I actually dreamed this scene, then came up wit a storyline regarding it. Critique or shut up! ...Please.

Chapter One

When the boy’s eyes opened, revealing a tint of unnaturally lucid gray, he knew nothing and nothing knew him. For a moment, he simply laid there, staring up at the bleak and violent winter sky, ignoring the smell of smoke and charred flesh as hulks of twisted metal burned around him.

Finally, he blinked, brushing flecks of frost from his face, and stood to his feet. Oblivious to the snow and wind that swirled around him in a chaotic cyclone, the boy looked around for something to cover himself with. Not necessarily for warmth, although the added protection would be appreciated. He just felt an underlying knowledge that walking around naked wasn’t something that everyone did. He soon spotted a brown, tattered cloth that he immediately took and wrapped around his body. With that taken care of, the boy was finally able to take in surroundings.

Any other person might have been awed by the beauty of the crystalline landscape before them, watching with wonder as snowflakes fell incessantly from the heavens like thousands of soft, white feathers. Instead, the boy only stared out impassively at his environs, no more impressed then the rocks and trees that lived there. When seeing nothing but snow and the gray, dead trees that seemed to be trying to claw their way out of it, the boy decided to move. Knowing nothing of his surroundings, he simply began to walk forward.

For a while, he hiked through the snow, the only sounds in the winter air the crush of his bare feet as they sunk repeatedly into the freezing slush and his own breathing, steady and rhythmic. The wind had died down. His breaths seemed to leave behind a trail of clouds as thick as the ones above as the air grew more frigid with each passing minute. Once, he stopped and looked back, the only sign of his trek a fading trail of footprints, filled almost as quickly as his next was created.

After a few hours had passed and it became harder to slog through the thick frost, he stopped. Once again, the wind was raging, cold and furious as it howled. His eyes were beginning to feel heavy and his pace had slowed to a sluggish trudge.

back

The boy blinked, and looked all around him. Had he heard something, through all this snow and wind? For a few minutes, he stood still, the icy wind blowing harshly through his dark hair, and he listened.

back...come back...

The voice was low, overpowered by the piercing howl of the wind. It sounded faintly female, thought he hadn't the experience to judge properly. He'd only heard a couple of females talk, and it was a long time ago, in long-buried memories.

please....back...

He couldn't discern where the voice was coming from, no matter how much he tried. One minute, it would sound like it was behind him, the next, to his side. He hadn't moved an inch since hearing the voice, focusing all his attention on it as the world began to fade to gray. He didn't know what was happening, only that his eyelids wouldn't stay open, and he felt himself sinking down. Then the world went black, but he could still hear the voice, despite the darkness. Even in that darkness, he couldn't find it's source as he descended deeper and deeper into the oblivion. Yet the voice prevailed.

come back

Chapter Two

"I don't think he can hear me..."

In the dimly lit room, a small girl gazed out of the only window in the tall, dark building, her fingers tracing the cool glass absently. Outside was night, and the moon turned the black ocean of rolling hills and grass into a landscape that seemed to glow faintly in the light.

"Try again, number three," a female voice urged from the deepest shadows of the room.

The girl was silent.

"Number three?"

No answer.

A sigh from the dark as some pages flipped in the dark. "Suri...Suriela?"

The girl nodded, never turning her pale, green eyes away from the moonlit landscape before her. "Thank you. I don't mean to be impolite, but I always feel as if I'm in a bad science fiction movie when you call me that."

"Since when do you watch science fiction movies?"

"The janitor watches them all the time."

"I see..." For a moment, the scratch of pen on paper was the only sound in the room. Then, the girl spoke:

"Maybe it's good that he's out there now..." she said, though she didn't sound very sure.

The scribbling stopped. "And why do you say that?"

Silence again.

"Numbe...Suriela?"

Suriela sighed, finally turning away from the freedom that seemed so close yet was impossible to attain. "There's a story from long ago of a man. Ever since he was a child, he was depressed and lonesome. When he was old enough, he left his home, his family and friends, to find happiness. To find his heart. After years of searching, with no luck, the broken man decided to return home. Maybe he wasn't meant to be happy. Maybe some were born without hearts. As he walked down the road to his village, he walked with his head down, his pain almost unbearable. But when he looked up and saw his home, he felt something. Something within him rose and rose, until he felt he could touch the clouds themselves. As he walked into his village, greeted by the same family and friends that saw him off, he reailized that his home is where his heart was."

"That's beautiful, where'd you learn it?"

The girl smiled faintly, shaking her head. "You don't have to lie, doctor. I doubt a scientist can find beauty in anything."

""Why do you say that?"

She shrugged. "God Himself only found his creations to be 'good'. Nothing about aesthetics when it came to the big guy, right? No magnificent, rolling clouds. No vast, majestic seas. No beautiful, perfect human beings rising from the earth to hold dominion over all. Only 'good'."

