My Other Half

Chapter 1: America Separates

Remember the good old times when America was one country with 50 states? And remember when Hawaii and Alaska were the only two states that were separated from the rest of the country geographically? I don't. No one does. That's only found in the history books. Everyone who lived then is dead - and I mean everyone.

The land shifted and the states split apart or were joined together. Again, this is all geographically. Each one is its own region. The separation of America made 11 different islands.. that were discovered. There were smaller pieces of land of course, but they were combined with the 11 major islands. There were lucky islands though - ones that the government didn't know about and that no one discovered except the people who lived there themselves.

Unfortunately, I lived on one of those 11 islands. I lived on Tennant. It was the third newest island that was discovered, but it was discovered about 70 years before I was born. The newest island discovered by the government is called Barrowman. The 11 islands are Hartnell, Troughton, Pertwee, Baker, Davison, McCoy, McGann, Eccleston, Tennant, Smith, and Barrowman. Out of all 11 islands, Barrowman was the most leniant and Hartnell was the least leniant with the laws. Afterall, Hartnell was found first and that's where the government buildings were. But basically, the order of the island discoveries show how leniant they are. The earlier islands found are very strict while ones found more recently are less strict because they're new to this new kind of government.

What happened is this: The government killed anyone who lived when America was one country or erased their memories, so technically they were dead inside and had to start their life all over again no matter how old they were. The rest of the people were killed when a rock-like thing from space hit America and broke us all apart. They fell into the cracks and died or got crushed by the rock-like thing. But how they died isn't important. The important thing is what's going on now.

The government had one rule that no one has ever broken and got away with because that one rule was very hard to follow and the government had a tracking system. They had interfered with our lives for generations. Back then, they even limited how many cats someone could have in their house. But this rule is very very different. No one likes it at all. Based on a computer generated program, every person gets a necklace when they're born. It's literally sewn into your neck. The only way to take it off is to get surgery, but even the surgeries are monitored by the government. Because of that, it's nearly impossible to take off the necklace without the government finding out. If they found out, you would be killed. That is unless you escaped.

The guys got keys as their charm and the girls got hearts as their charm. The hearts had a lock though. The person with the matching key to your heart was your soulmate and you could only marry them or be engaged to them. If anyone broke that rule, they would be killed and it wasn't only them; it was their soulmates too. Even if the soulmates have never met before and they were complete strangers, if one person made a mistake, the computer program would find their soulmate and both would be killed together or punished together to make sure all the pairings are equal.

Many people have tried to escape with their necklaces on, but the government has a tracking system inside of the necklace. If one of the necklaces were damaged, the second half would be found, meaning the person, and they would be killed. This whole system is so screwed up. We can't love who we want and we're all assigned to who we have to love, marry, and live the rest of our lives with. No one has gotten away with breaking the rule in the past 800 years they have been doing this. The problem is if people are going to choose life or love. If they got away with it and escaped, good for that person and their true love! Their soulmate now had to suffer.

My name is Evania Sparrow. 17 years of age. I was born in Tennant and the day right after I was born, I got a necklace stitched into the back of my neck with the heart in the front, dangling. I always trace the shape of the key pattern. What really sucks is that I have to find my soulmate and only marry him. My necklace always turned cold or hot wherever I went because cold meant I was far away from my soulmate and when it turned hot, it meant I was close to my soulmate.

So far, my necklace has only been cold. It was hot at one point when I was in Barrowman for a class trip. Here's the thing. I already know who I like. Lucius Metrali, 18, and also lives in Tennant. He likes me back.. but the key doesn't fit in the heart. When I'm with him, my necklace turns ice cold. So does his. But to be honest, I was sick and tired of all of the government rules and this one just made me furious everyday and it made me curse them out every day I woke up. Even if it meant death for at least four different people, I was going to take a chance for me and Lucius.

I'm sorry to whoever my soulmate is and whoever my love's soulmate is, but the two of us are choosing love over life. One thing though. We wouldn't be like the other people who failed to escape the government and get killed. We would use the plan we've had for 7 months now and succeed. If we had enough time, maybe we could even save our soulmates. Even if this doesn't work out, there will be four people dead but happy because they're free. Let's hope we don't die before we even graduate high school. Once we're done with it, we'll find our soulmate, find a way to get the necklace out, and escape to one of the islands that the government hasn't found yet. Will the plan work?

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That's it for today! It's really short.. If you're confused, just comment below and I'll reply to you or edit this introduction. Chapter 2 should be up tomorrow (6/27) or Friday (6/28). Any Whovians out there? Haha notice anything about the islands? Read, vote, comment, follow, and share please! The title isn't permanent and neither is the cover. If you have a better title as the story develops, comment below!