Laying in the middle of the room was a small silhouette reaching a height of about one and a half meters. The eleven-year-old girl was thin like a beggar, lips dry and broken, covered in dried blood that stuck to her worn and torn clothes.
The normally beautiful curly black hair - that resembled her mothers - was dry like her lips, brittle like old bark, and disheveled to the point that one could think she lived for years alone in the woods.
Hearing her name she slowly lifted her head like it was a heavy task. Seeing the figure with the gas mask she frantically crawled under the bed, cowering in fear.
Holding back the emotions welling inside him like a storm, Jim removed his gas mask and calmly stated, “Mia it's me; Jim.”
Mia didn’t seem to listen, as she didn’t move out from her hiding spot. Pulling a necklace out of his pocket he held it in his hand saying, “Look I even have your necklace.”
Hearing this Mia finally reacted and poked her eyes out from under the bed. If one looked closely one would see a violet hue in her brown eyes. She needed a moment to finally recognize her brother, but when she did she sprinted out of her hiding spot and embraced her brother, as strongly as she could.
Opening her mouth a hoarse and cracked voice said, “J-JIM! You a-re alive… I thought… you w-ere d-dead…”
“Shh, everything is fine now. Your brother is here,” consoled Jim, as Mia began a heartbreaking cry over his shoulder. He too began to silently cry, not being able to imagine the pain his sister had to endure the last few days.
What disrupted Jim was the thick aura surrounding Mia and the power it held. Even he who was not good at perceiving this energy knew how strong and deadly this aura was.
Feeling its power he realized that he didn’t have much time and eventually said, “We don’t have much time. I know that it is hard, but you have to listen carefully.”
Mia broke the embrace and her eyes widened in horror as she saw the face of Jim. “No… my curse, not again!” Saying this she backed off as far away from Jim as possible.
Only now did Jim notice that his nose started bleeding and he quickly put the gas mask back on. Noticing the horror and fear in Mia’s eyes Jim reassured, “Mia everything will be fine. I have a very strong body, could you tell me more about this curse?”
Fiddling with her fingers for a while she eventually replied, “When the bright light vanished I, Dad, and Mom quickly wanted to get into the car to drive to the school to get you…”
Guessing what happened Jim asked, “Were monsters on the street?”
Nodding Mia said, “Big, scary monsters. There were many monsters, many broken cars, and many people running. I panicked and wanted to run, but Mom held my hand and we fled to one of the houses not far away, he was a friend of Dad.”
Getting tense and slightly angry in his tone Jim asked, “What happened then?”
“At first everything was fine but from the shadows of where I was sitting a big black snake suddenly bit my leg. I was really scared and shook my leg. Dad’s friend was there to help me and tried to grab the snake but …”
Being silent for a moment Mia eventually said, “The snake slithered along his arm, to his throat, and bit him too just like me. Mum and Dad said I should run away so I did… There was a kind old man who helped me hide, but he…”
Not wanting to speak further about this she said, “After getting bitten I got this curse. Everything that breathes around me… bleeds. The eyes, the nose, the mouth, even the ears, everything bleeds. Just like you just did, are you sure everything is fine?”
Finally, understanding what happened Jim said, “I’m fine, more important is what happened to you, why are you so thin? When did you eat something the last time?”
Thinking for a moment she replied, “Three weeks maybe. I don’t know how much time has passed. I tried to eat, but every time I eat something I immediately throw up, only water stays inside my tummy. More important is what happened to Mum and Dad, are they fine?”
Hearing the question Jim slightly flinched and first thought about lying to her but decided against it. Taking a deep breath he explained, “Mia, our parents are not with us anymore. They are in a better place now, a place without monsters, a peaceful place. We now have to rely on each other, just you and me do you understand?”
Slightly nodding her head Mia asked, “Did they go peacefully?”
Smiling Jim replied, “Yes, with a big smile on their face. Like they told us, what do you do when you are sad?”
Taking a deep breath and giving Jim a big smile she said, “Smile with a big grin. Like you ate your favorite food.”
Rubbing her on the head Jim said, “Exactly, remember this, never lose your smile and hope. I will find a way to cure this curse of yours I promise.”
Holding out her pinky she asked, “Pinky promise?” Grabbing her pinky with his own he laughed. “Yes, pinky promise.”
