“I have never read anything like it. I cannot thank you enough for sharing this with me.” She fingered the leather binding.
“And?”
“And.” Ellyssa thought for a moment.
Someone like the characters in the book could never have existed in her society, where the lack of understanding and compassion thrived. It made her ponder the realities of the world she’d lived in. Mentally incapacitated, undeniably flawed, yet Lennie still brought companionship to George. He served a purpose. The dreams and hopes the two shared… no wonder fiction wasn’t allowed in The Center’s sterile environment.
The characters had made her examine empathy and relationships, expanding her ability to feel. She let the emotions simmer within her, tasting each as it affected her.
“The loneliness, the foreshadowing of killing things one loves. The hopes and dreams living inside men, although it perishes at the end.” Pausing, Ellyssa tried to place a name to the intense emotion. The very thing she lacked knowledge in. Finally, she settled for the simplest of words. “It was sad.”
Mathew nodded. “Yes. It’s part of being human. Of becoming complete. Of learning compassion and sympathy for others beyond yourself. Mostly, to never give up.”
“You’ll love Mary Shelley. It’s a classic.”
“I am looking forward to reading it. Fiction engages.”
Mathew’s eyebrows bunched together. “Say,
The corner of Ellyssa’s mouth pulled back. “Why?”
“Seems, if you are going to be staying for awhile, you need to stop talking like a robot. Relax a little.”
“I do not think…”
“Humor me.”
She grinned. “All right. If it will make you happy.” She thought about the word, how it would roll off her tongue. “I’m.”
A hint of a smile shadowed his face as steps echoed into the makeshift hospital before the owners appeared. One set was stealthy and sure, the other shuffled.
“Keep practicing. It’ll become second nature,” Mathew said, patting her hand. “You up for some company?”
Ellyssa put the book down and rose from the bed, as Rein and a black man entered. Stopping short, she stared in disbelief. Besides history books, never in her life had she seen a black person. His skin was dark and wrinkled, his eyes black as night. His wiry grey hair bounced freely in tangled clumps. He wore the same dress as everyone else, only his clothes hung off his thin, frail body.
Everything she’d been taught about people of other races surged forward. They were untrustworthy, imperfect. Emotions swirled inside her, confusing her. Unsure what to think, what to do, Ellyssa slipped into her old skin, expressionless, her body poised to defend herself.
Responding to her defensive posture, the smile gracing the doctor’s face fell, replaced by a curious scowl. Rein’s eyes narrowed and his body visibly coiled. The black man stood there, just as relaxed as when he had first entered. He placed a wrinkled hand on Rein’s forearm.
Ellyssa quickly sized up the competition, preparing for their first move. The black man and the doctor would be easily disposed of. Rein would prove a bit harder, but not beyond her capabilities.
Brushing off the old man’s hand, Rein stepped forward, but Mathew popped in front of him with his hands held up, warding off expected hostility.
“Ellyssa, what’s wrong?” Mathew said.
She tore her eyes from the black man and focused on the doctor. “I trusted you.”
Unprepared for her response, Mathew blinked. “Yes. I promised no one was going to hurt you. And no one is.” He turned his body halfway toward the black man. “This is Jordan,” he said, sweeping his arm in introduction.
Still wary, Ellyssa stepped back, but her body remained tense. “Jordan? Your leader?”
Mathew looked from her to Jordan, then back to her. He raised his eyebrows. “Oh, I see,” he said with a nod. “There are people of many heritages who live among us, Ellyssa. Quite different than what you are accustomed to, I’m sure.”
With a quick step forward, Jordan brushed by Rein, who tried to hold him back, but the old man knocked his hand away. Although feeble-looking, the leader moved with vigor. He extended his hand to Ellyssa. “Pleased to meet you, Ellyssa. I’ve heard much about you.”
The drawl of Jordan’s dialect was even more pronounced and slower than Rein’s or Mathew’s. ‘Pleased to meet you’ sounded more like ‘Pleaz ta mitcha.’
Ellyssa stared at his proffered hand for a moment, noting the tan skin of his palm. Her gaze floated to his face. Amusement glimmered in his eyes, but so did tiredness. His full lips twitched, as if on the verge of breaking into laughter.
With his hand still extended in the air, she jumped into his head. An onslaught of goodness thrummed inside the old man. He was very sick. He held absolutely no ill will toward her, only inquisitiveness about who she was and why she was here.
Against everything drilled into her from a very young age, Ellyssa took an instant liking to the older man, which surprised her.
Hesitant, like a wild animal taking food from a child, she stepped forward and placed her hand in Jordan’s. His grip was surprisingly strong, considering his health, and…leathery.
“It is-” Ellyssa paused. “I mean, it’s nice to meet you, too,” she replied. She glanced at Mathew, who nodded encouragingly, a smile of triumph gracing his face. She grinned back at him.
“Do you mind if I stay and speak with you?”
Ellyssa’s smile faltered. She didn’t want to answer the questions she’d seen floating in the old man’s head. She was still unsure what to reveal. Maybe everything. Maybe nothing. She chewed on her bottom lip as she debated, then stopped as soon as she noticed the common display of indecision. She erased all expression from her appearance. “Of course.”
Ellyssa returned to her bed while Mathew rolled the chair over next to her cot. With an audible grunt, Jordan took the offered seat. Mathew settled on the empty cot next to hers, while Rein leaned against the edge of the doorway. Rein ran his fingers through his chestnut hair, rearranging the spikes into a new pattern, before he folded his arms. Unease etched his face as his eyes moved from her, to Jordan, to Mathew.
She didn’t understand him at all.
“From what I was told, you were called here?”
Ellyssa tore her attention away from Rein and nodded.
“And, as I’m sure Rein or Doc told you, we have reason to believe Jeremy was the one who was captured and taken to The Center.”
“Yes.”
“He was special. Extraordinary, actually.”
“That is my understanding.”
“Do you know how he came to be here?”
“No. I was not informed.”
Jordan looked at the doctor.
Mathew shrugged.
“About thirty years ago, when he was still a newborn, not more than a couple of months old, I took him in, like I did Rein and Woody, and raised him.”
Ellyssa’s gaze shot to Rein. She had no idea what he must be feeling losing someone he loved. No idea at all.
The brightness in Jordan’s eyes faded a little and a slow tick worked in his jawline as he continue, “I loved him like he was my very own.
“We don’t know much about his mother, only that she was unmarried. She had him secretly. I guess her original plan had been to raise him and slowly integrate him into society.” He pulled his frail shoulders into a
