Lurking Eyes

¨¨¨¨¨¨¨Stop. You're giving me a headache¨ I said. ¨Us, giving you a headache. No. You made a very grave mistake young man¨ my dad yelled at the top of his lungs.  I had never seen my dad so angry before. I decided it would be better to keep my mouth shut. My mom stood next to my dad glaring at me. She was angry too. ¨Pack your bags. You are not staying here anymore. You can live with your aunt and uncle¨ my dad said coldly. ¨Fine. I don't want to be here anyways¨ I replied back just as coldly. Anger ate away at my soul. My parents thought their opinions were the only opinions that were true. They were narrow- minded. My dad was the leader of The Serpents. One of the most deadly gangs in the country. I was next in line to be the leader but seeing how my parents hated me now I probably was not anymore. My aunt and uncle lived in the countryside. I hated the countryside. I have always preferred the city. Maybe my fiance would let me stay with her but her parents would not allow that. The reason my parents were mad. I fell in love with a girl belonging to our rival gang The Everglades. Her parents were also not happy about us being together. I packed everything I needed into one duffel bag. I just packed some clothes and a handgun. I got my keys and drove over to my fiance's house. I went up and knocked on her door. ¨Hi, Ember¨ I said when she opened the door. ¨Jackson, what are you doing here¨ she said in surprise. She put a strand of her long blond hair behind her ear. Her bright green eyes shined like diamonds. A big gust of wind blew and the dark blue skirt of her dress swirled around. ¨I was wondering if I could stay with you for a little while. My parents kicked me out¨ I told her. ¨I would let you but I am leaving. I got in a big fight with my parents about us. I can't stand to stay here anymore¨ Ember replied. ¨Alright, then we will have to go to my grandparents house. They are the only ones who will let us stay with them. They want no part in the illegal activities of my parents¨ I said. ¨Ok, that is a good idea. Your grandparents are nice¨ she said signing. ¨I already packed my bags. Just stay right here while I go get them¨ she told rushing back into her house. I heard big heavy footsteps coming from the door three seconds later. I knew who that was. It was Ember´s father. Luckily there was a big tree covering where I parked my car. I quickly hid in a brush nearby. He stepped out and started watering the brushes out front with a water hose. I shivered as the cold water striked me. I was soaked from head to toe. Her father went back inside. A few minutes later Ember came out with 2 suitcases in her hands. ¨What happened to you?¨ she asked while looking at me in disgust. ¨Your father came out. I hid in the brush and he watered them with the hose¨ I informed her. I went to take her bags for her but she pulled them away from me. ¨I got them. I do not want them wet¨ she told me while putting them in the back of my car. ¨Ok, I am going to change in the back of the car real quick¨ I said shivering. She got in the front seat of the car. I changed and then drove us to my grandparents house. We soon came to a small wooden cabin surrounded by miles of woods. ¨This is it¨ I said getting out of the car. I got our bags. Ember followed me to the front door and knocked on it. ¨Jackson, come on in¨ my grandmother said when seeing me. ¨Who is your girlfriend?¨ she asked. Ember looked at her nervously. ¨I am his fiance¨ she told my grandmother. ¨Congratulations¨ my grandfather said, startling me. He was standing in a dark corner of the wall. I looked inside the house and there seemed to be shadows lurking everywhere. Ember shivered. ¨Are you cold?¨ I asked her. ¨No, it is just kind of creepy here¨ she said. ¨No offense¨ she added quickly, looking at my grandparents. ¨None taken¨ my grandfather said. My grandmother showed us to a room for us to share. It had dark green curtains draping over the window. The bed had black sheets. The black cover had orange flames on the bottom of it. There were two doors. One leading to a master bathroom and the other leading to a big walk in closet. It was a nice room. Ember and I thanked my grandparents and then started unpacking. I  smelled a warm and inviting smell. ¨Let's take a break from unpacking and see what they cooked¨ I told Ember. ¨I am hungry¨ she replied. We went down to the kitchen. ¨Just in time. It is time for dinner¨ my grandmother told us. She gave us plates with steak, mashed potatoes, black beans, and white rice.  “You are very good at cooking” Ember complimented my grandmother. Boom! It was the sound of thunder. Shortly afterwards rain started pounding down on the roof of the house. We all finished eating. Ember helped my grandmother do the dishes. I went on to the porch. Then I saw it. A dark figure with dark glowing red eyes peeking out at me. What was that? I quickly went back inside and grabbed my rain coat and put on a pair of heavy black boots. Ember finished the dishes and followed me outside with her raincoat. “What are you doing?” she asked me with curiosity. The figure was still there. I pointed to where the red eyes were staring at us. “There is an intruder on my grandparents property. I want to know who is and why they are here” I told Ember. The figure ran when he or she saw me pointing at them. I quickly ran after the figure. Ember kept up right behind me. The figure was running fast. We chased the figure for about a mile when finally some light came through despite the storm. I could see the figure clearly now. It was a girl. She looked younger than us. She had long red hair and red eyes. Her eyes no longer glowed. They were just a plain dark red. After 6 more miles she finally seemed to be getting tired. Luckily me and Ember were fit since we were in gangs. We have been training ever since we were little. The girl started to slow down and I quickly tackled her. I pinned her down on the muddy ground. She stared at me with a blank expression. “Who are you? Why are you here?” I demanded her to tell me. She just kept staring at me with no change in her expression. She did not say a word. “Ember, get me a vine please” I asked her. She cut off a long vine from a tree nearby. I made the girl stand up and tied her wrist with the vine behind her back. I realized we were