The Seventh: Chapter 1-Last Sunset

There is a time in the future when the world was only lit by city lights. A time when the sun left and never came back. How could we survive? How could we manage? Some of us didn't. Most of us did. But only because of an orb. In a cave. In a forest. A very long forest.

The orb had to be held by a Survivor to bring back the sun. But no one knew where it was. No one knew what it was.

It all began with a girl, when the sun was present. Her name was Lyrick, a girl with the longest black hair and the most intense green eyes. And, she was obsessed with skirts. She was a mysterious 18-year-old. She was beautiful, a torrent of silent beauty. She felt alone. She felt like she had no one to love. Every day, she sat at the far left of a bench looking out into Chartery Lake, knowing that the rest of the year would be left in darkness.

It was the day of her mom's wedding. She didn't want to, but her mom insisted on her wearing a classic red dress. Lyrick knew that she had to attend the wedding, but in truth, she wanted to be anywhere else than there. She thought it wasn't fair that her mom was loved and she wasn't. Not only that, but she had to make the sun disappear forever.

She sat down through a series of songs, a flower girl and page boy, and the "I do's". Then Lyrick felt her heart drop when the priest said "you may now kiss the bride". She shed a tear when her mom and her stepfather's lips met. When she heard the "I announce you husband and wife", she got up from the chapel and left her mom, Mrs. Songs, followed her when she saw her leave. Grabbing her shoulder, Mrs. Songs said the first thing that came to her mind: "it's rude to leave a wedding like that."

Lyrick pulled away from her mother's grip. "I'm tired of it mom! I'm tired of not being loved. It's not fair that you are loved and I am not!"

"But Lyrick, I love you."

"That's… That's not what I meant…" Lyrick made herself keep in all her tears. "I've got to go anyway."

"Where are you going?"

"None of your business." She started to run, and Mrs. Songs felt so much pity for her she didn't even bother to run after her.

"You decided to come." Said a voice in an alley down by Chartery City. Then a figure stepped out onto the road, revealing himself. He was a black-hooded and caped man; the only light emitting from him was his ominous, glowing eyes.

"Seven." Lyrick had a reluctant scowl on her face. "I want to be loved." Even though she couldn't see Seven's face, she still felt his warm frown turn into a cold smile.

"I knew you would see it my way, child."

"Just do it, Seven!"

"Do you wish to know the consequences now?"

"Yes." All of a sudden, all she could see was images full of horror fill her head. Images of the sun going down and never coming back. Images of people dying due to not enough sunlight. Then she saw an image of a group of people following her into a cave in a forest, and an orb haunted by souls. When the images faded, Lyrick fell to the ground. An immediate headache rushed throughout her head.

"You've seen the consequences, child. What will it be? The sun is at stake."

"Please," Lyrick got up, staggering. "there must be another consequence."

"My decisions are final. Choose, my dear."

"I…" Lyrick narrowed her eyes. Anger arose in her voice. "I want to be loved."

"Bad decision," a long claw-like hand came slowly out of Seven's cape. "A very bad decision." Then, something horrifying occurred, and Lyrick was gone.

Lyrick appeared on a hill shadowing a beach, where her mom's reception was taking place. Everyone that night was watching the sunset. Everyone. The people down at the reception was expecting a new day. Only Seven and Lyrick had other hopes.