The Destroyer

15

Chapter 15

The next day I didn't stay in Dice's room. I instead went out and walked to the book shelf. I picked out "Ocean At The End Of The Lane" by Neil Gaiman and sat in Dice's favourite armchair, not even acknowledging his presence just a few steps away. He didn't try to talk to me, he was probably reading my thoughts. Yeah, I know you're here.

"I can't not be," said Dice's voice inside my head.

Okay, it's creepy. Get out.

"You know I can't. It'll be easier for both of us if you stopped thinking so much."

I sighed and turned over the cover, starting to read.

Less than five minutes later his phone made a buzzing voice. He looked down at it confused and his face turned totally lost as he read the message.

"What is it?" I asked.

He looked up with shocked face. "You said your aunt Cora was in coma for twelve years."

"She is. What's wrong?"

"Not anymore."

He took a few steps towards me and showed me the screen of his ohone.

"Aunt Cora's awake. - Shade."

Aunt Cora's awake. But how is that possible? We needed to get there right now. I, I needed, not we.

"I'll grab a jacket," said Dice as if reading my thoughts. Oh, right...

We went out and sat on his motorcycle.

It was still night.

He drove so fast we were parked in front of my house 10 minutes earlier than we should have been. I jumped down, handed him my helmet and ran straight towards the house. I pushed the door open and ran inside. I looked around, but saw no one so I ran upstairs. I heard Dice enter and close the door.

I ran into Cora's room and saw my parents there. They looked at me as if seeing a ghost.

"Oh, honey," mother said and pulled me into a hug. So did dad. In between their shoulders I saw aunt Cora sitting with her back turned to us, gratefully passing a glass of water to Shade.

I pulled out from the group hug and stepped towards aunt.

"Aunt," I said as I neared her, carefully looking at her to make sure it was her.

She turned her head to look at me. My eyes grew wide as I stared at her. She was almost the same as the last time I saw her, although there was one simple change in her look. In her eyes. In her blue eyes.

I stared at her in shock. I was glad, I was happy, but surprise had outweighed those feelings.

"Your eyes..." I choked out.

She smiled at me. "Is that the first thing to say to your favourite aunt?"

I shook my head as happiness started to outweigh everything else. My eyes watered and I jumped at her, hugging her tight. She was beautiful. Her voice was beautiful. Her eyes were beautiful.

"I'm so happy, but how?" I asked in whisper in her shoulder.

"Who's this?" I heard my father ask and I turned around to find him staring at Dice.

"He's a... friend," I said and Dice introduced himself.

"I want to talk to you," said aunt. When I didn't catch up she added, "Alone."

I nodded and we stood up.

"We'll be back in a moment," I said as I walked between my parents and lead aunt Cora to my room and closed the door behind us.

I was going to tell her how happy I was because she was awake and everything was going to be alright and I wanted to ask her why her eyes were blue, but she just cut me short before I even had a chance to open my mouth.

"I want you to know I heard everything."

I was confused. "Heard what?"

"When I was in coma I could hear everything perfectly," she lowered her voice. "I know you discovered the additive, I know you blew up the factory."

My smile that was slowly fading disappeared completely. "I- I-" I couldn't make out a word.

"We will talk about the victims later. right now I want to thank you."

"Thank me? What for?"

Was aunt Cora actually thanking me for killing people? I remembered her a lot less psychotic.

"My time was running out. If the sun radiaton didn't disappear, my device wouldn't stop working and I'd slowly die."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "I don't undersdand anything."

"Oh, dear, haven't you guessed by now? What do you think kept me in coma?"

"The fall from the second floor?" I asked, no longer sure.

She looked like she was just about to laugh. "Dear, a fall from second floor is dangerous, bur not enough to keep a woman in coma for twelve years. It wasn't even the same day. Can't you remember?"

I shook ny head. More confused. "I was four."

"Yes, and I was twenty-three. After the fall we went to a hospital and my leg turned out broken. Remember?"

Now that she's talking about it, I can remember it very well. I nodded.

"I fell in coma the next day. Not because of the fall, not becauss of the broken leg, but because my secret was spilling. The Government found out I had stopped taking the additive and they blamed me for some things, which were actually my fault. They would use a mind reader to find others like me. I couldn't let that happen. I made the others connect me to a machine which started controlling my wakeness. It was able ro function for twelve years. Originally, it was twenty, but we used it on someone else for eight years. If I didn't wake up, I'd die, but the woman that connected me with the machine died and no one else knew about the date. The sun radiation was keeping it together and when it disappeared, the machine broke and I woke up."

So there were others like her? Like us? How did she even know of that woman's death?

"How did you know of that woman's death?" I voiced my thoughts.

"You never realized you're all watching TV a little too loud, have you?"

I laughed. It was true. My whole family has always watched TV on full blast.

"There are others? Others that know about the additive?" I asked.

"Of course. There are a lot of us. At least were, twelve years ago."

"How is that possible?" I asked more to myself than her.

All the pieces were falling back together and suddenly everything seemed clearer. Every mystery I've ever encountered in my life had been just solved. For example how could a simple fall keep someone in coma for such long time or why the Gov haunted me down this much. This had happened before, people against the additive had showed up before and something tells me it was not a pleasurable meeting.