Chapter 5: Everett

While on his way home, Ferral decided to make one more stop. He stopped in front of a large apartment building, got off his bike, and started to walk inside. As he entered, he made sure to hide his face from the workers. This was another place that didn’t take experiments. He managed to slip into an elevator and made his way to the top floor. Once he made it, Ferral walked through the thankfully empty hall where there were ten doors, five on each side, and stopped in front of the middle door on the left. He knocked on the door and waited a few moments before a woman opened it. Ferral smiled, “Hey, Ms. Clare. How’ve you been?” She stared at Ferral for a second, before scowling and slapping him across the face. “YOU FINALLY SHOW UP AFTER A YEAR AND A HALF AND ALL YOU CAN SAY IS “HOW’S IT GOING”???” “Okay, I think we’ve established that my work has taken up a lot of my time. I’m sorry, Ms. Clare.” She crossed her arms, still giving him an annoyed look before softening up, and smiled. “Oh Ferral, always busy,” She caressed the side of his face where his prosthetic eye was, “Guess it can’t be helped. Come inside.”

“So what made you finally decide to visit, Ferral?” Ms. Clare asked as the two entered the apartment. “Well, I was just in the neighborhood and thought I drop by.” As they talked, Ferral noticed a baby lying in a cradle by the coffee table in the living room and his face lit up. He went over and knelt beside the cradle, peaking inside to see the infant girl staring back at him. “Hi, little Laura! You little cuite you! Who’s a cute baby? You are!” As he tickled her, Laura squirmed and giggled, making Ferral laugh as well. “How old is she now, Ms. Clare?” Ferral, turning to the right asked. “Coming up on two years in four months,” She responded, “The angel, I wouldn’t trade her for the world.” “Where’s Mr. Buck?” “Out getting some groceries for the week, he should be back any minute. In the meantime, I was baking us a double chocolate cake.” Ferral gulped, wiping off some saliva from the sides of his lips. “You wouldn’t mind if I snatched a piece when it’s done, would ya?” “You know you can’t eat chocolate, Ferral. It makes you extremely sick, remember?” Ms. Clare scolded. Ferral sighed, “I know. Stupid canine DNA.”

Ferral got up and gazed at the TV, it was playing the news. A headline on the bottom that read, “Experiments: Friend or Foe?” A newscaster was shown interviewing several people, asking their thoughts on experiments. “They stink, and I don’t like them.” One man said. “We’re just letting these freaks walk free among everyone else?” Another said. “I have two kids at home, how am I supposed to keep them safe when these monsters just roam the streets?” A woman added. “They’re humans just like us, this racism is unacceptable.” A member of a small group of protesters said. Despite people like that, the vast majority were all in agreement. Experiments were freaks, monsters, a disease that shouldn’t exist. Ferral clenched his fists, lowering his eyes in anguish, hating what he was. Then the TV had turned off, Ferral looked around to see Ms. Clare holding the remote. She placed it back on the kitchen counter, “I never liked the news,” She said, “Always showing the worst of people, they should show good more, that’s what I say.” She looked at Ferral who still held his head down, so she walked over and hugged him from the side, resting her head on his shoulder. “Don’t listen to them, Ferral. As far as you should be concerned, all of you are perfect.” While Ms. Clare tried to comfort him, Ferral continued to let this self-hate grow. Maybe more than he should. It only fueled his drive to finish that formula to reverse his DNA.

He tried to forget about it, and with perfect timing because Buck had just opened the door. Clare and Ferral both looked at him, “Hi sweetie,” Clare said, walking over and kissing him. Ferral once again put on a smile to hide his troubles. “Hello, Mr. Buck.” He said, walking up to him. “Ferral?” Ms. Clare took the grocery bags he had, “Thank you. It’s good to see you again mate.” The two hugged, then separated, smiling at one another. “Look at you, really growing into a fine young man, aren’t you?” “Yeah, I have you and Ms. Clare to thank for that.” Buck playfully ruffled Ferral’s hair. “Alright you two, dinner’s just about ready. Ferral, are you gonna join us?” “I wouldn’t miss a chance to have your cooking for anything.” As Ferral walked over to the table, Buck leaned over to pick up Laura. “Alright little lady, let’s get you to your high chair.” The four all sat around the dinner table, again conversing about what had happened since the last time they were all together. Once again, Ferral left out any details about his project. Especially after what Ms. Clare had said earlier, he knew she wouldn’t approve. It seemed no one did, but Ferral knew what he was doing WAS the right thing. To give all experiments a chance. After dinner, the three continued to talk for a little while longer, and Ferral got to hold Laura in his arms. Once it was time to leave, they all walked out, and once Ferral opened the door, he turned back around and Ms. Clare hugged him tightly. “Please don’t let the nasty things people say get to you, okay?” She kissed him on the cheek. “Don’t worry, Ms. Clare. I won’t.” He looked over Clare’s shoulder and waved Buck goodbye, “Bye, Mr. Buck.” “Take care, mate. And come back soon. Say by Laura.” He held her up a little more, and she cooed, sticking one of her arms toward him. Ferral laughed and went off. Once he got back, everyone else was asleep, so he quickly got ready for bed too. He had school next the day, after all. One more week and he was off for winter break.

The next day, while on his to class, he made a quick stop at the school’s library to find some new books to read. While he combed through the history section, his eyes lit up when he finally found something that he hadn’t read before. “A World Only Lit by Fire” by William Manchester, and as he reached for it, he was stopped when his hand collided with someone else. He looked over to see who it was and was met with a girl. They stared at each other, not saying a word. She was beautiful, Ferral thought. Her hair was long and fluffy, a ponytail wrapped around the back while leaving two bangs over the sides of her forehead. It was as white as fresh snow, her eyes were an almost emerald green. She wore a brown knitted turtle neck with blue jeans. Was she an experiment like him? She didn’t look real. She couldn’t, no person was this beautiful. Ferral thought every single time she passed his gaze for the last four years.