Armament

Chapter 5 - Trula

I ended up going straight to bed when we got back to the Incipient floor, feeling slightly guilty for leaving Colin I set the alarm on the side of my bed for five minutes to seven so I can arrive for breakfast as soon as it starts. Although there wasn't much point in doing that because I couldn't sleep for the life of me, I kept waking up every hour or so, my stomach grumbling, my head pounding and my tongue feeling like dry skin.

I shrug on my hoodie and the new pair of clothes Evanel must have put in my room when his shift started. They mustn't have put the heating on yet because I feel like an icicle. I'm about to leave the room when I catch the scent of sweat under my arms. I sniff, pulling my face. I glance at the door leading to the bathroom, I've only been in there once so far and that was to use the toilet. Not that there was much point in going, I dribbled out a little bit of bright yellow pee and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't poo. I really do need to shower but I chickened out when I went to turn it on.

I slip on some deodorant and zip up my jacket hoping it will mask the smell and step outside. I can't really do anything about my oily skin so I just wipe it off with the sleeve of my jacket.

"Good morning," Evanel greets me, quickly standing up straight from leaning against the wall.

"I don't care if you stand like a normal person, I'm not going to tell my mum," I admit, walking ahead of him.

He ignores what I said, "You look tired."

I shrug, "Kept waking up."

"I can get you prescribed some sleeping pills if you want," he says kindly, seeming concerned as he glances at my purple ringed eyes.

"I'm fine, I just need to get used to my new bed," I walk a bit faster, indicating that I don't want to speak about it anymore.

"Are you going to eat anything today?"

My steps falter and I almost trip, "Yeah, of course. I'm starving. I just didn't feel like eating yesterday."

"Good, because using your abilities can burn a lot of calories. You know Aberrants burn more calories than the average human even when we don't use our abilities."

I pause outside the dining hall, "We? I thought you were human."

Panic flickers across his face, "I didn't mean 'we.' There's just so many of you here that I sometimes forget that I'm human."

"So, you're not Aberrant?"

He shakes his head.

"Good. Because I hate them."

I spin around and walk to the breakfast line. I feel my stomach curl as I realise that I hate these Aberrants. I can feel my whole body burning with hate for what they did to me. For scarring my face, shaving my hair and drowning me over and over and over again. I grab a tray, clenching it in my hands, wanting to crush it. I've never felt so angry before in my life.

I'm still seething at the table when Colin finally comes along, his tray piled high. I glance at my untouched pathetic amount of food, wishing that I had the ability to eat it. I got beans on toast because I hoped that my favourite comfort food would convince me to eat but no such look.

Colin is already choking down a sausage, "How long have you been here?"

I roll some of the beans around on the toast, "Not long."

"Are you okay?" I jump when his hand touches mine, "Your hands are freezing."

I pull away, sending him a tight smile, "I'm fine, just tired."