Tess's fingers grazed over the tender spot on her arm where she had been tased. The sensation still felt foreign, as if her skin were somehow detached from her body. It had been hours since she had awakened, groggy and disoriented, in the back of a transport vehicle.
The MS officials discovered that she was connected to one of the persons who died and that she also lived at the living complex that was also destroyed.
They had ultimately allowed her to stay with someone she knew in the area, and the only person she could think of was her best friend Jeremy. Two of the MS officials still spoke with his mother at the door.
As she sat on his couch, she watched the hologram emitter replay a live broadcast of the destruction of her home and the growing crowd of onlookers. The sound of sirens outside blared in the background, a constant reminder that the chaos and destruction were all too real.
Despite the repeated reports confirming Petra's death, Tess couldn't shake the feeling that it was all just a terrible nightmare. She hugged her knees tighter to her chest and turned away from the hologram screen, unable to bear the sight of Petra's face. The weight of loss settled heavily on her shoulders, threatening to suffocate her.
Jeremy hadn't come home yet. Lunchtime had long passed and she knew he and their gang wouldn't have left without her. Even worse, the MS guards now knew about the faulty grille shield in the Male bathroom and would restrict the area before it got fixed. All their plans to escape to go to a Pro-syb-victim concert were wasted.
The dent in the couch from someone sitting down too close frightened her. She looked up to see Jeremy's mother who had left from speaking with the officials at the door. Her small dark brown eyes almost matched her skin from the dimness in the room.
Tess put her feet down and quickly wiped away her tears, feeling guilty for causing any trouble. "I'm sorry. I didn't know where else to tell them," Tess said, her voice trembling slightly.
Jeremy's mother placed a comforting hand on her back. "That's alright, dear. You can stay here as long as you need to," she said gently.
Suddenly, the door slammed open, making both women jump. Heavy footsteps pounded through the kitchen, and Jeremy appeared in the archway with wild eyes. He dropped his bag, causing it to crash to the floor.
"What the freck happened? Her house—is she alright?" he blurted out, his eyes wide with shock.from under the archway on the other side of the room.
"Watch your language young man," his mother said sternly as she rose to her feet.
"Watch your language, young man," his mother chided him as she stood up. Jeremy's eyes darted from his mother to Tess, who sat beside her. He took a step back in disbelief, his blue eyes growing even wider.
"Please, give her some space. She's going through a difficult time right now," she told him before looking back down at Tess. "Don't you worry my dear. I'll fix up somewhere for you to stay for the night. Maybe I can give Richard's old storeroom a serious face-lift."
She headed towards the stairs and gave Jeremy a stern look as she passed him. Once her body disappeared upstairs he moved to sit beside Tess.
They both sat in silence, listening to the broadcast's incessant hum, and Tess felt her world crumbling down around her. "She's dead," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "Why did this happen?" A deep sense of sadness overtook her, and tears streamed down her face. She covered her face with her hands, unable to hold back the pain any longer.
Jeremy wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer, and rested his chin on her head. He didn't know what to say to her to make her feel better. All he could do was be there for her, hold her, and hope that she would find some solace in his embrace.
That moment was the closest Jeremy got to her in years. Ever since she confirmed to him that she was also a Syb-victim he had refrained from getting too close to her. He knew that like him one day she would mutate into a monster that would try to eat anyone it saw. He hated that reality and wished he had never found out.
It was ironic, since like her he also never wore the crests that all Syb-victims were mandated to wear to reduce the inevitable bloodshed. It was illegal to kill a human and so only in their mutated monstrous form was any harm to be inflicted. To the outside person, they were both normal, which was far from the truth.
His hands began to tremble over her back as his mind struggled to fight back thoughts of her mutating at that very moment. Like so many times in movies, the dreadful kill happened in innocent moments just like that one.
He bit hard into his lips and shut his eyes tight. Fear reverberated through every bone in his body. It raised the question, how could someone love a monster? Monsters like them should stay single. The words he would say after pushing her away from trying to get close, replayed in his head.
Every second he spent close holding her in his arms and knowing what pain could come, proved he did care about her. He cared about her more than he feared her demon. At the realization, his racing heart that echoed loud in his silent head slowed down to beat normally, and his eyes that were shut too tightly relaxed.
His mind switched from being all about him to the unimaginable pain she was feeling. It was not an appropriate time, but he felt it was then or never and said gently.
"Tess, I lov—"
"Jeremy, I need a hand to help me move the poker table." interrupted his mother who stopped halfway down the stairs.
"—have to go," he finished his sentence. Jeremy's heart sank as he pulled away from Tess, his moment of courage slipping away.
He glanced up at his mother, feeling a mix of irritation and gratitude. Irritation for interrupting his confession, but also gratitude for giving him an excuse to avoid the conversation he had just started.
He quickly stood up, dusting off his pants as he tried to compose himself. "Yeah, I can help you," he said to his mother, his voice cracking slightly. He shot a quick glance at Tess, hoping she didn't notice the incomplete sentence he left hanging in the air.
As he followed his mother up the stairs, he couldn't shake the feeling of regret. He had missed his chance to finally tell Tess how he felt, and he wasn't sure if he would get another opportunity.
Tess heard nothing he said. She sat there in silence, her heart heavy with the weight of grief and loss. She hugged herself and watched him from behind as he left her, like so many other times before. She wiped away her tears and took a deep breath, trying to compose herself before facing Jeremy again.
As the sun began to set, Jeremy's father, a fellow scientist like Petra, finally arrived home. The news of Tess's predicament had already reached him, and he was visibly saddened by the sight of her in their home. Despite his tiredness, he eagerly joined his wife and son in preparing a new room for their guest.
As they worked to transform Richard's old storeroom, the glow of the fading light revealed just how decrepit the walls had become. Just as they finished the room and replaced the dim light with a brighter one, a scavenger darted across the dusty floorboards, sending shivers down Tess's spine.
Jeremy made a selfless offer. "She can have my room for the night. I'll sleep on the couch." His parents looked at him with pride, and Tess couldn't help but feel grateful for his kindness.
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