Rayne

The dark brown, wavy locks that had once brushed the bottom of my shoulder blades now grazed my hips, darker, richer and stronger than ever before. My skin; once pale and suffering a few T-zone issues, was soft, smooth and much more elastic that before. Remembering something Eris had said, I picked up a razor from next to the sink. Biting down hard on my lip, I pressed the blade to my palm. Nothing. It didn’t cut me! I applied a bit more pressure, leaning my weight on the blade and cried out, quickly retracting my arm and watching blood well up in a cut. Skin is stronger, not impervious I reminded myself, grabbing at a towel and pressing it to my hand.

My body was leaner, more muscled, and some of my feminine softness had been lost. Not all, I noted, thankful. I still had what some would call and hourglass figure… only that figure was now leaner and stronger than ever before. So, your boobs are smaller and your hips are a little narrower. It could be worse I told myself. My thin, lanky legs from days past now caught my attention. Still as long as ever, my legs had lost their gentle flow, replacing the fat in my thighs was pure muscle, and for a moment I intimidated even myself. I flexed my arms and jumped when I noticed that my flimsy nerd-arms now possessed subtle biceps. Oh god. I thought I feel like a man. However, I can safely report that I did not look like one. Although slimmer, fitter and far more powerful, this was still the body of a woman.

My eyes found their way back up to my face. The eyes that had gone from concrete grey to kaleidoscope, piercing blue were even now sharper, and seemed to change colour when fear flashed down my chest, becoming paler blue, the black lining my iris fading. They returned to normal in a millisecond, but my new, sharp vision caught it all. My face was no longer soft and oval-shaped. Now I saw a hard square jaw, high cheekbones and an arched, serious brow. My lips were the only soft thing about my face, exactly the same as they were before; pink and ever so slightly plump.
Everything about me seemed harder, sharper, and much more deadly. My heart lurched as I locked eyes with myself, that serious, penetrating gaze so alien.
Who am I? My mind reeled. Not even a month had passed since arriving in the Underground, and I had completely changed.

I tore myself away from my reflection, moving to my wardrobe and frantically digging through the pockets of the pants I came here in. In it, was a single Polaroid of my parents and I from the previous Summer. My mother’s blonde hair sat in a bob at her jaw line, her eyes the same stone grey mine used to be; my fathers cropped, chestnut hair and hazel eyes, a dorky smile lighting up his face, pockmarked by acne scars of his youth. My parents had never said a kind word to me. Used me, showed me off, never said they loved me. Yet I love them, and guilt twisted my stomach for leaving them. Between them was a girl, rich dark waves falling down pale shoulders, sad grey eyes that echoed of tears unshed and loneliness beyond human imagination. Was that who I really was? I looked so young. So innocent. The only familiar thing in my photo was the loneliness, and even that looked different through these new, iridescent eyes. I stashed the photo back in the pocket of my pants; she was Carla Hall, not Rayne. A knock at the door snapped me from my reverie. Mason had returned with Eris, no doubt. Crossing to the door, I drew a breath, summoning a bit of inner strength and pushing down tears that threatened my eyes, pushing it into a hard, aching lump in my throat. I bit down on my lower lip, grabbed the handle, and swung the door open. Before I had time to blink, in flew Mason, with Eris, Brida, Seth, Marion, Joseph, Areanna and Derrick in tow.

The next five minutes were spent with me standing awkwardly before the eight department heads as they gawked at me and muttered exclamations both profane and unusual. After the shock had processed, Derrick; the bulky Defence head flopped onto my couch, bored and picking at his thumbnail. Mason paced, muttering facts and figures, and something to do with genetics under his breath. Brida poked and prodded at me, lifting my arm or grabbing my foot, her aging hands soft and fragile. Marion stood deadly still, her dark, straight brow resting heavily over serious eyes as she surveyed the room. Seth and Eris watched me out of the corner of their eyes, discussing me with each other under their breath. Areanna leaned against the wall, an amused smirk playing on her oddly proportioned face. Throughout all this I could only stand, dumbfounded and use my newfound abilities to the best of my advantage. I found that by focusing, I could dim other sounds and hone in on just Mason’s voice for example, and through his worried pacing I heard him mutter;
“…happening so fast! This must be so scary. Three days to change and twenty of agony. This can’t be right. The mother’s a seeker… Who is her father? Why can’t we trace him? What is his name?”

