Page 8 of Graced
“Some of the comments you’ve made these past couple of days.Weird, man.”
Turning around to face the guy, Rhyne leaned back against the counter.“What have I said that makes you say that?”He wasn’t going to antagonize the guy.Just the opposite.He truly wanted to know what he’d said to make his coworker take notice that something about him had changed.
His life history was one of quietly trying to blend in and not attract any undue attention.All those of his kind were that way.They had no choice.Otherwise, the normal human population would not stop until they’d hunted down and eliminated everyone like Rhyne and his buddies out of ignorance and fear.
If he’d inadvertently done something to raise Andy’s suspicions, he needed to know what it was so he could rein back or cease doing it immediately.
Andy gave a shrug.“You and your weird-ass comments about stuff.”
“Such as?”
The man pointed to a small family group—a father and two sons—currently facing off at the basketball throwing game machine.“You said something along the lines of that kid’s t-shirt was the same color as the basketballs.”
Rhyne glanced over his shoulder at the group.“Yeah.So?”
Andy’s face screwed up.“You’ve said other stuff like that.Like those two girls last night.That one of them had yellow hair, but the other one’s hair was more gold in color.Rhy, that kind of shit isn’t what I usually hear from you.Are you okay?”
Rhyne knew exactly what the guy was saying.Ever since his color vision had returned, he’d been more cognizant of the world around him.More appreciative and curious.He never realized that occasionally mentioning what he observed would raise questions about his mental state.
“Yeah, I’m fine.I got into a discussion the other day with a clerk over at ValuSave about a couple of shirts I was thinking of buying.And she kept telling me to buy this one particular blue one because it made my eyes look bluer, and to stay away from wearing plain white whenever possible because it washed the color out of my eyes.”He grinned crookedly to make the fib more realistic.“Since then, I guess it’s been sitting on my mind.Sorry if I’m starting to sound like, I dunno, odd.”
Andy cocked his head as he stared into Rhyne’s face.“You do have odd-colored eyes.Strange how genetics work.Did either of your parents have that color eyes?”
Rhyne slowly shook his head.“I don’t know.I never paid attention to what color their eyes were.”
A mother with two young children entered the amusement center, and Rhyne turned to assist them.It brought a halt to the conversation, permanently, he hoped.
After he’d taken the book home that he’d gotten at the dollar store…
His mind drifted off for a moment as a face rose into his consciousness.He knew now her hair was brown and her eyes were a bright green color similar to some of the leaves and grasses.She’d smelled rich and fertile, letting him know she was both healthy and on her flow.
In the past, he would have taken advantage of the situation.However, those days of looser morals were long gone.New norms had developed over the ages…for the most part.Yes, there were still some women out there who’d have no problem with him making advances.But he’d quickly discovered that their blood was often tainted.Sometimes to the point of reeking.And although blood poisoned by drugs, alcohol, or other medical conditions might cause him some discomfort or illness, it wouldn’t kill him.Make him nauseous or listless, yes.Give him stomach or muscle cramps, yes.But not kill him.It would take something more powerful to take him out, but ingesting bad blood could weaken him enough to prevent him from protecting himself or being able to get the hell away from the situation.
Luckily, no more was said about the incident.Rhyne also took note of what he said, taking care not to mention color in any context.
Once he’d taken the book home, he quickly realized he hadn’t forgotten what colors were.It was as if his brain had tucked that bit of knowledge into a corner somewhere and forgotten about it because he no longer needed it.But after going through the primer, it came back to him.All of it, including the various shades he was already aware of.
Scarlet, rose, pink, crimson, cherry, vermillion, ruby—those variations of blood red were already familiar to him.What delighted him was learning about the newer shades.Shades he hadn’t encountered.Or if he had, wasn’t aware of because of his color blindness.Offshoots like brick, maroon, magenta, and something called candy apple.And those were just for red!There were still countless variations of white, yellow, green, blue, and even black!
These past couple of days, instead of remaining at the house until it was time to go to work, he’d toured the outdoors.It was a delight now to bike around the city and observe all the various palettes and combinations.
The face of the young woman arose in his mind’s eye again.He hadn’t detected any man’s scent on her, which meant she wasn’t claimed.She wasn’t currently involved in any sort of prolonged attachment.It also implied that she was chaste.Her sex drive was dormant, but it didn’t indicate that she was a virgin.She’d had a man before.He was certain of it.But she was currently single and uninvolved.
Rhyne closed the cash drawer.Why am I obsessing over her?I don’t know her.I don’t her name, or where she lives, or where she works.We probably won’t ever meet again.So why do I keep thinking of her?Forget about her, old man.No.Not forget.Push her away.She’s a blip in your life.She doesn’t deserve any more of your time.
It was easier said than done.There had to be a valid reason why he couldn’t get her out of his mind.At the moment, she remained a mystery, but he trusted himself to figure it out eventually.He always did.It was only a matter of time before it came to him, and he had plenty of that to spare.
In the meantime, while he waited for it hit him, he went to wait on the two girls who’d returned to redeem their tickets.
CHAPTER6
Panic
As he usually was every morning, Rhyne awakened to the sound of the other two getting up and preparing to go to work.Bickering about one taking longer than usual in the bathroom.Discussing what to have for breakfast.Completely undeterred by the fact that there was another person still trying to sleep in the house.
It was a common occurrence these past few years, squabbling over minor, petty things ever since they’d rented the three-bedroom, one-bath home.Sooner or later he’d remind them what it was like a hundred or so years ago when they didn’t have the luxury of a bathroom.Or individual bedrooms.When they were lucky to have a roof over their heads to keep off the rain and snow, and maybe a couple of walls to protect them from the wind.
For now, he ignored them like he usually did since he always worked a later shift.He was on the verge of falling back to sleep when someone pounded on the door.