Jim said this but inside him raged a storm of emotions. He couldn’t stay for much longer, even with the gas mask he finally knew why he felt like he was getting exhausted. This poison eats his energy away like some parasite, to feed Mia.
This was the only possible way he could explain how Mia survived until now. She was thinner, yes, but didn’t resemble someone who didn’t eat for three weeks, and with her small body she should be long dead, so her ability must provide her with nutrients somehow.
Not that it mattered how she was alive, only that she was alive. The problem was how he should tell her that he needed to leave. She was alone for almost a month now and should be able to survive on her own but Jim felt unwell leaving her alone yet again.
Making the hard decision he said, “Mia, I know that everything is hard right now, but I need you to stay here for a few more days. Your brother needs some time to find a cure, but I will visit you every time I can, but you have to promise that you don’t leave the house apart from emergencies.”
Jim could see the fear in Mia’s eyes of being left alone yet again. Looking at her he smiled and held his pinky out. “Pinky promise?”
After a while, Mia reluctantly grabbed his pinky with her own and said, “Pinky promise. But be quick.”
“Of course, I will try my best,” replied Jim with a smile. He continued talking with her for a while to make sure she was really doing fine and then made his way back. On his way, he returned to the house where his parents died, and carefully carrying both of their corpses over his shoulders he sprinted off.
He lost much of his energy and if this continued the energy reserve that he accumulated over the fight with the wolves, would be completely used up. He pushed onward and barely reached the place where he parted with Jake.
Jake was anxiously waiting and seeing Jim, carrying two bodies over his shoulder he was shocked. He could already guess who these bodies belonged to but didn’t want to believe it. Jim’s family and his own were very close and confirming their death, Jake felt a part of himself dying with them.
After Jim carefully put them on the ground, he almost threw the gas mask away from his head, as he gasped for air, coughing blood in the process, while a small trail of blood flowed from his nostrils.
Shocked Jake came to his side with worry written all over his face, “Jim! What happened? Is that the poison, oh god what should we do?!”
Coughing Jim said, “Ca-calm down. I will be fine, I just depleted all of my energy reserves.”
Jake first wanted to ask what he meant but seeing his aura he understood what happened. He could sense that it shrunk to the minimum and was weak, not comparable to the strong unmoving aura from before.
The best ability about sensing this energy was to see the aura of others, which could tell you not only what rank someone was in, but how high in the rank. The denser and pure the aura the stronger the user.
Noticing the miserable state Jim’s aura was in he had a bad premonition and asked, “Don’t tell me this poison-”
“Yes it does,” interrupted Jim, “It absorbs the energy around it to fuel itself and I also found the origin of it.”
“Don’t tell me another mutant?” Jake asked with seriousness and worry. Shaking his head, Jim replied, “No, not a mutant, but my sister.”
“Your sister?” Inquired Jake with utter confusion.
“Yes my sister,” confirmed Jim before explaining, “I first found the corpse of my parents and afterward Mia at our house where the poison is at its densest because she is the cause of it. After some snake bit her she developed this ability.”
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“Wait, what!? So you want to tell me your sister caused all of this? A poisonous fog that surrounds kilometers of the city?” Jake questioned in disbelief.
“Yeah, I said I know the cause not how the fuck that worked,” replied Jim with annoyance. “I will explain the details later for now, we will return to the others, we have much to do.”
They quickly got back to where the rest of the group was anxiously waiting for them. They were relieved about their safe return and startled by the corpses on Jim’s shoulders. They somehow wanted to say something, but didn’t know what could help Jim, so they just stayed silent and after a short discussion made their swift return to the church.
Their journey back was similar to the initial journey uneventful. Not many mutants dared to wander in these parts of the city and those who dared were not stronger than the second rank.
With little obstruction they quickly reached the church and after waiting for a while the gates opened. They were only gone for half a day and made a quicker return than expected.
Entering the gate Jim was greeted by Soliare, who saw the corpses of his parents and gave his condolence and a short prayer. No one really knew how they could help Jim to overcome this loss, Jake was the only one that knew that no word or action could reduce his suffering.
Silence and privacy was the only thing they could offer. Give him time to settle his mind and find peace. Every person acts differently with the loss of a person and Jim was one that first above all needed time for himself.
