Luminescence

Six.

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As Hudson left my head, I released a shaky breath that I had been holding back for way too long.

Fear finally escaped from my system, as the original lights to the hallway turned on, now enlarging my view distance. I continue to walk, like nothing had ever happened as only one sentence could form in my mind.

I needed to run. From Hudson, from the Rebels and the Plague.

My mind became lightheaded as my pace increased, all of the information I had taken in the past hour was weighing me down like a brick. I found yet another empty hallway with this time a dead end, with one singular door at the edge of the hallway. It was a janitors closet. Running in there, I slam the door behind me and immediately sink to the ground holding back a floodgate of tears.

"My my," a feeble voice says from the corner of the room, startling the living life out of me. "You look stressed, my dear."

I turn my head to see an elderly woman sitting in the corner of her room, and I sigh. This wasn't a janitors room... it was a bedroom. The lady looked at me with concerned eyes, while I was embarrassed out of my mind.

"You have no idea," I say laughing like an insane person. "I think I'm growing wrinkles from all of the stress being put onto me." I make eye contact with her and she chuckles. Oops, maybe I shouldn't have made a wrinkle joke around an elderly lady...

For some reason, I felt as if I could trust the woman sitting near me. She gave off a different aura than Wes and Lana, especially since she didn't introduce herself as a surgeon who was about to perform an operation on you. Warm and inviting seemed to be this old lady's thing.

"Talk to me, honey. What's on your mind?"

So I told her. I told her everything that had happened in the past three weeks. First, I talked about the incident on the roof and how I had my first glimpses of mutant abilities. I told her about the mandatory mutant checks, how I didn't test positive for altered genes, and how Commander G-R72 managed to confiscate our whole junkyard and every scavenger that set foot on it.

Then, I told her about the machine incident. With wide eyes, she paid attention like it was the story of the century. For the first time in years, she made me feel important. She had set whatever objective she was doing prior aside, just to simply listen to my story. It felt amazing.

The only part I didn't tell her about was the fact that Hudson, or in other terms Commander G-R72 could get into my head, and my head only. I didn't want anyone knowing that major secret, because I could easily be kicked out for 'conspiring' with the enemy.

"You know," the elderly lady starts. "Believe it or not, I went through the same troubles you did 58 years ago." She chuckles, her eyes going soft as she recollects her memories from decades ago. "I had no idea what to do either. I felt like a lost puppy in a herd of buffalo."

My eyes widened. "So you're a mutant too?" I question. Holy moly, this lady was now one of my favorite people ever, even though I only had one other friend in my life.

She nods softly. "I'm sure you don't trust the people here. Neither did I at first, actually. Wes and Lana... they can be a bit wacky sometimes. But no matter, after a while you will get used to them."

"No kidding," I mutter and roll my eyes, letting her continue.

She scoffs. "My goodness, where are my manners! My name is Priscilla. I swear my old brain can't even remember to do the simplest things like introducing myself anymore!"

Priscilla reaches out her hand for me to shake, and I scooted over across the floor to give her a smile and return it. "My name is Mara."

Priscilla's eyes suddenly widen, as if she had just seen a ghost. She turns to me and inspects my face one more time, her gaze moving over every nook and cranny of my face. Her whole mood seems to shift all at once as if she were recalling an older, sad memory. I noticed that her eyes were softer as well, something that made my heart itch.

But she paid no attention to it, as her peppy self returned to normal in an instant.

"Continuing. When I first got here I was afraid. I was downright terrified that I had been taken off the streets. I didn't talk to a soul for two weeks. But in the end, these people would give me a new life. A new home, in fact. They trained me to be the best that I could be, while I met other mutants that I never knew existed. This was all before the execution order, of course..." her voice trails off sadly at the end.

I softly nodded at her last sentence, not wanting to get into the details.

"Priscilla, I know it's not my place to ask. But did you ever know Commander G-R72?" I question, and the life in her eyes suddenly diminished in her eyes once more.

She nods. "He used to be a Rebel, actually." My eyes widen and I look up to her. "Long ago when I trained mutants, he was one amongst many of my students. He was kind, sweet and generous. It's such a sorrow that his heart of gold turned to pure black in an instant," she says with pity. "He was also very powerful. So powerful that the day he turned evil, not a single mutant could stop his rage. He killed every hero mutant in this base but me. I still remember the day when he left. I was the last mutant standing as my fellow hero mutants laid deceased in front of me. His young face looked torn between guilt and hatred, as his beady, glowing red eyes stared into mine for one last time. And then like a wild hyena, he was off." She sighs. "We even had to change locations in case he were to exploit our location to the Plague. It was a very sad day for many of us."

A heavy silence fell between us as my heart aches from her words.

"I encountered him. He wants to kill me too," I whisper, twiddling with my thumbs nervously. "If I step foot outside of this base, my biggest fear is that he'll be standing there with his sword, waiting to impale me."

Priscilla smiles softly. "That could never happen. For four years now, that commander has been searching the ends of the planet for us. He's practically clueless. Even if you were to leave, it would still take him months to find you."

I let out a frustrated sigh. "What are the Rebels planning on doing to the Plague? You guys couldn't possibly have an army large enough to take them on, do you?"

"That knowledge would unfortunately require Wes' assistance. He's the big brains of Rebel operations, not me. For the past seven years, the best I could do for the people here is to make knitted sweaters! These shaky hands aren't good anymore!" She exclaims and I smile. "But whatever their plan is," Priscilla starts off, pausing to look around suspiciously for any listeners. "Whatever the Rebels want to do after they defeat the Plague has been kept a secret." Her voice is hushed. "I'm not sure if it's a trust issue, or just confidential. But I'm worried that it's something that I won't like. Remember to keep your eyes open at all times." I nod, agreeing with her.

Whatever their plan was, I was going to get to the bottom of it. I had to, or else there wouldn't be any more trust in the Rebels than I already had.

"Would you like for me to give you a tour of the facility? I can see that you're supposed to be locked up at the moment," she chuckles and my eyes widen. Was that part of her mutant ability, being able to see the past of a person's memory? "But no matter. Follow me, and I'll show you around this labyrinth of a place."

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My love for Priscilla 💙❣️❤️💓💚💘💝🧡💚💕💚💘🧡💝💛💞💛