The Untouchables: Blight

Chapter Seven

Lori

I jumped away from the counter, that weird substance was back. I had first seen it in the room I sleep in, then it wouldn't stop in the forest, and now...I had been thinking of Mom, and home, and...Do they miss me? Did they make this the day they woke up and found me gone?

"Lori," Josh's voice was calm, but I was so far in my thoughts that it made me jump, "Are you ok?" I didn't move, my eyes transfixed on the material, which looked more like bubbling tar than rock, but split with those veins of green and purple. "What happened?"

After another long moment of me not speaking, Josh called for the others. Tara and Clara were the first to enter the kitchen, I still hadn't moved, hadn't even blinked. "Woah," was all Tara said.

I was happy; it was the first time I had felt content since being here. The memory was warm and made me think of something good, I felt like I could breathe, and this happened. The two other times, I had been scared, but this?

"Lori."

The tar, no it was harder than tar, it was solid maybe rock was correct, still happened. It still came, as soon as I was happy and wasn't thinking. All I wanted was to make something that would make me happy, and even that has been taken away.

"Lori."

If happiness was making this happen, how can I ever be happy again? How can I hug Mom? How could I touch anyone? How could I risk being near them? This was killing those plants in the forest, the tree was falling apart. How could I hold Caleb?

"LORI!" Tara's shouting finally snapped me to the present. I looked around, everyone was in the kitchen—staring— not at me but the thing behind me.

"What did you feel?" Clara's words were slow, like coaxing a wild animal. I tried to think, but my mind was scrambled. I didn't want to deal with them anymore, not the torture part. I pushed so hard into my mind, trying to think of what it felt like, but there was nothing.

I had felt warm, and safe, and loved, nothing else. I looked down at my hands, they were shaking. A hand suddenly came into view, reaching out, so close to my shaking ones.

The second it brushed my hand I pulled away. "No, don't touch me," maybe I had stopped breathing, but all I knew right now was that I couldn't get enough air into my lungs. I was panting as I looked up to everyone, who all looked mortified at me. Glancing around between all the faces, not really registering a single one, I spoke, "I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't," Clara said. It was her hand that reached out and was still close to me, concern in her eyes.

"You don't know that. Everything was fine, I was happy, and it still happened. AND I couldn't even feel it," my back pressed into the counter, desperate to get far away.

"Lori," it was Natalia who spoke this time, inching ever closer to me. My breathing got louder, my eyes wider, I wanted her to stay away, but with Clara on my other side, I couldn't move, "we won't touch you—ok? We just need you to breathe, this stress isn't going to help. Focus on your breaths, each one entering your body fully and then releasing until there is nothing left," she started to model the breathing continuing until I joined her.

When I could finally breathe again, my legs gave out, sliding down to the floor. Natalia sat down too, then shooed everyone away with her hand. They all stayed in the room but backed away.

"It's going to be ok, Lori. Can you tell me what happened?" Her voice was sweeter than usual. I stayed still, trying to collect my thought, opening my mouth to speak sometimes, but ultimately closing it. "It's ok, take your time, I'll be right here."