled through all my memories to see if I could pull up some Friday where Eden acted strangely, but I couldn't think of one.
"How old was I when he planned that?" I wondered dismally.
"You were seven at the time," Blaze answered, "Had just turned seven, actually. It was you spending another birthday in your prison that set Eden off. He was still crying when he showed me a candy bar he had tried to sneak in as a present, but they had caught him. Makes me wonder how he was ever going to get a knife in. The point quickly became moot though. As soon as Eden was done telling me his secrets, I got to tell him mine. Funnily enough, it was one of my 'acquaintances' who got me in my first line of 'work'. She was older than I thought she was, and she had a good eye for spotting potential recruits. I haven't seen much of her in recent years, but she was the one who helped me get the 'Save Ethereal' project rolling. You should have seen Eden's face when he realized there was a way to rescue you without requiring the two of you dying. His depression disappeared instantly, and he put all his spare hours into learning what he could of T.R.E.E.'s defenses so that we could put together a plan to get you out. It took three years, but we got the primary goal accomplished- as you are aware. Now the second phase is about to be completed. As long as nothing major gets in the way, everything should go off without a hitch."
My stare lifted from off the floor when Blaze put some forced optimism into his tone as he spoke his last few sentences. When I glanced up, he was sporting a grimacing, sympathetic grin.
"Sorry," he apologized, "That story really killed the mood, didn't it?"
"Beamed it with a shovel, rolled over it with a car, and chewed it through the blender before burying it six feet under." Amaranth joked, making my heart jump because I had actually gone ahead and forgotten he was there.
"I-It's alright," I said, the departure of the bizarre adrenaline running through me leaving me wiped, "It was a story that had to be told. It'll help me put a lot of things into perspective once I process it all."
"You take your time doing that. You're safe here, so don't worry about stressing over anything else. Feel free to ask any questions too," Blaze comforted before putting his hand on his hips and speaking much more like his normal self, "I've got a question for you two though. Are you hungry?"
"Yeah. Come to think of it, I haven't even had breakfast yet." I realized.
"I'm getting hungry too. Blaze and I usually don't eat until around this time, often because of the problem we've run into today. What we could have eaten went bad overnight since Blaze bought the practically expired stuff again. That's why I was talking about going to the store when I first came out." Amaranth explained.
"Well, you won't be complaining for the next few days. If Ethereal's here, there's no way I can pass up her legit cooking skills. I'll just have to splurge and get decent ingredients so she can whip us up her masterpieces." Blaze pointed out.
Blaze grabbed his wallet and took a momentary leave. Amaranth and I snacked on the remaining pretzels to curb our appetite until he returned. We contemplated watching more television, but that idea was given up when we started to cuddle on the couch. I knew Eden was perfectly fine. I had spent the past eight years watching him be happy. Still, being told of what could have happened shattered my sense of security somewhat. It wasn't even the thought of Eden planning to kill me that bothered me. I was more upset by the fact that he had been going to kill himself. I didn't like the thought at all. It took Amaranth's touch to calm me down again. Innocently snuggled up at the beginning, the more I relaxed the more other thoughts flooded my head. I had thought it was strange that Blaze had left Amaranth and I alone so many times, and now we were alone once more.
"Have you ever thought..." I began, wondering where on earth I was getting the courage to ask what I was going to ask.
Although that courage did falter for a moment. Amaranth looked at me curiously, and those red eyes on me instantly set my heart beating faster.
"About what Blaze was taking about. About us. Did...did you ever think about trying to do something when we were alone?" I questioned.
To my surprise, Amaranth didn't get nearly as flustered as I imagined he would. That's not to say he wasn't mildly embarrassed though.
"Well, it's not like I never thought about it before," he admitted, his voice softer and fluctuating in pitch, "I've wanted to do things. But, have I ever thought that, yes, I was going to make a move to see how far it could take me? No. I knew I would never get to the end result. Part of me simply didn't want to go there, and part of me didn't want the frustration of getting turned on only to have no pay off."
"I'm not bothering you right now, am I?" I asked teasingly.
Amaranth flashed me a bright smile.
"Now that you mention it..."
"Should I move?" I pouted a fake pout.
"Please don't." he laughed.
I rested my head against his chest for a minute, but my mind jumping all over the place had me sitting up before long anyway. With one curiosity out of the way, my memories pulled to the surface something Amaranth had told me that morning. It struck a nerve with an insecurity that had been building since Eden had dropped the bottle.
