Vermillion Part 3

3. 

 

I got here around three pm, after answering questions at the local police station for a few very tedious hours; I managed to convince Detective Ford that his hand was melting onto the table. He could hear it searing and popping and could see his flesh disintegrate. The insanity of the situation was quite interesting but all it proved is that I now belong to a special group of people known affectionately as “freaks”

So I’m sitting in a cold concrete room with one chair and no desk. I have handcuffs on; they put them on me to make themselves feel in control. I let them think that this created an equal ground. I’m growing tired of this. I’m thinking of all the things I could be doing and all the people I could be helping. I’m thinking about the little girl who lost her mind somewhere beautiful and I have decided I am not going to tell them what really happened. If they don’t know who they are dealing with when true evil stands right in front of them, then they don’t deserve to be saved. 

I can hear the door opening. There will be three men in perfectly ironed black suits. They won’t ask questions, they have seen the test results. I am sitting in a room in the middle of the desert. I know this because I can feel the strength of the sun bouncing off the concrete in the walls. They are wheeling in the medical cart. I will fall into myself until this is over. Then we will talk. 

A young boy is running through the deep and dark woods. Vibrant shades of purple and blue surround him and the trees engulf everything around him. He knows exactly where he is going, he has explored the same route since he was just old enough to walk . This place is magical to him. Frightening and mystifying all at once. He is home here and nothing can touch him. He reaches the end of the wood and the bright white light that spills over the shrubs makes the colours look like they are bleeding over a painting. He spills out into the open and stares up at the vast orange sky. 

His parents are calling to him from the small cottage just metres away. He is too busy watching the fantastic ships sprawling in the sky. Their destination is unknown and like birds they glide over one another in a dance that is hypnotizing. 

“Cairo! It’s time for supper, come back inside son”

His mother’s voice echoes sweetly in his mind and he comes back to the ground. How he longs to explore what is beyond the orange sky and behind the three moons in the dark. He steps out onto the grass and has a sudden uneasy feeling like something is escaping him; that something is suddenly missing. He looks at his right arm, in the middle of his elbow bend and notices the pain.

What is happening?

He looks to the sky again and focuses on the bright white sun. He closes his eyes.

The prisoner opens his eyes.

We can talk now.

The well suited men want to take some more tests. They want to know why my blood creates such a strong chemical reaction; they want to know why it has the molecular structure of a strong hallucinogenic. They will never understand. I didn’t come here to talk them through it; I came here to help them.

I am so tired, tired in mind and body. I can only watch them eat each other whole for so long before I hand them a plate. Let’s see how far this goes.

Let’s see how far through the orange sky they fall. 

He watches them harvest it. He watches them colour it and dehydrate it. He watches them package it and discuss how to test it. All from the same chair in the same concrete dungeon. His long blonde hair hanging in front of his eyes and sticking to his cheeks, his deep blue eyes fixed on the steel door and what is going on behind it, 

Human tests, he hears.

 

Young subjects. 

He breaks the handcuffs in half. The head doctor attempts to make a deal with him in exchange for his co-operation; the free air for quiet and unlimited access to his knowledge.

He makes his way to the door and uses his legs for the first time in six months. He doesn’t lose balance and his strength never wavers. He approaches the steel door and as It opens the white light floods his entire world, 

The sky falls down on him.