RESURGENCE

BOOK 2: Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

As the day went on Peter watched his father call reporters, the Council members and friends and every now and then swear in frustration. Things were not looking good and war was imminent but all Peter could think about was Christine. She had been his girlfriend for the last three years and he missed her more than ever. It was the first time he felt as if his heart had been ripped away form his body. A content stream of thoughts kept running through his head the entire day.

I just want to tell her how I feel about her, thought Peter. How much I love her.

I’ll tell her I’m sorry for beating Billy up. Well, maybe not. It did feel good to beat that nut up.

Will she even care? 

Will she talk to me?

What is she thinking right now?

I don’t think she can even feel love, damn robot.

She’s not even human.

It wasn’t love we shared, it was companionship.

After dinner, he went for a drive to clear his head but ended up driving around the neighborhood where Christine lived. He parked his Mercedes SUV a block south from her house and walked over. The air was cold but he could still feel the sweat dripping down his neck.

This is a foolish idea, he thought.

On reaching her house, he walked around the lawn and tried to remain in the shadows. Christine’s room was on the ground floor and it was dark inside. She’s either sleeping or she’s not in the room, he thought.

He gently tapped on the window twice and waited. Nothing happened. The light didn’t turn on and he didn’t notice any movement inside the room. He decided to wait a little while.

As the minutes passed, the cold seeped through his clothes into his body. When his teeth began chattering with each breath, he realized the stupidity of the situation.

She might be out or at a friends place, he thought. 

The memories of happier times flooded his mind and he turned around to get back to his car so he could go home and be warm. Just as he was about to take his first step, the light in the room came on and he looked over his shoulder to see Christine. She was wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans and had her hair up in a bun.

He knocked on the window once but she didn’t notice. He knocked again and this time she heard it. She looked outside the window with a curious expression and for a second he thought she was going to scream but she didn’t.

“What are you doing here?” asked Christine after opening the window.

“I need to talk to you and you don’t return my calls.”

“You’re trespassing,” she said.

Like I don’t know that, he thought.

“I mean no harm,” he said, “I just want to talk and I’m freezing out here. Can I come in?”

“Poor thing. You’re shaking. Come in.”

Peter climbed through the window and closed it behind him. He immediately felt better in the warmth of the room.

“I’m sorry for being sneaky but I didn’t want to talk with your dad or wait till tomorrow to talk to you.”

“It’s okay,” she said, “we can talk.”

“I feel bad for the way I reacted the other day. I shouldn’t have beat up Billy.”

“Why did you?”

“I felt jealous when I saw you with him and angry when he made fun of me.”
“Negative emotions. It is the reason we evolved, to be above them”

“I understand that,” he said, “but there is more to it. Right now I don’t feel jealous or angry. All I feel is love for you. The way I’ve never felt before.”

“Peter, you have no control over your emotions and it’s dangerous.”

“It’s exciting.”

“I think its an addiction, like drugs. Our society got rid of drugs years ago. This surge of emotions you’re feeling is similar to drug use. You know it’s wrong, but you like it and crave it. You’re addicted.”

It is the reality, thought Peter. Its who we are. We can’t run from our own nature.

“Maybe you’re right Christine,” said Peter still shivering from the cold, “sometimes I guess one has to make a mistake to learn from it.”

“Yes, I understand,” she said. “Just take this as an instance. If you were in your senses you wouldn’t have waited outside my window in the cold. You would have just knocked on the front door. Human emotions make people do illogical things.”

Enough of this talk, thought Peter. I don’t have all night.

He took out a red rose from his coat pocket and gave it to her. She smiled and brought the rose to her nose. As soon as she inhaled the scent, her body went limp and she became unconscious. He kept her from falling and picked her up and put her on the bed. The rose was laced with a deep sleep inducing scent and she was out for the night. He hesitated for a brief moment, but then got the syringe out.

A minute later he climbed out of her room, shut the window behind him and quietly walked in the shadows to his car.

Sleep tight cutie, he thought, tomorrow you’ll wake up as human as me and then we’ll talk. 

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AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Thank you for all your comments, votes and reads. It's what keeps me going.
I have a very iteresting idea for a book that I'm going to start uploading near Christmas. If anyone wants to know more about it, PM me :)
Cheers,
Harneet Bajwa