Zerothoninos POV
Zerothonino Sto-Helit crouched down on the roof she was currently occupying, and squinted her eyes, judging the distance from her roof to the closest one.
It was thirty meters away.
Easy.
Standing up and brushing off her robe, Zerothonino took a step closer to the edge.
She was now precariously balanced on the very edge of the roof, whilst being buffed and swayed by the furious wind, not moving even a centimetre, looking like an extension of the roof, a girl-shaped statue.
She bent her knees, and jumped.
Now, for most people, ordinary people, a thirty meter jump from a roof 80 meters above the ground, with a strong wind (emphasis on strong) would be suicide. But Zerothonino wasn't normal, she never had been, never would.
She soared over the gap, and landed on the next roof, with plenty of room to spare.
Like it was said earlier, easy.
Land with unnatural, cat-like grace, Zerothonino landed on the roof with barley a sound.
Pulling her hood closer over her head, she squinted as she looked around her, with no idea of her surroundings; she wasn't sure how far she had travelled, how many miles, how long, how many days.
All she knew was that it wasn't far enough.
Zerothonino was on the run, running from her family.
The wind howled, and pulled at her robe, as if trying to suck her off her feet, and back to her family.
Once again, Zerothonino prayed to Lady Luck, prayed and hoped that she would be able to escape her family, if only for a few years, only until she was eighteen, that's all she needed.
But when you're seven years old, and on the run from everything you knew, eighteen was a long way away.
She squinted, she couldn't see the next roof, where was it? Oh drat, she was going to have to go onto the ground…she avoided the ground, because that made it easier for them to track her, and even she wasn't stupid enough to take a leap of faith into the darkness.
Zerothonino stood, and took a step.
That's when it all went wrong.
Through chance, fate, or simply because she had offended some god, she would never know, (though fate and chance are often the same thing) a particularly violent gust of wind hit her, making her wobble. Her foot slipped, and sent her tumbling down to the ground, how far below it was she had no idea, all she knew was that she was falling.
Her short life played through her mind.
"Zerothonino" called the teacher, stumbling over the strange name.
"It's Zero-thon-Een-no miss" said the girl. The teacher looked up, and gasped at the sight.
The girl was tall, almost unnaturally so, with the palest white skin she had ever seen, her hair was a similar shade of white, accenting her brilliant ice-blue eyes. She was wearing a dark blue jacket, with a black skirt, bright green socks and black boots. Topping the whole thing off were her blue headphones.
"Um, Zerothonino, is there any way of shortening your name? a nickname perhaps?"
Looking in the girls eyes, Ms Dare realised that even if she did have a nickname, it wouldn't be told.
"No"
Then the memory changed-a bad one this time.
"Hey Zero, lookie!"
"NO!"
"Aww, what's wrong? Is the big wet chicken afraid of the chicken?" sneered her brother waggling the dead bird in front of her face, scaring her.
"No, I'm not a chicken! I don't like dead ones, that's all! Stop it, please Muhammad!"
"Why should I?"
"I said please?"
"No"
"You love me?"
Her brother threw his head back and laughed.
"Oh, that's a good one" he said, tears pouring down his cheeks "Zero, what makes you think I love you? I don't love you, I never have, never will. Mum and Dad don't love you either, who could love a big wet chicken?"
Laughing cruelly, he continued to taunt his sister, as tears streamed down her face, begging him to please stop.
He never did.
And still, the memory's flashed, her brother, taunting her, her parents every time they smacked her, crying every time she was hurt, the bullies, teasing her because she looked different, no-one wanting to help her, being the outcast, the unwanted one.
As she fell, she felt a strange sense of peace. Yes, she was almost certainly going to die, but that didn't scare her. She was happy, actually, it meant that she could stop running, it meant that her family would never hurt her again.
Though, there was one thing she would miss…
She would miss her aunt, Susan, she felt closer to her aunt than she did to anyone else.
With a start, she realised it also meant she would see her Grandfather again…she couldn't really remember anything about her Grandfather…just some vague memory's, a sense of something…more, comfort, which was the strangest thing, feeling his bony arms around her.
All this happened in a second.
With a crunch, she hit the ground.
She heard, and felt, several things break and fracture.
Maybe it was Lady Luck, maybe it was her Grandfather trying to make her life easier, and Zerothonino didn't feel any pain.
She shut her eyes, and lay there.
She waited, and wondered, what would it be like? Death, would it be kind? Would it be harsh? Was there a heaven and hell?
She felt calm, as her life ebbed away.
Suddenly, she heard voices. What were they saying? She felt hands, kind hands, gentle hands, caring hands, touch her, feel her wounds, try to help.
She tried to talk, tell the owner of the hands that it was useless, she was going to die anyway, she was looking forward to it, but her mouth and throat betrayed her.
She felt herself sinking into uncounsciousness.
She let it come.
Cosmo Sopers POV
Mr Cosmo Soper was in his office when it happened.
He was sitting at his table, going over the results for the latest maths test results from the students in his experimental school.
He was pleased with the results, mostly As and Bs from the students.
Newton had 100%, as per usual, poor child, his father, was, well, a bit eccentric, but Newton had without a doubt, inherited his father's brains.
Trixie, now there was a smart kid. She had 90%, a good result, but the poor child was, well, very uncomfortable with her parents, she was so neat, so orderly, while her parents were so laid back, often on tour. Soper worried that Trixie had OCD.
Vincent…well, 60%, not a bad mark at all, considering he usually had poor marks in maths, Vin, as he liked to be called, had no family, and was enrolled from the orphanage where he lived…at times, especially on Mother's day, or Father's day, and times like that, Soper wished he could tell Vin about his parents…but no, that was too dangerous, both for him and his parents. Best to leave him as is.
That was when his alarm went off.
Many people were against the school, so he had been forced to add alarms, but who would be outside on a night like this?
And, checking the alarm position, he was startled, who would be on the roof?
Grabbing his coat, he rushed outside, just in time to see whoever it was fall off the attic roof.
Soper gasped, frozen on the spot for a few milliseconds, a fall like that could be fatal.
Then, as the figure passed a light, he felt sick to his stomach. It was a child, or at least a tiny adult, in a robe of some sorts, and they were falling.
The chances of success dwindled into the single digits.
Soper began to run. He was too late.
With a sickening crunch, the figure hit the ground, and almost immediately, blood began to ooze out from the robe.
Upon his arrival, Soper was shocked at what he saw.
It was a girl, seven years old he guessed, with white skin and white hair. She softly opened her eyes, and he saw they were a brilliant shade of ice blue. Her robe was a queer shade of black, seemingly changing constantly.
Soper didn't bother to think about that.
He stared to feel for her wounds, and winced.
Several cracked or broken ribs, broken femur, you name it, it was somehow damaged.
He put his hands around her to carry her inside, she would have a better chance of survival in there.
As he ran, he heard her moan, which served only to increase his determination to save her.
As he laid her on the bed, her hood fell back, accenting the bones on her face.
She was starving.
With a renewed sense of determination, Soper continued to work on the stricken girl in front of him.
He just hoped he wasn't too late