We stood at the edge of the town. It had taken days for us to find it. From our position you could see everyone moving about in the distance. You could hear their gentle chatter. I was nervous, I felt like I could throw up. I swore I was shaking from all the anxiety flowing around in my body. All I could think about was how badly it went last time I talked to them about Charles. Justen and I made our way to the stage in the middle of the town. While Vivian stood guard. No one took any notice of us; they were all too busy going about their own lives. As predicted no one else was around, apart from the towns people. I took shaky steps up the stairs. I can do this I say giving myself a silent pep talk. We get into position.I concentrate on my memories bringing them forward. Pushing them out of my mind and into the air around us. They danced in the air like a projection. Playing the stories of the lost for all to see and hear. The sight of their fragile and damaged bodies came into full
Vivian, Justen and I scurried through the winding corridors. Bursting through doors, searching for clues. We knew Charles was here somewhere. But this stupid place was like a maze. The pressure of finding him as quickly as possible was eating at me. He had a good head start. By the time we had stopped his men and found Vivian he would have had a half hour head start. This stupid game of hide and seek was irritating me. I wanted him to pay for what he had done. Not just to the people around me, but also to me. He had forced my hand and turned me into a murder. The fact of being in the middle of some kind of war, didn’t soften the blow. I had killed, not only strangers but my own parents.“I found him” a voice rings out. We burst through the door and there he was in a part of the bunker I had never seen before.“What is this place?” I ask not really expecting an answer.“Everything. Everything I know and need for my experiments. I knew you were coming. You always came back. So, to tread
I find myself once again sitting in the familiar white leather recliner chair. This place was terrible. The smell of bleach always burnt my nose, it was so sterile. Almost as if they were trying to hide the blood shed they had caused. It freighted me, what did they do in here that required the place to be cleaned so thoroughly, the smell of bleach was consuming. I could only imagine the un-imaginable things they were doing to some of the people here on their visits. I had learnt very early on the only way to survive here is to stay out of trouble and lie.My parents had left me with all their bad memories, it haunted me. I used to think they passed it on so I could one day make a difference. But over time I realized they passed it on, because they were angry that I didn’t have to live with the same pain and suffering they had to. I could feel the sensation of a flash back pushing itself to the surface. I closed my eyes and braced myself for the torment sure to follow. The atmosphere w
I stare up at the leaking ceiling, watching snowflakes drift down from the rafters. My bedroom was in the attic. It was dark and cold, but I liked it. It was hidden away, sometimes it almost felt like a world away. I know it was meant as a sort of punishment being up here. They wanted me to feel left out, unwanted. It did hurt once, but after enough time has passed of feeling unwanted. You find that you get numb to it. It becomes the normal and you realize you just are unaffected by the abuse anymore. But this wasn’t the time to think about that. This was the time to make a plan. A plan to make a better life in a world of hell. I refuse to be a useless bystander in the face of pure injustice any longer. If I wanted change I had to make that change for myself first. I couldn’t rally people together to find out I couldn’t do this.Firstly, I needed to get out this house, my parents would take any opportunity to destroy anything I created. They wouldn’t be able to bare seeing me doing be
My body ached, I was exhausted. I hadn’t slept for more than 3 hours each night for the past week. I had been slaving away at the little farm house. Today marked the day I had finally finished cleaning up the house inside and out. It was a huge achievement, but in the grand scheme of things it felt like nothing. The house was clean, but it was empty. Apart from the wood stove, a kitchen bench, a toilet and a bath. It was nowhere near a home yet, and the thought of trying to get those things on a wage where I could hardly afford food was nauseating. But if nothing else I had a dry and safe place to call my own. Even if I achieved nothing else by this at least I could get away from my parents. I still needed to try and find a bed, cooking utensils and kitchen equipment. Until I could find those I was stuck. I couldn’t live here without the means to feed myself. I dragged my feet along the dirt path towards the family home. At this point I was pretty sure I would have been happy to slee
So far, my search for a match maker had been extremely un fruitful. I haven’t found a thing, whoever was hiding them was doing a good job. I had to admit; it had crossed my mind that that lady may have been insane. Maybe they didn’t exist, I had to look within the city. If word got out, I was looking in town I would be turned in before I could blink. I had one lead left to follow up today. After that I had exhausted all the leads I had thought of. I look a sharp turn, down a small and gloomy ally way. Right on the edge of the city, near a small port was a tiny little wooden shack. This part of the city looked abandoned, before my search I had no idea how many parts of the city had just been forgotten. The bustling centre looked like a fairy tale. Which boggled my mind a little, why were the outskirts of the city so derelict. It didn’t make much sense, was it to help hide the dodgy dealings of the city? Or was the city not doing as well as it made out? Or were these parts just no longe
People dashed past me in a hurry, as they scurried through the narrow streets and stalls. The markets, unfortunately were not what one would think off when they thought of the word market. It was nothing more than a glorified waste site. The stalls, were all filled with rotten, decaying food. This was where the poorest of my people were expected to buy their food. It was disgusting. Fortunately for me, my job paid enough that I could avoid the worse from the markets. Many did not have that kind of luxury. Many were just happy if they managed to afford any kind of food, regardless if it was rotten. I was on the lookout for the cheapest and worst food I could find here. I needed foods with seeds, I had been saving up so I could get a decent variety of items. To begin my growing experiment. I needed to find out if it was possible for me to grow my own food. Growing food would open up a lot of possibilities. I rolled my eyes at the sight of all the guards, how dare we steal spoiled food.
