We had been normal humans, once upon a time. I remember being five, going to preschool, tricycle racing, being afraid of riding a bicycle with two wheels... That was all before the accident.
The first ten years of my life I had been a normal girl. I was quiet, I admit, but still normal. No excess hormones or chemicals to make me different from the rest of my class. I was blond, a little on the tall side, and shy. I was not one of those girls who would go to sleepovers during the middle of the week, or back talk her parents. Everything about my life revolved around my books, my homework, and my neighbor.
My neighbor, Kai was six years older than me; he was my best friend and the only person who I really talked to. We would sit in his back yard and talk about our favorite books and movies, what was happening in school, that sort of thing. We were free to say anything to each other. Be it about girls, boys, teachers, or bugs; we said it all during those first ten years.
We attended The Gaiville Institution of Education, which was Gaiville's only school. The year of the accident he was in the high school sector and I was in the elementary sector. The school itself was much like old colleges were, with multiple buildings and sidewalks creating a web of walkways and open spaces.The buildings were arranged by class type rather than age group, so there was the science building, the English building, the mathematics building, and so on. Attached to the science building, there was an expansive greenhouse filled to the brim with greenery of all types. Both Kai and I spent large amounts of time in there.
In that year, we had changed our usual meeting place from the library to the greenhouse, because there were larger groups of people in the library in the mornings than there had been the year before.
At the start of the new year, there was a change in government. A new party had taken over and was proposing a modified type of Feudal system. There would be a lord or lady in charge of a number of people in one area, they would keep the peace between their people. The lords and ladies would be diplomats, in effect. They would settle marriage inquiries, crime accusations, basically anything that happened. The lords and ladies would form a council inside their state, and elect a representative for office in the capital. The proposition was passed. The selection was due to start in June, anyone of sixteen years or older was eligible.
So, on one gloomy day in late May, Kai and I had been discussing this new system in the greenhouses. All was well and good, the rain was wet, the clouds were gray, the grass was green; then disaster struck. One of the chemistry teachers had been examining a plant sample from the greenhouse when he recognized a chemical on it. Normally this wouldn't be cause for concern, however this was no ordinary chemical. This was known as R4. Radioactive and dangerous, R4 was well known to have extreme effects on those who were exposed. The sample was determined to have been in the greenhouse for around five months, having also been found in the sprinkler system that watered the plants. The students who worked in the greenhouse, and the ones who spent inordinate amounts of time in there were quarantined. Kai and I were among them.
Those of us under quarantine lived in a clean hospital-style building just outside of town. There were many kind doctors in their bio-hazard suits that volunteered to help us. However, we all knew that Dr. Schadt hated us. He always wore this 'I'm so disgusted by you.' grimace when he came near us. He was never very attentive to anything around him, either. He was working in the lab on the 23rd day of quarantine when he knocked a large vial of liquid R4 into the watery vitamin supplement substance that they would mix into our drinks. He didn't notice this, or if he did, he didn't admit it.
The R4 was given to us all in a smoothie we had that afternoon. There was no difference in the taste to me, but Kai noticed something off. He spoke quietly to one of the doctors and told us not to worry. That night none of us could get to sleep. I remember the feeling quite clearly, it was like there was another layer of something under my skin. That under layer shifted and bunched, was stretched and let loose, overall it felt extremely odd. My energy levels ran amok, my arm twitched while my foot felt like lead. The pain set in around eleven. Needles poking every bare surface, my muscles seizing and shaking, my bones popping... I had been the first to reach that state. Then it was Kai, the younger children, then the teenagers. One by one they succumbed to the bone wracking feeling.
It was around dawn when we woke up, having fallen asleep of exhaustion at some point. I whimpered and tucked myself next to Kai, trying to forget that night, when I noticed something wrong with my skin. I had long, curling streaks of green all over my arms. I sat up and examined the rest of me. My legs, shoulders, and stomach were all covered in the same patterns. I nudged him awake, only to find that his once blue eyes were now tinged with green. The irises had a ring of black on the outer edge and his pupils were encircled by an electric blue. The rest of him was normal, same six foot frame, same medium brown hair, same tanned skin, but those eyes. Those eyes now held a mesmerizing quality, like you would do anything he asked you to do. If he said, 'Jump off of a bridge.' I would have done it gladly. He just looked at me like I was some alien creature, one with human bone structure and dirty blond hair. He sat up slowly and looked around.
"I am going to go talk to one of the doctors, don't move. Do you got that Fleur?" He looked down at me.
"I will say right here." I nodded. He set off in the direction of the door and I pulled a pocket mirror from my bag nearby. My face looked the same, with one green stripe going down the right side of my face. I decided the green stripes looked a lot like vines. My eyes had not gained a green tint like Kai's, thank gosh. Brown and green don't mix very well. My face was still heart shaped, my lips were still pink. There was just that one green stripe. It ran from my hairline, over my eye, curling back toward my ear as it ran down my cheek, leading to my neck where it curled under the collar of my shirt. I sighed and put the mirror away. I waited nearly a half hour for Kai to come back. The doctors took blood and other samples from us and the next day we were deemed safe to release into the outside world.
The government thought it would be best if we were all put under the same lord. Although, instead of the oldest of the infected gaining the spot, they chose Kai. They had examined the samples from that last testing and found the source of the change. The amount of power we gained from that change was also determined by that source. The R4 was the source, and they found the most of it in Kai.
We were sent to a plot of land on the opposite end of town. We all lived under the roof of what might be called a manor, or a very large house. At school, we stuck together, keeping each other company. The Freaks, we were called. That didn't stop girls from fawning over Kai. For five years we lived like that, for five years I dealt with girlfriend after girlfriend telling me to back off. They didn't understand. I knew he would never look at me that way, I knew that no matter how much I loved him, he would be better off with someone his own age. They didn't get it, so each one told me 'Back off, he's mine. Go play with your baby dolls.' I didn't bother to explain. So, at age fifteen, I decided to find myself a boyfriend to get over him. Little did I know that my simple life with it's simple plans was about to change.
