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Excerpt from Genus:Species
by Dawn Chartier
“Trust you? I have no one else
to trust but you,” Brittan yelled as she eyed Sean wearily.
She’d go along until she could figure out what to do.
“I won’t let them hurt you,”
he whispered. “I promise.”
She sighed. “Where’s your
bathroom?” She needed to get away from him fast.
“Through that door,” he
said pointing over his shoulder. “We meet Matt in ten minutes
in the cafeteria. Matt figured we were starving.” He tilted
his head. “Are you?”
“A little, but I don’t think
I could eat. Not from here anyway. I’ll be back,” she
said as she closed the bathroom door behind her.
Trust him, trust him? Is he out of his
mind? She leaned her back against the door and slid down until her
butt hit the floor. Her hands covered her face, and she moaned through
her fingers.
He was acting like two different men.
And she thought she had an entity crisis. He was one man in front
of Matt, and another in front of her. Who was he? He’d never
opened up to her, so she truly had no idea. Would the real Sean Troy
please stand up? She stifled a laugh to herself at the dumb phrase. |
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At
the pedestal sink, she splashed water across her face. The water was
heaven against her burning skin. Her palm rested on her forehead,
then she flipped it over and pressed. Did she have a temperature?
Her skin was burning up. She leaned over and splashed her face again.
Maybe her gums got infected from the surgery. She hadn’t been
able to take care of the incision since she was abducted.
Her mouth opened wide. She leaned
closer to the oval metal framed mirror and glanced inside. No sooner
had she stuck her tongue out than she gasped in shock. She quickly
slapped her mouth closed with her hands. Her tongue appeared to be
long, sleek, and forked. Like a snakes, split down the middle.
Her legs felt weak, and her stomach
lurched. She unlocked her mouth once again while her eyes were shut
tight. She had to be sure. She pried opened one eye and slowly stuck
out her pink split tongue. Oh-my-God, she mouthed to herself in the
mirror and swayed on her feet. Just like the aliens. Dear God, please
don’t let her have to live with a thing like that inside her
mouth, she prayed. What else would change? Didn’t they tell
her she’d remain the same? Had they lied to her? She couldn’t
trust anyone or anything.
A knock on the door had her wheeling
around and clasping her hand over her mouth again.
“Brittan, we have to go,”
he hollered.
She removed her hands from her face
and placed them at her sides. Slowly she spoke as though it was something
foreign to her. “I’ll be out in a second.” Surprisingly
she sounded normal, without any slurring.
If she’d had doubts that Sean
would turn her in to Matt, she didn’t have any now. After he
saw this, he’d lock her up and throw the key away himself. How
could she hide it? She circled back to the mirror and glanced one
last time, wondering what she could do about it.
The snake tongue was gone. Thank God
for huge favors.
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