Taken - Lost (Book 1 of the Taken Trilogy)

Chapter 4

Allium

   The week we had in Houston flew by. It was a whirlwind of lounging around Rice, visiting NASA, checking out the Houston Club and Hobby Center - and that was only the Pre-Virus Historical District! There were Ferriers-in-training on every highway, most of them our age. Houston was perfect for Ferrying, what with all the roads and freeways and intersections. You started driving young there. There were about 16 different hospitals, 5 of which were for Virus Research. 

   Too soon, we had to start packing for school. The Academy provided uniforms so we only needed street clothes, money and toiletries. Lavender and I both had credit cards already since we were Traders-in-Training. Well, we were. Soon we would be out fighting the Virus and saving lives. I felt a quiet sadness humming around my heart, but I tried to focus on the future I had instead of the one I'd miss.

   Of course, Lavender and Gen finished packing early because there was some celebrity they both loved in town that day, so Ms. Marks had  gone with them. Which left me with Peony and my parents.

   Mom and Dad were napping so I folded my clothes in relative peace until I heard tiny stomps get close to my door. I let them be until a huge stuffed dinosaur landed on my bed along with my little sister. "Rarr!" she yelled, giggling. I glanced out the open door, worried that my parents had woken up, but the coast was clear.

"I scared you, I scared you!" Peony sang, bouncing up and down on the bed and messing up my clothes in the process.

   "Stop that! My clothes are all messed up now!" I scolded, heaving her off of the bed. "You're not the boss of me! You can't tell me what to do!" she pouted in response. "Yeah, I can, because I'm twice your age and you don't even know how to do long division!" I retorted. 

   "Stop bullying me!" she shrieked. "You're not being nice!"

   Oh corpse-flesh. She was going to tell on me. And I was fairly certain that I couldn't go to the Academy if I was dead.

Dear Ms. Hallos, 

   We regret to inform you your original acceptance has been revoked due to your recent departure from the land of the living. We offer our sympathies.

   Nope. Not going to fly. I needed to shut her up, quickly.

   A quick scan of the room offered no useful bribe material, so it looked like I would have to break out my last resort. I clapped my hand over her mouth and hissed, "Shut up!" She wriggled around trying to escape but I held firm. "I'm sorry, okay? Don't tell Mom and Dad," I said quickly. "Wemmy gwoh!" she yelled.

  She wasn't easy to hold still, but I'd been training for the Academy since I was her age. I wasn't going to give up so easily.  Of course, in all of my combat training, I'd never been prepared for the possibility that my opponent would try to lick my hand to escape. I yelled in disgust and jumped back. "Gross!" Peony grinned in sadistic triumph. "That's what you get, zombie!"

   My eyes widened. "Zombie" was a slur towards people who'd gotten the Virus. It implied that you were disgusting - no better than a rotting body on the roadside. People said "Taken" or "Lost One" out of respect towards the people who'd fallen ill. Peony was only six. Where had she learned that? How? I glanced at the room our parents were napping in. No movement. I inwardly sighed with relief and bent down to face Peony. I tried to look intimidating. "Peony, that's a bad word. Don't ever say it again, or I'll tell Mom and Dad and you'll be in big trouble. Okay?"

   Peony looked a little scared, but she nodded. Phew. I figured she'd forgotten all about our fight and I wanted to keep it that way. Brightening, I straightened and said, "Can Scales help me pack? I still need my shampoo. The clear container with the green stuff in it. It's in the bathroom." Glad to have been entrusted with such an important mission, Peony skipped off down the hall, cheerfully briefing Scales on what they were supposed to find. 

   Following this pattern, the next fifteen minutes flew by and before I knew it, I was all packed. As a reward for helping and an apology for being so harsh on her, I fixed all three of us some snacks and we settled in for story time. Peony was still learning to read, so I let her take the lead on some simple books. Once we (read: Peony) got bored of that, I put on a movie and grabbed a blanket. By the time everyone got back, we were fast asleep.

   Later that night in Gen's room I stared at nothing and tried to fall asleep. Nothing worked, of course. I was too nervous. I felt like I'd just had seven shots of espresso injected into my veins. My  heart was racing and my palms were sweating. I haven't even boarded the bus yet. How will I do once I'm there? I scolded myself. Hours ticked by and my mind slowly shuffled towards sleep. I was half-dreaming when Lavender and Gen screamed simultaneously.

   Obviously this did not help my mood.

   I stumbled out of bed and fumbled for the light switch, the phrase "blind panic" never seeming more fitting. Finally the glare of ten thousand suns blinded me as the lights flicked on. I winced while scanning the room for danger, both from the pain of the sudden light and the possibility Gen or Lavender might be hurt. Aside from nursing a scratch mark on her left arm, Lavender seemed okay. Genevieve just sat there - almost like she'd just woken up and was adjusting her eyes to the light. Weird. 

   "Sorry, Lav," Gen mumbled. "It's fine. Why did you decide to scratch me, though?" Lavender asked. "It wasn't really a decision. I just woke up from a nightmare without realizing it and thought you were my dad," she answered. A lot of thoughts crashed into me at once, and before I knew I was doing it, I was kneeling next to Genevieve on the floor, trying to hug her.

   "No, ooh God no, my Dad wasn't - no," Gen stammered hurriedly. "No, um. He - he was Taken. I was nine. My brother was, too. Taken, I mean. I have nightmares when I don't take my Blu pill." She fell silent, contemplating her right hand's fingernails. 

      Lavender and I traded glances. We had never had anyone in our family been Taken before. We always knew that we were lucky in that way, but seeing someone who had experienced it firsthand was completely humbling. She was fourteen. It had been five years and she still had nightmares. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know," I apologized. "You didn't know because I didn't tell you," Gen smiled softly. "Still, it must be painful to go through that," Lavender said sympathetically. "I'll be fine. Go back to sleep, and we'll talk in the morning," Gen ordered. 

   I fell back on my pillow with an iron-clad certainty that tonight, sleep would be unobtainable.