The Fawx Bite

V.

The door clicked softly behind me, my back pressed against the wood. Slowly I slid to the floor, wincing at my headache and the weakness of my body. It was nearly four a.m. and I had been under the needle and camera for nearly nine hours. Everything from a physical and athletic test, to blood draws, to x-rays, had been my life. Marek had been separated from me though that didn't mean I couldn't feel his apprehension and at times, pain and fatigue. During the last part of the testing, I had been stripped of my clothes and crystals and gems placed on me and around me. Incense had been lit. I remember energy flooding around and in my body. I felt as though I had been floating. Unconsciously I reached for Marek to discover that somehow while he was not physically next to me, his spirit was.

Dr. Grimm blew out the incense and pulled the gems away from me. A nurse placed clothes on the table next to me. I was finished apparently, though I wasn't officially dismissed. I didn't really know why because nothing had happened but I felt violated. I had waited for a moment, reaching out to Marek to see if he too was done with testing. But while he was okay, I could tell that he was still in the midst of experimentation. I hesitated before leaving the lab and coming across a woman who told me that all of my belongings were in a room and that it was ready for me.

Jin and Echo were nowhere to be seen.

Everyone avoided looking at me as though I was the plague.

Sighing, I picked myself off from the floor and went through my backpack. Pulling out my clean clothes and makeup bag, I headed into the bathroom. I looked down at my arm as I stripped; noticing where they had taken blood was bruised. I frowned, touching the skin lightly with my fingertip, instantly wincing at the pain. I shook my head, grabbing my makeup remover wipes. I let the shower run to heat up the water as I took off the mask on my face. In the sink, it looked almost like dirt. Without makeup, my face was drastically different. My nose a bit more prominent, my brown skin more bland, my eyebrows a little bushy.

Maybe this testing would help me to discover who my real father was. My mom would only tell me that she had loved him, but they had met at the wrong time. While Viola was my sister and the man my mom married had been my father, by all technicality Viola was my half sister and the man had been my step-father. Liane, my other half-sister, hadn't lived long enough for me to be as close to her. Though I still missed her face and felt the regret and guilt of her disappearance everyday. Rubbing my face to get rid of the thoughts I hopped into the shower, thoroughly making sure that I was clean.

It wasn't until I climbed out of the shower that I realized that someone was knocking on the door. I wrapped a towel around myself and opened it to reveal Echo. She was standing there in a baggy t-shirt that hung halfway down her thighs, legging and boots on her legs. Marek was standing next to her. He slipped into the room, exhausted. He gently touching my leg with his tail before hopping onto the bed and falling asleep.

As far as I could tell, Echo had on no makeup and even then her beauty was simply astounding. It struck me again how familiar she looked. Though I could not figure out why. I paused and then asked her, "Where are you from?"

She cocked her head at me, "Germany."

"You don't have an accent?" I pointed out, confused.

She smirked, "I don't need one. Just because I grew up in Germany doesn't mean that I am German. Now, get some rest. You have a long day ahead tomorrow."

I opened my mouth to protest but she closed the door in my face before I could formulate any words. I blinked, and then looked over at Marek who simply waved his tail in the air like a white flag, "Don't ask me."