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Eve Isaacs
I turned the sink on and splashed water on my face. It was cold and yet didn't do anything to make me feel more real. It didn't manage to snap me out of my funk. I turned the sink off and looked into the mirror. I had to be functional at the party outside the door. I was one of Rin Isaac's only two surviving children. Even as Mother turned into a myth, my importance continued to be overstated. In the new world she helped to create there were many opportunities to grow in wealth. But I didn't care as she wasn't here.
I ran my fingers down the mirror's edge and admired the craftsmanship. It had been many years since the war had ended and Mother had sacrificed herself. Though she hadn't died, she had made sure she wasn't living two lives at once. I sometimes had dreams where we met again and never parted ways ever again. But those were just dreams and no matter how much I wanted, those dreams would never be reality.
The mirror showed a reflection of a young woman that looked like how I remembered Mother. Her gentle face and strong eyes looked back at me. My hair was naturally red but was now dyed a dark green color. Only just a few months ago there began to be readily available products to dye hair. They were usually only used by older people, but young people like myself liked to use them to be adventurous. Or make a political message.
"I'll be right out!" I yelled as someone knocked on the door.
I didn't want to go out. I hated the crowds where I had to put on a smile. Where I had to pretend to like the attention thrown my way. There were men and women who all thought I wanted advances. Sometimes I did out of loneliness and a need to be more honorable than I actually was, but parties never made me feel sexually aroused. With people around I was reminded of the hole Mother had left in my heart. A darkness that threatened to consume everything I was. In my mind I knew why she had to leave, but my heart didn't want to hear the truth.
The moment I opened the door the woman slammed the door shut behind her. I heard her let out an excited yell that meant she had been holding her excrement in for quite awhile. I had been taught from an early age to not be ashamed of my bodily functions and to respect the privacy of others. It had only been after reaching my teen years that I had realized Mother's lessons had been quite unique. She had been unashamed of things people usually blushed at. I hadn't yet decided if that was a strength or not. I'd like to think that it was.
I walked through my house which was much larger and elegant than any place I had lived in during the war. It had been built in and around a large cave so there was a very familiar feel to it as I walked around. Sam did not allow it to look too much like Winterfell, the first true city of the rebuilt world, by putting exotic sculptures that showed our wealth.
My first father, Alex, had been killed during the war against Alice and the Umbrella Corporation. There had been talks about renaming the United States of America to include his and Mother's names. The decision had been not to do that as Mother hadn't wanted to become a deity to the people she had saved. I wondered how many years it had been for her and if she still thought of me. If there had been anyway for me to join her, I would have taken it. In my heart I knew that she hadn't wanted to leave and so I held no hatred against her. No matter how some of the children had tried to mock me.
I looked at the plants that complimented the green carpets. During the great drought that had turned the Earth into a wasteland, the color green had hardly been seen. So when the rains had come back, the color green had been highly valued. However, it was only after the war had been won and the T-Virus cured, that people were free to celebrate the color green. I ran a hand through my hair that was green to show my support of the reborn world.
"Eve!" A woman said excitedly.
"Anna!" I yelled in fake enthusiasm.
"You don't need to pretend to be excited about this. I've known you too long to be fooled."
Anna Fawkes had been a good friend to me over the years. Besides Father and Eyrie, she had allowed me to be happy even with Mother's departure. Her dress tonight was all green except for some spots of black. Her smile had to be caused by the wine in her glass. A glass that must have been refilled a few times knowing her.
"And I've known you too long to believe you're sober." I replied.
"We each have our own ways of dealing with social events." She agreed and took another sip.
"You don't have to be here. I'm the daughter of Rin, Alexander, and Sam Isaacs. If I stayed in my room there would be too many questions asked."
"My mom thinks these parties will allow me to get better options in the world. I think she wants to try to marry me off to someone. I think if your dad hadn't locked himself away, she'd try to go after him."
Mother had come from a world where it was common enough to marry for power. Yet she hadn't wanted that kind of life for me. She wanted me to decide for myself if I'd marry and have children. With all the wealth I had now, I didn't have to worry about things like Anna did. I didn't have to force myself to go to parties full of powerful people like the current head of Valyria Inc. I couldn't recall his name, only that he was extremely unpleasant to be around and single.
