Sun Rose (Rose of the Dawn Series Book 1) (6 page)

“So
don’t be nervous, Rose, this won’t hurt a bit,” JJ smiles. His hand is on my
shoulder and it only makes this chair I’m reclined in all the more
uncomfortable. I don’t know when the last time someone sat down in this thing,
but I’d be surprised if they didn’t complain. There are springs sticking up and
out everywhere. It’s more unbearable than the needle in my arm, drawing blood
at an exceptionally slow rate.

“How
much are you going to take?” I ask. I’ve never liked the idea of needles and
I’m glad that I haven’t had much experience with them. I watch my vein pump hemoglobin
into a double-walled plastic bag. I reach over with my other hand and touch it.
It’s hot.

“It’s
cooling down the moment it leaves your body,” JJ tells me. He taps his fingers
on the counter beside me. Apparently this is taking too long for him as well.

“Sorry?”
I say. This moment is awkward.
Why did I consent to this?
He said it was
just a simple blood draw. I guess neither of us thought it would take so long.

JJ
moves back to my side and presses his fingers on the needle at my elbow. The
latex glove squeaks as he increases the pressure. He removes the needle and
caps the tubing. I’m holding gauze down on my arm.

“Is
that it?” I lean forward. The recliner doesn’t recognize the weight shift and
it doesn’t move up.

“That’s
it. See, it wasn’t that bad, was it?” He puts the blood bag down on the
counter. The color is a deep purple.

I
get up from the chair and lose my balance, collapsing to the ground. There is
dirt on my hands and I smell the Earth. The absence of life. JJ helps me to my
feet with ease and I sit back down in the recliner.

“You
haven’t eaten anything today, have you?” he asks and I shake my head. I’m
developing another headache, but the wooziness is dissipating. “Here, have
this.”

“Thank
you.” I take a slice of genetically modified fruit and bite into it. Bright
orange, it doesn’t taste, but the vitamins enhancing it make me feel better
almost instantly. “Where’d you get this?” I ask.

He
doesn’t answer and I know it isn’t something he’s grown here in Aegis. He had
to have gotten it elsewhere. I look around the space and there isn’t much to
see. It’s not like Dr. Rush’s office or my mother’s room at the hospital:
comfortable, comforting. This is a make-shift ward for a singular patient and
it isn’t trying to be anything other than that. I think of the person that is
subjected to this cold, damp dungeon of a triage tent and I cringe.

That
person is me.

Fourteen
days in Aegis and much of my time has been spent sitting by this tiny indoor
fountain with Patience. It’s quiet and just off the common area. There is a
half-naked goddess shielding herself with a cement cloth draped over her body.
From behind the figure, water spouts up and over in either direction. The water
pressure not enough to cause a splash, but the mist it sprays is noticeable.
Around the edge of the fountain is a flat lip that we are able to sit upon and
remain balanced.

It’s
been strange not interacting with any adults. Just a bunch of kids playing
adult roles. All they do all day is work and their nights are spent in rooms
getting ready for the next day’s work. No one learns or studies and if there is
any free time, they just hang around.

Days
there’s not much else for me to do except undergo numerous genetic and physical
tests. I know people here resent me for not doing my share by the way they all
look at me, feigning disinterest while glaring and whispering. JJ says I need
to ignore them and keep up my strength. I try to keep to myself as much as I
can, unless I’m with him. He likes to test me in the morning in his tiny little
basement lab then he leaves me alone in the afternoon. Alone to explore Aegis.

Fifteen
stories, two glass elevators that no longer work, and about a hundred rooms. Most
illuminated corridors are desolate and lead to nowhere. All the doors are locked
all the time. Any door that I’ve found unlocked has been empty. One of the
rooms closer to the top collapsed into the room below it at some point. Water
damage from parts of the leaking roof has mottled my perfect picture of Aegis.

