The Original Box Set #1-3

by Rachel McClellan

She looks younger than I am, but by the confidence in her voice and her stance, standing tall with shoulders back, I think she could be older. Her wavy blonde hair goes past her shoulders and contrasts with her short black dress. Her eyes are amber colored like Anthony’s. She carries a black bag over her shoulder.

The effortlessly efficient discriptionthough! No wild, lengthy, far-fetched discriptions

“And it may surprise you, but I’m already not liked in most circles. Some people, men specifically—” “I’m very aware of your lack of likability.” “Don’t interrupt me when I’m talking. Men don’t like me because I speak my mind.

“Nobody cares about a thirteen-year-old girl with an attitude.” She huffs. “Well they should, because I’m dangerous.” Jenna hands him the black bag and turns to me. “What’s your name?” “She doesn’t remember yet,” Anthony answers for me. Jenna looks down at the bruise on my arm as if she knows the reason for my temporary amnesia. For some reason I’m embarrassed and avert my eyes. “So what should we call you?” she asks.

This whole way that Jenna is acting here (large and in charge literal kind of attitude) makes me think of the little sister from Spy Family; the younger sister of the bky who laughs weird and all high pitched.

Sixers

What are Sixers? A gang?

“Just because you’re legally an adult,”

“doesn’t mean you have the maturity of one.

As soon as she touches the driver’s side door, something clicks, and she opens it.

The car’s engine comes to life when she wraps her hands around the steering wheel. The tires don’t squeal as the vehicle shoots forward.

The sci-fi is fucking sci-fi-ing!!!!

I’m instantly afraid of the ones who don’t flash gold, but I’m not sure why.

“Where do you think she came from?”

“But they didn’t find anyone at the last one. At least that’s what I was told.”

“When was their last raid?”

“A month ago,” Colt says.

“It wasn’t you,” Colt interrupts. “No one was there.” The way he says it, all forceful, makes me think he’s trying to convince himself more than me.

“What’s a Noc?” Jenna glances back at me. “A Nocturnal. Their DNA has been mixed with—”

with animals right???

The building next to us is at least twenty stories high. Where did he come from?

1)Quiet footsteps in the club. 2)Eyes focused like a predator in the club. 3)Jumped from high up and landed on his feet. Cat???

She reaches into her car and presses a button near the ceiling. I back away at a sudden humming sound. The metal on the top of the car vibrates for a few seconds before the roof smooths itself back to normal. I stare in awe.

The tech !!!!!

It’s of a man with dark hair, light brown, normal-to-me eyes, and a smile. He is an Original, like me. Something about his smile draws me in.

she says and hands me a long, metal tube. “You can cook it.” I turn the device over in my hands, trying to figure out what I am holding.

Jenna raises the rod horizontally above the pizza and tightens her hand. A blue light appears along the length of the metal. She scans it across the thick layer of dough and cheese three times. By the time she’s done, the pizza is cooked. She glances back at me. “Was that so hard?”

THE TECH IN THIS BOOK IS INSANEEEEEE !!!

I’m with someone else, and we’re boxing. It’s a faceless man. He’s teaching me to fight. Where to punch, where to kick. I’m tired, but I can’t stop. There’s a sense of urgency pushing me harder and faster.

“He’s my father,” I say. His face goes pale, much paler than it already is. “Howard is your dad?” “That’s not his name. My dad’s name is William. William Radkey.” He doesn’t seem to hear me. He’s staring at the painting, his expression pained as if he’s just been poisoned. “I need to tell Anthony. Wait here.” He walks to the door, but before going through he places his hand on the doorjamb. Without turning, he says, “Patch, I’m sorry.” “For what?” He leaves without answering.

I look from him to Anthony, still confused, and wonder what my father has to do with all this and why his picture is on the wall. And then there’s Colt, who acts like he knows him, but that’s impossible.

“Enfield is a place where the Institute holds Originals, but you were being held at the Institute’s research department because of this man.” He points to the picture. “Your father has saved countless lives, or prolonged them I should say. And not just Originals, Primes too. The Institute’s been looking for him for a very long time.” His eyes flash to Colt’s, and Colt looks down.

“Your father isn’t just a scientist. He’s HOPE’s founder.”

“It stands for Helping Originals Protect Eden. Remember how I told you about the growing number of Primes who believe Originals are the only way our world can survive the future?” I nod. “It was your father who organized us, making us the first group to challenge the Institute. They’d love nothing more than to destroy Howard, I mean William, and they’d do anything to accomplish this goal. Anything.”

