The Traitors

Chapter 1 - Fi

"Slow down a little," I warned from the passenger's seat of Emma's car.

It was "girl's night." That's what Emma excitedly declared our get-togethers. 

How original.

Once in a blue moon, our schedules would align allowing us the opportunity to hang out. We would get a couple drinks and shoot the shit. It had been awhile since the two of us were together, and I expected for us to get a little tipsy. What I didn't anticipate was being more sober than the one driving.

Emma bounced happily to the trashy pop song blaring through her speakers. The song itself was trashy, not the singer, whose name I could never remember. It was an obscure name, not something obvious like Taylor or Britney. It didn't matter. I wasn't a fan, but Emma was. She was scream singing as I watched her pin straight blonde hair whip around with the hoppy dance moves, she couldn't quite accomplish due to her driving.

I should have driven.

I didn't really want to go out tonight, but it was hard to tell Emma no, especially when she showed up at my apartment and dragged me out. At this point in our friendship, I stopped resisting her. It's not that I didn't enjoy going out with my best friend, but for the past year or so, I've felt uncomfortable leaving my house.

This wasn't a paranoia I developed due to an overactive imagination or some sort of anxiety. No, this was real. For the sake of my sanity, it had to be. Why else was the hair on the back of my neck always standing at attention whenever I stepped foot outside my apartment? It had gotten worse recently as the sensation trickled down my spine and made my stomach flip. 

I was being watched.

I know that seemed like a broad accusation, but I had enough evidence to prove otherwise. I had lived in this area for the past couple years, so I familiarized the cars regularly parked on the street. A black sedan started parking about a block away from my apartment building a few months ago. I didn't think anything of it at first, but when I noticed the vehicle following me when I would go out to run errands, that's when I started to worry.

Some part of me wanted to approach them, find out why they've taken such an interest in me, but there was one factor keeping me from doing so. I was what society would label a Traitor. The title given to those who took the Trait serum when it was released three years ago. If they were following me for this reason, the last thing I wanted to do was deliver myself to them.

Now, I had never planned on taking the serum, especially when my father was the one to create it, but Emma showed up at my apartment with two in hand and somehow convinced me to do it with her.

The serum promised anyone who injected it enhanced traits they already deeply possessed within their natural psyche. It was advertised as an improvement to make your ordinary life more exceptional. While it was true, those who took the serum had developed advanced talents, but they also had gained unexpected and unnatural abilities. Some abilities were too much to handle for some, which caused some chaos in the city. This resulted in several areas permanently shutting down due to damages. 

These individuals, now labeled as Traitors, were asked to turn themselves over to the Mallard Corporation, the developmental lab who produced and distributed it. Those Traitors who refused to go were rounded up like cattle to be transported there against their will. None of those people have been released yet which begged the question if they were still alive. After that, many Traitors did their best to blend in with everyone else...or at least that's what Emma and I did. 

Emma had a better shot blending in than I did. Her natural Trait gave her improved vision. She could see farther, clearer, and in the dark, and she gained enhanced reflexes. She was cat-like, but she could appear normal.