Mana Tapu

Chapter 2

Faster. I need to run faster.

Earlier this morning I had been comfortably confined in my prison cell in the depths of Tadmor. I was perfectly fine staying there for the rest of my life. After all, that's what my fate was. I was a prisoner to fate. I was a prisoner to the Crown. Well, I was a prisoner. Somehow in the span of just a few hours I became an escaped convict. In the history of Katomo there had been one before me - and he had died.

I was just a kid when my life turned into a nightmare. Correction, I still am that kid. Callum Edwards. Inmate 3289. The beast. More recently, Target Two. Whatever they want to call me, that's who I am. It had taken me three long years to accept that I would never leave. I finally came to terms with it. I was happy - as happy as inmate 3289 could be in his isolated, overly comfortable cell. Now when I say it was comfortable I truly mean it. Those padded walls really do cushion everything. It was pristine with spotless white tones and the silver accent of tempered bars. If Tadmor wasn't the highest security compound in Katomo I could have thought that I was on vacation. The fact of the matter is that vacations usually don't have a life sentence written in fine print.

A fine, breathtakingly cursive signature at the bottom of a mysterious court order had put me behind bars. The fine print was final. At this point I should have been used to the hypocrisy in Katomo. Nine years ago I sat in-front of the news and watched the effects of a Hunt. The government blamed Target One for the destruction in the city. In reality, the "destruction" was just a general decay from years of neglect. The Crown had centered their resources on the inner regions - leaving the outer sectors to fend for themselves.

Ever since the King had fallen ill there was an ever present decay. It was as if the life of Katomo was connected to the royal family. I'm a sucker for conspiracy theories and let me say, there are a lot of them surrounding our prosperity and the Crown. I loved my job as a runner as it meant I got to talk to everyone. I'm proud to claim that I've been in every Sector, all seventeen of them. Granted I only came to Central because I was incarcerated. But hey, not many people can say they've done that. I would be out of "Never Have I Ever" in two seconds flat.

Never have I ever NOT done something. That's just how fate is with me. If I haven't done something the universe combines against all odds to make sure it happens. Even if it is not my will. One night when I was thirteen an evening stroll turned into another incident. I had been walking down the river path in Sector 10 when a frog jumped out of the brush. It scared me half to death and I took a step back. A single step backwards landed me in a patch of mud - which in turn sent me flailing into the river. One thing led to another and I ended up bargaining for my life from a river troll in Sector 15. River troll is a harsh name for someone who wouldn't throw me a rope. Correction, river troll is the perfect name for someone who wouldn't throw me a rope unless I promised to get a tattoo. Walking into our hut with wet hair, mud covered boots, and a clean, new Manaia tattoo was quite the sight. My Grandmother (everyone calls her Matua) hobbled over as fast as she could. Dad and mom were working the night shift on the Sector 5 agricultural distribution and hadn't known I'd been missing for six hours. Her silver eyes practically pierced through mine. I had definitely inherited them from her. Matua's eyes flicked to my mud stained boots and up to my pristine tattoo. Gripping my arm with boney, arthritic hands she meticulously examined the masterpiece.

I never imagined I would have a tattoo. They were expensive and not to mention, painful. I really hate needles. This tattoo was an eye catcher. Matua grinned up at me and in a gentle voice "Do you know what this means?"

"Yeah, someone saved my life. A rope for a tattoo. It was a crummy deal if you ask me. He didn't get anything out of it."

Cooing like a dove Matua voiced "Cal, Manaia is a symbol against evil. A great gift of love as someone believes you are tapu."