I woke up to the sound of television screens from outside the manor, they were usually very loud and they also let me know that my father was on his whereabouts. I looked around my room, it was gray as always with a singular portrait of my family. I felt myself drag my body out of bed unconsciously, my hair felt very tangled from just touching it with one of my hands.

I felt tired.

But who could blame me, I mean no one really sleeps here, it's always full of nightmares, and even though I've been here all my life I've never gotten used to them.

KNOCK!

KNOCK!

"Lady June are you awake?" a voice spoke through the other side of my bedroom door.

"Yes," I answered groggily while my head hurt from all this insomnia. My maid quickly came inside with a bucket full of hot water, she was young, yet her deformed face was masked with a mask made of skin and cloth scraps.

"I'll have your bath ready in a moment," she said before scurrying into the restroom. I felt bad for her, only those who worked here were free from the broadcast's transmission, but the rest weren't so lucky and served as fuel for the radio tower.

After a few minutes, she came in again and forwarded me into the bathroom where my tub laid already ready for me to bathe. I thanked her before removing my sleeping gown and submerging myself into the warm waters allowing any dirt or rubbish to come off. I made sure that I was spotless while I rubbed lavender-scented shampoo onto my hair, not that it'd make a difference, it always smelled bad outside.

I looked at my clock while I pulled on my red gown and did my hair.

I was late and I knew I could get an earful if I didn't hurry.

I sighed while looking at myself in the mirror and heading downstairs hoping mother wouldn't be in such a foul mood.

Mother was already waiting for me in the dining table, her fingers were drumming against the hard surface impatiently. She didn't smile nor frown with my presence, she only looked at me with that same stale look she always wore.

"You are late," she said finally breaking the silence we wore between ourselves.

"Forgive me, mother," I said bowing to her hoping I hadn't caught her in a bad mood.

"Sit," she commanded, and I sat down in my regular spot trying to avoid any eye contact.

"Will father be joining us?" I finally asked.

"No, your father is busy," she said bluntly before our servers came in with our food trays.

Sausages, meat, and some bread, frankly we always ate the same thing but I didn't complain so I just ate in silence. My mother did the same, we rarely talk at this point, most of my conversations are with my father though he is rarely home so most of my time is spent alone.

After we are both done with our meals, I am excused and get to go wherever I please before my studying session. I find myself going to the library, it's decently large and there are books on so many things, but I find novels to be the most interesting. My favorite are those fairy tales where the princess is rescued by her knight in shining armor and they get married and live happily ever after. There are gardens full of flowers and trees in the pictures and I usually find myself wondering if such a place exists.

I arrive at the library which is left neat and organized despite its dull nature. The books are all arranged in alphabetical order and category and I immediately go to the fairy tale section. I've read them all but I constantly read them again where such stories can take me somewhere else that is not Pale City.

Somewhere colorful and happy where everyone shares and loves one another.

I pick out my favorite novel, Snow White, it is simple, but I never get tired of the story despite the book being old and worn. I sit down on top of the ladder while reading each word delicately.

Once upon a time in the middle of winter, when the flakes of snow were falling like feathers

from the sky, a queen sat at a window sewing, and the frame of the window was made of black

ebony.

I felt myself smile. I could only imagine if my mother were that queen, peaceful and loving. Perhaps she was under that stale look but I am too afraid to find out for myself so I only continue to read.

And whilst she was sewing and looking out of the window at the snow, she pricked

her finger with the needle, and three drops of blood fell upon the snow. And the red looked

pretty upon the white snow, and she thought to herself, would that I had a child as white as

snow, with lips as red as blood, and hair as black as the wood of the window-frame.

Soon after that she had a little daughter, who was as white as snow, her lips were as red

as blood, and her hair was as black as ebony, and she was therefore called little snow-white.

And when the child was born, the queen died.

This was probably my least favorite part of the book, I never have wished death upon anyone even though it's a pretty common thing here. But I can never get used to it, even though a new life was brought into the world, one was lost. It is the only part of the book that reminds me on Pale City oddly, people die to give off power to the "all mighty" and "it" is constantly reborn. Father had told me this countless times but he keeps reminding me that it is for an important cause and that none of us would be here without it.

I find this difficult to believe no matter how many times I'm told and I can't help but envy Snow White's future in contrast to her dark past. I've been living in the dark all my life and I see no prince charming, all I see is people and static and that's all there is to it.

I sigh and read throughout the story until I reach my favorite part.

It happened, however, that a king's son came into the forest, and went to the dwarfs, house

to spend the night.

