A/N .1 Massive shoutout to Livin4Jesus, without whom this story wouldn't exist. Seriously, check them out!
Chapter 2: Workmates
I'm in a big, white room and my fathers at the other end. He's tied up, begging for something but I can't hear what he's saying. A single gunshot ring out and my father slumps to the floor. I scream and run over to him but he's gone. I start to cry and realise my hands are suddenly covered in blood. I look back to where I was standing and see a gun. I killed my father.
I wake up in a cold sweat, silently screaming. The dream is my greatest fear, because my father is all the family I have left. I hope the vendor sticks to the deal, because they aren't the most trusted of people. If they could be trusted, why would they be trading through the Black Market?
I look out the window; it's sunrise. The sun paints a rich glow of orange and red across the sky. In some place supposedly, you can see every colour of the rainbow in the sunrise, where the night meets the day. What I would give to see it. I've tried to find someone who has, but they're practically impossible to find; just another ghost in the wind of The Government.
I roll out of bed and start to dress. I pulled on some black leggings, a black vest and grabbed my black leather jacket. I'd modified the weave of the clothing so it had increased durability; it was strong enough to deflect a bullet. On my wrists I placed two metal bracelets; when I flicked my wrists a knife would extend from each. I didn't know what my employers would be like, so I had to be prepared. I pulled my hair black into a ponytail, and placed my mother's locket round my neck. I grabbed my bag and went downstairs.
My father was waiting to say goodbye. He pulled me into a hug and we stayed like that for ages.
"I'm proud of you" he murmured into my hair. I nuzzled my head further into the hug then pulled back.
"I have to go dad, otherwise the deals off." He nodded. We both had tears streaming down our faces. We lifted our hands and touched, palm to palm. It was a Fringe custom, a sign of respect. I turned around and walked out the door, so I didn't end up missing the deal.
I arrived at the station with about half an hour to spare. I'd had to walk through the roughest parts of the Fringes, and that wasn't a pleasant experience. At one point one of the local gang members had tried to start a fight, but once I flashed my knives they weren't as big as they thought they were. I felt sorry for the guy; he looked like he was quite young. Gang culture was quite big round here; it was a form of escapism and a form of income. Even though it's dangerous, in some ways gangs are a safer form of income than the Black Market, because at least you know who's on your side.
I spot a ladder, and climb up onto one of the beams in the roof of the station. This way, I can see who turns up and they can only see me if they look up. The station hasn't been since before we got exiled; it's sometimes used as a hideout. There's also a rumour it's a way to get out of the city, although if you look at the track map it's almost impossible. The station is quite large, and has a large clock in the middle. As it chimed 6, it played the theme of The Government. We're never allowed to forget who's in charge.
After about 10 minutes, I spot some movement in one of the far corners. I crouch on the beam, getting ready to jump. After a few minutes, two people, a girl and a boy emerge. From the looks of their clothes, they're from Society. They go and sit on one of the benches. After a while, people start coming in; everyone from Central come at once. Central are allowed to go anywhere in the city, Society can go to the Fringes and people from the Fringes can't go anywhere. I suppose that's why they chose here to meet; otherwise they would have had to choose 3 different meeting places. I counted the people, and we were 1 person short. One thing I noticed was that everyone was under 18. Hmm. I looked up at the clock to check the time, and then I noticed a girl sitting on one of the figurines that moved when the clock strikes the hour. She was quite small, with long blonde hair and blue eyes. She waved at me then disappeared inside the clock. She'd been wearing Society clothes, but she had a blue band on her arm, which meant that she'd committed a crime, just not one big enough to be sent to the Fringes. I wonder what it was. I shook my head and jumped down, shocking the people who'd been standing around. There were more boys than girls, by the looks of it there were 2 girls from Central, 2 from Society and me. They all stared at me (expect for all the Fringe boys who'd seen me do similar things in Sport ED, they just continued talking) until one of the boys from Central started clapping. He was quite tall, with brown-ish hair and chocolate eyes. He would have been considered quite handsome if it wasn't for the sneer plastered across his face.
"Well done, you can do a circus trick. It's amazing that a tassel can do anything." He taunted mockingly. One of the other Central boys, a tall lanky boy with neck length long hair who looked more like a Fringe than a Central, told him to shut up but he was shrugged off. I rolled my eyes and walked over to the wall. Central had come up with this stupid nickname, tassels, for people from the Fringes because the fringes of clothes have tassels on them. Shows what quality of brain power The Government has. The girl from the clock was standing on the edge of the crowd, talking to a girl from Society quietly. The boy from Central followed me and shoved me.