My power and wealth came from being the daughter of a Kaari. This even though the Mormonts had become disbanded a year or so ago. I, along with Eyrie and Sam, had done good for humanity and so we were able to hold onto what we had been entitled to before. Though my second father had decided to hide himself from the rest of the world, he still contributed to society at large.
"He is hard to deal with." I replied with a smirk. "Though I wouldn't mind having you as a sister."
"Do you want some wine?" Anna said and pointed to her empty glass. "Maybe you could do better with some liquid courage."
I wanted to disagree with my friend but she was already moving to where the alcohol was. None of my family were big drinkers so we used these parties as ways to get rid of the unneeded alcohol. Breweries and wineries liked to stand apart by putting out unique bottles. I was sure there would be some uniform way to make them in the future. In the present, though, you could tell what was made where by the bottles alone.
"Where is that brother of yours?" Anna asked as she refilled her glass and handed me my own. "He is quite the looker, if I'm to be honest."
"He's around." I replied. "Probably talking to one of the technicians. He loves learning and he will become a great innovator in the future."
"I think he'd do better at finding lost people."
My friend laughed while I just shook my head. Mother had given both him and me gifts. He had the gift of being aware of if someone was alive. I had the ability to be immune to any disease. A quick memory of the incident at Raqus Base flashed through my mind. I had been so young then, but the utter horror was something impossible to forget.
Even though my brother's gift involved the living, he preferred to spend his days focusing on computers and mechanical contraptions. At least that meant he had a future while I had nothing going for me. The only thing I felt good at was fighting and there were no more wars to fight. A police force had formed but they only dealt with minor crimes while I needed a battle to calm the fires in my veins.
I sipped my wine and thought about how the Mormonts had faded into the background as I followed Anna around. The great organization that Mother had founded was only meant to last until the war with Alice and the Umbrella Corporation was won. It was meant to provide a foundation for the future of humanity just as much as it was meant to find a cure for the T-Virus. It was hard to make the organization disappear while still remaining structured enough just in case another great disaster happened to humanity. Sam had been forced to remain in a position that did not allow him great power because of how he did not have many morals. Clones could sometimes change from the original, but Sam's curiosity was too much a part of him.
It was hard to look at Sam at times and not think of Alex. I was so young when he was...was killed that I hadn't been able to focus on the story. It had scared me how Mother had changed when he was gone. She was usually so calm and collected but she had become the opposite. She had become vindictive and frightened me. When she had told me the truth I had been crying too hard to focus on her words. Maybe that was a good thing. The stories told nowadays were so twisted I wondered how much truth there were to them.
"Snap out of it." Anna admonished me. "You can't spend the entire night lost in your own head. You have to talk to people."
"I will." I retorted.
"It's been thirty minutes and you haven't said hello to anyone one."
"I said my greetings at the beginning."
"You are aware people have arrived after the party began, right?"
"Sucks to be them."
Sam and Eyrie did the job of pleasing people much better than me. I liked being away from everyone while they didn't mind the occasional meeting. Part of my problem, I admit, came from thinking of everyone as a potential enemy. My mind took note of everything that could harm me and I constantly anticipated a fight. I wanted a fight. It was in my blood more so than my brother's. Could Alex's mark have made me more violent? Or was it simply a result of chance?
"Just try." Anna said. "And then we can pretend you're too drunk and need to rest."
"Fine." I replied with a sigh. "We need to refill this with something stronger then."
"Method actors. Okay, come on."
I trusted Anna with my life but sometimes I questioned her. While I was more than familiar with the taste and smell of wine, there were some alcoholic beverages I was unsure of. It was taking some time for certain types of alcohol to come back and a few of those were only in the testing stages now. That was the type of alcohol my friend handed me. I sipped and nearly spit the contents out.
"It will get you drunk." Anna replied with a coy smile.
"I have no doubt about that." I agreed and drank very slowly.
We talked with a few scientists. They were part of a group that observed how sea life had returned after the rains came down again. It was an important field as some people depended on the sea and needed to know what they could catch. A few politicians had tried to enact laws that anything could be caught, but I headed a movement to stop those laws. If I couldn't spill blood, at least there was some way to relieve the tension in my bones.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw a handsome young man. He had brown hair and green eyes. He was wearing a black suit and talking with a group of people. They laughed at some joke he had made and I felt a yearning to go over to his side. Yet...yet it was wrong and I should stay by Anna's side. The only thing going to the young man would bring me was pain. His familiar eyes met my own and I knew we were doomed.