He saw the coffin on the mountain, and the beautiful snow-white within

it, and read what was written upon it in golden letters. Then he said to the dwarfs, let me

have the coffin, I will give you whatever you want for it. But the dwarfs answered, we will

not part with it for all the gold in the world.

Then he said, let me have it as a gift, for I

cannot live without seeing snow-white. I will honor and prize her as my dearest possession.

As he spoke in this way the good dwarfs took pity upon him, and gave him the coffin.

And now the king's son had it carried away by his servants on their shoulders.

And it

happened that they stumbled over a tree-stump, and with the shock the poisonous piece of

apple which snow-white had bitten off came out of her throat. And before long she opened her

eyes, lifted up the lid of the coffin, sat up, and was once more alive.

Oh, heavens, where am I,

she cried. The king's son, full of joy, said, you are with me. And told her what had happened,

and said, I love you more than everything in the world, come with me to my father's palace,

you shall be my wife.

It always sounds so cliché, but I find myself wishing upon it too, someone coming to kiss me after all the tragedy and things I've seen to go somewhere far away and beautiful. To have friends such as the dwarfs and a lover yet it was just a fairy tale, but one can only dream right?

I closed the book and hanged it on its same shelf before wandering around the library a bit more, there were other books which didn't sit with me. Some on physics, medicine, amputation and even about the tower but father never lets me read those oddly though he praises the tower and serves it.

I come close to a shelve I'd never seen before.

Was it new?

I inch closer to it curiously, maybe father had gotten a new batch of books or mother had ordered some in.

Finally, in front of the shelf I look at the books, they are empty which surprises me while I flip through the countless blank pages.

Why would we suddenly get empty books? As far as I knew father loves reading and writing and I do not believe mother likes doing either so I continue to scavenge for one that may perhaps have a letter in it.

It is until I reach a peculiar book, it looks old and much more worn than the other books in this library but it has handwriting instead of printed letters.

I begin to read it.

My name is Professor[]I am currently working on a research project in a mutation experiment here in The Defense Lab of Revolutionary Ergogenics.

I look at the odd handwriting, this man would have been writing in a hurry and his letters are barely legible. I continued to skim through the pages, some talked about odd experiments until my eyes landed on an all too peculiar yet common topic, the radio tower where "it" ruled. It spoke of its origins which frightened me.

This thing which we don't have a common name for isn't human. The handwriting was terrible at this point but intrigued I continued to read.

We don't know what we have brought back but whatever it is, it needs to be put back to its tomb. It has been able to ingest human flesh and make its own while sucking the souls out of individuals. Some of my colleagues have been becoming malformed and their change in personality has been terrifying to say nonetheless. We don't know how to stop it, perhaps it will be the end of the world.

Whoever had written this had the opposite opinion of "it" from my parents. I searched for more information about the radio tower but most pages were blank after that until a piece of paper slipped from behind the book.

A small drawing of what appeared to be a boy with a paper bag mask holding a girl's hand who appeared to be wearing a raincoat. I looked at the odd drawing then flipped it to the back, three words were inscribed on the back.

Mono and Six

Who were Mono and Six? I had a lot of questions at this point, but I knew neither of my parents were to ask. They'd be angry at me for reading about the radio tower especially information that was against its power and ruling. I scurried to the section about the radio tower and "it", this bookshelf had various locks around it, it would be impossible to get ahold of this information unless I had the key who was probably somewhere in the manor. I looked at the clock, I had ten minutes before my study session, so I scurried quickly to my room, hoping I'd be unnoticed by anyone while hiding the journal in my dress.

Thankfully, no one disturbed me, so I made it safely inside my room which was dull just like the rest of this house. I hid the journal safely under the mattress, I knew my mother would be in my room any second now, so I made sure it was invisible to anyone who came in. Feeling secure with its hiding position I took out my workbooks and notebooks making sure they were neatly stacked on top of my desk.

Before I could do anything else, my mother burst into my room with that same cold glare.

"Are you studying?" she asked coldly.

"Yes mother," I said before sitting down on my chair.

"It doesn't look like it," she said noticing I had not opened a single workbook.

"I barely arrived from the library, forgive me," I said a little too quickly, but mother did not utter a word instead she looked at me cold in the eye.

"Get studying," she said before leaving. I sighed in relief; her presence created a heavy atmosphere so her leaving lifted some weight.

I looked at the mattress again and pulled out the journal, could the radio tower and this entire system truly be the outcome of something corrupted? I flipped through the pages again trying to see if there was anything, I had missed but the information was rushed and too vague. I needed to get ahold of that key but I had no clue where it could possibly be hidden.