Sunset Rising

by S. M. McEachern

  “And you didn’t have to wait for me this morning,” she shrugged it off. She handed me the soaked towel so I could sponge the rest of my body clean.

  “Maybe it won’t be all bad tonight,” Summer prattled on. “We’ve never seen inside the main part of the Dome. And we might get to meet the bride and groom.”

  Summer… my best friend who always looked for the bright side to every situation. That’s what I loved most about her. Nevertheless, it scared me too. She was far too trusting.

  I finished bathing, handed her the wet towel, picked up the dry one, and wrapped it around me. I got to work on my hair with the piece of coal.

  “You know, Summer, I didn’t want to bring this up because you seem so happy about everything, but you do realize what’s going to happen tonight, right?”

  “I know,” she snapped. Her flash of anger took me aback. “I know,” she repeated a little more calmly. “But we don’t have to make it all about that. I mean, its just sex, right? How hard can it be?”

  I wish I could be as flippant as Summer about it all, but I had to admit at least to myself it scared me. I had never had sex before either. I always thought my first time would be with Reyes after we were married, although it wasn’t something I was looking forward too. Now, here I was signed up for a Presidential dinner to give myself away to whoever wanted me. I was terrified.

  “One of the things I love most about you is your talent for taking a bad situation and seeing the good in it,” I complimented Summer. I took the wet towel out of her hand and started washing her back. “But I worry that your love of life is going to get you into trouble.”

  “Which brings us back to our conversation this morning. Reyes,” Summer said, turning the tables back on me.

  “I’m not sure how that brings us back to Reyes, but for the record I don’t want to talk about it,” I said firmly.

  “Why? I need to understand why you keep putting him off,” she said.

  “I can’t leave my Dad alone and I miss my mother horribly.” I could feel tears stinging my eyes. I didn’t want to cry. It was such a weak thing to do. “Things are changing so fast and I don’t want things to change. I need to be me for a little longer. You know, before I become Reyes’ wife; before I become someone’s mother.”

  I wasn’t sure where the words came from, but it felt like a weight was lifting off my chest. The tears came then. There was no way I was going to hold them back.

  “Sunny…” Summer reached for me.

  Instead of accepting her comfort, I handed her the dry towel and busied myself getting dressed. She gave me the space I needed to compose myself before continuing.

  “I don’t mean to upset you, but you need to accept that things will never be the same again. Reyes loves you and that’s the greatest gift any of us can ever hope to get,” she said compassionately.

  I wanted to tell her that she was right as usual, but the lump in my throat wouldn’t let me speak the words. I was a fool to keep Reyes waiting, but powerless to leave my father.

  “SUNNY!” a voice yelled from the other side of the locked bathroom door.

  It was Reyes. By the sound of his voice, he knew I was being sent upstairs. I quickly dried my eyes. Summer scrambled to get dressed.

  “Meet me by the stairs, and don’t be late,” Summer warned.

  She picked up our towels and opened the door to leave. A distraught Reyes almost threw her out of his way to get through the door to me.

  “Is it true?” he asked in disbelief.

  “Is what true?” I asked innocently. I wanted to downplay the importance of it. I could see by the wild look in his eye that he was about ready to explode.

  “Are you serving at that dinner tonight?” he demanded. He grabbed me by the shoulders forcing me to look at him.

  “Yeah, but it’s no big deal,” I tried to dismiss it as if it was nothing, but I couldn’t even look him in the eyes when I said it.

  “You can’t. You have to back out,” he said in a determined voice.

  “We both know I can’t do that,” I said. Now I was looking into his eyes. I would be beaten, quite possibly to death, if I didn’t report to work for such an important event.

  “For god-sake, Sunny. Why?” he demanded.

  “We were late, Reyes. Bailey was going to fire me if I didn’t agree. Dad has already lost his job… I can’t lose mine too,” I said quietly.

  “You should have let her fire you and then came to me. We could have gotten married and assigned our own apartment. You know that,” he said desperately. I could tell he was starting to lose his composure. I had never seen him this upset before.

