Shatter

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*WARNING*  This chapter contains some drug refrences.  Drugs are bad guys, just say no.

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Chapter Nine

"What do you want?"  He asked as we laid together on the bed.  Our skin was so close I could feel the heat coming off of him.  I wanted more than anything, to reach out and touch him, but that wasn't possible.

"I want to...see the sun and feel the grass.  I want to be able to shake hands with someone I met at some fancy dinner party.  I want to go to school and get a job.  I want a normal life where I don't have to worry about being tortured for being different and more than anything, I want to learn what it feels like to wake up and not feel so damn alone," I said, struggling to fight the tears that threatened to start flowing.

"You're not alone Mel," he said softly.  I watched as his eyebrows furrowed together.  He gritted his teeth and moved his hand so it was mere inches from my face.

"What are you doing?"  I asked suddenly, panic rising in my chest.  I moved further away until my back was pressed against the cool, concrete wall.

"Just let me try something," he commanded softly.

"Jaison," I warned him.

"Listen Melinda," he said sternly.  "You're not going to hurt me.  I trust you, now you have to trust yourself."

"Jaison, I'm not sure about this."  I tried again.  His eyes shown with determination.  I nodded, knowing that arguing with him would be useless at this point.

His hand hovered inches from the flesh on my cheek.  I held my breath as his heat intensified, trying desperately to calm myself down.  As if that would stop him from disappearing.

After what seemed like an eternity, the rough skin of his hand connected with my flesh.  I waited for the awful twinkling sound to fill the air, but it never came.  I opened my eyes, half expecting to see him gone, completely shattered into dust.  Instead, the only sound was our steady breathing and my pounding heart.  In front of me, he remained fully intact with a huge smile stretched across his face.  I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding.

All at once, it was like a title wave of emotions.  Relief replaced fear, confusion replaced dread, and happiness replaced the loneliness I had been feeling for so long.  Then all I could feel was the soft flesh of his lips against mine and a twisting in my stomach.  My roots burned where his hands pulled my hair and my nerves tingled, sparking to life with the new sensation of human flesh against human flesh.

Then all at once there was this pulling feeling, like being yanked from water.

A guard ripped me up by my shirt, shaking me awake and destroying all remnants of the dream.  In the corner of my eye, I could see another guard pinning Jaison to the wall.  As my dreariness fell away and the situation registered in my mind, I pulled away from the guard, not to resist, but to keep him safe.  He seemed to sense this and dropped my suit on the ground by my feet, adding the gloves on top.  Only Jaison turned away while I dressed.

When I was fully changed and my gloves were securely in place, the guard pulled me out of my cell and into the hallway.  I struggled to keep up with their long strides, practically running to stay in step with them.

They turned right at the end of the hall.  My feet stopped moving instantly.  The guards pulled me forward roughly, showing no mercy.  The door to the boss’s office came into view.