Except
for the conservatory, which has been locked since Pike and I were there, everything
seems abandoned. I’ve wanted to ask him if he could open it for me, but I
haven’t seen him.

The
fountain I sit at with Patience is the only real peaceful place I’ve found. Aegis
can’t maintain this serenity forever, can it? Wherever I go, though, JJ tracks
me down. He’s offered to test me using various therapies, but I’ve had to draw
the line. I’ve seen pictures in medicine books in our library at home. Trends
that were once shunned have now become current again: electroshock and
lobotomies.
No, thank you.
I’m not a specimen under a microscope. And
that’s just how JJ perceives me.

“What’re
you writing?” Patience leans over my shoulder to peer at my notebook. Pike
brought it to me last week from somewhere in Aegis. Surplus, maybe. I am
grateful to have somewhere to write down my thoughts even if they’ve been
confused. I’ve been okay here. I haven’t missed home. Just Dory a bit. And Jenny.
I miss talking to them, learning with them, and having them around.

“Nothing.
Notes.” I close it now that the water has sprayed a tiny mist on the open page.
Her feet splash in the fountain.

“What
kind of notes?” Patience drags a finger in the water and then circles it making
tiny whirlpools. “What’re you thinking about?”

“I
could ask you the same question. You look deep in thought.”

“Ha
ha!” she laughs. “I’m not thinking about anything. I rarely ever am.”

I
knew that.

“No
really, Rose, what’s on your mind. You look like you could use a friend to
listen.”

I
put the notebook on the dirt beside my feet and watch her eyes follow it. I wouldn’t
consider her a friend, but I could get some of these thoughts out of my head.
Other than Dory and Jenny, I have no friends.
Do I need any more?

“It’s
just that I’ve been here and, well, I’m bored,” I admit.

“You
mean I’m not enough of a companion?” Patience frowns.

“Oh
gosh no, I don’t mean that–” But I do. She’s not the most intellectually
stimulating. We haven’t talked about much more than pretty things like
butterflies and sunshine, if we’ve talked at all. With JJ performing tests all
the time and with Pike never around, there isn’t anything for me to do. And
while doing nothing here is just as lonely as being at home, at least at home I
could listen to music, study, learn about the world and its history. Here,
there is no one, but Patience for me to talk to. Nothing but time and Patience
to preoccupy me.

“I
know you don’t,” Patience grins. “I wish we had more good friends to introduce
you to.”

“Good
friends?” I ask. I haven’t been introduced to anyone other than Patience and
JJ. I haven’t been under a rock either. I don’t see Pike or Hara that much and
I wouldn’t call Ezekiel a friend.

“No
one here is really friends, though. We all just work toward a common goal.”

“Who’s
Napolean and who’s Snowball?” I say under my breath.

“What?”
Patience asks. The puzzled look on her face tells me she hasn’t read George
Orwell’s
Animal Farm
. It surprises me. With unlimited access to
information, no one seems to know much about anything.

“It’s
from Animal Farm – nothing, nevermind. Don’t you get lonely?” I’ve never been
around so many people, but been so isolated before. Which is interesting
because at home all I had was my immediate family and Jenny and I never really
interacted with my family except for Dory. I guess I was lonely at home, too.
I’ve always had so many things, I never thought about it.

“Not
really,” she answers. “Everyone’s super friendly and we all get along.” I can’t
believe that. No one’s been friendly to me. No one even talks to me. Because
I’m like everyone, but unlike everyone, and so they all stare. I’m that girl.

“–
and with Pike and Hara –”

“What
about Pike? I’m sorry; I missed what you were saying.” I tuned her out. I’m not
trying to be rude.

“I
was just saying now that Hara is no longer working at the hospital and is
spending so much time with Pike, you must be sorta sad.”

I
shake my head.
Pike has been with Hara this whole time?
That’s why I
haven’t seen him around.

“No,
I’m not sad about that. I barely even knew Pike. Know Pike. I didn’t know Hara left
the hospital. How come?”