The pencil began its furious scribbling once again. "And you equate us with God?"

Suriel turned back toward the landscape and sighed. "I believe that no one but God can be God. Anyone trying is merely making a futile attempt to justify their own mortality."

"Could you explain that, please?"

She sighed again, closing her eyes tightly. "I'm tired. We're done for today."

"But-"

Suriela turned toward the darkness, those pale, green eyes seeming to pierce the shadows themselves. After a moment, the voice spoke once again:

"I'd love to keep talking, but you look really tired. Would you like to be escorted to your room?"

Suriela nodded, adjusting her long, white skirt. "Yes, thats a wonderful idea, thank you."

"We'll continue this conversation tomorrow."

~~~
The man with dark eyes took a long drag of his cigarette before speaking. "You mean, one of them is out in the world?"

The young woman's own sapphire eyes narrowed behind her spectacles as smoke drifted lazily into her face. With a wave of her hand, she replied, "That is what 'escaped' usually means, isn't it Mr. Rochester?"

"And you need to us to retrieve it for you," he guessed, fiddling with a button on his black jacket.

"We'd be very grateful. And if you do this for us, we might just forget about that litte incident a few weeks ago."

Develyn Rochester couldn't help but wince. The 'incident' involved him stealing one of the Boss' prized luxury cars and joyriding all over the countryside and into the city as well. Although he had returned the vehicle just as he left it, if the Boss ever found out...

Despite the threat however, Develyn smiled with genuine humor, tapping a bit of ash off his cigarette onto the table. "Since when did scientists get into the blackmail game?"

The young woman smiled as well, slightly abashed, and adjusted her glasses. "It's not something we'd normally do and certainly not something we're proud of, but you have to understand the severity of this situation."

"Well then, Dr. Adstene, explain to me just how severe the problem really is," Develyn suggested, picking at a scab on his brown skin.

The woman shook her head, a few strands of her chesnut hair swaying against her forehead. "Classified. All you need to know is the location of the subject and to not hurt him in the process."

Develyn raised an eyebrow. "Him?"

Dr. Asdstene sighed heavily. "The subject is a small boy-"

"I know," the man interrupted with a wave of his hand. "I've seen them before. I just didn't realize you were classifying the little guinea pigs as human."

The young woman's eyes narrowed, instantly changing from gem to ice. "They are human, Mr. Rochester. the only thing that seperates us from them is-"

"Penises?"

Dr. Adstene blinked before shaking her head. "You're disgusting. Are you going to help or not?"

Develyn chuckled, leaning back into his chair as he took another drag of his cigarette. "How do I find him?"

~~~
The twilight air was cool to Suriela on the rooftop, and the occasional southward breeze made her wine-tinted hair rise and fall gently with each zephyr. However, despite the calmness of the night, she couldn't shake the feeling that calamity would come with the sunrise.

"Something vexing you, Sister?"

Suriela smiled, her trouble forgotten for the moment. "Raguel. Are you trying to analyze my psyche as well?"

The boy walked next to her and leaned against the railing overlooking the dark countryside, charcoal eyes studying the landscape impassively.

"I couldn't get into your mind, even if I tried. But you always come to the rooftop to think when your mind is troubled. What's wrong?"

"I'm really worried about Uriel. He's never even been outside and now..." She trailed off, unwilling to voice the fears that plagued her. In her short life, she'd cared for the other children as if they were her own. Maternal instinct and an innate ability to care for and soothe were her reasons. She'd never questioned them.

Raguel shook his head. "I've only met him a couple of times, when he was awake, so I don't really know what he's capable of, but don't worry. They're sending Rochester to find him."

"How? We don't even know where he is." She finally tore her eyes away from below and looked to the boy beside her, almost in tears. "What if he...what if someone...?" She shivered as another cold breeze visited the rooftop.

The boy finally looked to her, his dark eyes staring out at her through a mess of straight, white hair. His face remained expressionless, but his voice belied his neutrailty. "Don't worry. If it makes you feel better, I'll go with Rochester. I'll make sure Uriel's safe."

Suriela smiled, throwing herself into his arms. After a moment, she felt his small arms wrap awkwardly around her and she wiped tears away from her cheeks. In the soft light of the moon, they stayed like that until she spoke, her head resting against his chest:

"I guess I'm just being a child..."

He didn't answer right away, choosing instead to just hold her. He wasn't the type to show himself emotionally, but out here, in the night...it felt alright.

"Isn't that what we're supposed to be?" he finally asked, partly to her, partly to himself.

Suriela laughed lightly, not moving. "I've never met a normal child before, but I'm sure they're not like us." Her smile disappeared as they both stared out into the dark. "Not at all."