"Ethereal?" Amaranth questioned in confusion when I did suddenly sit up and go stiff.
I clasped my hands together and fidgeted nervously.
"You saw me before when I was white. You knew I was white this whole time." I said quietly.
"Yeah? What of it?"
"You...I mean...I-I..." I stuttered out hopelessly, "I guess I just have to wonder how that influenced you wanting to date me..."
Amaranth instantly propped himself up further.
"Are you telling me that you think I was so desperate to be with you because you are white?" he asked indignantly, sounding rather insulted.
I only shifted harder.
"Do you really think I give a damn about what color you are?" he implored.
Stiff silence passed until I forced myself to look his way again. Amaranth's expression was serious- determined to get across to me that his deep love for me that I sometimes shied away from was genuine. Seeing that, I smiled pitifully and twiddled my thumbs.
"No." I replied honestly.
I twitched lightly from slight humiliation from my own stupidity when he moved closer. Amaranth wrapped an arm around my back and pulled me up to him.
"Good, because I don't. If you wanted to take the injection forever and remain green for the rest of your life, I wouldn't care. Meadow. Ethereal. They're the same to me. I love them both, because they're both you."
Amaranth gave me a look when I couldn't stop myself from chuckling when he leaned in to give me a grand kiss.
"What?" he wondered.
"That was a very good answer."
"Eh, you learn a thing or two when you've been raised by someone like Blaze. Apparently, I have my dad's talent for romantic sentiments as well, according to him."
"A talent I quite enjoy." I giggled.
"I'm sure." Amaranth agreed in amusement.
At that, I was tightened a little more against his chest. My giggles immediately ceased as his lips touched mine and they intermingled gratefully.
Weirdly enough, Amaranth and I got much more wound up than normal even as we had protested earlier that we had no desire to get quite so intimate. Something about knowing that Blaze was alright with us doing it and seriously half-prodding us to do it knocked down some barriers without us knowing. Blaze's actual presence killed the mood though. I spotted him coming, and Amaranth and I pretended we were discussing meals plans so at to not arouse suspicion. Blaze had bought enough groceries to fill their cabinets in a way I had never seen them filled before. He also required Amaranth's assistance to bring up all the new blinds he bought for the windows. I had a feeling Blaze had spent more money on this one shopping trip than he had in the past several week combined.
I whipped up a hearty breakfast while the two boys got the blinds set up. We decided not to totally block the windows just yet though. The building wasn't that big, so Blaze and Amaranth's place took up the whole floor. Since they lived at the top, it was rare that anyone would just so happen to wander by. As long as I was mildly green, the blinds rolled halfway down would prevent anyone on ground level from getting a glimpse at my changed color, on the incredibly slim chance that they happened to know me in the first place. Blaze, Amaranth, and I sipped on some coffee to relax after all the work was done. Blaze gave us the rundown that he would be popping back and forth throughout the day. He would mostly be helping Eden and the rest of their friends, but him checking up on us would keep all of our nerves from going haywire.
The day passed surprisingly uneventfully. Amaranth and I spent the day doing our normal things, and we got so into all the goofing off that someones I wholly forgot what our situation was like. Reality only began to strike me again when I went into the bathroom after dinner. Meadow as I knew her was already long gone. The new, barely green girl before me was hardly recognizable, and Ethereal would be taking her place by morning. I was in that bathroom staring at myself for such an extended length of time that Amaranth had to knock on the door and ask if I was alright.
I walked out teary-eyed, and Amaranth lead me to the couch for another comforting cuddle when I did cry just a little.
"I'm really going to miss her." I said for an explanation.
"Meadow, you mean?" Amaranth asked.
"Yes. I didn't think turning white for good would have me feeling like this. I always believed I would be ecstatic. But, it feels as if I'm watching a friend slowly die. I'm losing someone I didn't realize I cared this deeply for. I know that Meadow's me, so you can say that she'll never be truly gone, but..."
"She will be gone," Amaranth affirmed, kissing my fingers lightly, "I don't care about your color, but 99% of the people on this planet will. You are going to be treated differently as Ethereal. You are going to have to act differently as Ethereal. Meadow won't be there to be your shield anymore."
I nodded weakly.
