FinTPart6

Duo, Quatre, and Alex made their way to the large base unscathed. The building reminded Alex of the old 19^th century castles, pictures of which she saw in only the oldest of textbooks. Turrets overlook the heavily guarded entrance. A stern disposition seemed evident on all the uniformed officers faces as they stood guard with their rifles. All Quatre had to do was flash his contagious smile and the entry was cleared for the weary refugees.

The exterior of the building made Alex believe that the interior would be just as medieval, but she was surprised when they entered a modern facility. The walls gleamed bright white and the long corridors resembled barracks.

After pointing a very tired looking Alex to the shower Quatre slumped to the floor of the hallway. He continued his anguished worry over the scene he had witnessed earlier. He couldn’t get the image of her eyes out of his thoughts. The burning desired that could be seen so easily. She did look like she was ready to strike down anything and everything that got in her way. Upon their arrival he had immediately had the sister closest to their location tracked down. Iria would arrive in a matter of hours.

"What's a matter good buddy?" Duo appeared as sunny as usual, but underneath Quatre could sense his worry.

"I know what you mean, it's almost like some kind of animalistic instinct coming out. She was ready to pounce." Duo could see Quatre's angst, "Don't worry, she'll be fine."

I stand in the shower letting the searing hot streams wash away layers of bad memories. My life had gone very well before any of this happened. I had even wanted to be a nurse. Maybe if I learned to help people it would have made my life seem less empty. I know I’m not a shallow person. I really do like people, but it seems that people wouldn’t take the risk to get near me.

I loved my family. I loved them with all my heart...all my soul. They gave me everything my heart ever desired. Everything I had ever asked for I had gotten, even when it seemed to be far beyond our means. And they were also there for me when I needed help. They always held me when the other kids made fun of me, always dried my tears.

But why...why did they attack the family? It wasn't enough to make the child suffer for their comments towards me, but the entire extended family felt the pain. They had shown me more love then a child could bear. But they took it too far. There is only one word I could use to describe them...evil.

That was only the beginning. Although they showed immense love for my sister and I, my parents despised humanity with all their hearts. They would think of ways that they could destroy all that could potentially cause us pain. When the other children would laugh at my looks soon I would hear about their house burning down. They did it all for my sister and I, but we had disobeyed them. Truly breaking their withered, black hearts. Kayla and I had taken the car and left. We didn't know where we were heading, but all we knew was that we felt free. We had traveled for days and didn't stop. Out of California...off to the other side of the country where they had never heard of the Reese family, the family that stole your hopes and dreams...killed your family.

Maybe we were too tired to keep going, but we felt that we had to. We drove all night long, and Kayla was falling asleep behind the wheel. We snapped awake when we heard the truck's horn blaring. The car swerved off into the ditch and the passenger side hit the immense oak on the side of the road. After that...nothing, blackness filled my world for what seemed like an eternity.

Alex felt something deep within the depths of her soul. It was a force unlike any other she had felt before, consuming her. Multiplying. Pain filled her head and she heard herself scream, a scream that could be heard throughout the base, although she didn't will it to come out. She dropped to her knees and hung her head, her hair surrounding her face while water poured down around her. Her fingers gripped her head like talons and she felt herself swimming out of consciousness.

Outside Duo and Quatre heard the blood-curdling scream. Both raced to find Alex passed out on the shower floor. After turning off the water and wrapping her in a towel Quatre placed her head in his lap. Her body was shaking and her delicate lips turned icy blue. He placed a hand on her forehead and felt the obscene heat radiating from her body. The only sound that could be heard was the dripping of water from the nozzle and the over amplified beating of Quatre’s heart.