"I was talking to you tassel. You can't ignore me, I'm above you and you have to do as I say." I kept staring into distance. He slapped me. I stared at him, stepping forward into his face.
"You want me to do as you say so I will. I'll show you a trick, brutem fulmen." I kissed him. He wasn't expecting it, but he started to get into it. Once he was distracted enough, I flicked one of my wrists, and then drew the knife across his face, drawing blood. He jumped back, clutching his face. I wiped my mouth across my jacket sleeve to get the taste out of my mouth; he tasted like rotten eggs. He also smelt of roses, which was a bit odd. Central styles were weird.
"You bitch! How dare you do that to me?" He stormed forward, looking like he was going to attack me when a quiet but demanding voice echoed around the room.
"Children, stop fighting. You will have enough time to do that once we get to work" An old man was standing within the doors. I recognised him off the "This is your government" posters. His name was Alexander Pierce, and he was head of the military. What was he doing, collecting a bunch of kids for a testing job? I wondered. I had a quick look round and saw that almost everyone was staring at him in awe, all except the Clock Girl. She was staring at me. When she noticed that I was looking at her, she gave me a thumbs up and mouthed me a "well done". I smiled and turned back to Pierce. He was staring at me.
"Follow me my friends. We must get you ready." He turned and walked out the door. Since when were we his friends I thought. I stood there, letting everyone else go first. When the guy from Central walked past, he whispered "tassel meretrix" and wiped a finger with blood on it across my lips. As he walked off I muttered to myself, "Tu es stultior quam asinus, irramutor." I heard a laugh and looked up it. It was the Clock Girl.
"Orcea ita!" she said and I smiled. "I'm Skye" she said in her sing song voice. She walked up to me and put her hand up. How did she know that? I gingerly put my hand up to hers.
"I'm Alexis." I pulled my hand back and she grinned.
"We better go, otherwise we're gonna be left behind. I need this deal." She said and began to walk out the door. As she did, I saw that on her arm she had scars, lots of them. She also had a tattoo of a bird, a phoenix. I looked down at my arm, at my tattoo. It was one that most people from the Fringe get; another of our little customs.
She turned round when she got to the door and called out, "Come on!" I shook my head and jogged to catch up. I slammed the door behind me.
Once the door closed, silence settled into the room. After a few minutes, people started to emerge from the tunnels. They were all from different part of the city, but conversed easily, like they were all from the same. They formed a circle in the centre, and at the head stood a wrinkled old man. He hit his wooden staff on the floor once and the circle hushed down.
"I've gathered this circle here today to talk about what just happened."
A man raised his hand, and the elder gestured for him to talk.
"I think this year is our year. That girl, the one from the Fringes, she has fire within her."
"The one who hid in the clock is quite clever as well. They would make a good team." A woman said.
"What about the boy from Central? He's quite feisty." Another man said.
"No." A woman on the edge of the circle said, and the whole group turned to her. She had black hair, and deep brown eyes. Around her neck was a scar. "That boy is a bully. He would just do what The Government already does: control us. I suggest the one who tried to stop him." There was a murmur of agreement.
The elder nodded. "All in favour of the candidates suggested, raise your hand." The vote was a unanimous yes. "Also, we have had a message from Tony. He says they are ready, and that Nat has been nominated to mentor the candidates." A woman with fiery red hair smiled.
"Has anyone else got anything to say?" Everyone shook their heads. "Good, we will convene here tomorrow. Meeting finished." He slammed his staff down again, and everyone got up to leave.
Silence claimed the station again.
A/N .2 so I had the chance to update again, so I did. I'll be updating this biweekly so I can write my other story at the same time. The foreign phrases in this are Latin, and are so are the place names. Here's a little dictionary:
Facultas-power
Orianna- she's a character in a legend (not sure if the legends Roman, I just liked the name)
Brutem fulmen-harmless lightening (she's saying he's full of empty threats)
Meretrix-prostitute
Tu es stultior quam asinus, irramutor-you are dumber than an ass, bastard
Orcae ita-Hell yeah
I think is the longest chapter I've ever wrote
Till next time, ciao peeps