The Color of Knowledge

Chapter Fourteen (pt. 3)

"I watched my grandmother kill herself," said Ivy. Barely a whisper. "I could have stopped it, but I didn't."

Keegan didn't say a word and Ivy wondered if he had heard her. She turned to look at him. His eyes were closed.

"I'm sorry," he said. "And I really mean it."

Ivy's eyes were dry; she held a scowl. The expression wasn't directed towards Keegan in any way, but towards herself.

"I could have stopped it," she said. "I had been hiding in her closet, waiting to scare her. It was something we did. A game. She came in and sat on the edge of her bed with a knife from the kitchen. She had been crying. I could tell because the trails from her tears had made streaks down her face. She slit her wrists and lay back on the bed, waiting for death to come. I don't know why I'm telling you this..."

"You can stop if you—"

"I was only nine. I could have just come out of the closet and stopped her, but I thought of her. If she was going to do it, did I have a right to stop her? I thought it was her choice if she wanted to do it. That doesn't mean that I didn't love her!" Ivy grew louder. "She made a choice! It wasn't up to me! I thought of her. I could have stopped her, but I didn't, because it wasn't my decision."

Ivy gathered her broken breath, piecing her thoughts back together.

"That was empathy, right?" She looked Keegan in the eye, becoming aware of any movements that would give him away for lying.

"Yes, in a way," he said. He didn't scratch his nose or rub his neck or look too hard at her. It wasn't a lie.

A noise behind them made them both turn around.

"You guys should learn how to whisper," said Zari, emerging from the tent while rubbing her eyes. Her hair stood at odd angles upon her head. "Good thing I'm not so tired anymore or there would have been hell to pay."

Milo emerged next. Zari was quick to tidy her appearance.

"Are you okay?" Keegan whispered to Ivy.

Looking to the ground, she nodded. "Please don't tell anyone."

"I wouldn't think of it."

"We should get going then," said Milo.

After dismantling the tents, they ate and set off into the late afternoon. Two hours later, they found themselves nearing the clear tube and pile of dead. They stopped a few miles away.

"We got here faster than I expected," said Keegan. "These land creatures sure do come in handy."

The group dismounted the animals and stood looking up towards the sky. It was hard to see The Society from where they were, but they all knew it was there.

"We don't need the land creatures anymore," said Milo.

The creatures stood idly by, unaware of what was going on. Ivy approached one and stroked its velvet coat one last time, sad she hadn't liked the velvet dress her grandmother had created just for her. After unburdening the bags from the back of the creatures, they somehow knew their usefulness had come to an end and set off to the North.

"How do they know where to go?" Ivy asked to no one in particular.

"Who says they do?" said Keegan.

"I guess you're right," said Ivy with a hint of irritation embedded in her voice. Keegan always seemed to have an answer to everything. Sometimes an answer is not needed.

The four walked the rest of the way to the tube—the smell of rotting flesh grew stronger with each step. Keegan and Milo, having not been exposed to such things, cried out with shock and horror at the sight, now closer up.

"This didn't look like a pile of bodies from back there," said Milo, covering his nose and mouth with his hand and looking away.

"Why...Who..." Keegan had a hard time expressing himself.

"We can explain later," said Ivy as she hurried over to the heap. "The air creatures will be here soon, it's almost four." She was about to start climbing when she saw him.

Alex Turner protruded from the mountain of dead, inexplicably dead himself. The worst was not the shade of gray and navy blue he had turned, but his eyes that were still open. He was looking at Ivy. Staring at her.