Tatted

Chapter One

17 years later •

"I'm glad you've come to me." An old woman in a deep brown cloak said in a hushed tone. "I had no where else to turn." A small voice spoke up from the chair in front of her. "Your story is remarkable." The woman mused. "How do we know we can trust one another?" The girl asked. "We don't. Trust is something we must earn from one another. And it will do you good to know that I value trust over everything. But it takes time and time again to earn mine." The woman reached to the table between the two chairs where they sat and grabbed the coffee pot, filling her mug to the brim with the steamy liquid. "Coffee, um, what did you say your name was?" "Haley. My name is Haley." She gave a small smile to the woman, who's name was Anna.
"And no, I'll pass thanks. I've been running for days and I just need the rest." She nodded her head droopily. "Alright. You can rest on the couch until I set up the guest room. And tomorrow we will have to figure out what to do with you." "Agreed."

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"Iris you have to get up! I know this is Saturday and everything but you have chores so come on!" Iris' mom screamed up at the loft. As Iris dragged herself down the stairs from her loft, the smell of bacon and eggs mixed in green peas flooded into her nostrils. It sounds like an odd breakfast, it's true, but it's something Iris' mom always made her and she loved it. "Where's Jackson?" Iris inquired to her mom. "Jackson is at practice today. Luke and his friends came and picked him up." "Oh. Yeah I forgot." Iris murmured as she glanced down at the paper on the table. "What's this?" Iris picked up the paper and glanced at it. "Oh Luke left it for you." As her mother mentioned her boyfriend she smiled a bit. She had been with Luke for two years. She always felt safe when she was with Luke and always in her comfort zone. Her attention was drawn down to Luke's red tattoo near her elbow. She always thought that the red lightning symbol made her look cool. Her small collection of tattoos always entertained her and she loved to sit and doodle new ideas when she had the time. And she was quite good, in fact. Whenever she was scared or feeling anxious she would look at her moms blue dove on her left thumb or her dads blue cross residing on her right hand pinky. Whenever she'd take notice of her brother Jackson's tattoo on her foot, she couldn't help giggling because his tattoo was a buffalo. It reminded her of how stubborn he could be.  "Hey when did Reese and Bekah say they were coming to get you?" Mom asked. "Four, I think." Iris' eyes darted to the big metallic silver clock over the drive range and her mom's head. "Hmm. it's 11:30 right now. I have to do my chores and get dressed. I think it's doable." "Better hurry, Iris." "Yeah, I know mom. Thanks for the tip." Iris laughed and walked upstairs to change from her fuzzy black and white pjs into some casual clothes to clean the kitchen in and do the laundry.

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Time passed quickly for Iris and she was done by three with everything. Now time to get ready. Iris thought to herself. About forty-five minutes later Iris ran down from her bright and simple loft wearing a white sleeveless shirt, black jeans, and black and white Vans. Her black hair was straightened and her blue eyes were accented with thick lengthening mascara. She really had some remarkable lashes. Iris ran to look out the window of her house and saw a black Jeep pull in front of the house. Iris giggled to herself when she thought about how Reese had named his Jeep Betty. Suddenly, Iris was torn from her thoughts by a loud honk from Reese and Bekah outside. "Mom! Reese's Jeep just pulled up I'm gonna get going!" "Okay have fun!" her mom smiled from around the corner. "I will!" Iris yelled back as she snagged her phone from the charger by the large white couch and took her debit card from her back pocket and put it into the wallet section of her case. She had a small bank account she shared with Jackson containing their allowance from their parents. As Iris hopped out the door and into the front seat of Reese's black jeep she was bombarded by the loud music blasting from the AUX cord Bekah had plugged in. Iris turned and looked at her friend with a pained look. "Is it REALLY necessary to blast your music as loud as you can ALL THE TIME?!" She half screamed. "OF COURSE." Bekah replied, shocked that Iris could even ask. Reese just sat in the front seat and smiled at them while shaking his head. Iris' eyed shifted over to Reese as he fist-bumped Bekah while laughing with a look that said 'yeah you know what's up'. Reese and Bekah have been with Iris throughout her life since her first day of school. The cliche term 'inseparable' just wasn't close enough to cut it here.
"Are y'all as excited to see that new horror movie as I am?" Bekah yapped, as she reluctantly turned off her music. "YAAAAS GIRL!" Reese said and flipped his hand down laughing in his mock-accent. Iris snorted and rolled her eyes at the pair. "Maybe if we spent less time wasting time then we could get there!" "Onward and upward, ladies." Reese said as he shifted the jeep into gear and they rode off.

