Of Solar And Dark (2018)

29 [E]

Edward Kenning

"The button that I pressed must have set off an alarm or he wouldn't be here!" Martha yells as she punches against more buttons furiously. The machine's hum grows louder, fighting to compete against the serenade of noise below- I can hear the whooshing of swords that Ellie and Kirk got from the back of the truck we came in and more thudding.

"Martha! Hurry!" I scream as I throw open the door leading into the room and slip in first, to save time.

"I'm doing all that I can!" Martha shouts back, slamming her knuckles against one final button before racing into the room, slamming the door shut behind me.

"The process will begin soon- I don't know how it's going to be like so just ride through it." Martha breathes, panting hard for air.

I nod, anticipating the unknown when I start to feel it. Vibrations that cause the floor beneath me to quake and the strangest sensation I have ever felt- a tingling feeling within my skin, blood surging through my veins at a slower pace and an unexplainable mask that blurs my vision.

The world tilts and spins around me but I am able to make out a dark figure, dashing up the stairs two at a time amd racing towards the panel. Sinking to the floor and mouth forming an 'O'.

A yell about how it's too late.

The fog that misted my vision clears and the new feeling that has been dragging along my veins, snaking from beneath my skin and the smarting of my flesh. It all disappears and suddenly, there's an emptiness within me.

Sebestian, I think.

That's when Martha collapses beside me.

"Martha!" The words are out of my mouth as I race over to her body. At the same moment, the door leading to the room swings open to reveal an angry looking man- my father.

"What happened?" I yell at him, ignoring the waves of shock that fight to filter the horror in my veins. His eyes darken with distaste as he kneels beside Martha, hands gently smoothing her hair. Her eyes are sealed shut and there is a grey tinge of her features. The rise and fall of her chest is absent and I try not to imagine a white sheet being draped along her body or slowly lowering her body to the ground.

But I still see it.

"She's gone." Andrew says cooly, finally removing his hands from Martha's face. Flinching at how steady his answer is, I get on my feet and stumble away from him.

"What happened?" I ask again, the answer becoming rooted against my tongue.

"Her cells were too weak. The radiation did more than terminate the specialised cells." Andrew wipes his clammy hands against the hem of his shirt, giving me a long stare.

"But she said that they wouldn't affect the main system!" I argue, struggling to contain my tears. My voice starts to dip towards the syrupy side but I don't care. I don't care that the man who has been lying to me all this while, who has been weaving a tale to cover the gapping hole in my life stands before me. No, all I can see is Martha's face, the way life slipped through her body silently and without warning.

"That's because she forgot to take one thing into consideration. The specialised cells that I implanted in her became attached to her main system..." His eyes flicker across the length of my body and I feel my face heating up, "You did not grow attached to yours."

"What does that mean?" I ask numbly.

"It means that Martha's main systems were too weak and accepted the specialised cells as their own, which led to her death. Something about you..." A few seconds after Andrew trails off, he snaps his fingers, eyes lighting up with a realisation.