The Untouchables: Blight

Chapter Three

Lori

We were at the end of a long hallway. As we walked, we passed two rooms on the right and two on the left, all the doors were closed. At the other end of the hallway was a staircase that led directly to the front door; we had to duck our heads to take the few steps to get under the ceiling on the first floor. We turned to the right to face the initial room which was just a sighting area, with a couch and a few chairs. I noted some tape of cracks in a few of the windows. I turned all the way around, now facing the stairs, to see that half of the back wall opens to a kitchen. I could not see anyone, but I could definitely hear them and smell some food.

Josh walked into the kitchen first. The talking stopped and he turned in the opening to face me. I could run now, make an escape, the door is right behind me and no one is guarding it, unless there are people on the outside. Despite everything screaming at me to run, I took a small step forward, then another. I rounded the corner to see the full kitchen. Behind me were the refrigerator and oven, beside me a backdoor. Countertops line both sides of the kitchen, a sink on my right and a stove at the other end on my left, and an island in the middle.

What was scariest was the number of people in the room, the large kitchen felt crowded with all of them. And they were just staring at me, even Josh. No one said anything. They looked to be in the middle of eating, a few plates in the sink, some still out with various foods on them. Most had a mug near them or in their hands. I felt so out of place but was stuck. I wrapped my arms around my stomach and I looked down and away; a hi was all I can muster.

"Name," a tall black girl sitting behind the island said; it was not a question, rather a command. When I looked up, I noticed there are two more of her.

A  moment passed then I responded, "Lori."

"Age," was all she responds with.

Another moment, "17."

"Lure."

Before I could say anything Josh spoke, "Tara. Cool it." The girl whipped her head to him but he did not flinch or even look phased. "She just woke up, and she's scared shitless," I flinched at that, "maybe give her a minute to take some things in."

The girl, Tara, huffed "Yes, Josh-y" the attitude already in her voice, " because I want someone who I don't know walking around, able to wreak havoc whenever she wants," Josh rolled his eyes, " we all need to know what is going on and what we are getting ourselves into."

"All I'm asking is that you take it slow, believe it or not, some people need time to process things."

"It's not that hard to just give information, Josh-y. Processing is figuring out why she is here, not what she can do," Tara's words bit.

"She doesn't even know what she can do!" Josh's voice rose. "She has no idea what Lures even are."

"You saw what I saw. One of two things is true, either she is just as dangerous as anyone here or she has been sent as a spy, and either way we need to know what is going on," Tara's voice rose to match his.

"Enough!" one of the other Taras, the one on the right sitting on the counter hopped off to intervene, " if you two wanna fight, you can go outside and hash it out." She took a breath, the two stayed quiet awaiting her next word. She turned to the real Tara, "Damn, you two sound worse than you and Dev after sex." I flinched. Josh stifled a laugh from that, as well as a few others.

"Clar," Tara warned.

"What?" she responded, smiling, "it's not like you two are exactly quiet." More people turned away trying not to laugh. 

Then, the third Tara chimed in, under her breath "try living with her, I'm either sexiled or desperately trying to block it out." And that was when the full-on laughter broke out. Tara was fuming. A few people pretended like they were trying to hide it but it was no use. She shot her head at some guy behind the island, he was sitting down, and the guy shrugged. something transpired between them: Tara's body tensed, unnaturally, and his eyes fogged over this weird gold color. Just as quickly as it happened, everything stopped. Maybe I was seeing things? Tara turned back towards me.