Starcrossed

Chapter 22

 Carson

 The young girl who had identified herself as Laine was the last person Carson had expected. He stood there for a moment, speechless, as he took in the sight of her. She reminded him of Luna in a way he couldn't quite place, and it was impossible to deny- her hair was the exact same color as Luna's.

 Carson paused, choosing his words very carefully. "What do you know about Luna?"

 Laine laughed lightly. "You mean we," she said softly, the edges of her lips turning up in a small smile.

 Before Carson could try to figure out what it was that she meant, Laine turned to her left and made a strange gesture. "It's okay," she called. "Come out. It's safe."

 There was a rustle in the trees next to her, and suddenly four more people emerged from the shadows. They seemed to be all in their teens, although one girl looked to be even younger than Laine. However, they had one thing in common- they all had lilac hair.

 "Who are you?" said Dresda quietly. The expression on her face was hard to read- slightly fearful, but at the same time, intrigued. She took a few steps forward towards the other kids as if they were familiar in some strange way. It must be, Carson realized, that these kids reminded her of her own daughter that she missed so much.

 One of the boys spoke up. "We're the Lilacs," he said. "I'm Kace." He leaned in close to Laine. "Laine,  I told you, you can't go jumping out at strangers like that! You're going to get us caught someday."

 "I'm sorry," said the young girl sheepishly. "I just couldn't help myself. They were talking about Luna!"

 "Wait!" Carson interrupted. "What's going on here?" He turned to Kace, who seemed to be the oldest of the group. "Were you the one I saw earlier taking off a wig? By the streetlamp?"

 Kace's face went red, and one of the older-looking girls shot him a look. "Um, yeah, that was me," he said awkwardly. "Sorry, I should've been more careful." Carson guessed this last line was directed more towards the others.

 "That's what I've been telling you, dork,"  mumbled the older girl. She was wearing a hoodie just like Laine, but with black skinny jeans and a pair of high tops. Her hair was messy and fell in choppy layers down to her chin. "Anyway, I'm Jett. You've met Laine and Kace, and this little one here is Indie." She pointed to the smallest girl, who was wearing a faded old tee shirt. Despite looking to be on the young side, she had a wild gleam in her eye.

 "And I'm Ashton," said the other boy. Carson noticed that he kept his eyes focused on the ground as he spoke. "Why don't you guys come back to the camp with us? We can talk there."

 Carson glanced at Dresda. It was a risk to trust them, but they were just teenagers after all. And they all had this...thing about them. He wasn't entirely sure what it was, but the way they moved and acted and spoke was just the tiniest bit different. It was the exact same way Luna had always seemed.

 "We don't have long if we're going to make it back to town in time," Dresda said softly in response to Carson's unspoken question.

 "You don't have to stay in the camp long," Kace interjected. "It's just that we've been waiting for so long to ask someone these questions.  We know things that nobody else does."

******

 The Lilac's hideout was the last thing Carson would have expected. It was in the middle of the woods, but they all somehow seemed to know their way through the winding trees by heart. Instead of a broken-down shack, there was a cave-like space in the side of a rocky wall. The front was covered by thick hanging vines, completely obscuring the inside.

 The inside was the most surprising, though. Despite being put together by a group of teenagers, it was better maintained than most of the houses out in the slums were. They had assorted light sources scattered around the place, which was actually quite large- about the size of a living room. It had a cozy feel to it, and in the middle of the large space were cushions of leaves and blankets in a semi-circle.

 "Please, come sit," said Kace, gesturing towards the blankets. "I know it isn't much, but it's what we've got."

 "No, no, this is amazing, actually," Carson breathed. "I would never have expected any of this. "Do you guys live out here?"

 "For the most part," piped up Indie, smiling widely. "Jett, Kace, and Ashton are always here. Me 'n Laine have to go back to home sometimes, though." Her smile slipped for a moment. "I don't really like going back home, though."

 Ashton moved over toward Indie and gave her a hug, a silent exchange that Carson knew meant there was something more to what the small girl had said. She didn't offer any more information though, and Carson didn't pry. Instead, he sat down on one of the blankets, as did Dresda.

 "I'm sure we'd love to tell you guys our life stories and all that, but no one's got time for that," began Jett somewhat abruptly after they'd sat down. "Anyway, most of what we know is thanks to Laine, so I'll let her tell you everything."

 Laine moved to the middle of the semi-circle and began to speak. "I was ten years old when it started," she said, taking a deep breath. "I mean, I've been like this my whole life obviously- I was born with lilac hair and I've always known I was different. My mom used to tell me that all the time. I never really met anyone that was like me. But when I was ten years old, that's when the story spread of Luna being quarantined.

 "Everyone heard about it. The way they described her...she was just like me. And just like that, it became dangerous to be who I was. My mom was afraid I'd be quarantined too, so she pulled me out of school and started buying me wigs. We moved to the slums to avoid detection, because Dr. Elm, who had quarantined Luna, was looking for other Lilacs. It took a while, but everything started to calm down eventually."

 Here Laine stopped, and wiped her eyes, sniffling a little. This time Kace scooted towards her. He took her hand, and she looked up at him gratefully.

 She took another deep breath, but this time her voice shuddered. "I was eleven when my mom died," she said quietly, and her voice cracked. "It was the Black Fever, because of course it was. Who here dies from anything else? Anything curable? By the time we knew she was sick, we barely had time to say goodbye.

 "It was a miracle my dad didn't get it, but not long after, he had a stroke. He ended up in the hospital and was taken care of by this woman, Nurse Ada. She did so much for him, and they became good friends. She helped him cope with the memory loss that the stroke caused him, and even after he came back home, she would visit.

 "Once when Nurse Ada came by, I was eavesdropping on their conversation. She told my dad that she'd moved over to working in the quarantine facility and was working with Luna. I guess she figured it was okay to tell him stuff because he wouldn't remember. But every time they talked about Luna, I listened in."

 "By this point, Laine was staying with us most of the time," Kace interjected. "She told us everything they spoke about. It confirmed our suspicions- it seemed that all of us were immune to the Black Fever, just like Luna."

 "We suspect we have the possibility to be carriers though, just like anyone else," said Ashton quietly. "We just wouldn't know, since it doesn't make us sick."

 "It's really hard for me and Indie, since we have to go home sometimes," continued Laine. "We always have to be super careful, because we never know if we're carrying the Black Fever."

 Kace sighed quietly. "We've been struggling since day one- all of us. We're a ragtag group and as far as we know we're the only ones of our kind. We strongly believe we have the ability to make a difference in stopping the Black Fever, but we don't know what to do."

 Dresda, who had been silent this entire time, finally spoke. Her voice wavered a bit, like she was unsure of exactly what she was asking. "Do you think...you could help us save my daughter?"