City of Fate

Day

Emelia awoke in her darkened room, the sun peeking from around the window shades. She had a dim feeling of a dream that flitted at the edge of her memory. The sounds of the city came slowly to her drowsy ears, the smell of coffee and bacon threatened to wash away her sleepiness. Her thoughts were dark when she remembered she had to get out from under the blankets, considering the chill in the air that wasn't yet been warmed away by the morning sun. She was surprised to full wakefulness as a loud siren suddenly warbled outside her window.  She slid slowly from bed, wondering why that still startled her so much. She opened the curtains and looked down to the street ten stories below the penthouse apartment she shared with he mom. Motes of sparkling dust rose from under her feet as she plodded, zombie like, down what always seemed to Emelia to be the longest hallway ever. 

The bathroom light blinked to life and she looked at herself in the mirror. Her dark curly hair was braided but a cloud of flyaways floated around her head. Emelia made a face at herself and began to brush her teeth. 

After her morning routine was done she dressed in her usual grey zip hoodie, band tee and jeans. Emelia went downstairs for breakfast and as usual her mom was rushing around the kitchen, bottom half dressed for work, the top unbuttoned, her hair was still a mess. She was buttering toast and trying to put papers into her briefcase. Emelia walked up behind her mom, took the toast and held it in her teeth while she smoothed down her mother's hair and put it up in a neat bun. Emelia

"Thanks, hun. You all ready for school?"Ruth asked as she continued to sort papers and stuff them into her briefcase. "Obviously I'm running late, so I'll have to drop you off at the corner and you can walk the rest of the way, is that all right?" Her mom chimed, in her sing song kind of way. 

"Yeah, that's fine." Emilia agreed, even though she hated walking this early in the morning. Regardless of her feelings on the the subject, she felt the need to help her mother in any way possible.

Her mother worked in some office building, she never explained to Emelia exactly what she does. Emelia once asked and she just said it was an accounting and logistics firm, which sounded pretty boring, so Emelia hadn't pressed too hard. She had been living with Ruth for most of her life and all she knew or cared about was it paid the bills. 

They made small talk as Ruth drove her to school. Emelia fiddled idly with the pendant she wore around her neck, the only thing she had from her birth mother. They stopped at the corner and Ruth parked the car. As Emelia hopped out, Ruth blew her as kiss and said "Have a great day, love."

"You too mom. Kill it at work." Emelia said with genuine enthusiasm.

"Thanks baby, I'll be home around 5, so you need to take the bus home, okay... I love you." She rolled the window up but before it made it all the way up she exclaimed. "Oh, don't forget you have Taekwondo after school at 2:30 and fencing at 3:45!"

"Sure thing. Love you too." Emelia responded, through the open window. She walked backwards down the block and watched as the S.U.V pulled away. Swinging around, she slung her backpack over her shoulder and slumped, thinking about how much she hates walking.

She popped her ear buds in and the din of the city around her faded to a low buzz. Emelia pulled out her phone and started the "walking to school" playlist and the sounds of the city faded away as the music played. She only had a couple blocks to walk so it wasn't all that bad, she thought. She liked to zone out on her music as she walked anyways. Emelia had a habit of stepping over cracks as she walked, counting them as she goes.

 As she passed by one particularly dark ally she felt a chill run up her back and turned to stare into the darkness. She reached for her pendant, a habit she had when she's nervous, and could swear it felt warm. The music still played as she popped one earbud out, something she often did to "help her see better", and squinted. Had she just seen something down there or was it just in her head?

Then it appeared, plain as day, a tall slender women, angular features seemed to be staring directly at her. The women's hair was white and straight and smooth and was dressed head to toe in what Emelia could only describe as elegant royal court attire. Pale blue dress that flared at the hips, a princess cut neckline and an intricately embroidered bodice, all couldn't be more incongruent with the surroundings. Then, Just as fast as it had appeared, the apparition seemed to side step and disappear into the darkness once again. The eyes, blue as arctic ice, without pupil or iris, were the last things to fade way.

Emelia ran down the alley looking back and forth, but there was nothing there. She couldn't help but think there was something of strange importance about this "lady". She shook her head wondering if she had seen anything at all. She scratched her head quizzically, left the alley and began the walk to school once again, the whole time wondering if she had really seen something or not.