Several months had passed since the forest incident, life had just kind of slowed since then. It felt amazing but also put me on edge. On one hand, living alone, going to work then just plodding along with my garden was nice. My life felt stable and simple. My little safe haven felt a world away from realty. However how quiet everything was after the bomb shell I discovered. Was extremely concerning. I looked for a month for any signs of the gifted children. I found nothing, no signs of any movement or life in any of the areas I flagged. It had begun to send me a little mad before I took a break from it all. I couldn’t help but feel I dreamt the whole thing. I searched through everything I could find and turned up nothing. I got no visions there. There was not the slightest inkling of proof of any of the things I thought I heard. So, I had taken a step back.I had harvested my first crop and had plenty of fresh food for a few weeks. I had made jars and jars of tomato sauces, stored a
Vivian, Justen and I scurried through the winding corridors. Bursting through doors, searching for clues. We knew Charles was here somewhere. But this stupid place was like a maze. The pressure of finding him as quickly as possible was eating at me. He had a good head start. By the time we had stopped his men and found Vivian he would have had a half hour head start. This stupid game of hide and seek was irritating me. I wanted him to pay for what he had done. Not just to the people around me, but also to me. He had forced my hand and turned me into a murder. The fact of being in the middle of some kind of war, didn’t soften the blow. I had killed, not only strangers but my own parents.“I found him” a voice rings out. We burst through the door and there he was in a part of the bunker I had never seen before.“What is this place?” I ask not really expecting an answer.“Everything. Everything I know and need for my experiments. I knew you were coming. You always came back. So, to tread
We stood at the edge of the town. It had taken days for us to find it. From our position you could see everyone moving about in the distance. You could hear their gentle chatter. I was nervous, I felt like I could throw up. I swore I was shaking from all the anxiety flowing around in my body. All I could think about was how badly it went last time I talked to them about Charles. Justen and I made our way to the stage in the middle of the town. While Vivian stood guard. No one took any notice of us; they were all too busy going about their own lives. As predicted no one else was around, apart from the towns people. I took shaky steps up the stairs. I can do this I say giving myself a silent pep talk. We get into position.I concentrate on my memories bringing them forward. Pushing them out of my mind and into the air around us. They danced in the air like a projection. Playing the stories of the lost for all to see and hear. The sight of their fragile and damaged bodies came into full
Everyone was glaring at me, jaws to the floor in shock. I just laughed. I don’t know how they managed to remain shocked. Training had started off intense for the first week. It was full on and it felt like it never ended. It wasn’t just the physical side either, the mental side of it had been some serious work. Justen coughed and splattered as he laid on the floor, trying to regain his breath. I only threw him a few meters. My control was getting a lot better, but it still wasn’t perfect. I only meant to stop him, not throw him. The finalisation of the bond had unlocked some real power in both of us. The things we could do blew my mind. Vivian said it was magic that had been lost for centuries. If this was the power we had now, I wasn’t surprised everyone back then was scared of a bond like ours. I didn’t want to imagine how much power it would have given back then, when we were a lot stronger.“Pay attention rein in your control”“I bet she did it on purpose” Justen said, winking at
Justen POV.She sat across from me at the dining table sipping her tea. Happily chatting away about this and that. The little sparkle in her eyes had returned, and I couldn’t be happier about it. She was finally returning back to the happy and confident version of herself. The one that lit up the room every time she entered. Vivian was on my back about the bond. She had gone back to her usual self now liberty was safe. I guess her guilty feelings had dispersed since everything seemed to have worked out. I had been avoiding the finalisation of the bond. Which was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Considering she acted like she wanted it and would pout when I turned it down. She really would be the death of me. Those gorgeous eyes always silently begging.It wasn’t that I didn’t want it. I could just feel things in her had shifted since she returned. She was very open about what happened, how confusing it was and all the things she had seem. The girl had a gift for explaining her