Standing beside Jim, Solaire was the first to speak. “We should prepare a funeral for them-”
“No need,” interrupted Jim, exhausted. “I will dig their grave myself. I wish to be alone. I do not want a big ceremony as we had with Lukas. No one here knew my parents well enough for them to attend; everyone except one.” Turning over to Jake, Jim asked sincerely, “Could you accompany me?”
“Of course,” replied Jake with a solemn and melancholy voice. Their families were, after all, very close and Jake was just like Jim mourning their death. They both underwent similar situations where they lost their families in this catastrophe.
Not many knew about the grief Jake went through after he found his parents dead, he didn’t tell many, for the reason that he didn’t want to be a burden in these hard times. Even Jim didn’t notice at first, only after Lukas funeral did he realize.
Afterward, they stayed together for the next few days, talking for hours to no end, training to distract themself. During this time Jim helped Jake overcome his loss and move on and now it was Jake's turn to do the same.
They have relied on each other since their childhood and were inseparable. Over the years they obviously had friends apart from each other but all of these friendships came one day to an end.
Only this one friendship was unbroken and they shared an indestructible bond, like a chain that connected them to one another. They knew each little secret of another and understood the other better than they understood themself.
They went through so much that the thought of a life without each other felt weird and foreign, no matter what fight, argument, squirrel, or disagreement they had they were never apart for long.
Both of them went silently to the graveyard, there was no need to speak, they knew exactly what the other one was feeling. In the light of the setting sun, they began to dig a grave. A grave big enough to accompany two.
For other families, it may have been weird but Jim and his family talked not only once about what they wanted to happen in the case one of them died. Many didn’t want to think or talk about their own death and avoided it, but his parents were different.
They talked openly about their last wishes in case one of them died and looking back at these conversations Jim felt very glad they had them. It helped a lot in overcoming the loss he was facing at this moment. These conversations were a sort of farewell, where they could tell about their last will - a conversation many couldn't have with their loved ones before they parted from this world.
Jim was prepared for their death and knew about their last will. In case they would both die his parents asked Jim three things.
First of all, they wished to be buried in the same grave, beside each other, hands together, eyes closed. Secondly, they wanted him to protect and care for his little sister. Lastly, they wished for Jim no matter the situation to live a happy and free life.
Like his parents, he should follow his heart and make decisions he wouldn’t regret. Jim’s relationship with his parents wasn’t always that good and only after Soliare helped them did they develop such a strong bond. Today Jim would not replace his family against anything in the world and was the greatest gift he could have ever asked for.
Swearing to himself to fulfill these last wishes, Jim slowly lifted the bodies of his parents and laid them into the hole beside each other, closing their eyes, and putting their hands over each other so that their wedding ring would be connected.
Taking a last look at the smiling expression of his parents Jim smiled like them from ear to ear, while tears trailed down from his cheeks. “Farewell, we will see each other in the afterlife.”
They died happy, with no regrets and Jim was sure to live his life the same. Under a cloudless sky, the moon shone beautifully on top of the grave underlining the smile of his parents for the last time.
Together with Jake, he buried his parents shovel after shovel, laying them to their eternal rest. While he buried them, he was calm, at peace, and silently mounted their death in the peace of the night.
Throwing the last scope of dirt on the grave, Jim embedded the shovel in the dirt and looked at the moon. With a smile and tears at the corner of his eyes, Jim found at that moment determination he had never before felt in his life. He was sure to protect and cure his sister no matter what. But for now, on this night he will only mourn.
Jake stood beside him, comforting him on this journey of sorrow and grief. Jim was someone who tried to put up a strong facade to seem like he was calm and not faced no matter the situation but in reality, he suffers like any other and at this moment this facade crumbled.
***
The night passed, the funeral finished and even if Jim liked to mourn more about the death of his parents he had a goal and not much time to fulfill it. They had another of their meetings with everyone important.
After everyone sat down, Jim interlocked his fingers and said, “First of all, I want you all to thank you for following me on this foolish expedition of finding my family. The good news is that I not only found my family but also the cause of the poison surrounding the west of the city.”
This was the first time they properly talked about the events that happened, while Jim ventured into the poisonous fog and they were very interested to finally know the cause of this poison. If they had bad luck it was the cause of another mutant or even worse an unstoppable natural phenomenon.