“She
and Pike thought she should leave. She left the day you did.”

“Why?
She didn’t do anything wrong,” I say.
Did she?

“I
dunno,” Patience shrugs. “It’s probably just because she was your nurse.”

I
wish I had known she left. I could’ve tried to get a note to my family. I
should’ve thought of that before.

“I
almost forgot,” Patience wipes her hand on her long skirt. She and her brother
are the only ones never dressed in utilitarian clothes. Everyone else wears
grey, black, or army green. Dusty and a bit tattered at the hem, Patience’s
skirt is bright pink, orange, and black. A striking contrast to her ultra-white
complexion.

“Forgot
what? Something for me?”

“Here,
this,” she pulls an envelope out of her pocket. It is crinkled and already
opened.

“It’s
from my sister, Dory.” I can tell by the handwriting addressed to me. I take it
from Patience’s delicate hand. “Where did you get this?” If Hara isn’t at the
hospital, how did Dory get this to me?

Patience
shrugs.

I’m
too anxious to bother with her. I read the note.

2,
March

Dear
Rose,

I
hope this gets to you. I’ve got it on good authority that it will. I don’t know
much about what’s really going on, but Dad’s telling everyone you ran away
because of cold feet over your first AR, though I think he knows you were
kidnapped. I don’t know that he’s entirely angry about it, but he won’t tell us
anything else. What else does he know, Rose? Mom’s completely clueless as you’d
expect, so she thinks you’re on a trip with Jenny. For some reason she’s gone,
too, but no one’s looking for her. Dr. Rush keeps coming and going and the
police have come once. Dad keeps mentioning the Imperial Bead, but I don’t know
in reference to what. I think he’s trying to keep things quiet, until he
figures everything out. He doesn’t want it to get that high up in the Imperial Bead.
I don’t think he wants them looking for you. I don’t know much more than that.
Just remain where you are, wherever you are, and stay safe. We miss you!

All
my love,

Dory

I
fold the letter and put it back in the envelope. March second. I visualize the
tally marks I’ve made every morning on my wall with a piece of soft cement. Two
weeks ago. Right after I left the hospital.

“How
come I’m just getting this now?”

Patience
shrugs again.

“I’m
kind of tired. I think I’m going to go rest.” I lean down and pick up my
notebook. I’m irritated. I need to go home. I don’t need to be here anymore.

As
I get up, Patience puts her hand back in the water.

“They
know you’re okay. Hara told someone before she left,” Patience tells me.

“Who?”

“I
dunno,” Patience shrugs. It’s annoying.

Hara
must’ve told Dory. But where was Dory and how did Hara get to her?

“Thank
you,” I hold up the letter, “for this.” Patience is already back staring into
the water. I can see the clouds above casting shadows, making her pale-white
skin sallow.

She
looks up at me and smiles.

I
don’t wait to see if she shrugs again. I don’t care. I go back to my room.

Something
about her unsettles me. I just can’t put my finger on it.

“I
got a letter from my sister yesterday,” I tell Pike. I didn’t think I’d be so
excited to see him, but I am. I’m happy to be around him. It’s the first time
I’ve seen him in days.

“I
have to leave this afternoon,” Pike responds. I don’t know if he heard me.
“Tithonus was found dead.”

“What?”
I gasp, covering my mouth.

“He
was found hanging. A rope around his neck, dangling from a beam inside his
house. Asphyxiation. They say it was suicide.” He rubs the back of his neck. His
features are worn. The lines on his face that no twenty-year old should have
are a bit deeper than before.

“Who
says?” I want to comfort him in some way. I want to touch him.

“The
Imperial Bead. The Police. Everyone.”

The
police are controlled by the Imperial Bead.

“You
don’t think so?” I say.

“No,
of course not. He’d never be able to do it. He was too physically feeble. You
saw him.”