  “Reyes, I can’t just leave him,” I said softly. I laid my head against his chest. He shifted his arms to encircle my waist and pulled me tight against him.

  “Sunset,” he said my full name. “You know why your mother named you Sunset?” he asked.

  “She named me that because of the color of my hair,” I said.

  “Did you ever wonder how she knew what a sunset looked like?” he asked as he pulled away from me to tilt my chin up to look at him. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but I know your mother was sent upstairs when she was young too. If the stories are true, she was requested for dinner parties frequently.”

  The empathy I had been feeling toward Reyes suddenly turned to shocked anger at his words. I pushed against him, trying to break out of the circle of his arms.

  “Who told you those lies?” I asked angrily.

  “Maybe I shouldn’t have told you. I’m sorry,” he said sheepishly.

  “No, you shouldn’t have said that Reyes! Why do you always have to find some way to hurt me when you’re mad?” I spat at him. I pounded my fist on his chest to make him let me go. Finally, he released me. “I can’t be late,” I said with disdain, heading toward the door.

  “Wait,” Reyes said, stepping in front of me to block my exit. “I’m sorry.”

  He reached out to take me back into his arms. I let him even though I was still angry. I didn’t want to face what was waiting for me upstairs knowing we were in a fight. I needed the security of knowing everything was okay between us.

  “If anything happens…” he struggled to find the right words. “I want to protect you. I’ll always be here for you. I’m not going anywhere.”

  I understood what he was trying to say. Regardless of how the bourge decided to use me tonight, he still wanted to marry me. Being requested to entertain the bourge wasn’t unusual in the Pit, but girls who were known to be requested often had poor marriage prospects.

  His eyes searched my face and I smiled to make him believe that everything was going to be okay. I brushed a dark curl away from his brow and he roughly pulled me toward him and lowered his head to mine. He captured my lips with his own and I felt his arms wrap around me tighter. There was a desperation in his kiss I had never felt before. Slowly, he pulled his lips away from mine and cupped my face in his hands.

  “You can’t be late,” he said thickly through tears.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” I reassured him.

  I couldn’t stand to see the pain in his eyes and my own tears were welling up again. I left him and ran to catch up with Summer. She was already waiting for me at the stairs and without one word I swept past her and began the mile long climb up to the Dome.

  “Sunny, are you okay?” she asked. I didn’t respond. “I’m sorry,” she continued on. “This really is all my fault for making us late this morning.”

  “We have to stop blaming ourselves Summer. We didn’t ask to be playthings for the bourge. It was forced on us. We had no choice,” I said angrily.

  “Don’t talk like that, they’ll hear you,” she whispered. We all knew the stone walls had ears and my ranting was only going to get us into more trouble.

  My limbs were beginning to feel like dead weights as I pushed myself up the stairs. I knew I shouldn’t complain about the climb. I mean the people who lived the furthest down the Pit had a
two-mile climb up. Then there were the miners who had to descend three miles down into the mine and then back up again every day. One mile wasn’t much, but when you hadn’t eaten all day it felt like a lot.

  Finally, we reached the main level and stepped into the lobby. Usually we would turn right toward the kitchen, but tonight we had to go through the big steel doors into the main part of the Dome. My mother took this same walk when she was Culled. I tried not to think about how she must have felt, but it was impossible not to. I was terrified to go through the doors myself.

  There were many guards here, most of them wearing the white uniform of the Pit. However, some of them wore the khaki brown uniform of the Dome. While the guards in the Pit stood out in white, the bourge preferred their guards to blend in and look less conspicuous. We called them Domers.

  “Scan in,” a guard in white directed me as we approached the Reception.

  I turned the back of my hand above the scanner and I heard the beep. Summer had been sent to a different scanner and I waited for her.

  “Move on,” the guard instructed me. I opened my mouth to tell him I was waiting for Summer, but he cut me off. “Move on,” he repeated in a threatening tone.

