Hunger: Euphoria book 1

1-21

Chapter 1

He walked into the precinct, gloomier than anyone has seen him in a long time. Each day seems to blend together in one never-ending miserable lifetime. Every precinct in Euphoria is exactly the same. White walls that someone can stare into endlessly like it holds all the answers that one could possibly know with rows upon rows of desks in the same pale brown color. A real, old-fashioned "bullpen" from the movies. It is not much in the way of decorations or feeling homey, but it has been his solitude and lifeline since his original assignment four years ago.

It has been exactly three years since she walked out of his life and moved on with hers. His hometown has always been small, but he never knew how much until she moved on. Constantly running into her friends and getting hated looks never helped him get through the day. High school, the last time he saw her, feels forever ago. He moved out of his parent's home, and set his sight on being the best Guardian, or protector of the people, he could be.

He moved to his desk on autopilot, opened the top drawer, took out the file and sat in his seat just as it landed on the desk of unfiled paperwork. The file he dreads to take out, but cannot seem to stop every year. He should be getting to the paperwork below this file, instead of pulling it out, again! He almost reaches to put it away, but he needs to get it over with and open the damn thing then he can start his shift.

There is too much paperwork if you ask him that only adds up as all the cases are not solved in a timely manner. Captain likes all cases solved and put away in about twenty-four, but it had almost been thirty-six hours for the three on his desk.

"Well, I guess it's that time of year now isn't, Mills!" Joel Smith, a pain-in-the-ass, fellow Guardian with a heart of gold in his big chest, walked closer to his best friend's desk and knew that the mystery folder would be on it, like it is every year. "What is that supposed to mean, fat ass?"

"Every year, on this day, you sit there and sulk about this mystery girl from high school. It has been three years man, why not open the folder and find her." The big oaf, like always, is right. She moved on and he called in a favor after a few months with the Guard to find her, and has been afraid to open the folder ever since.

Afraid. Do I know the real meaning of that word? Fear is a weird concept- feeling- to have these days. I remember for history in high school that the Guard wiped out that feeling from Euphoria when the Seekers took over. People have talked about it, but now it's only in our souls and nightmares, not real life. Even in my dreams, I am not sure that this is actually what I feel. Is this the feeling of fear?

That's another worry for another time...

It's almost time....

The clock chimes for nine o'clock on the dot, the Chief is to arrive any second by Hologram. Ah, Hologram, to be able to be in one place without actually stepping out of your own home. It makes communicating a little easier between precincts and suspects.

To the surprise of the precinct, he comes in person and the whispers start. Chief Guardian only comes in person when a special assignment is being placed on a member of the precinct. The lucky son-of-a-bitch is about to travel around Euphoria or even visit the Seekers in person. That is the real honor for the Seekers are really private, only the Chief has seen all of their faces.

He would love to meet a Seeker in person. They are said to have the powers of gods and be more beautiful than the average human. To be in the presence of a Seeker is supposed to bring happiness, pain, or wisdom depending on the Seeker.

He is happy for the distraction, working makes it easier to keep his mind off of her. Though it doesn't help as much when he can remember the date, it is always this time of year that he loses himself in another person...or tries to. He has been so busy with the missing girls, he forgot to find someone before today.