"It has to be rough, huh?" Amaranth continued, "I honestly don't know how you've been able to be so complacent through all these years. Well, I suppose I do know. You're strong. You should have some time to grieve for what you're losing, but, if you were able to survive becoming Meadow, you'll be able to handle being yourself."
"I've got people like you in my life as well." I pointed out, blushing.
"Mmhmm. That you do." Amaranth agreed, giving my fingers another kiss.
The plan was for Amaranth to sleep in his own room and for me to swipe Blaze's bed for the night, but that didn't happen. Blaze hadn't been back for five hours. I remained upset and somewhat scared about Meadow's steady death. Amaranth hung out in Blaze's room with me while it took me a long while to find the mentality that would allow me to sleep. What contributed to that greatly was Amaranth being right there, and as ours eye both grew wearier and wearier neither of us brought up the suggestion that it was time to head off to his bed. Instead, we ended up curling up together as we drifted off. The sensation of falling asleep with another person snuggled against me was foreign and strange, but I definitely didn't dislike it. I actually wished it hadn't taken so long for the two of us to try it out.
I imagined I would be restless that night. Nightmares brought on by the stress of the situation and the truths I had learned had been my anticipation. What I got was a calm night of sleepless dreaming where I didn't stir once. The morning light streaming in to hit my face was my wake-up call, and as I fluttered to consciousness I realized I was in the exact same position as when I had fallen asleep. Slightly sore from the stillness, I was grateful Amaranth was waking as well. We shifted, stretched, and got our eyes to adjust to the new influx of light.
Then reality sank in. Long hours had passed, and the last of the injection had disappeared from my system. Sometime during the night, Meadow had taken her last breath, and Ethereal had taken her first one in years. I accepted the change with grace when the truth sank in, but it took a greater amount of time for the same to happen with Amaranth. Having trouble moving because of my grogginess, Amaranth took it upon himself to set me on his lap so he could stare at me. And, boy, did he stare. His eyes were constantly flittering about taking it all in slowly. I remarked that this was the first time he and Ethereal were truly meeting. Yes, he had seen me white before, but that had been years and years ago when I had been sedated unconscious.
"This is really you." he whispered after a moment.
"This is me."
"I have to admit that I'm a bit shocked. I didn't think you would look this different. Even with just a hint of green you were still Meadow, but this...you are definitely a different person. You're Ethereal."
"And do you like her?" I wondered.
"I love her." Amaranth grinned.
I gave him some more time to stare, but eventually I got him going to his room she we could both change. We had slept in, and I had woken up starving. There was also the fact that I wanted to show off. I liked Amaranth's shocked expression, and his eyes were wider than ever before when I walked out of Blaze's room.
"Geez," he said in awe, "It's like you've got a spotlight on you."
"Really?" I giggled.
"Really. It's probably half due to the fact that I thought you would still be wearing green clothes. I didn't think you had anything that was all white."
"Eden has bought me several white outfits over the past few weeks," I revealed, "We knew I would be white before too long, so it made sense to plan ahead. Not that I'll stick to only white for the rest of my life from here on, but I felt like this was a special occasion."
I held my hand out and examined it. As bittersweet as it was to have Meadow gone, I couldn't deny that I thoroughly enjoyed being myself.
"I see you're wearing that shirt again." I motioned to Amaranth's ensemble.
"It's comfy, looks good, and I know you like me wearing it, sooo..." Amaranth shrugged merrily.
"True," I agreed, "I quite enjoy it on you."
Breakfast was made and quickly devoured. Having accepted the majority of the situation, the ecstatic emotions I suspected I would feel began to blossomed. I was bouncing around like a giddy little girl having gotten a present, which had Amaranth in stitches. He turned on the radio, snatched me, and had us dancing a goofy dance to burn off some of my energy. We were going at it more appropriately when I accidentally spoke something I was thinking in my head.
"I could definitely get used to this."
"Which part of this, exactly?" Amaranth queried.
"Oh, um..." I fumbled, failing to think of an acceptable lie, "Us being together. Constantly."
"So, you're saying that you like living with me 24/7? That you wish we could have it be like this all the time?" he assumed teasingly.
"Doesn't it sound nice to you?" I wondered back, avoiding answering directly as best I could.
"Sounds like a dream," Amaranth spoke grandly, "We can have it be that way, if you want. My parents got married right out of high school. Why not follow their lead?"
I swore my face was on fire, and that fire only burned brighter when Amaranth burst out laughing.
