Darra Marcus

"Adam is blind. It is all my fault." Mother cried while holding baby Adam.

"Am I going to be blind too?" I asked her as I touch my eyes.

"No Marcus. You are fine."

Somebody was slamming the door. It was Father, he was raging. We heard him screaming like a beast which frightened me.

"Let us get outside. Your Father is dead." Mother grabbed my hand and we ran outside the house.

We stayed under a tree where we waited for Father's exit. Almost ten minutes had passed but Father was not able to get outside the house. Mother turned on her SCD or the System Communicating Device and called the authorities.

"Crux seventy-eight south." I saw Mother cried as she speaks on the SCD. "Crux sixty-seven east is down." Then she hung-up.

"Who is that?" I asked her as I wipe the tears from off her face.

"A friend of mine son. They will help us."

"Is Father going to be fine?" I asked while trying to hold my tears from falling.

The wind blew hard for a moment. The screaming from inside the house grew louder and louder. It was Father! He managed to escape from the locked room. He looked like a monster, he looked like the old man that chased us on the woods. His eyes were all white, the veins were like etched off form his skin. He could not run straight; he was like a drunk man.

He ran toward us. Mother picked up some rocks and threw it against Father. Father was knocked back several times, but he could still manage to get up and run after us.

"Marcus! Take your brother and run!" Mother told me as she tries to hold Father back from getting to us.

I did as what she told me. But Father, he kept on chasing me and Adam. I ran as fast as I could, but the weight of Adam was slowing me down. I lost my balance and stumbled on the ground. Little Adam was thrown to the thick bushes away from Father. I was unable to move because my legs were severed by a sharp edge of a stone. I cried so loud. Father pulled my legs toward him. His saliva was dripping like of a mad dog. He was about to bite me when Mother thrust a pickaxe on his back. This poked Father's attention and turned his back to Mother. He grabbed Mother on her shoulders and growled. Father would bite Mother on the face.

"Mother!" I screamed.

Then somebody fired a bullet straight to my father's forehead. This knocked Father down. Mother was released and was dropped down to the ground. There were five men in military uniform who came to rescue us. One of them helped Mother to stand up.

"Darra, are you fine?" He asked Mother.

"Yes." Mother started to cry. "Thomas is gone." She added.

"What happened? How did he turn into a psychrow?"

Mother sobbed. "they were out on the woods to hunt..."

Just before Mother finished telling the story, Father attacked the officer who was talking to Mother. He bit him on the neck. A lot of blood gushed out. Father, again, bit him on the face until the skin had been scraped off. Father became more aggressive as more blood was spilled. He broke off the officer's arm and ate it. He was not contented, he ripped open the stomach and feasted on his guts.

The other officers shot Father several times, but it was good for nothing. Mother picked up the pickaxe and hit father on the head three times. Father's head was crushed until it fell off from his body. Mother cried on her knees with her pickaxe thrust down into the ground. We heard little Adam's cry from the bushes nearby. The officer gave my younger brother to my mother. I felt the pain starting to get worse.

I screamed, "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh...."

I wake up from this nightmare. This horror scene is haunting me since my father had passed away. The sunlight penetrates the transparent window of my room. I can feel the warmth radiating on my skin. I jumped off from my bed. My head still hurts slightly because of the last night's filtration. Adam knocked on my door.

"Marcus." He knocks once. "Open up"

"Just a second Adam. I'm coming."

I open the door and let my brother in. I carry him onto my bed.

"What is the matter Adam?" I ask him and pick up his cane on the floor.

"I heard Mother, talking to someone on her SCD."

"What is about it?" I move my face closer to Adam.

"The canister. They were talking about the canister which Mother is hiding away from you."

"But what for? Did you hear some other details about it?"

Adam pulls my ear near his lips and whispers, "Mother mentioned about reporting to the System."

"Adam, just stay here for a moment. I am just going to talk to Mother."

I walk downstairs and find Mother having a cup of tea. The canister is on the paper cluttered table. I sit in front of Mother.

"Mother, what are you doing?" I ask her.

"Marcus, I have to leave for a while." She sips from her cup of tea.

I stand up and slams the table. Mother is surprised on my actions.

"What is wrong with you? You are being rude to me." Mother stands up and points me with her finger.

I drop the tone of my voice and sit. "My apologies. I just do not want you to leave us."

"Marcus, listen to me. Do you remember what happened last night?"

"Yeah, tell me Mother."

Mother sits down and shows me her necklace.

"I was a member of the System. I was the seventy-eighth southern cross."

"Is that the reason why they let us go last night Mother?"

Mother just nods. She stands up again and goes to the kitchen's counter where the oven is placed. She opens the door of the oven, and the sweet aroma of the pie she is baking scattered in the kitchen. She opens the window and brings the pie on our table. She slices it and gives it to me.

"Marcus, your father and I were high ranking officials of the System's armed force. We quitted our job when we decided to settle down." Mother holds my hand.

"But why was the officer still recognized you as one of them if you already quitted your job?"

"It is because of this necklace. It contains our IC or the identification Code inside its pendant." She added, "We are forbidden to disclose our IC or our identity to those who do not belong to our society."

