The Perks of Being a Freak (Editing)

8. Dust In The Wind, Vapor In The Dark Space

It wasn’t nothing, exactly. It was empty, like our Dark Spaces, but wasn’t filled with shining memories. It wasn’t corporeal and dark, like the Dark Room. This new place was dark, but not so dark that fears and nightmares came alive in the shadows.

I looked around, trying to find my friends, if I could call them that. Emily? Yes, definitely a friend. My best friend. Benny? Yeah, we were close. Rajeev? Meh. I knew him, we talked, but we weren’t really close. Tony? Hell no. I don’t know Tony. Wait. No. I did know Tony, and I didn’t like him.

Whatever I called them, friends or allies or comrades, they were not in the darkness with me, and that was worrying.

I hovered, as weightless as thought. It was blissful, ecstatic. In front of me was a shifting silvery-blue vapor. It rolled over itself, shifting and shimmering like mercury. It gleamed like stainless steel, liquid stainless steel that floated in midair and broke every fluid law that I could think of. Instead of spreading out, the vapor was condensed into a form that might be called humanoid by some stretch of imagination. I tried to frown at it, and found that I had no face to frown with.

Whaa?

I twisted, and saw a pretty, grass-green mist swirling just like the silver one. Next to it was a dark, purplish sort of gas. Lastly, on my other side, there was a dark, blood red one. 

By twisting, I came closer to the blueish vapor. Instinctively, I reeled away from it, trying to put distance between us before I could question why.

Now this, Tony’s voice came from the dark red essence, suspended weightless in the dark. Is freaky.

Definitely, the purple thing said in Rajeev’s voice.

I think I might be sick, Benny whimpered, turning just a few shades greener. Which meant…

Lia? Are you the golden stuff? Emily, silver as the moon, asked.

I… guess so… Anybody have any idea what this is?

There was a chorus of ‘no’s, and yet the darkness remained silent.

This is so weird, all of this, Benny said, sounding afraid and angry. How the hell did any of us get here?

Our bodies were still in our pajamas, Rajeev informed us. So maybe we were taken out of our beds.

So they kidnapped us, Tony swirled angrily. But why? 

I don’t know how they could have gotten me, I thought. To get to my room… you need to climb up a ladder in the closet of the room that two of my brothers live in.

Seth and Cody? Emily asked. I affirmed.

Maybe your parents gave you away. Tony sneered meanly. I ignored him.

There are some people in this world who we just can’t please. No matter what you do, they will always be unhappy, and they will take that unhappiness out on other people instead of dealing with it responsibly. Tony was one of these people. I could tell that he had decided not to like me, and would go out of his way to try and make me unhappy. 

Well I didn’t like him, either. And I wouldn’t let him hurt me again.

I don’t think moping about this will help at all, I thought.

So what do you suggest we do? Benny asked at the same time as Tony. Tony sounded snippy. Benny sounded curious and afraid.

Alright. I guess we can explore or… I don’t know. Try playing around with this. Raj, you go as far as you can, see if you can find anything. See if there is an end to all of this… darkness. Benny, spread out. See how far you can stretch this vapory… form. Good?

Am I… Am I “Raj”? Rajeev asked, sounding unsure and rolling himself into a tight, stressful ball.

Yeah, sorry. I give people nicknames. I tried to shrug, but realized that I didn’t have any shoulders.

What am I? Tony snickered maliciously.

I snorted. Dickhead.

Bitch.

Head in the game, guys, Benny interjected. Let’s figure this out, and then you two can beat each other senseless.

Alright. Ben, you’re right. I’m sorry. Dickhead, you go straight up. See if there’s a roof or if you can see anything else. Em, you’re with me. Tony was grumbling, but all three boys went off to do as they were bid.

What are we doing? Emily asked, tinged with curiosity.

I noticed that when we first appeared here, we were actually pretty far away from each other. I also notice that whenever I get too close to you, my instinct tells me to get further away. I want to know why. I reached out to Emily with a tendril of orangey-gold vapor, which had condensed into what could be considered an arm. I brushed my energy against Emily’s shimmery magnificence, and then whimpered as a flood of memories surged through me.

Emily’s dad, standing over me. Pain everywhere. My abdomen. My cheek. My collarbone. He looked furious, raised his hand over his head. The hand came down.

I snatched my hand back, and as I lost contact, a soundless explosion rocked the entire plane, sending both of us flying.