“My father had taught me what to do if someone ever found us. I was supposed to run to the coast where we kept a boat. From there I’d sail to a nearby island. But I didn’t do that. I had to make sure my father was okay.” My body loses some of its strength. I lean into the wall to keep me upright. “When I opened the door to his lab, my father was escaping behind some secret wall I didn’t even know existed. It closed. I was calling my father’s name, and he still closed it without a single word to me. That’s when we were captured.”

“Did he say anything about his children being captured?”

“I’m sure he had his reasons why he didn’t.”

“What reason would that be? Had we known, we could’ve grabbed them on transport or at least used our connections inside the Institute to make sure they were okay.” He shakes his head. “But what’s even dumber is why they were in the forest to begin with. They should’ve been at Eden, not in the woods all alone without any protection.”

“He didn’t feel the time was right.” “You knew about Eden?” Anthony asks. “I wanted to go there. I asked all the time, but my father always said it wasn’t safe yet. He never said why.”

Jenna eyes Colt for several seconds like she’s itching to say something, but then she turns to me. “So apparently you’ve got your memory back. What’s that like?”

But then my mother died. I was twelve.” Colt doesn’t say anything so I continue. “One day I came back from spending the night on the beach with Max, and she was just gone. My father had already buried her. He never talked about it. All he would say was it was a horrible accident.” Even Jenna has stopped chewing her cereal from the kitchen to listen.

“If it were up to me,” Colt continues, “I’d completely wipe us all out, leaving only people like you, Originals, to start over and make this world a better place.”

“Colt is the reason the Institute has your brother.”

“Almost a year ago, Colt turned your father into the Institute in exchange for money. They had your dad for several days until he escaped, but in the process a Canine bit him. That Canine eventually tracked him back to your house in Maine where you were captured.” She is watching Colt as she speaks. “This is all Colt’s fault. And with that,” she curtsies to Colt, “I leave the room.”

Why didn’t I know any of this? My father sure didn’t skimp on any of my other lessons.

The term stirs a memory within me. Junks are human addicts who injected all kinds of pDNA, both human and animal. The result was disastrous and over time they mutated into smaller creatures devoid of human reasoning. The Institute tried to eradicate them, but they escaped into the tunnels beneath the city, making it near impossible for the Institute to find them all.

I want to know why he didn’t try to find me or Max.

You don’t know the whole story.” “I only have one question,” I say. “What did you do with the money?”

“A Grater.” An image flashes in my mind: small, the size of a child, and human-like but with six-inch, razor-sharp claws on both hands and feet. They are fast and deadly.

It’s the same beast I bested at the hospital. He’s what’s called a Titan.

To help balance my weight, I wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist, much how Max had done with me earlier. My father had made me train with Max like this daily to build up my endurance. And to also train Max to hold on. But I’m not Max, and I find the position awkward.

My father didn’t teach me about Nocs.” “That’s because we’re not supposed to exist. The government, or I should say the Institute, outlawed any kind of flying pDNA injections over thirty years ago. They saw it as a security threat.”

My mom was considered a Noc but didn’t have these.” He points to his back. “She had the ability to sense vibrations in the earth. She always knew when someone was coming ahead of time.”

“What about your father?” “He was a Rhine, like that girl Spit at the club, but he died when I was two.” “I’m sorry,” I say, and wonder if he also inherited a Rhine’s ability to never tire or weaken. Their endurance is something I wish I had.

Forests are everywhere, I remember, which is why they are so easy to hide in if you’re an Original. With the world’s population at such a decline, people slowly moved closer and closer to the cities, leaving nature to take over.

Cleaners are the Institute’s cleanup crew when there’s been an “incident” they don’t want the public to know about. They’re soldier-like with a hunger for violence and they never question authority—a bad combination.

“Why did he have a seizure?” Anthony withdraws his hands from Colt. “He has the Kiss.” My head snaps up. “What?” “He’s old, nineteen.”

My father had told me stories of how it used to be before humans tampered with their DNA. People living until the age of a hundred, having children, grandchildren, and often great-grandchildren. They went to college, had long careers, traveled. Experienced life to the fullest. There was none of that now. With so few years to live, the majority of humans rarely lived to fulfill their dreams. They took whatever job they could get to provide for basic comforts. Many didn’t marry or have children. It was too painful for them to find love only to have it taken away from them too soon. It’s no way to live life. If hell existed, that would be it.

We sure this fiction????