really deep in the forest. The storm finally stopped. Were we still on my grandparents property? We were lost. I did not know how to get back to the house. “What do we do now?” Ember asked looking up at me. The girl’s eyes wandered off to something behind. Her eyes grew wide in fear. She winced. “What is wrong?” Ember asked her. “I can’t tell you. Asher will punish me” she spoke. I looked behind us to see a man standing a couple of feet away. He had black hair and the same red eyes as the girl. He must have been Asher. He had a handgun in his right hand. “Do not move or I will shoot” he said, approaching us. Ember and I froze. We did not have any weapons on us. I really wish I had brought my gun. Bam! The gun went off. Ember jumped at the sound. Asher had shot the girl we had prisoner. Asher quickly ran away. Ember and I immediately turned our attention to the girl. She was laying on the ground with a bullet wound in her shoulder. Ember took her coat off and wrapped around the girl's shoulder to prevent it from bleeding any farther. The girl shut her eyes tightly and gritted her teeth in pain. “We have to get her to a hospital,” Ember said. “No, I can not go to a hospital” the girl spoke. “He will find me and finish the job” she added in a quiet fearful voice. “We can protect you but first we have to tend to your wound. Then you can tell us what is going on” Ember said. “Take the bullet out” the girl said in barely a whisper. “No, then you will bleed out” I told her. She lifted up her hand and put it under the coat wrapped around the wound. Then she quickly ripped it out. Her face scrunched up in pain when she did. Ember and I looked at her in shock. The girl stood up and took the coat off her shoulder. Her wound was fully healed. This was impossible. What was happening? The girl started to take off and run. “Wait, we can help you” Ember called out. The girl stopped and looked back at us. “Why would you help me?” she asked. “You clearly need help getting away from that man. It would be heartless for us not to help you. You just need to tell us what is going on” Ember replied. “Fine. We need to talk in a more secretive place” she said looking around for Asher. “Do you know the way back to the house?” I asked Ember. She shook her head no. “I know where it is. I know this property like the back of my hand” the girl told us. She started walking and we followed her. “I am Ember and this is Jackson” she introduced us. The girl just looked at us and said nothing. “What is your name?” I asked. “Adalee,” she said. We walked in silence the rest of the way. I tried to process everything that just happened. It was crazy. Ember and I held hands trying to comfort one another. We finally arrived at the house. I opened the door and went in. My grandparents were nowhere to be seen. They were probably out there somewhere looking for us since we were gone for so long. We would have to worry about that later. We went to Ember and I’s room. ¨The man who shot me is Asher¨ Adalee began. I sat down on the bed. Ember did the same. Adalee remained standing. ¨He is a scientist and is really smart. He created me. He cloned me from another human named James. He switched up the DNA and made where I would be invincible. He also tried to make it where he could control me but he failed to do that. He is trying to create an army. There are only two of us right now. The other person cloned is Levi. Who also happens to be my best friend. We started to rebel against Asher. He stuck us in a cage as if we were animals. Levi convinced Asher to let us out of the cage for a few minutes so we could bathe. As soon as he let us out, Levi distracted Asher while I ran away. Once I was a good distance away he was supposed to run and meet up with me at the front of your house but he never came. Then I saw y´all and got scared so I ran. Then Asher found us but was not expecting you to be there. You know the rest¨ she finished. ¨What about your red eyes?¨ I asked. ¨Asher found the combination of genes to make our eyes red¨ she replied. ¨Why does he want to create an army?¨ Ember asked her. ¨I do not know. Asher never told us¨ Adalee said. ¨We have to rescue Levi and put Asher behind bars¨ Adalee said taking the lead. Her whole demeanor changed.  All her fear disappeared and she held her head high in confidence. ¨Do you have any weapons?¨ she asked us. ¨I have a handgun¨ I said. ¨I have a handgun and a rifle¨ Ember said. ¨I will take the rifle¨ Adalee said. ¨You know how to use it?¨ Ember asked in surprise. ¨Of course I do. I am twelve years old¨ Adalee informed us. I was sixteen years old and Ember was fifteen years old. I was not trained in how to use a rifle but I definitely knew how to use a handgun. Ember got her rifle and handed it to Adalee. Ember and I got our handguns. ¨Follow me to Asher's headquarters. Do not kill Asher unless it is absolutely necessary¨ Adalee told us. We followed her to a cave. There was no one to be seen. Adalee led us to a spiraled staircase. There were lights on the side lighting up the way. Soon we stopped in front of a cage. A small boy with blondish brown hair and red eyes looked up at us. ¨Adalee, you came back with help¨ Levi said in excitement. ¨Asher has the keys on his belt. We have to find him¨ Adalee said. ¨No need. I am here¨ said a big booming voice. I turned around. It was Asher with a gun point at Adalee. Then he pointed it at Ember. I quickly stood in front of her. ¨If you do not want your friends to die then you will put your rifle down and do what I said¨ Asher said to Adalee. A big bang echoed throughout the tunnel. Adalee shot Asher with her rifle right in the head. He died instantly. Tears welled up in Adalee´s eyes realizing what she had just done. ¨Do not cry. You did the right thing¨ Ember told her. She ran up to Ember and buried her face into her dress sobbing. I retrieved the keys and let Levi out. He ran up to Adalee and hugged her. ¨Let's get out of here¨ I said. We returned back to the house. My worried grandparents were waiting there. We told them everything that happened. At first they did not believe us but once they saw Adalee and Levi we finally convinced them that we were telling the truth. My grandparents said they could stay with us. Adalee and Levi became like sister and brother to us. We were a family of six now.