The next few days passed uneventfully... for me anyway. My mother made sure to keep an extra eye on everything I did. I hardly left the house, and when I did, Madi never let me anywhere near the infirmary. I wondered if Enzo was doing any better. Hirsh had already called a Community meeting and it had been discussed what they should do with him. Surprisingly, many people were okay with him being there. I guess it made them feel better about themselves by taking in a roamer. That, or they were just as curious as I was about the outside. Still, there were quite a few people who did not like him being here. Madi was one of those people. My Mother probably was to, but she was still too nice to voice her opinion. Either way, Enzo would stay in the community for now. Hirsh had made the decision to see what they should do with him once he was fully recovered.

As for me, my powers had started to manifest themselves more and more. Ever since the leaves had all fallen off the tree, I had been able to move heavier things farther than usual. My family didn't really seem to care, though. They were more concerned about the happenings in the Community. I can't really blame them. No one else really gets me. I don't even get me sometimes.

After the fourth day of Enzo's arrival, I woke up one morning to find Madi and my mother eating breakfast together. My father had already left for work, but it didn't make sense that I wasn't woken up to join them.

"Why didn't you call me down for breakfast?" I asked my mother.

"It's been a stressful few days, Zuzanna," she said. "I thought you deserved to sleep in."

"What are you hiding?" My mother was never any good at keeping a secret.

"Calm down," Madi said. "Not everyone is conspiring against you."

My mother put some food on a plate for me and kept her head down.

"What's going on?" I asked her. "You're both acting weird."

"Nothing's going on," Madi stated calmly, eating her food.

"Tell me, or I'll tell Clovis that you're in love with him."

Madi shoot me a look that sent genuine chills down my spine.

"Who, Madara?" My mother looked shocked.

"No one," Madi said hastily. She ran a discreet finger across her neck, directed at me.

"Tell me." I said again, happy with the leverage I now had.

Madi groaned and said, "I heard that Enzo is feeling better. They've already moved him to Hirsh and Baila's home and Hirsh might lead him around the Community today."

"Really?!" I stood up in excitement. My mother gave Madi a disapproving look. "Can we go see him?" I begged my mother. "Please!"

"You know how I feel about you being around this roamer."

"Yeah, but if he's out in the Community, what does it matter? Anyone can see him, why not me?"

"Because you're special, Zuzanna. What if he- I don't know- what if he really does have the sickness. What if you have a greater chance of getting sick?"

"Mother, that's crazy. Hirsh wouldn't let him out of the infirmary if he thought he would get people sick. Please, I just want to see him, now that I know he's okay."

My mother sat and picked at her food for the longest time, not saying anything. Madi had gotten up in a huff and took her plate to the kitchen. Finally, my mother looked at me and in her most serious tone, said, "Fine you can go see him, but I don't want you to touch him. Don't even get too close. We don't know how the sickness spreads."

"Thank you!" I gave her a tight hug and shoveled food into my mouth. I was finally going to be able to see my friend. My friend... I have a friend.

********************************

"Madi! How are you?" Clovis was standing outside his home with a couple other kids that Madi went to school with. Madi smiled sheepishly and waved at him.

"I'm good... How are you?"

I'm going to barf. I rolled my eyes. Madi pinched my elbow in retaliation.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"I'm great," Clovis smiled. He was handsome, I'll give him that. Smiling made his blue eyes twinkle. Blue eyes weren't very common in the Community, so he stuck out and it was the reason that so many girls liked him. That was my theory anyway. "Hi Zuza," he said to me, forcing me to snap back into focus.

"Hello, Clovis. Smiling really makes your eyes stand out. They're very blue." Did I really say that out loud?

... Oh well.

Clovis took it well and just laughed. "No one's ever told me that before. The smiling bit. Thank you. I take it you two are going to see Enzo?"

"Yeah," Madi said, trying to find her voice. I don't know why she always got so nervous around Clovis. You'd think after a while, it'd get old. Is that what it's like to really like someone? That'd get annoying real fast.

"Well, I have only seen him once. but I hear not many people have had a chance to meet him," Clovis said. "But given that Zuza found him, I can't think of someone who deserves to meet him more."

"I can't either," I beamed.

"So it's true then. You found the roamer?" A girl behind Clovis piped up. Marzie. I always thought her nose was too big, and maybe that's why she was mean to everyone. In any case, I decided A couple of years ago that I didn't like her. She liked Clovis and hated Madi, probably because Madi is a lot prettier than her. Marzie scratched her big nose when she looked at me and Madi. Almost like she was trying to get rid of a bad smell.

I made it a point to wrinkle my nose back at her before speaking. "It is true. And his name is Enzo, not roamer."

"Well, that's what he is. That's what I'm going to keep calling him," she smirked. "The dirty roamer."

I frowned at her. "Well, you're a brat with a big nose but no one calls you that- to your face, anyway."

"Zuza!" Madi looked horrified and grabbed my hand. "I'm so sorry about her, she's not very good about holding her tongue."

Clovis and the other boy there, Leland tried to hide their laughter by coughing. I grinned at Marzie, waiting for her response. She glared at Madi.

"Whatever, why don't you just take your freak sister and get out of here!" She shoved past us and took off down the street.

"Should we go make sure she's okay?" Clovis asked.

"I'm sure she'll feel better once she's made a few small children cry," Leland responded. He was short and skinny, with nappy hair and a permanent smile on his face.

"I really am sorry about that," Madi said to Clovis. "I didn't think-"

"I'm not sorry!" I said. "Marzie isn't very nice. Why are you friends with her?"

The three of them looked at each other uncomfortably.

"Sometimes friendship is a bit complicated," Clovis explained.

"Well, it shouldn't have to be. You either like someone or you don't. If you don't, then why hang around them?"

"Okay, that's enough of your daily dose of wisdom. Clovis, do you know where Enzo is?" Madi asked.

"I do. Follow me."

Clovis and Leland took us past the infirmary, near the center of the Community where Hirsh and his wife, Baila, lived. They had a small garden in an enclosed courtyard. There, he experimented in growing different types of fruits and vegetables to see if they could eventually grow enough for the rest of the Community. Most of the time, they died before they got too big. He got the seeds from other dissolved communities, but explained that some communities had different weather than what we had, and that's why the food wouldn't grow. It was disappointing, especially since he once gave me a piece of one fruit that managed to survive longer than the others; a yellow spiky fruit with tangy, but sweet flesh. He said it was called a pineapple, but I never understood how it was related to a regular apple.

Clovis opened the gate of the courtyard and led us inside. Hirsh kneeled on the ground, pruning one particular unruly plant. He stopped when he saw us approaching.

"Good morning!" he said cheerfully. "I take it you didn't come to see me, Zuza."

"Not today, Hirsh. I came to see Enzo."

"I figured. He's quite popular. He's off in the corner by the pear trees. Just be careful, he's still not quite up to snuff."

"Will do, thanks HIrsh!" I left Madi with the group and skipped over to the tiny orchard of trees. Enzo sat against a tree, reading a book. He looked to be alone, but I froze when I saw it.

A black, ashy figure hovered above him, it's body slender, frail and grotesquely twisted around the truck of the tree. It reached out a spindly arm towards Enzo's head and caressed it longingly. Enzo kept reading like nothing was there. I blinked, trying to process what I was seeing.

"Enzo!" I yelped.

The shadowy being turned to me and let out an ear piercing shriek. I covered my ears, but the sound penetrated through, making my head spin. It dissolved into the air, leaving no trace of its presence. I pulled my hands away from my ears and saw blood on them. Enzo ran to me, but as he got closer, his image became more and more blurred until I saw only black.