burned out
A tear slipped down the young woman’s face as the tremors continued beneath her feet. A sob escaped her throat and her mouth wobbled. Fear had cracked through her ever-present smile. A small name passed through her lips.
“Gordon, help.”
A bright blue light burst from her chest, the man with no eyes that she had met the day before landing in the sphere. Grasping hold of his arm, she fell in and out of consciousness, her eyes fluttering shut as they disappeared from the sight of Bobbi Morse and Tomas Calderon. They had arrived just minutes before the quake had started, the man firing a single shot from an ICER at the young Inhuman, causing the shaking of the ground. Calderon was led against a tree, a branch creating a through and through wound in his right shoulder. Blood was pooling around him, and the ground was swaying beneath his horizontal feet.
Two days later, Skye awoke to the feeling of needles in her skin. Candles were lit behind her, giving off the smell of burning and mandarins. Small, red lights glinted off the mirror on the wall. In the corner there was a figure, who as they came closer, revealed themselves to be Gordon. Sensing Skye’s panic, he spoke, “Hey, you’re safe here.”
“Why can’t I move?” Her breathing became faster, passing in huffs, catching on the dead skin on her lips. The soul mark on her collarbone rising and falling, the small blue veins pulsing with her heartbeat. “What are you doing to me?”
A burning sensation passed through her spine as a young, blond man walked into the room, pushing the door open with his hip so not to drop the tablet he was holding.
“We’re healing you.” His hair fluttered lightly in the slight breeze and she could see a comparatively short soul mark on his forearm. This man had only the second soul mark she had ever seen, as she knew that only Fitzsimmons in her team had them, and they were very good at hiding the marks. “Leaving now wouldn’t exactly be...” He laughed, air cascading from his nose, sparks catching between his fingers in precise time with the sound. “You ever made microwave popcorn? Leave it in too long and it’s charcoal, take it out too soon and it’s a bag of kernels.” The fear fell from her face, the bed stopped shaking beneath her, though no new bruises arrived on her arms. A smile began to take shape as she recognised the words that had been inked into her torso in neat calligraphy. The man began to speak again. “Gordo, help me out here.”
The teleporter smiled. “You are on your own with this one.” He leaned down towards Skye, his smile widening. “I have to go now. You’re in very good hands. He’s smarter than he looks.”
The man smiled at the good-natured insult, fake glaring at him. “How do you know that?” Lifting himself from the chair, pausing for a minute as the floor stopped swaying beneath him, Gordon moved towards and out of the door. “He’s been by your side since the moment you got here.” The man smiled again, as he so often seemed to do, picking up the tablet again and making some swipes.
“Who are you?” His head snapped up from his work, putting the pieces together in his head, rubbing his fingers over the mark on his forearm. He walked over to peer at her collarbone, where the beginning of his monologue resided.
“Right. Uh, I’m Lincoln, your transitioner. And apparently your soulmate.” His shoulders shook and his face brightened again. “I keep forgetting that you’re new to all this. He stuttered on the first syllable, taking two small steps backwards. “Everyone who goes through terrigenesis has a transitioner to help. And, like us, some people have soulmates. We’re the first pair to join here for a very long time though.” “I know the stories, Lincoln. Please cut to the chase.” He took the chair that Gordon was previously sat in and dragged it towards her bed, taking the seat in it, shakily inhaling as their marks pulsed in unison for the first time, quickly settling in the same rhythm. “Imagine a thousand years of evolution taking place instantaneously. That’s what happened to you after the mist. These treatments, the needles and the aromatherapy, are helping you, adjusting your body to the change, quickly and painlessly.”
She nodded, before her face twisted in pain. “When can I leave?” She asked, “My friends are in danger.”
“They’re not, Skye. You’re the one being hunted.”
They paused, a tear slipping down her cheek. Lincoln grasped her hand, intertwining their fingers and squeezing her palm. “I’ll leave you to get dressed. Put the needles in the white tray and the coverups in the blue box. Your clothes are already in it."
“Thank you,” she responded. He squeezed her hand again, rising and leaving the room.
Half an hour later, Lincoln Campbell knocked on the door to the transitioning room that held his soulmate. “Hey, how are you feeling?” The concern on his face was genuine as the girl in question turned towards the door that was being opened, her hair swinging around her neck, small, wispy strands escaping the tight braids that she had put them in.
She ran a hand over them, the other reaching to press against her collarbone. “Kind of normal,” she replied, a small smile on her face.
“Normal’s good.” She nodded, a small sound of agreement rising in her throat. She reached towards her jacket as he spoke. “We flushed your lymphatic and circulatory systems, so you'll be weak for a few days, but...” He trailed off, noticing her hand’s curl up at her sides, the small tremors shaking a jug of water on the side. “What’s wrong?”