"Kidding! Just kidding!" he promised, "Wow, I think you might actually be a chameleon. Your cheeks are bright red now."
"Shut up." I mumbled, smiling hopelessly despite myself.
The two of us were still making fools of ourselves an hour later. It took a phone call to calm us down. We were discussing building a pillow fort when Amaranth's phone rang. I stood nearby as Amaranth answered it; the voice on the other side being loud enough for me to hear every word.
"What's up?" Amaranth asked.
"More than I would like." it responded in exasperation, the voice belonging to Allium.
"Yeah? What have you got going on?"
"Too much. But, mainly, do you have any idea what's going on with Meadow? I was calling and texting her all day yesterday, but she didn't answer a damn thing. I've gone over to her house this morning, but she's not there. No one is."
"Oh, she's..." Amaranth stalled, glancing my ways.
I checked my pockets, but I already knew my phone wouldn't be there. I hurriedly searched my brain for the last place I had put it down, and I realized with a silent groan that I had left it on my nightstand at home. The revelation helped explain why I had heard nothing from my friends yesterday. With Amaranth not quite knowing what to say, I motioned for him to give me the phone.
"She's over here. Let me give you to her."
I took the phone he offered, and made my voice hoarse, deeper, and slightly raspy.
"Sorry about that, Charming," I began before he could say anything, "I've been over at Amaranth's house since yesterday morning, and I left my phone at home."
"Why have you been at his place so long? And what's up with your voice?"
"I've been at his place because of my voice, or, more specifically, what's causing my voice to be like this. I caught some sort of stomach bug. I'm doing alright at the moment, but the nausea comes and goes."
"Sorry to hear that," Allium said sympathetically before growing confused, "But, why are you at Amaranth's then if you're sick?"
"Eden's work has him at some convention out of town for the weekend. He didn't want me home alone in case my condition got bad, so I'm bunking with Am until he gets back."
"Oh. Eden's out of town. That's why."
"That's why what?" I asked.
It was my turn to be confused. The way Allium spoke, it felt as if I had missed something.
"Well, uh, my mom has been trying to get in touch with him, but he hasn't been answering anything either." Allium explained almost nervously.
"I think he's participating in some panels or something. He probably has his phone off. Do you want me to try and pass along your mom's message?"
"No. That's...that's alright. She might as well wait until she can talk to him in person."
"Um, okay." I shrugged, not quite grasping the way the conversation was going for some reason.
"Mind if you give me back to Am?" Allium requested.
"Yeah, no problem."
I was frowning slightly when Amaranth took his phone back. He had heard every word as well, so the conversation picked right back up. I stayed where I was so the two could have some more privacy when Amaranth parked himself by the front door. From what I could hear it sounded like they were talking about a different topic, but I couldn't get that bizarre tone of Allium's voice out of my head. It more than his words that had my thoughts running blank. He sounded exhausted, stressed, definitely exasperated, and a tad irritated. I wondered if it had to do with me forgetting my phone. Allium had the knowledge that I had had a time limit. What if my sudden silence and the house being empty when he checked this morning had him fearing that Eden and I had done another runner? I didn't doubt that he had at least considered the idea, and I was relieved there had been some kind of opportunity to let him know I was still around.
And off my brain went again. I was still around for the moment, but there was a chance I could take off as well. Yet, I couldn't do that without fulfilling my promise to Purity. She had recently been dogging my footsteps as sneakily as she could hoping that soon I might tell her everything. I cursed myself for forgetting my phone. It would have been so perfect to send her a picture message of my new face to surprise her before I called to explain. Telling her over the phone was the only way to do it now. I don't think Eden or Blaze would approve of her coming over. Perhaps once Blaze returned, or if Eden chose to reappear, I could get them to get my cell. I probably had a million messages to sort through anyway, for I'm sure Sunset and Sunflower had tried to contact me too.
Staring out the windows hoping to see Blaze coming back, I realized that Amaranth and I had forgotten about the blinds. Here we had been dashing about making some noise and drawing attention to ourselves without even bothering to at least cover the windows. In all actuality, it was a good thing Blaze or Eden hadn't come back. They hadn't seen how irresponsible we were being. I stepped forward to start remedying the situation when I paused because it felt like there was wind brushing up against my back. Had Amaranth opened a window without me knowing?