“I
did.” I think back to the sightless old man who saw my future, and his teeny
tiny house. The way he hobbled across the floor and the cane.

“He
could barely stand up straight,” Pike continues.

“Unless
he had help,” I offer.

“Why
would someone do that? Tithonus had a gift.”

“I
don’t know,” I shrug. “Maybe he was sick. Or someone didn’t like the message he
passed on or someone made him. Maybe people are finding out about you.” I wave
my hand around to include Pike and everyone else.

“What
is that supposed to mean?” Pike turns on me.

“Well,
maybe more and more people are choosing not to artificially replace themselves.
Maybe Tithonus was responsible for some of this. You’ve been calling it a
cause, and maybe this is an effect.”

Pike
glares at me like what I’m saying is blasphemous. He should feel proud.

I
continue, “that could be a good thing if kept in the right circles. All these
people staying human, staying real. But if it got out, maybe the Imperial Bead
pressured him to keep quiet.”

“Maybe
it’s why he was killed!” Pike snaps.

“Why
are you angry with me?” It’s exhausting, this back and forth with Pike. I think
I’d much rather he left me alone. What is Tithonus to him anyway?

“I’m
sorry,” he states. “I’m leaving and I wanted to say bye.” He can’t bring
himself to look at me.

“Where’re
you going? When will you be back?” I don’t know what I feel or why I feel
anything at all, but I don’t want him to leave. I take it back, I don’t want
him to leave me alone.

“I
dunno. A day. A few days, maybe.”

“Okay.
Well, bye I guess. Be safe. Please.” I smile at him and step forward. He puts
his hand out. I take it.

Bringing
my hand up to his face, he pauses, reconsiders, and then puts it back down
giving it a stern shake before leaving the room. From one corner of the common
area I see Hara standing, staring.

I
smile and she smiles back before walking off after Pike.

“Rose!
Rose! I’ve got another one!” Patience almost runs into me in my doorway.
“Another letter came for you.”

I
turn my gaze from Pike to Patience.

In
her hand is another white envelope, but this one is far less worn than the
first. It must’ve just arrived. She hands it to me. I see the familiar
handwriting.

“It’s
from Dory,” I say, looking up. “Another one? How’d you get this?”

Again,
Patience shrugs and smiles, then skips away. Her long skirt is different and is
a bit more tattered than yesterday’s skirt, though just as bright.

I
step back into my room, not worrying about closing the door behind me. There’d
be too little light for reading this letter with an uncharged nightlight. My
candle burnt out a week ago.

I
lift the flap of the envelope and pull out the note. I can tell that it has
already been folded and refolded numerous times.

15,
March

Dear
Rose,

I
haven’t heard back from you, but I’m assured you are okay, and even better, you
are healthy. I was worried that you could get sicker, but I’m told you aren’t
getting any worse. I’ve found some things out from eavesdropping on Dad and Dr.
Rush. They’re trying to keep the Imperial Bead out of this, but with you being
gone so long, it’s more and more difficult. They want to keep you safe. They
aren’t sure, though, how your genetic-type got to the hospital before you were
admitted. Everyone seems to know there is something out of the ordinary with
you. Something special, even though I have no idea what that is. I’m still
working on finding out all of that. I’d write more, but if this doesn’t get to
you, I don’t want to get you or anyone helping you, in trouble. We all love you
very much and miss you terribly.

XOXO
Dory

I
fold the letter back up and slide it beneath the thin mattress that is my cot.
The first letter is still there. If I’m correct, this was written two days ago.

I
want desperately to write her back, but I don’t know how much I can say. How
much I should say. I think I’ll wait until Pike gets back and ask.

Before
I get a chance to leave my room, I hear a scream outside. Blackout. The lights
in the tower go out completely and I see Ezekiel and one of those guards from
my first day rush by.

“Stay
here,” he yells as he passes and hits something on the wall. My door automatically
closes and locks. I’m stuck inside again.