The muscles in her face curled up, her neck contorting as he let go. “I need to get a message to my friends.”
Sympathy and what seemed to be pity made a presence in his eyes. “We can talk to Gordon when he gets back.”
The taste of copper entered her mouth, a small chunk of skin falling from the inside of her lip. “Where are we?” Her eyes trailed around the small room, taking in the décor, though it gave no clue to their location.
“No one really knows. The official name is Chinese, I think. It’s called Lai Shi, but it doesn’t translate very well.” He walked towards the double doors that were painted red, though it was peeling, and flakes fell to the floor beneath his hands. Skye was still facing the other side of the room, and he smirked as he continued. “So we just call it Afterlife.” She turned towards him, and a sound of astonishment escaped her.
Grasping his hand, Skye dragged Lincoln through the secret town. The man on her hand came into view, and she finally spoke. “You say that the name of this place is Chinese. Does that mean that we’re in China?”
His shoulders lifted. “No one knows, only Gordon. He’s the only way in or out and he’s the only one who knows where we are.” She smiled again, letting go of his hand and slowly spinning in a circle. “It keeps us secret and safe from the outside world.
“Or it keeps us prisoners.” She looked towards him; her eyebrows raised as if to tell him to challenger her.
“You’re not very trusting, are you, Skye?”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “I woke up naked on a table in a place no one can even point to on a map, and then I met the man who’s supposed to become my entire world. Call me crazy.”
“You weren’t totally naked, you had clothes on, that I was myself thank you!” He chuckled, amusement rising. “You also asked Gordon to bring you here. No one is going to force you to stay. Most of us like it here though. But as much as we’re not going to force you to stay, we won’t force you to leave either.”
She smiled once more, thankfulness bubbling in her heart and threatening to explode. They continued their walk, reaching what was clearly the main attraction of the town. A small fountain was in the centre of the square, and she could see copper and silver light reflecting from the metal in the sunlight. “So, you live here?”
He shook his head quickly. “No one lives here, or at least not forever. It’s like a favourite city or a way station. It’s the place you go when life gets too much. I’m from Cincinnati, med school. I’m brought here when I’m needed.”
Many of the Inhumans turned to look at Skye over their shoulders as she walked past, though some tried to be more discrete, just looking through the corners of their eyes. “Why do I feel like the new kid in school right now?” Lincoln looked towards her inquisitively, feeling his mark pulse in time with her heart, noticing her panic rising. She pressed the heel of her hand to her clavicle again, the fingers of her left-hand twisting, the long nails scratching against soft flesh. “I thought you said that everyone here has powers and that this is normal.” Her words came out in a garbled mess.
Lincoln lead her to a seat, pressing her into it and sitting across from her, pulling her right hand and pressing in to his forearm, pushing his hand against her collarbone. A golden light sprung from them, and the people that hadn’t been looking at them now turned, though the pair didn’t notice them, Lincoln pulling Skye out of her panic, and her too focused on not making a quake. “No, Skye. This doesn’t happen. These people are descendants, yes, people who carry the gene who are waiting to be chosen. Not only were you not prepped or chosen, you did it old school, with a diviner in a temple. That doesn’t happen here. Here we just stick them in a room and smash a crystal.”
She nodded, a small quake escaping as a tear fell down her cheek. “I didn’t want this.” Lincoln nodded, pulling her up and moving away from her as she uncurled her hand from his forearm. “Raina, the woman who changed with me..” He nodded, the name registering with him. “Gordon took her and my father. Are they here?”
“I can’t tell you where Gordon takes people, but I can promise you that there is no one here who will harm you. You’re protected here, Skye.”
He led her to another room. “This is yours now, for as long as you’re here.” Skye’s eyes flitted around the room, trying to catch her brain up to everything that was happening. “Gordon brought your bag from the cabin. Take some you-time. Relax.”
“This is my fourth bed in the past week, and only two of them have been around people.”
“Trying to protect you from yourself, I bet.” His sarcasm wasn’t missed as he picked up one of Simmons’ inhibitor gloves.
“She was trying to... To help.”
“You’re not human anymore, Skye. You passed and graduated from that class. I’ll see you tomorrow, look at your gift. After all, there’s no going back, so why not train?”
Although she didn’t say it, she still thought that her gift was a curse. “Pizza tomorrow, by the way.” She laughed; a small tear escaped her eye as his words set in. Her powers were truly irreversible. “Deep dish. Chicago.”
“Nice to see his gifts aren’t being wasted,” she shot back, a smirk growing as she wiped the tear from her cheek.
“Seriously though, sleep.” He put the key in the lock of the doors, exiting and leaving the key for her.
She walked after him, smiling sadly as she locked the door, collapsing behind it and sobbing more than she ever had that night.