by H. J. Lawson
My body urges me forward to help Madam Enid; Madam Enid spots me appearing from the darkness. “No... no,” she mutters, shaking her head at me.
Madam Uri snickers, “Begging for your worthless life,” and Madam Enid nods.
She lets go of her arm, and Madam Enid falls to the dusty ground. “It's a good thing I'm in a good mood,” she hisses as she lowers her head down to Madam Enid. “I would be in a better mood if you jumped. But you're too spineless for that,” she spits.
“Make sure your girls are on the shuttle on time. Or I will be placing a complaint with President Tyler... aren't you already on your last warning?” By Madam Uri's tone it sounds like she knows the answer.
“Yes,” Madam Enid sniffles.
“Good,” Madam Uri laughs as she walks down the path, disappearing into her quarters.
I wait for a moment that feels like forever and then, once it’s clear that Madam Uri isn’t coming back, scramble over to Madam Enid’s broken body as she weeps on the floor.
I pull her body gently away from the edge, for I don't want her to fall off by accident. “Don't listen to her,” I say.
“She's right, right about all of it,” she cries.
“Oh,” I gulp. “You were banished for stealing?” I ask. As soon as the words leave my mouth I feel selfish for prying. People say Madam Uri murdered someone and that’s why she was banished here, but I think they would have sent her out to the Grounders. Then again, I think I can imagine her murdering someone.
“Jeromy, my husband, asked me to borrow a piece of equipment from the lab. He said he would hand it straight back to me, so I could return it the next day. But...” she paused, “he never gave it back to me. I kept asking and asking. He said I was to get off his back and stop nagging,” she says bitterly.
“He denied any knowledge of my giving it to him when the guards asked. Instead, he said I had a metal health problem,” she says, twisting her finger around her hair, “like it was all in my head, which it's not!” She pulls herself off the ground.
She brushes her hands over her dress, removing the dust fragments. “He set me up. So he could marry my sister! I'm sure he was the one to call the lab and inform them of the missing equipment,” she says, scowling.
“What did Madam Uri mean that you can only allow one more complaint?”
Way to go, Skylier, on making her feel worse, I scold myself.
Madam Enid’s reaction is something I wasn't expecting. She beings to laugh, so loudly I glance around to see if she's woken the others. Her shoulders dance as she realizes the volume of her own voice.
“If I get another complaint, I can never go back to Purenet,” she replies, a little giddy.
“And that's good? Why?” I ask.
“I want to stay here. It’s fun going back for visits. Not one single part of me would like to live back there, not with my cheating, betraying family. Living here is a blessing, a second chance for my life, a pure life,” she smiles. “If I had never come here, I would have never met you,” she says, grasping my hands together.
“Now go visit your mother, and be on time for the shuttle. We don't want Madam Uri to lose her good mood," she jokes.
I hug Madam Enid and run off along the dusky pathway to my mother's quarters.
There are rows of metal doors carved out of the rocks for parents' quarters. I try to slow my racing breath down to compose myself before I enter my mother’s quarters; each day she is worse than the last.
The numbers 6719 appear in red on the control panel as the red beam reads my bar code. All children are allowed access to their parents' living quarters when we are not in school or under curfew.
As the metal door opens, the outside light shines down on my mother's tiny silhouette beneath her thin, white bed sheet that has a faint red glow to it from the cave dust. Each time I see my mother, part of my heart breaks, allowing emptiness to creep in. She doesn't have long left to live. Just the thought terrifies me.
No matter how many times her lips lie to me, telling me she's okay, her appearance doesn't.
“Mother... Mother,” I say softly.
Her eyelids flutter in the last light as the door closes.
My eyes instantly adjust to the pitch black of darkness; I am at home.
I kneel beside my mother's bed; the whistling sound of her lungs struggling for breath fills the tiny room, creating an insane pressure of lost hope in my heart.
I stroke her arm that’s covered in fine hairs, trying to keep her warm. Toxic cancer runs through her veins under her delicate skin, as if they are ready to explode at any given moment.
Mother, how long did the healer say you had left?
Weeks... her mind replies.
Skylier... “Skylier, is that you?”
“Yes, Mother.”
“Skylier, please turn the light on, dear child, let me see your face.” I wave my hand over the light panel, creating a soft glow over the room.
Her body is even frailer in the dim light. Her eyes are sunken in, with heavy black shadows under them.
“Skylier, don't enter into my mind,” she says, embarrassed because she no longer has the strength to block me.
“Then you must tell me the truth.”
Our roles have been reversed. For many years she and my father were part of the leading group in the Cueva. When Mother became sick, Father tried to help get her the cure, but he never came back from Purenet.
“I did,” Mother says soberly. “Skylier, you are turning into a beautiful lady. Your pure white skin, sparkling light-blue eyes, it's as though the sunlight has never touched your skin.” Her words warm the emptiness. “You're as natural as the day you were born.” In the Cueva most people's appearance is like Madison’s, with their dark olive skin, warm brown hair and eyes—only a handful of us have the pure features, almost as if color was not added to our DNA.