  Without a choice, I joined the cue and walked through the large steel doors. There were two doors, but only one had been opened so we had to file through in pairs. No one was really talking, so I kept to myself as well.

  I was unprepared for the sight that greeted me when I passed through into the Dome and a gasp escaped through my lips.

  “Let me guess. It’s your first time here,” the girl beside me said wryly. She looked younger than me.

  “I’ve never seen anything like it,” I admitted.

  “Well if they really like you, you’ll get to see it all the time,” she said sarcastically.

  “You’ve been here before?” I asked the obvious.

  “Too many times,” she said bitterly. “But I guess it’s not so bad. The food is good if he decides to share it.”

  “Oh,” I said. I wasn’t sure what to say to her. Suddenly I had an urge to turn around and run back out of the doors.

  “Isn’t it beautiful,” Summer breathed as she came to stand beside me.

  “Oh good, another newbie,” the girl said in disgust and walked away.

  “What’s her problem?” Summer asked. I thought about telling her, but decided it was best if I didn’t.

  “Nothing,” I lied. “Just promise me that you won’t be your usual happy self tonight. Try not to smile too much. Okay?” I could tell by the confused look on her face she had no idea what I was talking about. “Summer, promise me.”

  “I promise. I’ll be miserable,” she said, giving me her best sad face.

  So we stood there, Summer and I, drinking in all colors of the Dome. It was almost impossible to believe that this could exist right beside our dark world of rock, concrete and steel. All the walls were smooth and painted in various shades of yellow. There were colorful framed pictures hung on the walls, so much richer in detail than the charcoal sketches and carvings we made in the Pit. Even the floor came alive with richly patterned rugs resting under over-stuffed sofas and chairs.

  “Line up!” a female voice shouted out the command.

  Summer and I took our place in line, but this time I took Summer’s hand firmly in mine so we didn’t get separated again.

  “Is that a real plant?” she whispered in my ear.

  I looked in the direction she was staring and saw a large green thing sitting in some kind of pot.

  “I think it is,” I whispered back. I could hear the excitement in my own voice. The only plants I ever saw were the ones that ended up in the kitchen as food.

  “Follow me,” the commanding voice instructed once we were all lined up.

  She led us across the big reception room to another set of doors smaller than the first ones. We filed through in a single line and walked down a short narrow hall that ended in another doorway. The doors were made of frosted glass with the word ‘Gym’ written across them. The room was smaller than the last room we were in and full of weird looking equipment.

  “For all you newbies, this is the Gym. It’s where people come to stay in good physical condition,” our leader informed us.

  Summer gave me a questioning look, but I didn’t know how they used the equipment to stay in good physical condition either. We continued toward another set of doors and I was struck by how humid the air suddenly became when the doors were opened. We stepped inside and I saw the biggest pool of water I had ever seen in my life.

  “Wow! What is it?” Summer exclaimed, a little too loudly.

  “Who said that?” our leader demanded. Everyone pointed at Summer. “It’s a swimming pool you dumb girl. Although I shouldn’t be surprised that an urchin wouldn’t know that,” she gave Summer a look of disgust. “Unfortunately, it’s the only area large enough to bathe all of you. We can’t have you serving at a Presidential dinner as filthy as you are. But not to worry - when you’re done, most of the water in the pool will be drained and fresh added.”

  I thought of our own dirty stone tubs in the Pit and wondered where they found enough water to fill such an enormous pool. I looked over at Summer to see if she was just as shocked as I was, but I saw her standing there with her hand in the air trying to get the supervisor’s attention. I made a grab for her arm to pull it down, but it was too late.

  “Yes,” our leader said to her in an exasperated voice.

  “We had a bath before we came,” Summer said proudly, pointing at the two of us. I wanted to hide my face in my hands.

  “Really,” she looked us up and down, not convinced. “If you don’t get into the pool yourself, I’ll assign someone to strip you and scrub that dirt off your filthy body. Am I clear?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Summer responded quickly.

