Chapters

The room steeped in the stillness. Not a thing moved. The soldiers held their aim on me with steady, unwavering hands. It felt like minutes had passed before I realized that they may be trying to say something to me and I couldn’t see their mouths. I had witnessed soldiers like these ones before. There […]

Heeding Tom’s strange advice, I found an exit point, a window that faced the forest whose security shutter had been jammed open by a mop, and slipped outside. Making my way around the side of the university, I contemplated what the next step was. Pale blue and red flashed against the trees ahead. First responders

My breathing hitched as I saw the first flake of Kay’s dark skin on her forearm rise, curl, and fall off, leaving behind a pitch black mark, like a chipped painting revealing the blank canvas beneath. No, no, no, no. My heart felt like it was shriveling up. Another patch of skin gently peeled off

“Dad.” Why did my voice sound strange? It quivered like a child’s does when introduced to one of their first fears. The light fell as a pale shroud, sterilizing everything of colour. Laboratory walls arranged themselves as harsh barriers beneath an artificial sun. There were pictures on the walls that moved when I did. This

A door lay flat in the courtyard, torn off its hinges. From my vantage point through the hole on the second floor, I couldn’t see anything through the open doorway but blackness. Alek had entered the first floor.  A sickening feeling grew in my stomach with every second that I wasted here. This was taking

Tom lifted me to my feet with a huge grin on his face. As he squeezed my hand, I felt some of the tension leech out of my shoulders.  “I’m glad you’re okay,” I said. Tom chuckled and glanced nervously behind me. “Pretty badass, right? And I only peed myself a little.” Peering out of

The dim orange light cast Alek’s face in long shadows, giving him a gaunt appearance. His eyes were unfocused. Even though I knew this was a clone, it was surreal to see Alek here when I had just left him at his apartment, wallowing in drink and self-pity. The student that Alek held by the

The sounds of distress coming from the school were silenced by the Tree’s wave as whatever was going on inside was momentarily disrupted, like a crying child suddenly affronted by a new, unknown experience. My body felt drawn to the Tree like a magnet. I wanted to turn and make a beeline straight to the