She begins to move her tiny body into a sitting position. Swiftly, I take the blankets and pile them behind her head, up against the cave wall, to protect her paper-thin skin.
Her lungs inhale and exhale and just that small movement steals all her energy. Maybe I was wrong to wake her. I should've left her to get more sleep, but that's all she does now.
Every day after class, Rian, Callie, and I sit with her, and often she falls asleep. Rian has been coming around less, saying he has training. I know it hurts too much to see her in this state, a powerful woman crumbling like our cave walls before our eyes.
“Skylier, pass me my comb. Let me help you get ready for your journey today.”
I do as requested. Kneeling beside the bed with my back facing my mother, I feel a gentle tug on my hair as she begins to comb it.
“Your long, shiny, blonde hair would look perfect with a white Purenet uniform.”
“Mother, do we need to have this conversation every time?”
“You know it's for the best. You need the daylight; you are radiant when you see the sky. I remember when you were a small child, always hiding in the gardens. I would find you on your back, staring up through the dome to the heavens above.”
That was a happier, more innocent time.
“For me, Skylier, my last wish.”
Chapter Three
Scanning the back of my hand against the monitor, I see that the gate is empty of my classmates. Everyone is on the shuttle.
Damn it, I'm late.
The glass and metal doors with the Chancellor's crest slide open, allowing me to get through.
For days, which turned into weeks and now months, I sat staring at the Chancellor's crest on the doors, willing them to open and for my father to come walking through them. But he never did. And now with a scan of my hand the door opens with ease.
Madam Enid had us put all our numbers on the schedule. The Chancellor only allows us into the city for a few things; Selection Day, organ selling, and those trips all are planned well in advance. Basically for things which, in the end, they want from us; our bodies are our only assets.
Luckily the shuttle is still here. The curves along the top of the shuttle shine even brighter white than the gate.
“Skylier, quickly, the shuttle is about to leave!” Madam Enid yells, as she steps off the shuttle onto the gate. “Let her through, she is with me,” she shouts down to the guard.
I slow down as I get closer to him. Once I stand on the platform, I am on Purenet property.
The Empire insisted that there be a connector between the outer communities, like Cueva. Father said they came in one day with their soldiers when everyone was sleeping and began working. This happened before he was born, I think even before his father was born.
Some of the Cuevas helped work the tunnel for money. They were powerless—many of the guards and soldiers used to live here in Cueva and they were selected for the Sanction Games when they were young. Then, after the fame, glory and money ended, they needed to find work—and what better than to work for the Chancellor in his own personal army?
When the Gate was built, the soldiers left and only the guards stayed. The Chancellor said they were left for our safety against the Grounders. This never made sense, because in all our history the Grounders have never invaded Cueva. We have our own guards.
Over the years, boundaries have been put in place as a kind of mutual agreement to help stop the bloody war between our communities.
The President of Cueva didn't stand in the way; he merely agreed with the fact that the soldiers would stay here. Our once quiet, peaceful community had become our very own prison overnight with no one standing up to the invaders. This is how it has been down here my whole life, like we are intruders in our own home and at any point everything can be taken from us.
I grind to a halt as I reach the guard dressed in his protective white uniform. They don't need to worry about getting blood on their clothes; no one will dare attack them here. He holds his gun firmly placed across his body, always ready for action, even though I'm a sixteen-year-old girl running for a shuttle.
Frigging ridiculous.
There is no glowing blue light coming from the gun, which means he’s not armed up. One flick of his finger on the gun would charge up the deadly, chemically-mixed bullets. If the connector on the chemical comes in contact with your flesh, it spreads like the plague, instantly killing you from the inside. You are powerless against the deadly chemicals.
“She's with me, I said!” Madam Enid yells once again. The other teachers peer out their windows at her in disgust for helping me. The other Outsiders would've just left me. Madam Enid is different—she cares for us, and because of that she is an outsider from the Outsiders.
The guard steps sideways to allow me to pass. His eyes are covered up with an eye shield and the rest of his face doesn't move. I don't blame him for covering his face, I bet some of his family lives here.
I take a deep breath as a slight chill brushes over my body. I always feel weird stepping onto the shiny platform that is in stark contrast to the red, dusty cave walls. Its blinding white surface is almost unbearable.
“Skylier, come on!” Madison screams to me. Her head peeks out from under one of the Outsiders' arms then disappears back into the shuttle. With a leap of faith I'm on the glossy platform; my shoe wants to slide off the unusual surface, but I keep moving.
Before I know it, I'm at the shuttle. I made it!
Beep... Beep. The doors begin to close, and I grab the cold silver handle and jump on to the shuttle.
“Whew!” I let out a sigh of relief. All this so I can see the sky and mountains in their full glory. There is a little dome in Cueva for our garden. I can view just a small section of the sky from there and I like to watch the stars flying through the night sky. In Purenet I can walk around as if we're not enclosed, like we are free. Fresh air fills my lungs. Even the air on the shuttle is different; it smells clean.
Boy, Skylier, you were cutting it close. How's Mother? Rian's voice rings through my head.
