Blood - Chapter 1

Every month they take the blood. Checking. Nico doesn't know why they have to do it every month. As if your blood changes.

Denny is in the line next to Nico. He's got his RX out - he's playing right there in the corridor, two thumbs a whirr. Everyone's got an RX.

"Den" Nico elbows him. An invigilator is coming along the corridor. They glide so you don't hear them. You have to keep your eyes open.
Den slides the RX up his sleeve just in time but the invigilator stops right beside them. Nico watches the reptilian eye travel up and down him. Then Denny.

Denny isn't even looking, he's leaning against the wall, bored.

Just then the line shuffles forward. Denny doesn't look bothered. Nico can't understand it. Nico's heart beats faster just seeing an invigilator.

"Cards ready," the medic barks from the doorway.
Each kid folds back their left cuff.
Nico's unit in Dreamers. He isn't ready yet but when he is that's what he'll do. Dream. He's glad he isn't in another unit. Warriors. Denny's one of those. He'll be trained. There are all the other units too. Mystics, Healers, Workers, Medics.

They are almost at the door. Denny goes through first, then Nico shows his wrist - the light flashes over his card. A bleep. He's through.

Sometimes he gets a leap in his belly. Like when he looks in an invigilator's eye. When he's waiting for the bleep. Nothing goes wrong but he is almost imagining it will.

Nico watches the other kids come through and their faces don't register anything. He sees Lara, down the line. She's from his unit. Her hair hangs, black and flat. A lot of Dreamers have that hair. Nico finds he is touching his own hair, coarse, sandy, red, curly.

He'll ask Lara. Does she get these things, these jumps in her belly. What about when she look in the invigilators' eyes.

He goes into the right line. Always the same line.

They go by blood type and tissue type. You can look it up if you want to. It goes back to the dinosaurs. Lara is almost next to him in her line. He reaches out and touches her elbow. She jumps. He sees it! He puts his hand on his upper belly.

"Do you get feelings here?" he pats it. "Like jumps?"
Lara shakes her head.
"No Nico!" she says and turns back to face the front.

Nico turns and looks behind him. Yan is in line behind, staring at him.
Nico shuffles to the front, puts his right hand into the blood machine. Waits for the pinprick, flinches. Watches the lights. Every month he watches as they flicker. Red blue, red blue - when the white comes on your can take your hand out - go.

Denny is right next to him on the other side. Red, blue red, blue go his lights - just like Nico's. Nico is about to take out his hand by habit but the lights flicker red, blue - red,blue again. He looks sideways at Denny.

Denny is frowning on the other side Lara's lights - red, blue - red, blue and again - red, blue - red, blue. All three of them, their white lights don't go on.

Denny's head has sunk to the side, his usual bored look - but Lara - she looks round at Nico. Her eyes are wide. She'd feeling something, Nico knows it.
A medic comes along the line to the machines.

"Denny?" Nico says. Denny shrugs.
The medic does something on the side of the blood machines and each set of lights goes off. Denny's, Nico's, Lara's.

"Take out your hands," the medic says. The blood machines go on again. "In." says the medic.

Nico doesn't know why but his hands are wet with sweat. He rubs his palm down his top to dry it before he puts it back. Waits for the prick. In the corner of his eye he sees Lara flinch then he feels the needle jab the pad of his middle finger again.

Again he watches the lights. His and Denny's and Lara's. Red blue - red blue they go - red blue, red blue.

Further down the hall there is a commotion. Someone shouts NO! He hears the gruff voice of a medic issuing orders. Somewhere else in the hall there is the sound of running feet.

Red, blue - Red, blue - red, blue, red blue.

Nico sees the medic looking around him. He speaks into his collar microphone. Nods.

"Come with me," he says to Denny and Nico and Lara. "Come on."
They follow the medic. Denny's pace lazy as usual. Lara bumping into Nico's back.

"What's happening?" she says, her voice higher and quicker than normal.
"I don't know," Nico has to say.