I suddenly remember the necklace and the code my Father gave me. Could that be the reason why Mother was so angry when Father pronounced those words last eight years ago? Things are getting clearer now as my mother parts the veil of their past.

"What about that Canister? Could you tell me more about it? Mother?" I ask as I touch the canister.

"The Canister that....."

Just before Mother finished speaking, Adam screams. "Marcus! Help!"

We run inside my room to get to Adam. There are two men, wearing black jackets and white masks, who grab Adam by his collar. And jump out the window. There are no any traces or marks of their escape.

"Adam!" Mother screams.

I do not know what to do. I am stunned. My little brother is gone, and I was not there when he needed me the most. I failed him again. I am weak, I am hopeless.

"Stay here Marcus. I have a fight to settle." Mother wipes off her tears and goes inside the room where we are not allowed to go into.

*Darra Jensen's Point of View*

I am Darra Jensen, the seventy-eighth southern cross. I was a member of the System's Armed force. I will fight to kill; I will kill to fight. Thousands of psychrows have I killed; thousand of rebels have I silenced. I fear nothing for I am fearless. Lay a hand on my family and I will destroy you; all of you.

I opened the wardrobe that have been closed for almost two centuries since we left the System. I choose the best armaments I have in store. Guns and blades are the perfect combination. My old combat uniform, it still fits on me. Our combat uniform is consisted of a black carbon-synthesized whole-body armor, a black gasmask with thermal vision, and a pair of feather light combat boots.

"In memory of Thomas, I will get our son back. If I must lay down my life, I would, just to save my child. No one could stop me but death." These are the words that come inside my mind as I wear my gears.

I walked outside the armory. Marcus sees me like this for the first time. The sorrow on his face is replaced by amazement.

"Mother." Marcus stares at me from head to toe. "You look different." He added.

"I will find your brother and will bring him back here. You will stay here and guard the house." I say, then throw the key to him

I hug Marcus so tight and kiss him on his forehead; this could be the last time that I might see my eldest son.

"Goodbye Marcus. Take care of yourself. And remember how much I love you." I bid goodbye as tears fall on my numb cheeks.

Marcus starts to cry. "I will go with you."

"No Marcus, I cannot afford to lose you. I promised to myself that I would protect my sons no matter what it costs me."

He stares in my eyes. "I love you Mother. Please take good care of yourself."

I walk outside the house not knowing if I could save my child or I would die for nothing.

*Marcus Jensen's Point of View*

I watch how Mother walks outside with tears. I am all alone now, clueless of what is going to happen next. I have never expected that it would end up like this, but it is all in front of me now. I go to the kitchen to have some glass of water and think about my next plan. I cannot just sit here and cry.

As I am drinking, I notice the canister left on the table. Mother would have forgotten to keep it inside the forbidden room. I hold it in my hands and scans it. It is just a normal canister, but why was mother so paranoid about it? I decided to check inside the forbidden room and look what could I find in there. There are guns, swords, books, and some other trinkets. I never thought that there is a room like this inside our house.

I see a book on the topmost shelf. It has a lot of pages and relatively heavy. I pick it up and carry it outside the room where there is enough light to read it. The title of the book is, "The Code and Ethics of The System."

The preface of the book contains the description and variation of the five Districts. The District one, which is here, is the Olfactory District; the sense-dominance is smelling. Gustatory District is the District two which sense-dominance is tasting. The third District is the Auditory District; the sense-dominance is hearing. The fourth one is the Sight District¬ which sense-dominance is seeing. And the last one is Cutaneous District which is for sense of touch.

After hours of reading the book, I learned that my father's identification code is still and is honored by the system. The handshake which Mother rendered to the officer has something to do with their identification code. If you are North, thumb should extend upward; if you are South, the little finger is extending forward; if you are East, the long finger is concealed inside the palms; and if you are West, little finger is concealed inside the palms.

I have to follow Mother but how? If I manage to get outside the district, I might get killed by the psychrows. If I only have a map or a tracker. But I must go on.

I put the book and the canister inside my bag. Grab some food to carry with me, some clothes, and a gun. I wear my father's necklace. Keeping in mind the words, "Crux sixty-seven east." I step outside the house.

The District's Plaza looks different now. There are no military personnel monitoring the place. There are merchants of different products and gadgets along the streets. People are just living their normal lives. It is a perfect day to take a rest but for me, it is the day that will change everything.

Out of nowhere, a man with a black hair, about five and seven inches feet tall, runs into me. "Help me tell the people that there are bunch of psychrows approaching the District's boundary."

"What? I do not get it. The District one's security has the second to the highest standard among the other three." I tell the stranger.

"That is what we thought. But the District's armed forces are already down. Some of them were eaten, while the others turned into psychrows." He replies as he catches his breath. "By the way, I am Brent Garnett." He added.

I offer him a handshake, but he refuses. "Is there anything wrong?" I ask.

"I am a local of District two, I just sneaked out so that I could hang-out with my girl living here in District one. I cannot just give a handshake to you who belong to another District. We cannot tell if we might trigger a virus infection or not. Just to be safe."

In the middle of our conversation, we hear gunshots. People start to run to random directions. The Psychrows! They are here inside our District.