She's not good. You have to get into the games.
I know, I know.
As I walk down the carpeted shuttle, I see the back of Rian's and Lowell’s heads. Lowell is Rian's best friend. And my… what is he to me? My boyfriend?
My feet squash down in the carpet—I would love carpet in the cave instead of the dust that covers the ground.
“Hey, sis,” Rian says. Lowell turns to face me with a cute, welcoming grin and a twinkle in his warm brown eyes. Everything about Lowell is a warm brown, from his skin tone to his hair, just like Madison’s.
“Hey little bro,” I smile; Rian dislikes me calling him that.
“Hey, Skylier,” says Lowell. He pats the cream seat next to him, and I take the seat without question; whenever we can be close to one another we are.
Cueva kids are not allowed to date until after selection, which sucks. One of those rules we must obey; they don't want their Hosts pregnant before the selections. If a Bazi or another male fathers a child before the games, they are automatically thrown out of selections. My cheeks tingle at the thought of Lowell and myself being alone together. Lowell's warm hand brushes with mine and we entwine our fingers under the table, our secret hidden away from others.
I wish I could read Lowell's thoughts and not my brother's.
Hey, I heard that, Rian’s mind says.
Get out of my head.
Put your block up, I don't want to hear your lovey dovey thoughts about my best mate, Rian’s mind say.
“Are you two arguing again?” Lowell asks, as Rian and I scowl at one another.
“She was just say—ouch!” I kick Rian before he can finish.
“So are you nervous about finding out if you've been selected for the games?” I ask, trying to prevent Rian from embarrassing me anymore than he normally does.
“Yep,” my brother replies.
“Rian, there is nothing to worry about. You are the strongest and fastest in the class,” Lowell adds with a twinkle in his deep brown eyes.
“But you know...” Rian says as he glances around the shuttle. We are all aware that the Outsiders are watching, waiting for us to do something wrong. “No one in our family has ever made it all the way to the games, even though we are one of the strongest families, if I do say so myself,” he says boastfully. He's right; father said it's because of our bloodline dating back to one of our ancestors, that he was an architect for the original Purenet buildings, and that he was banished from Purenet.
Don't think like that, Rian. I believe it is your time....
There is a jolt forward as the shuttle leaves the gate. I stare at the window; all I can see is my reflection in the glass. For most of the journey we will be in a tunnel, concealed from the outside.
“The question should be, which game are you most looking forward to?” Lowell asks the group.
Rian places his finger on his lips, and pats back and forth, “The Ruins, I think. No, definitely The Ruins,” Rian says smiling.
Lowell raises our hands, and then pulls them back down, forgetting my fingers were looped with his. We both take a hurried look around the cart.
Phew, no one noticed.
We let out a nervous giggle.
“You've gone from not getting selected to being in the final,” Lowell says.
Rian grins, “Like you said, I'm one of the fastest and strongest. They have to choose me, we haven't won for years. It's time for some new blood and I plan to win the finals.”
“But you can't drive,” I say.
Rian shakes his head, rolling his eyes. “That's why we get to train. They will teach us stuff like that. I hope,” he laughs, “well, they better frigging do so. No one in Cueva can drive a car.”
We all nod at the comment.
“But really, you're looking for
ward to the finals?” I ask.
“Too right, finally I'll have the freedom I've dreamed of,” he says.
I frown. “Remember what happened to one of the guys from the Rubin Sanctions? His head got the freedom from his body,” I wince, remembering the bloody image.
“He was Rubin red once the Caribe got hold of him and ripped him to shreds,” Lowell says.
“Thanks for the reminder, Lowell,” Rian smiles.
“Oh, and another one, I think he was from Realm of Pillars Sanction. The Caribe kept him alive. Remember he said he liked his meat to be fresh?” Lowell says.
“You two suck at the pep talk. That's only happened a few times. Those were just two gross deaths. You know that's part of the games. If the games were easy no one would watch and there would be no bitcoins for me,” Rian say.
“True. It's the quickest way to make the bitcoins that we need,” I say.
I squeeze Lowell's hand for comfort; he returns the gesture by stroking the back of my hand with his fingers. “So if you’re excited about The Ruins, what are you least looking forward to?”
I frown at Lowell. “Really?” I say.
“What? It can’t be any worse than The Ruins, can it?”
Fair point.
“The one that's at the Cader Sanction. They are crazy good at kicking everyone's ass and making you look stupid at the same time,” Rian says.
“Yeah, but no wonder their selection starts at ten. They have been training half their lives,” I say.
“You two are going to be great in The Pit. With our Cuevas' night vision, we win that game every year.”
Each of the different Sanctions has their own strengths, which they create their games around. Purenet’s game is The Pit, designed for Cuevas to win, but other Sanctions are allowed to add other elements within the game. It is one of the Empire’s rules to make the games fair, or more entertaining.
“I wonder if this year the games are going to be any different, with it being the two-hundredth games.” I ask.
“I was thinking the same; normally they throw in a few twists. But I have a feeling this twist is going to be epic. One to go down in history,” Rian says, gripping his hands together.
