Chapter 1:
3...2...1…. Separation successful. The dropship tumbled and shook as it was ejected, flying away from the Ark. Emily couldn't hide the look of utter disbelief, anxiousness and fear on her face. I am going to Earth.
Three hours ago, Emily Green Winters was locked inside her lonely, grim cell, with nothing to do but think. She thought of the four walls keeping her prisoner, of the disgusting food forced upon her three times a day, of her squeaking bed in which she lay, thinking. Of course, she also thought of the day it all happened; the day she committed a crime for which the guilt was weighing her down, slowly chewing at her soul. Although, she preferred burying any memories of that day deep down into her subconscious.
Carefully sitting on her thin, grey mattress, Emily closed her emerald eyes and drew a long breath. She tried to push away the images of her dying mother, covered in blood, screaming in pain, taking her last, shaky breath. All the guards who brought her slime everyday were well aware that she was in for the murder of her own mother, but they didn't know the whole story. No one knew of the cuts and bruises she received that day, of the hysterical look in her mother's eyes, of the violent arms hitting her over, and over, and over, and over again. Until Emily couldn't take it anymore. Until she had decided to fight back.
The poor girl pushed her wild mother away, and stumbling behind her, she hit her head on the corner of the sturdy table. It' s a stupid way to die, really, but watching it unroll before your eyes makes it much more horrifying. She knelt beside Juliette Green, a waterfall of tears on her face, mumbling, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry mom". She stroked her mother's golden hair, sitting on the cold ground, letting tears fall while repeating those three words which seemed not to mean anything anymore, until the guards who had heard her previous screams barged into their one room home.
Her trembling hands shook away the memories and she stood up in a rush to forget. But thoughts of her father now replaced those of her mom. Oh, how she had loved him, always smiling or laughing, picking her up, making jokes, ensuring her happiness. Oliver Winters had been a great man, full of life and joy. He worked in a lab with other mathematicians calculating and going over equations and numbers ensuring the safety of their home in space, his optimism and persistent good humor bringing life to his colleagues.
One night, though, coming back from work, his smile was nowhere to be found. She remembered him slouching onto the simple couch, a look of concern painted over his normally lighthearted features. Her, at the time, serene, sober and joyful mother wasn't home yet so she sat there next to him, embraced him and asked with her sweet 15-year-old voice, what was wrong. He informed her that he found a flaw in Oxygen Support. The Ark only had about three years of air left.
A week later, she found him in his office, a limp body hanging from a tied rope. Everyone assumed it was suicide.
Her mother buried her feelings and tried to forget her husband's passing with illegal moonshine. Every day she got worse, drowning in alcohol and sorrow, grieving with a bottle. Emily started to notice her mother came home later than usual, looking more tired each morning. Two weeks had passed since the…... event, and the young girl composed herself; she thought more clearly and the pain was starting to subside ever so slightly. On the other hand, Mrs. Green was getting worst. She drank, for breakfast, lunch and dinner, barely feeding her body.
That's when it happened; when she attacked her daughter. She turned into a wild monster, blaming Emily for her husband's death, clawing at her, fists flying at her face. In self-defense, Emily ended up killing her own mom. The guilt that drowned her entire being couldn't even begin to be described, and she almost begged the jury to be imprisoned, claiming she deserved it; that she deserved death.
So, there she was, two years later, waiting for the end; thinking
It had been a normal Tuesday of sitting, standing and eating, up until guards barged unannounced into her cell.
"Face the wall and hold out your arms," one of them recited with a boring tone, as if they'd been repeating it all day.
"What's going on? It's not my time yet, what's happening?" Emily asked, concerned and worried, this didn't make sense. They strapped a metallic wristband onto her right arm, biting her skin like needles. As she inspected the object, the guards guided her outside onto the deck of the Sky Box. This was the jail for delinquents since the council had the decency to wait until they were eighteen to float them. Emily's confusion worsened when she saw multiple youngsters were being led out of their cells, and everything looked orderly chaotic. This was one of the rare times she ever got a good look at this prison; being in solitary meant you only get to go outside to shower twice a week, and even then, it was surrounded by armed soldiers and in a hurry.
The guards tugged her along making her change clothes and shoes. She slipped into a red jacket, pulling out her dirty blond hair and tying it up in a high ponytail with a green ribbon that matched her wide eyes. All around her, other teenagers were also putting on new clothes; what is going on? Conversations of guards overlapped, but one single word slipped and found its way to her ears; Earth.
Author's note:
Hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Just to clarify things if it's a little confusing in the order of events, it goes as such: Father finds flaw, one week later he dies, Mother drinks after his death, around two weeks after his death, she attacks her daughter and dies. This is when Emily is 15, and she spends two years in the Sky Box.
What's in italic is the memories of two years before.