I never got the chance to turn around. I didn't have a chance to make a sound. I was looking at Amaranth, and then I suddenly lost my ability to breathe. Several brief seconds of shock had me standing there almost calm when the gloved hand engulfed my mouth and nose. My lungs instinctively inhaled, but they were only met with a sickening sour stench that had me actually nauseous. My thoughts as well as my sight was swirling and morphing into a blur of fuzz. My limbs grew heavy, it was next to impossible to move, and my vision darkened. Terrified, trying to get a gasp of clean air did nothing other than pull that foul concoction coating the glove into my system. I squirmed and managed to make some sort of tiny cry of alarm, but the person attached to the hand kept me firmly pinned against him.
"ETHEREAL!"
The man had clearly snuck in so expertly that Amaranth didn't even notice what was going on until my strangled cry alerted him. His phone clattered to the ground as he instantly rushed towards us with a vengeance. Unfortunately, he moved all of about two feet before another man unexpectedly bolted forth from behind us to charge at him. I was being suffocated unconscious at a horrifically rapid pace, but my gaze still immediately spotted the gun he held in his hands. The green and gray man used his sudden appearance to knock Amaranth off balance, sending him slamming to the floor. The pitiful whimper I let out was nothing compared to the screaming going on in my mind as the gun was pointed right at his head. I didn't have the chance to wonder if I was going to see my boyfriend's brains be splattered all over the hardwood planks, but that was because Amaranth lunged up and at the man's waist with lightning reflexes that caught everyone off-guard. The blast of the gun rang out. All the bullet pummeled was the cushioning inside the back of the couch. Amaranth slammed the man painfully with a thud against the half-wall while madly scrambling to snatch the weapon he held. I dared to hope that he would succeed, but Amaranth's minor advantage was seemingly short-lived as another man bolted from behind where I was to join his companion.
I never stopped screaming in my head. However, all control of my body had been lost. My consciousness dimmed and dimmed despite me fighting desperately to keep it. I only remained aware of anything for a few more seconds. My vision turned towards the darkness, and the sounds of the fight and two more gunshots were little more than muffled echoes. There was no way for me to protest when the first man easily yanked me up over his shoulders and took me out the back way. I bounced and shifted uncomfortably as he moved with haste, but I ignored my pain as one more gunshot was all I could focus on before the cold word of the black, forced slumber stole me away.
No.
ReplyDeleteNo no no.
Nope.
Kelsey no.
This isn't fair, Kelsey.
I STILL REALLY LIKE YOU AS A PERSON, BUT AT THIS MOMENT I AM VERY ANGRY WITH YOU.
Goanna go sit in a corner and cry until next update...
EDEN BETTER NOT BE DEAD. HE'S GOING TO BE A DAD AND THAT ISN'T RIGHT. (I read that correctly, right? He's been messing around with Ms. Charm and they've got a bun in the oven?)
Nope, nope. I refuse to accept this! I have gone along with everything so far but this, this is too much. This should not be allowed!
ReplyDeleteOh Berry!!
ReplyDeleteYes I think I read exactly what Cece was reading - I thought Ms Charm is after Eden for exactly that reason!! Lol - Ive said before that I think Eden or Blaze is going to be responsible for getting Allium a little sibbling.
I am glad that she has remembered her promise to Purity :D
Mr Green and Grey? The grey is because of old age - tell me that is not Jungle??
I really don't like those extra THREE gun shots that went off at the end - if you have killed off Am I will NEVER speak to you again!! The same goes for Eden and Blaze really!!
You have chapter 40 written - you seriously need to get it out VERY soon or I am going to be having a nervous breakdown if I have to wait a week!!
This has messed me up for the rest of the day - LOL - no writing for me today :/
Great chapter :D
@Cece- Yes.
ReplyDeleteYes, yes yes.
All the yes.
I did say y'all weren't going to like the cliffhanger for this chapter ;D
Well, all that was stated was that Rose wants to talk to Eden. Could be about anything ^^
@Anon- Future generations are probably going to drive you crazy then XD
You better not have killed Am. :(
DeleteBefore the second half of this chapter. I see things differently now, I mean I still love these four main characters but knowing everything we now know about Eden makes him even more special. I'm glad she has them to be there for her.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the end and cliffhanger. What?! Noo, I hope he's not dead, or either of them for that matter. Who was that and why did they take her? Oh, I just don't know what to say...