I snapped my mind from Mason’s voice, and flipped to a more general cover of the room, picking up the ctchhh, ctchhh, ctchhh of Derrick’s nail-scraping, the impatient tapping of Areanna’s foot, Marion’s soft, almost inaudible humming, Mason’s teeth chomping away at the inside of his cheek, Joseph’s jovial whistling, Eris and Seth quietly discussing the new me, the rustling of Brida’s stiff white dress and she moved around me. I could smell the sweat beading on Joseph’s forehead, Marion’s shampoo, Brida’s loud perfume, patchouli and lime from Mason, more sweat from Derrick. Eris smelled of honey and ginger, Areanna of a mixture of herbs. I felt suffocated by all these people, I felt my heart accelerate and my chest compressing. Panic rose in my throat, my stomach took up gymnastics and the air suddenly felt heavy. Eight people and I was claustrophobic. I’ve never been sociable, but damnation this was worse than usual. Eris’ precise, sharp green orbs locked onto me, and she snapped her head up, alert.
“It will get better,” she promised. Nobody took a second glance at her sudden outburst; they were clearly used to her and the other seekers picking up on things that nobody else noticed.

There are others, I remembered. Man, you are a dope, Rayne.
‘But not others like you, Rayne.’ I jumped and yelped, throwing Brida off guard.
“Sorry,” Eris said, “I should have warned you before I made contact.” Now she had the room’s attention.
“Eris communicated with me telepathically,” I explained, “I just didn’t realise that meant her reading my private thoughts.” my eyes narrowed in Eris’ direction.
“No, no, that’s not the case at all. That was just what we call a public thought. It was superficial. You haven’t learned to reign your thoughts in, so when I try to communicate telepathically with you, I can pick up on them. Go on, try with… Mason.” in response, Mason’s head snapped up,
“Why me?” he demanded.
“Because you actually have thoughts worth listening to.” Eris shot him a smile and I realised that the awkward man’s affections did not go unrequited.
“Oh, go on then, Rayne.” Mason grinned that dorky grin of his.

I took a deep breath. I focused closely. I stared at Mason, willing myself to read his mind. I felt like an idiot.
“No,” Eris coached, “Don’t concentrate. Just let it happen. Think of Mason, and think at Mason.”
So I did. My mind felt fuzzy, like how I imagine white noise might feel. Then a piece of clarity as I felt something familiar, yet alien. Mason!

‘She’s perfect. How could anyone be afraid of those eyes?’
‘I bet Eris feels the same about you.’ I sent to him
‘Pfft. Don’t be ridiculous, Rayne… Rayne? Are you alright?’
‘Why wouldn’t I be?’
‘I mean, it’s just… well, you seem like you could use a friend.’

I snapped my mind shut from him and withdrew, feeling like he had hit just a little too close to home. Frustration snapped its irksome jaws at my head, and the urge to scream rushed up inside me. As the need to explode and scream rushed up me, the urge to cry rushed down. Meeting in my heart, the two mingled and thrashed and I took a deep breath to settle myself. I locked eyes with Seth across the room
“Just tell me what I need to know.” I said coldly, levelling my gaze. His eyes widened he stared dumbly at me for a moment, and then pulled himself together. He clapped his hands together loudly, and in his typical dramatic way, addressed the entire room.
“Well,” he began, sweeping his arm out, gesturing the department heads, “In the time you have been at the Underground, you have met only the eight people in this room, and Kella. We think it is about time you socialised. We host a Masquerade ball in two month’s time. You’ll be attending. Until then, you will commence training with Eris and her second-in-command; Mathias. You will be trained as if you were no different from any other seeker.” Seth dropped his arm and stared at me spectacularly, “There will be no special privileges. Am I understood?”

“Sure,” I said, shifting my weight to one leg and jutting out my hip, “I can’t say I expected any. I don’t see how any of this stops me from being the same as any Underground girl of twenty years.” The statement was more of a question, on which I had pinned my hopes. I just wanted to know that I was still me; still an ordinary young woman.
“But you will never be ordinary,” Eris said, one delicately arched brow rising, “You are something completely different. You can forget ordinary right now. Even by Underground standards.”
Thankfully, Seth raised a hand to silence her, and I forced down my tears once more, the aching in my throat doubling.
“One of the other Seeker wards will be here tomorrow morning to collect you and take you to the Dome.” He said, “That is where most lessons will commence. You will learn the boundaries of Seeker abilities, how to harness those skills, and also basic fighting and an understanding of how we run things here. I expect you to be ready as dawn breaks.” with a flourish, he left the room. Steely, Marion followed him, pausing for a moment to flash me the first smile I’d ever seen on her lips. It was sincere, too, and I hardly had time to register that fact before she stepped out the door.

As the department heads left one by one, I sighed heavily, stress weighing down my exhalation. I rubbed my left temple, suddenly very tired, and gently slapped myself of the cheek twice, as if to awaken my cells. I wandered to the refrigerator, and leaned against the open door, staring blankly at the contents. Nothing jumped out at me as being particularly appealing. I walked back to the couch, sat down, and stared dead ahead of me, my eyes unseeing.
“Well, Rayne, I guess Carla Hall is dead once and for all.” I muttered to myself.