Rose [A Lunar Chronicles Fanfiction]

Chapter 1

                  

~ Once upon a time, there was a girl more beautiful than the sunrise at dawn, more intelligent than the wisest owl, and kinder than the gentlest deer. She longed for adventure away from her home, but was scorned by the villagers for her differences. ~

Rose pulled a library book from its shelf and was immediately assaulted by a cloud of dust. Coughing, she fanned the unexpected attackers away from her face with the hand unoccupied by the extremely filthy book. She squinted down at the book, which had been left in the wrong place by whoever had borrowed it last. Rose traveled down the aisles of books, dragging her fingertips along discolored spines and fading shelves as she went, trying to locate the proper location of the old book in her grasp. In the background, a small radio droned on and on with the voice of a newscaster.

"...fugitive Linh Cinder, cyborg and Lunar, not yet tracked down after attacks in France..."

Rose located the book's place on the shelf and sighed. All the news had been reporting as of late was the Eastern Commonwealth, Linh Cinder, and Emperor Kai's agreement to marry Lunar Queen Levana Blackburn. She was sure that there would be better, more local news to report, but it was becoming apparent that Queen Levana wanted the marriage to be broadcast all over the world, or perhaps, as some had been speculating lately, government leaders wanted the people to be aware of the danger they could be in if the marriage didn't go through. It isn't as though we need reminding, Rose thought, drowning out the sound of the radio as she continued to organize the shelves. Everyone already knows how many people were killed in the last attacks...

Rose had thanked the stars that her own town had not been directly affected by the attacks. Sure, there were people who knew people who knew victims, but the ties were so loose that no one felt directly attached to anyone who had been lost. Still, everyone in the United Kingdom was well aware that the danger that seemed so far away from the safety of their small, closed-off towns could invade at any moment.

The only thing Rose's hometown, Brixham, had done to prepare for an attack was become more closed-off. No one entered, no one left. The people had become more suspicious, especially of those they deemed 'different.'

Rose hummed to herself as she brushed the dust off of one of the shelves as she passed. "I really should clean this place up," she murmured to herself, though she knew she needn't have been so quiet; no one except her inhabited the library at this time of the morning. "It's practically a breeding ground for letumosis."

But, she also knew that it was unlikely for letumosis to show up here, of all places. It had been years since the last case in Brixham, but Rose knew the only reason for that was that no one came to her town, and no one left it, either.

Rose looked up when she heard the door open. The bells tied to the door tinkled merrily as the door shut once again and the mysterious customer could be heard stopping at the deserted front desk. Rose hurriedly placed a book onto the shelf, not bothering to notice whether it was in its correct place, and made her way to the front counter. When Rose had come close enough to actually see who it was who had come in, her heart dropped into her stomach. Leaning against the counter was Derek Baines, the only son of a wealthy military general and who many girls considered to be the most desirable guy in Brixham.

Forcing herself to put on a friendly smile, Rose wiped her sweaty palms on the front of her skirt and approached the front counter, turning down the radio, which was now droning on about market sales in London, as she did so. "Good evening, Mr. Baines, how can I help you today?"