I could feel the peace around me beginning to shift. I didn’t want it to change. It was nice here. A dim glow appeared, highlighting a door floating in the distance.“That’s the way back home” A mysterious voice said.“Do I have to go?” I ask the voice.“No, but if you stay you won’t be able to return there”“Can I think about it?”“Of course,”Did I want to go back? As I floated peacefully in the abyss, I realised I must be in some state close to death. Right now, death felt like a peaceful end. I didn’t feel pain or suffering. The thought of letting everything go felt nice in its own kind of way. Nothing would matter anymore, the hurt, the fear, the expectations. Wouldn’t it be peaceful to just not exist anymore? But on the other hand, what would happen if I did? Would Charles win? Would the bond disappearing have consequences? I think truthfully a part of me really wanted the peace that death could offer me. I was tired and death was the easiest answer. At least for me. But was it
Justen POVThe village was quiet, you could hear the wind whistling through the trees and houses. I sat, looking out towards the forest. My eyes felt heavy and I had a consistent headache. I hadn’t slept at all last night. I had spent weeks scouring every book I could find. I still hadn’t been able to find anything about finalising the bond. I was beginning to feel a little helpless, which was a new feeling for me. Vivian was on my case like you wouldn’t believe. Which was no help to anyone. She was stressing me out. I hadn’t been able to feel anything from liberty since she was taken. I wasn’t sure if she was, drugged, dead or too far away. That knowledge sent Vivian into a fit. I hadn’t seen her in such a state before.“Have you found anything? Anything at all?”“No, I looked all of last night. I can’t find anything”“We need to find the answers to the bond. We are running out of time to find them and save her”“Can’t we just save her and find this all out later?”“No” Vivian yells.
I borrowed a jacked from someone to blend into the crowd. I had no clue why everyone was gathering around this stage looking thing. It was like 9pm. A weird time for everyone to be out. Was it like a party of some kind? Come on that’s crazy talk, surely not. I mean did anything surprise me at this point. No one took any notice of me. To them I was just another faceless person walking among the growing crowd. It was pretty easy to blend in; everything was so dimly lit. Bamboo torches were the only forms of light. I guess they never bothered to get power this far into the forest. Everyone had matching jackets. It felt like I was walking through a cult ground. Omg it’s like a cult thing isn’t it? That would make so much sense. Good god are they going to be worshiping him or something.Everyone had to be here, there was so many people. Maybe they had to be? The stage came to life, as Charles entered.“Hello, my people” He announced over a microphone. “It’s another good night to be alive.
The girl sat across from me. Charles had left her and I in a secluded room. I didn’t know what I was meant to do with her. If I was honest, I was a little scared of her. Shadows didn’t sound like safe friends. But I still couldn’t help but feel bad for her. She looked just as scared as me.“How did Charles find you?” I ask. Hoping to get a gauge of the situation.“Find me? I don’t know what you mean by that. I am his daughter”What! How could that be? Could gifted kids even become shadows? “Were you born this way?”“No, he made me this way. Through his experiments. But it turns out the unstable magic didn’t make me strong. It’s just killing me. He doesn’t know why my body rejected the magic. I guess that is where you come in”“How could he do such a thing to his own daughter” I say out loud, mainly to myself.“It sounds bad I know. But he is a good dad to me. He never meant for this to happen. He only wanted to make me strong. So the city couldn’t hurt me, like they hurt him when he w
I awoke to a man standing at the foot of my bed. I jumped out of my skin and let out a small scream. The man looked down at me, showing no ounce of emotion. He pointed at my clothes, which had been set out. He continued to stare at me blankly. He was giving me the creeps. He was the same man who had escorted me back to my room after I had been found outside. I hadn’t been told I couldn’t leave this building. I had made an effort to avoid the red areas. So, I wasn’t sure what his problem was. Maybe he just didn’t talk? He stood at the corner of my bed still. I picked up the clothes sitting neatly on the table in the left corner of the room. With that gesture he turned and left. Not a word was muttered or any indication of what I was to do next. Odd, like real odd.I got dressed and ready for the day. Since I think that was what I had been instructed to do. Yesterday I thought I was getting a better gauge on what was going on. Well that was until I saw the town. Where was this place? W