Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 

 

            Eve was brushing her long pink hair when she heard a knock on the door. It wasn’t until the day before yesterday that mother told her why she and Adam looked so different from everybody else. It’s because they were. They were human and yet they were not. She still wasn’t sure what mother meant when she said the crystals blessed them, but she understood it enough to know that because of it she couldn’t live a normal life. Her bright pink eyes and hair would never be accepted in the ugly and brutal outside word.

            The knock got louder and Eve nonchalantly put her brush down and opened the door. There stood Adam with his bright sapphire eyes and hair. Adam was two years older than her, and at the age of nine his only concern was seeing the outside world despite all of mother’s warnings. He wasn’t so interested in himself as he was in others. Unfortunately his curiosity often dragged the others around him into his circle of trouble. The last time Eve listened to him they actually left the basement and were caught by Judas, their older brother. They got scolded so badly when mother got home that Eve vowed never to be dragged into his plots again.

            Adam looked too excited already for him to be saying something that wouldn’t lead to trouble. “You’re taking forever in there, we need to hurry up!” he urged.

            “Hurry up to what?” Eve asked concerned.

            “Judas and mother aren’t home, I just checked!”

            “No…remember what happened last time.”

            “You’re no fun!” he complained. “Lilith already agreed to come!”

            “Well leave me out of it,” said Eve.

            Adam scowled and gave up. Eve followed him out into the living room of the basement. It was the largest part of the basement and where Eve and all her brothers and sisters slept. There wasn’t much to do there but read books or play with the toys mother brought them but Eve didn’t complain. The highlight of Eve’s day was always when mother got home and spent the day with them. Sometimes she’d even let them out of the basement and show them around the rest of the house. This wasn’t an issue except for Adam because it only peaked his curiosity that much more. The other children all listened to mother like Eve, as long as Adam didn’t have his way with them.

            Lilith was especially a victim to Adam’s scheming. She was a year older than Adam but she always followed him around wherever he went. Judas says she just has a crush on him but mother always told Eve that brothers and sisters don’t love each other that way. But according to Solius, Lilith and he aren’t actually related to her and Adam because they don’t look the same. In books, relatives always had a likeness to each other.

            Solius was Lilith’s twin brother and unlike Adam and Eve, their hair wasn’t bright or colorful. They both had dark hair and eyes. Solius was slightly taller than her but still smaller than Adam, despite being a year older. Solius was hardly ever nice to Adam and Eve, drawing a clear distinction between them. Solius was always protective over Eve although he tried not to seem it.

            Adam scurried to Eve and informed her of the disappointing news. “She doesn’t want to come.”

            Lilith’s response was rather excited at the turn of events. “I guess it’ll just be us.”

            Adam nodded and started heading for the stairs until Dustin caught sight of them. “Where do you think you two are going?” he yelled.

            Dustin was the eldest of the children, excluding Judas. He was eleven. He wasn’t related to the others by blood though and they all knew it. Unlike the rest of them, he didn’t grow up in the basement. Dustin suddenly joined their family three years ago. He never said much about the outside world other than it is dangerous and they should never leave the basement where it is safe. When mother introduced him to the family she said to treat him like an older brother. Eve didn’t mind, mother was always right. Adam though, was growing tired of Dustin’s enforcement on the rules. To Adam, Dustin was just like big brother Judas, only he watched over them at all hours.

            “I’m just going to show her around the house,” Adam complained.

            “You know the rules,” Dustin reminded.

            “Yeah, yeah…” Adam gave up.

            Lilith gave a disappointing look at the revelation of events. Dustin never cared if they were mad though, in his heart he knew he was doing the right thing. Eve was grateful to have Dustin around. Eve could say no to Adam, but she could never stand up for the others. She didn’t have the confidence or the backbone. That, and she was usually too nice to be mean to Adam and scold him.

            After Adam’s plan got put into a halt, the rest of the day went by like any other day. Uneventful and safe. Just the way Eve liked it. When they heard the door upstairs they knew mother had finally arrived. All the children rushed by the door and waited as the footsteps drew closer. Even rebellious Adam couldn’t help but be excited when mother arrived. It was the highlight of all of their days.

            The children were quickly startled by what sounded like yelling. There was only ever yelling in the house when they got in trouble, but they hadn’t done anything, so the argument must’ve been completely irrelevant to them. At least that’s what Eve thought.

            “You’re out of your f*****g mind!” Eve quickly recognized it as Judas’s voice.

            “I couldn’t just let her become an experiment! You of all people should understand,” Mother pleaded.

            Eve shivered. She’d never heard Judas sound so angry or mother with so much pain and hurt in her voice.

            “We’re lucky to be alive as it is!” Judas argued. “You can’t just keep stealing babies from the labs. If anyone were to find out, we’d be executed on sight!”

            “Lower your voice…” Mother pleaded.

            “How long are you going to keep them in the dark? They can’t live in a basement forever. They’ve already started asking too many questions. We should turn them in before it becomes a real issue.”

            “Judas!”

            Eve fell back in tears and horror. The other children’s reactions were nothing short of shock either for the exception of Dustin who listened with a stern expression. Is that all we are? Stolen babies from a lab?

            Eve ran downstairs to the main floor of the basement in tears. She ran for the bathroom knocking over a compilation of things on her way. She slammed the door and locked it shut and looked at herself in the mirror. She hated the sight of herself. She wasn’t blessed. She was just some experiment. She started grabbing handfuls of her long, luscious, pink hair and ripping it out of the roots while yelling. She ripped and ripped the hair from her scalp viciously hoping she could be normal if she got rid of it. She could vaguely hear knocking on the background but was too deep in rage to acknowledge it. All she cared about was being a normal girl again.

            Finally, the door slammed open and Eve turned around. Half her hair was gone and her scalp had a bloody tint from the forceful eradication of her blessed hair. In front of her stood mother in her bright red exoskeleton holding what looked like a baby in her hands. Eve burst into to tears and ran to her mother’s arms. She wished she’d never heard the argument. That things could just be the way they’ve always been. But there was no turning back time. She knew after today, life would never be the same again.

Author's Note

Predictions?

Reviews

[Eternal Dreamer]

Prediction- I'm going to assume the family will tear itself apart, all the children wanting something different after the sudden revelation.

Like the pace so far. I'm guessing there will be some sort of time skip in the future, judging from the children's ages.

[Coyote Poetry]

A very well written chapter. Nice set-up for the characters. I like the names being used in the story. Give the story a feeling of understanding of situation. I like the thoughts of Eve. I like the way you use description. Giving life and purpose to the characters. No weakness in the excellent chapter.
Coyote