Read Online Evanescent by Carlyle Labuschagne - Free Book Online

dark than to walk in the light? I tried once again to still my mind, but thoughts just found their way back. The fury inside would never be dampened until I did… until I did what? I looked down at my dirty feet and blackened legs, at the filthy rag of a dress I was wearing, thought about how mad I actually was at myself for letting all of it happen. I wanted redemption from the unworthiness Enoch had left behind. I wanted revenge for every single damn thing he did to everyone. I would not let him get away with it. My mind twisted, pushed into the shadow of crippled love. Why was is it hard to love with all I had? Was I not meant for it? Was the Council right, and emotions the fall of the human race? Was love but fiction, made by rule breakers? I shook my head, but I was no human at all. Frustrated, I blew my breath out and onto the window, white clouds spreading on the glass before me. As I pulled my finger through the fog created by my breath, a path cleared beneath my touch and in that cleared path, lay the iridescent purple glow of Poseidon; stars so bright, I could almost feel their brilliance. Resting my forehead against the glass, I stared past the space-scape and caught myself staring at my reflection. The disease within my blood was turning me. I wanted retribution so bad, I could taste it. All the signs that shouted not to do it had no effect on me. I would not get it out of my mind, and was hell-bent on misplaced revenge. It sizzled beneath my skin, like an alluring snare.



I sat beside Maya on the steel-framed bed, her head lay in the comfort of my lap. Perhaps if I acted like a human it would remind me of who I was. Staring at the dark, gray, metallic walls, I felt hesitant to leave the craft and disembark back on planet Poseidon. I stroked her glossy, dark hair, over and over again, wishing I could heal her – will her back to life. Her steady, slow pulse vibrated inside of me, causing one solid knot within the pit of my stomach. I wondered if the fact that I could sense and hear vibrations was connected to my loss of physical feeling. Was I robbed of something, or was this just the next step in my evolution? Because finding Troy in that tower was almost like I was born to do it. Maya’s earlier screams played themselves back repeatedly inside my head. What had happened to her, to Arriana on that moon? And why? There was something recognizable in Maya’s face as I looked down, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I leaned back, resting against the metal wall of the craft, staring at Troy’s shadow as he moved through the archway that separated the cargo area from the cabin. He then made his way past the bed, winked at me, lifted some heavy bags from the floor, threw them onto his shoulder and glided out of the craft. Somehow, I was feeling a loss being back on Poseidon, and I was sure it was just my hesitation in having failed to bring back Arriana. It hadn’t even been that long, but I couldn’t put together a memory of her face. I heard voices coming from the hangar outside; slow monotone vibrations – Troy and someone else. Gently, I lay Maya’s head back on the white pillow, pulled the sheet over her and stood in the doorway of the craft, hovering just above the stairs spilling onto the glossy, gray floor of the hangar. There was a red and silver motorbike parked against the furthest wall. Some crates with the military badge burned into the soft wooden panels, reminding me of something that was just out of reach. Like a forgotten word on the tip of one’s tongue. My eyes rested on Troy, and a warm ache spread through my chest. Could it be that my ability to experience emotions deprived me of my skin’s sensation? Did giving into human sentiments mean I had to sacrifice the feeling of touch? Was I finally becoming totally inhuman? Which one would you give up: your ability to feel the cold, crisp air brush and whisk through your hair; the invigorating dance of raindrops on your skin; the