origin of the tree

Chapitre 2 Who the city holds

Tat

My shift is over, thank God.

I rush to the subway, not wanting to make my sister wait more that she already is. The streets are mostly empty, i just meet a few people walking their dogs. 

As i enter the empty restaurant, i see her in the back eating a sandwich. Jacky notices me and i wave at her.

I sit in the seat in front of her as she passes me another sandwich. It's 8 : 15 pm and i'm starving.
I only have the time to take one bite before Jacky says :

''There's been an accident at the Niva's research center this evening. About 20 deaths.'' She casually tells me, like it was a good thing.

I choke a bit before swallowing. The research center was a eco friendly lab, dedicated to saving in danger species in local flore and fauna. They do school tours sometimes, i went there multiple times, i cant belive so many people died in such a kid friendly space.

''What?? What happened??''

''No one knows, everyone that was present during the incident are dead! And the security footage is mysteriously gone.''

She looks at me with her blue eyes, and i know i have to ask...

''What are your theories?'' i say, fully knowing she will probably say some crazy stuff now.

Jacky puts down her sandwich and takes a breath.

''A genetically modified creature killed everybody and made the cameras explode creepy pasta style''

I continue eating my sandwich, listening to her rambling.

''I did some research and what they do is like, super sketchy. I compared the numbers and other stuff from other research centers and its like not at all the same. It should be! And they almost never release to the public what they do until the project is finished. like the genetically modified bee they did a while back. They could do experiments on humans like that! I'm convinced they're hiding something, ''

I just nod, it's still interesting to listen about all the things she can come up with.

Time passes and we go home, its a crappy apartment but at least its in a good neighbourhood.

She keeps coming up with other theories and conspiracies all evening. I remind her that we have a skype call with Lou tomorrow morning so she better get some sleep now.

She pouts and barricades herself in her room for the rest of the night.

Before going to sleep i clean a little and do some homework. Im taking online classes to become a secretary. Right now i work at a triff store, and sometimes I babysits, but i know if Jacky wants to go to college she will need more money than i can provide.

Jeez, sometimes I feel more like her mom than her sister.

On that thought i go to bed. My sleep is not peaceful.

...

Im in a strange place, the walls are grey but theirs no roof, instead it's a purple sky. Thats bad, every time purple is in my dreams, weird stuff happens.

There's a man in front of me, he's standing but i know he's dead. Blood is dripping from him and its covering the floor. Then the body moves like a puppet on a sting, he hovers off the ground and circles me. I turn around to realize he disappeared. Now there's a woman here. Covered in his blood. She's on her knees and i can hear her sob.

I go to see if she's okay, but i cant move and there is purple cracks in the walls. I yell at her, but she does not hear me.

The walls start to fall apart, the woman is still crying and i see my sisters standing behind her. Their faces are gone. 

The walls become shards of glass and the purple sky is everywhere.

The woman takes a shard.

She launches at me, and then, using the shard as a sword, impales me. I yell and our eyes lock. 

She's still crying. she did not want to do this.

Her face is printed into my brain. She looks like me: brown hair, caramel skin, a scar on the left cheek mirroring my own.  

I calm down, i fell nothing but understanding for the stranger. I close my eyes.

 The walls are gone, purple is everywhere, the floor crumbles under my feet.

I hear a voice, telling me to wake up.

...

Jacky is yelling my name, wanting breakfast.

Still shook from the dream that i know i wont forget i tell her to shove it and do it herself. I take a few minutes to breathe and remember both Jacky and Lou are safe. And the woman does not exist.

At least i hope so.

Begrudgingly i get up from the heaven that is my bed and make my way to the kitchen, where Jacky is making breakfast. I still think about the dream but i don't talk about it.

I set up the laptop for the online call later.

Jacky gives me a grilled cheese.

''I spitted in it'' she says whit an evil smirk.
''Is that so?'' i respond, raising an eyebrow.

I have no doubt that's true. But i still eat the whole thing out of spite.

Jacky looks disgusted, eating her own grilled cheese, and I smile at my victory.

...

After breakfast, we wait for our other sister to call, Lou. She lives in Canada now, her family moved there years ago.

We got putted in the foster system when i was 8, Lou 2 and Jacky 1. Even if we are sisters they separated us pretty quickly. Lou lucky enough was adopted on the spot, she did not even know she had sisters before a few years ago, same for Jacky, but she did not get adopted, she kept being moved around even as a baby. They said she brought bad luck or something.

Pretty dumb if you ask me, Jacky is one of the best kids i know.

Me? Well i was passed around too, i was lucky to have decent foster homes, but i never got adopted. I was also the only one to remember the other two.

I asked the system to let me contact them, and thats how i found them. It was weird at first, but now we are pretty much like any sisters.

When i turned 18 i proposed them to live whit me and get out the system, Jacky agreed immediately. We have been living under the same roof for about 3 years now. But Lou declined, she was happy were she was, but she still kept in contact with us and every time we can we call each other.

Today was that time.

...

''Good morning, sisters!'' Lou's voice coming from the screen, happy as ever.

She's dressed up, contrary to us still in pj's. She looks overjoyed, like always. I still don't know if her happiness is from the call or if she's just a very happy person in general.

We talk about our week, Jacky tells her about her conspiracies. I can see that Lou takes every words like a sponge. But after a while she spaces out, her eyes unfocused. She's here but i don't know if she sees us anymore.

''Ey Lou you there?'' i ask her

''Don't... what? Yes, i am here. Hello. Sorry it's still early so my meds haven kicked in yet''

Lou as ADD, witch makes these little moments pretty frequent, wether she wants it or not.

Back on earth once more, Jacky is about to go back to her speech but Lou interrupts her.

''Can i visit you guys during spring break?'' She ask, uncertainty audible in her voice.

We haven't seen her in person since before the foster system, so might say we never met.

Jacky screams a big yes, running around the home to show her excitement. I told Lou of course she could, even if spring break was like, in a week from now, we could manage.
We were all exited, she told that she wanted to visit for a while now, but did not really know when to ask.

We talked for a few hours, Lou showing her drawings, Jacky talking about theories and planing what we would do when Lou got here.

...

When the call ended is was already midday, we ate and played video games for the rest of the day. At least until Jacky got a notification on her phone. It was an alert message.

''Great accident on route 4, three deaths and the witnesses described a large beast causing the incident...''

Route 4. That was the road leading to Niva's research center...

''OH mY gOd, did you hear that?? Its proof! It was a beast!''

What? That meant nothing, it must have been a bear, that could not prove her theory at all. Right?

Right?