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Haley awoke with a start, breathing heavy and sweat dripping from her pores and down her face. She had had another nightmare. Countless nights her blissful slumbers were ripped apart by these night terrors. But when she awoke it was always the same. The only thing she could remember was a faceless blonde woman and two men dressed in all black chasing her. They wanted her dead. They wanted her gone because was different from everyone else. She didn't have a tattoo. Haley is what Anna described as "a Pureskin". This was very rare and hasn't happened in centuries. Only legends remain of Pureskins. Haley had not a single tattoo on her body. Which masked sense considering she has no memory of knowing anyone or coming from anywhere. Anna decided that she was not from Cardenzia. But that raised a whole NEW set of questions that were deemed unanswerable. Wow I HAVE to get out of my head. Haley thought as she decided slowly to get up and walk into the kitchen to see if Anna was up and what she was doing. "Good morning, my dear." Anna said quietly from behind her. "WHAT THE...." Haley screamed and then yelled out because Anna had scared her so bad. "Never gets old." Anna chuckled and hobbled over to the table, where she removed a box of donuts from the cabinet. "Here dig in." Anna walked over and grabbed a donut, munching on it hungrily. "So have you thought about what I should do?" Haley said as she clutched a donut in her hand. Anna looked up at her thoughtfully for a moment. "I think the best idea for you right now is just to be normal. Blend in. Go to school. You know what I mean?" Haley looked at Anna as these words came from her mouth. "In all honesty that sounds like a terrible idea. If the hunters don't already know of my existence, it certainly won't be hard for them to find out about it then." Anna contemplated this for a moment before answering her. "Yes, but they won't be expecting a Pureskin somewhere with 8,000 people. Now what we have to do is decide what to do is get you a temporary tattoo to register you with. Perhaps henna. It shouldn't be hard to pick a school because there's only the Private school and the Public school. We should go with Public because there's more kids and everyone in Private is snobby." Haley took a deep breath as if trying to take all of it in. "Alright. So we should also put the henna somewhere not usually visible so once they see it it won't be noticeable that I don't have it." "Now you're catching on." Anna smirked and nodded approvingly. "Since you get to pick the henna yourself, is there anything you want in particular?" Anna asked Haley with one raised brow. "Um, yeah, I've always felt partial to a pair of wings."
"Wings it is then."

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Two hours later the wings were placed so perfectly in between Haley's shoulder blades that the most OCD person in Cardenzia would be just jumping with joy. Anna and Haley were driving in Anna's old station wagon to the school board. Luckily, here you didn't need your guardians to register you for school. Which was grand because everyone would know Anna. But that would mean that Haley was on her own. "Good luck my dear." Anna said with a small hopeful smile to Haley as she drove off to park the car and wait. Haley turned and raised her head up to look at the very top of the big gray building. This isn't intimidating at all.

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"Okay I for real just wasted two hours of my life." Reese complained  as he through away his empty super size popcorn bucket thrust his hands into his pockets. "AGREEEEEED." Bekah said while flipping a lock of her curled brown hair back over hear shoulder and rolling her eyes. "I kinda liked it..." Iris proclaimed. "Wow you're such a nerd, Iris." Bekah laughed and lightly pushed Iris' shoulder. Iris lost her balance and totally fell to the ground. What was actually odd was that once she fell, she didn't get up. "Iris?" Bekah asked while she softly kicked Iris' legs with her foot to see if she'd move. Reese totally facepalmed in that moment. "Oh my gosh you don't kick a person who's out cold you help them up." He rolled his eyes and knelt down to grab an arm while Bekah did the same. "Oh."

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