"You never did understand the concept of personal space, did you?" I grumble, my voice rough with sleep as I crack one eye open, finding Analeia hovering over me.
I throw my legs languidly over the bed that's more spring than foam, before tossing the ratty blanket off me. I frown almost imperceptibly as I watch her pace the room, wringing her hands painfully. "Ley, it's just a routine procedure", I say with that infuriatingly lazy smirk of mine, an attempt at disarming her frantic state, but deep down I know it's a lie. There was a shift in the very air, a silent reminder in the back of all the 'Tainted' minds, the Reckoning was here, and nothing would ever be the same.
"Don't, Mory. Just don't." Analeia says, silencing me with a sharp glance before I have the chance, or perhaps audacity, to defend myself. "You always do this. You always act like everything is going to be okay, but I can feel your emotions. Stop pretending like you aren't scared like the rest of us! Stop acting like there isn't a chance that our very essence will be stripped away today," her voice rising with each word.
I listen in silence to her tirade, the crack in her voice when she mentions her 'Taint' not going unnoticed. The simplest way to describe it is that Analeia feels emotions, but the reality is so much more complicated, much darker for a girl as soft as she is.
It began with Jonathan, the little boy next door who was around the same age as her, her closest friend at that time and her first victim. There was nothing special about that day, no tell-tale sign of impending doom, no universal warning that they were on the precipice of danger, it was simply a normal, infuriatingly hot Wednesday.
Analeia was hardly the type to ever lose her temper, the concept of anger was near foreign when it came to her but that Wednesday as the two of them were playing, chasing each other down the riverbank something made Analeia mad. Really mad.
Moments later, she stood calmly as she watched Jonathan walked slowly, almost in a trance-like state, into the river. She watched, standing eerily still, as the tide swept him away. She watched as he didn't even struggle or scream for help, he just went under the water and never came up.
His body was found three days later, and it was ruled as a suicide, but she knew the truth and my mother knew the truth. Analeia was 'Tainted'. The worst part was that she honestly had no control over it, it was an out of body experience. That didn't matter to my mother though.
I tell her every night that it wasn't her fault, not truly, and she says she believes me, that she understands, but there are still nights where she screams Jonathan's name in her sleep.
I give her a small sad smile as I nod slowly, "You're right, Ley" I say softly and stand up, the familiar ache in my muscles honed from the torture device disguised as a bed throbbing slightly "I'm sorry" I say, placing my hands on both her shoulders.
"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled...I just...I can't..." she looks up at me with eyes that shimmer with tears "I can't lose you, Mory" she croaks out and I pull her in, wrapping my arms around her tight as I rest my chin atop her thick halo of curls and coils.
"I'd destroy the world and everyone in it before I let that happen, okay?" I say as I squeeze her gently and we both know that I mean every word, both figuratively and literally.
"WELCOME, CHILDREN, TO THE DAY OF THE RECKONING!" A jovial voice booms through the facility and the sounds of latches opening echoes like faint gunshots.
I take her hand in mine, squeezing gently before leading us out of our room. We pass through the reinforced narrow hallways that leads us to an exit that seems to materialize out of nowhere with rest of the hundreds of other Tainteds trickling outside.
I bring my hand to my eyes almost immediately, wincing painfully from the harsh sunlight, sunlight we haven't seen ever since we we're locked up, sunlight that makes my blood run cold despite the gentle rays because it reminds me of the reality and gravity that has arrived.
It's time.