Taking a deep breath Jim explained, “Like you saw my parents perished under the bite of a snake and like them, my sister was bitten. But in comparison to them she not only survived, but somehow evolved an ability that causes her to breathe this poisonous fog out.”
A small wave of worried noises spread through the people present before Jake explained, “This poisonous fog is fueled by this new energy, and apart from leading to a painful death if inhaled it absorbs the energy of everyone who is surrounded by it. Jim lost almost all of his energy and we don’t know what happens if they are completely depleted.”
This information caused another wave of discussion before Dave asked, “So if I understand correctly Jim’s sister is the cause of all this poisonous gas in the west?”
Jim and Jake confirmed the question with a nod. Hearing the question Emma followed with a question of her own. “Do we know how far this gas can spread? I mean if it continues it will reach us eventually.”
“That is true, but even this ability seems to have its limits and has only a very small increase of distance every time, but yes eventually it will reach the church, “ replied Jim calmly.
“Okay and what do we do against it? I mean if she breathed this poison out can’t she wear something like a mask?” Evelin asked with curiosity.
Nodding his head Jim explained, “Yes that would work in theory. The reality is that this poison is in many ways special and is not comparable to normal poison due to it being infused with this new energy. It seems to have in condensed form a corroding effect on objects. My sister's room was practically rotting away, just because she stayed in it.”
Blinking in disbelief Evelin asked, “Well that makes it complicated, how can we even solve this problem then?”
“I have a theory on this,” intervened Jake, as everyone turned his attention to him. “As I said, this gas has its origin in this new energy, so the only way to resolve it is by using the same energy. The easiest option would be if Mia could control her ability and somehow stop it, but that is unlikely to work, as this ability is nothing like we have ever seen and our knowledge is too limited to find a solution.”
Thinking for some time Max said, “Okay it is clear that we don’t know enough about this ability nor this energy to find a proper solution, what is important is how we can learn more. Even if the poison is spreading it is very slow and we have time to research for a solution.”
Nodding his head, Solare said, “It seems like we have no other choice but to quicken our plans with the research institution. Even if my fears come true and someone tries to abuse this information we have no other choice. The world around us is changing too quickly and information about what is happening is crucial for our survival.”
After a while, Charlotte added, “I think that we not only have to research on our own but also the source. Meaning that we need to somehow reliably talk with Mia.”
“That is true, but what are we gonna do against the consumption of energy? One would need to kill countless mutants just to have a short conversation with her which is way too costly with our limited resources,” added Jake.
Stroking his beard Solaire said, “Not necessarily. We know that the changes in the third rank were huge compared to the second and made it a lot easier to perceive this energy even if you don’t have a talent for it. So why shouldn’t the fourth rank give us even more information?”
“Wait you don’t possibly want Jim to-” Seeing the glint in Solaire eyes Max shook his head in disbelief, “That is crazy! He would need to kill almost every mutant of the third rank in the city if he wanted to reach the next rank.”
Nodding his head Solaire asked, “We would need to kill them sooner or later anyways so why not go on the offensive and strike where they don’t expect it?”
The people surrounding the table grew silent, as they realistically thought about their chance of success. Eventually, Dave said, “If a small group of elites were able to kill these strong mutants our survival would drastically increase and if Jim is capable of this, I don’t see a reason why we shouldn’t try.”
Taking a deep breath Dave explained, “We have to consider the situation we are in. The mutants around us seem to grow every day in number and strength, while the headcount of us humans only dwindles. By now only a little more than four hundred people are left at the church and we have to make every life count. Against mutants of the first or second rank, we can survive with almost no casualties, but rank three is a whole different level.”
Grimly nodding her head Charlotte added, “After you guys left we continued hunting in the surroundings, but didn’t find another single survivor. It seems like we are the last survivors, apart from a few lonely wanderers that could have survived until now.”
Standing up Solaire said, “It seems like we have no other option left than to go out there and kill these mutants ourselves. In the process, we can let Jim reach the next rank to hopefully find more out. In the meantime, we will establish this research institution and continue surviving.”
They really had no other choice and with Jim being the only one who could even accumulate enough energy to reach the fought rank, there was not much to discuss. As soon as the next day they would begin their journey to kill one of the rank three mutant that was troubling Dave the last few days.