  I didn’t want to strip in front of the other girls and the supervisor. My mother taught me to bind my breasts with tightly tied fabric, which I wore baggy clothes over to hide. She never wanted me chosen for this kind of work, and as much as she loved the color of my hair, she was the one who taught me to use the coal to cover it up in public.

  Reluctantly I stripped, ignoring the glances from the other girls, and eased myself into the pool. I was relieved to find that the depth was only chest high on me and my ponytail only grazed the surface. I relaxed a bit and enjoyed the warmth of the water around me. I thought of our own freezing cold tubs in the Pit and wondered how this enormous pool stayed so warm.

  A bar of soap and a nailbrush were passed around and then shampoo. My heart sank. It wasn’t that I was afraid of anyone seeing my hair color, it’s just that it had always drawn attention to me, and tonight of all nights I wanted to blend in. I did not want to be noticed. But I didn’t have any choice, so I pulled the elastic out of my hair, wet it and began to work in the shampoo.

  “Sunny,” Summer whispered. “The bubbles in your hair are all black. The coal is washing out.”

  I pulled my long hair down in front of my face and saw that she was right. That’s when I realized most of the girls were staring at me. Black bubbles were dripping into the pool darkening the water all around me. I heard our leader tutting over how filthy I was. Feeling self-conscious, I sank down under the water and shook the bubbles out of my hair. When I resurfaced, we were ordered out the pool.

  We were each given a crisp, white uniform to put on and I silently wondered if this evening could get any worse. How could we keep these clean while serving food? What if someone bumped our arm, or spilled something on us? Now I had to wonder if we we’re getting any extra credits for tonight’s work so I could cover the cost of the uniform if I had too. I was already a little strapped for credits since I was docked half a day today.

  “Well, my, my,” our leader said, stopping to look me up and down. I didn’t like her expression, and I really didn’t like it when she picked up a lock of my hair and rubbed it between her finger and thumb, almost as if s
he were testing it to see if the color would come away. “You are going to be very popular,” she said smiling, and walked away.

  I couldn’t help noticing the menacing tone in her voice.

  Chapter Three

  “She’s just trying to scare you,” Summer attempted to reassure me.

  Maybe she was right. After all, people in the Pit noticed my hair because it was a spot of color in an otherwise monochrome world. But up here in the Dome, the bourge were used to seeing a lot of colors. The walls, the floors, the furniture, the plants – everywhere I looked there was color. My hair was nothing compared to all the beauty that surrounded me. Still, there was no need in taking unnecessary chances. I tied my hair back in a tight bun using the elastic that came with the uniform.

  They made us line up for the elevator. It was small so we had to go in groups of eight. We were told it would take a few trips to get us all up there, but since it was six floors up it was too far to take the stairs. I thought six floors wasn’t a very long climb at all, but I was happy to take the elevator. I had never been in one before.

  When our turn came, Summer excitedly grabbed my arm. The doors closed and the elevator began its ascent. A rolling sensation gripped my stomach and for a moment I thought I might be sick. Then the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened again. I’m not sure I enjoyed the ride. Summer looked a little green too.

  The kitchen was a short walk from the elevator and we were shown through the servant’s entrance. The kitchen here was different from the one Summer and I worked in. There was polished steel everywhere, huge refrigerators and twice as many stoves. The floors were a gleaming white despite the many people rushing about preparing food.

  “Go over there and wait,” said a busy cook, pointing to where a group of girls dressed exactly like us were patiently waiting.

  We joined the cue and waited for the remainder of our group. Once we were all present and accounted for, we were marched into the dining room. It was positively breathtaking. Real wood floors were polished to a glossy sheen. Round tables were scattered about the dimly lit room draped in heavy white table cloths and adorned with crystal glasses and silver cutlery. And were those actual candles in the centre of the tables? I was sure they couldn’t be real because it was against the law to have an open flame inside the Dome. It presented too much of a fire hazard. But their flickering glow was still real enough to dance sparkles of light off the crystal and silver.