"I have to go." I told my friend. "Have fun at the party, Anna."
"You're going to leave me all alone?" Anna teased.
"I promise to not run away next time."
"Sure."
I took in a deep breath and finished my strong drink. When I started heading towards the kitchen I heard him start following me. While I wanted to race towards the kitchen, that would raise too much attention. So we were forced to walk slowly as our hearts raced faster and faster.
Soon we were far away from the rest of the guests. Instead of going towards the large kitchen that was used for such parties, we were going to the smaller one that was used on a daily basis. Upon entering the small and homely kitchen that looked out to the fields below, he picked me up. Our lips met and he put me down on a counter.
"Eyrie," I teased. "You're usually the responsible one."
"I have had one too many drinks tonight." He replied and started kissing my neck which caused me to drop my drink.
Both of us had felt lonely after Mother's departure. The connection between us had been the only thing that had kept either of us sane. Anna's friendship had only helped so much, my bond with Eyrie had been everything. As the years went on the bond had steadily grown sexual. It had only taken one kiss to start the fire and then it couldn't be put out. Both of us had tried other partners but kept coming back to each other.
"Eyrie. Eve." A reprimanding voice said.
Eyrie's mouth had been at my cleavage and he quickly backed away. I jumped down from the counter while keeping my eyes on Father. Even with all his years, Sam's hair had still retained its color with only a few grey hairs. His eyes had never lost their deadly stare. His arms were crossed and I looked down in shame.
"A party is going on." Sam said slowly. "Which means other people are here. If they find out incest is being committed under this roof, they won't be happy. I doubt the good things that I did during the war will protect us. You are both intelligent and should know this."
My second father's morals were not like anyone else's. He put incest below his love for his children instead of doing his best to stop our meetings. But even just because he didn't care about my incestuous nature, he did care about how other's perceived us. He was right that Eyrie and myself should have been more careful during the party. If anyone found out there could be trouble and not even our names would be enough protection.
"I'm sorry." Eyrie and I said as one.
"Sorry is a pretty word, isn't it?" Sam asked with a raised eyebrow. "But it is no excuse for trying to **** during a party. You were smart to find a place that is away from the festivities, I will give you that. That is the only compliment I can give you."
"The party is boring." I said. "I know why we host them, but I can't pretend to like people."
"That is the hardest part about life. I gladly preformed experiments on innocent people and was able to hold a reputation. You know why? Because of the people I surrounded myself with. Because one profound woman gave me a chance to do something more."
His eyes looked distant when he mentioned Mother. The thought of her made him act different. I remembered when she was alive and how both of my fathers had more life to them. If she had chosen Earth instead of Westeros it was possible Sam would have done more. He would have continued to become a better person. Instead he had found himself unable to move. The only reason I wasn't stuck was because I had Eyrie. Making love to him was the only time I felt Mother.
"It won't happen." Eyrie promised. "I'll get back to mingling. I was seeing about valuable security positions that might help Eve make her own signature on the world."
I wanted to dismiss the offer as there wouldn't be enough bloodshed for me. It was a sign of defeat if I accepted some security position. Yet I had to do something in this new world Mother had breathed into existence. It would dishonor her memory if I decided to wallow in my sorrows until the end of time.
"I am sorry about disturbing you, brother." I replied. "I should have been thinking about my future instead of you."
"Were you talking to anyone before you came here, Eve?" Sam asked.
"Anna Fawkes. We weren't discussing anything important."
"Humans are social creatures. That, unfortunately, means we have to talk even though we don't want to. It's healthy to form friendships."
We walked out of the kitchen as one without talking. We didn't need to talk and discuss anything. Everything had been said in the kitchen. Anything else would only be touched upon once the party was over. Anna would not have missed me and we could fall into our usual comradery once I was back by her side. Maybe it would feel good to dance with her or maybe we could comment on the clothing of other people. In any case I had to get my mind away from thinking about what I wanted to do to Eyrie.
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