The day my world began crashing down...
Was the day the only friend I had known was murdered...
And it was all my fault...
Underworld city of Aden...
Year 2999...
Jade didn't show up at school the next day, nor the day after that. Concern for her began to dawn on me at the end of the second day with no word. It was unlike Jade to go a few hours without sending me a message; two days was an anomaly. With that thought, I had decided to drop by her three-story home in one of the wealthiest, safest districts in Aden, considering how it was placed close to the Center.
The Center was were Aden's political powers worked and butted heads. It was also the Normals military base of operations and was the main location where the official documents of the Rites were passed out. Every system was dolled out there and it is one of the most diverse and busiest places in Aden. Plus, it was the most heavily guarded by the Enforcers.
I knocked on the titanium paneled door the Grandier residence and waited. It didn't take long for Mrs. Grandier, Jade's mother, to answer. Years of being the wife of one of the most influential politicians in Aden honed your answering skills. But gone was the composed, poised Mrs. Grandier, replaced by a red-eyed, disheveled mother of Jade Grandier. Her stress and worry was evident when the spark of hope in her eye died out as soon as she realized it was me.
"Oh Lilith! Is Jade with you? Please, oh please, tell me she is with you." Mrs. Grandier said in a breathless rush as she lurched forward and gripped my hands tightly. Behind her in the entryway, an exhausted David Grandier emerged, his hope also vanishing when he saw me.
A horrible sinking feeling washed through me and I swallowed hard before I answered Jade's mother.
"No ma'am. I came hear to check on her because I haven't heard anything from Jade in two days..." I whispered.
A choked sound came out of Mrs. Grandier's mouth as she released my hands and fell back into her husband's chest when he stepped up behind her. David wrapped a supporting arm around his wife's waist, murmuring soft words into her ear before redirecting his attention to me.
"When was the last time you heard from my daughter Ms. Nyx?" He inquired, his tone somewhat hoarse and no longer the clear and confident voice I listened to on the speakers every morning for class.
I bit my lip, remembering the last conversation I had with Jade in front of the outer wall of the Institute facing the main street heading to the Center.
"Two days ago sir. I ate lunch with Jade then walked back into the building after the bell rang. That was the last time I saw her." I told him.
"I assumed when she didn't show up the next day she was just feeling under the weather because of stress from the Rites. But she always pages me every few hours, this is the first time she has gone two whole days without paging."
After every word I spoke, the Grandier's expressions became darker and darker until Mrs. Grandier broke out into sobs. David steered his wife back inside and closed the door behind him before he spoke.
"Listen well Ms. Nyx. My daughter hasn't returned home for two days, no, almost three days now and there has been no word. I don't want to believe it but..." David Grandier swallowed hard, his composed mask wavering for a split second as he blinked back tears. I blanched, a sense of unreality beginning to descend on me as David fought for words.
"I believe we may have to prepare for the worst."
I don't remember how I staggered my way back to my dinky, one-roomed apartment in my complex at the edge of the Center district. Nor do I remember anything on the third day other than staring at my pager and waiting for the dreaded wide-spread page depicting David Grandier's only child's gruesome murder. I didn't even bother to go to my classes, I was an ace-student anyways. I just laid on my bed, waiting.
Jade Elizabeth Grandier's body was found in the Eonis District at 10:03 p.m. on the third day of her disappearance.
She had brutally beaten, raped, and murdered.
It is still unknown whether it was a Normal or a Emerger who committed the crime.
I stared at the page, rereading for hours before chucking it at the far wall of my room, shattering the device, and screamed and cried my grief til dawn.
I didn't bother to return to class for the rest of the week. I only came out for the services in respect for Jade and her family, ignoring everyone and everything around me. Her metal box of a casket was closed, her body too ruined for the public eye, and the sheer amount of attending spilled out a little into the square in front of the Center. That was just how loved my only friend was.
My parents had been famous doctors in Aden and they had been killed in a raid on the Normals hospital when I was five. From then on I was tossed in between the numerous orphanages in Aden. From the Normal orphanages to the Emerged orphanages. I was young so I didn't hold any prejudice. I still didn't really. Until now, until one or the other had killed the only person who mattered to me. My only family that was left.
I was...
Once again..
Alone...