Stargazer (Write Awards 2013)

Chapter 14 (Write Awards 2013)

Just a big shout out to everyone who has voted and commented on Stargazer. I have gotten into the final round of the Write Awards (which I am really excited about).

All votes and comments are greatly appreciated :-D

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I blinked. It worked. I pulled down the handle and the door opened. It squeaked into the quiet hallway. I shakily walked out; making sure it was empty before making a break for it. I headed away from the rooms I was in previously and back down a few flights of stairs.

As I came to the third level, I encountered my first person. It was a woman in a white lab coat. Her hair was messy and she was panicking, tripping over her feet as she ran down the hall. Her eyes opened in fright when she saw me.

She stumbled and a small crack echoed through the room, and she toppled sideways. I looked down to see that one of her heels had snapped, and now the woman was fumbling to scramble backwards.

I took a few steps towards her and in self-defence; she threw her broken shoe at me. I managed to throw my arms up right before it hit, jabbing my arms.

"St-stay back!" she stuttered, reaching for her other shoe. I grumbled, blocking my face again as she threw it, then ran around her. As I grew closer, the lady cowered, whimpering in fear. Shaking my head, step-sided her and ran to the door at the end of the room. A large key pad sat next to the door and with a frustrated cry, I realized had no handle.

"How do I get through?" I cried over my shoulder. There was a whimper in response and I darted back over to the lady; repeating my question slowly. She just shook her head and curled back up into a ball. Sighing when I realized she wouldn't help me at all, I walked back over to the door with something in mind.

If it worked once, then it might work again. I placed my palm onto the door and looked for that imaginary key again, almost laughing out loud when I found it in a better time. The door unlatched and swung open, and I darted inside.

Inside was another large passageway, lit with white lights. The white tiles on the walls would have been clean, if it wasn't for the colours that dripped down, merging with others. I touched it with the tips of my fingers, pulling away to see yellow and red.

I took off down the hallway, curious to see where the colours had come from. This time I took a series of lefts and rights, with no idea where I was heading. All thoughts were get out alive!

As I turned down another hall, I heard a faint gasp, then my name being called. Down the end of the hallway was Aaron, holding a large colourful looking gun. Aaron was speckled in bright colours, mostly on his torso and face. His face was a mixture of surprise and shock. As if he wouldn't have thought I'd be running down these hallways by myself.

"Aaron," I gasped, and before I knew it, I was throwing myself into his grasp. His hands dropped the gun and circled my waist. He made a choking sound as I wrapped my hands around his neck, burring my head into his chest, engulfing me with his smell of smoke and something metallic.

It didn't hit me just how much I missed Aaron until I felt his arms around my body. A few tears leaked out from my eyes and I squeezed them tightly, trying not to let the salty water fall. Aaron started patting my lower back and stumbled backwards a little.

"June?" he whispered and he sounded as if he couldn't believe I was hugging him. "You're alive? I thought you were dead." I shook my head and he unravelled his arms, releasing me. Looking down, I blushed when I saw that the colours from Aaron had transferred to my white dress.

"I got paint all over you," Aaron chuckled, placing a hand on my shoulder. "I thought you were gone. Come on, there's not much time before the-"

The lights flickered before shutting off completely, sending us into almost blackness. With a startled gasp, I realized that there was some light, but it wasn't radiating from the roof. The paint was glowing; oranges, blues, greens and reds. All the colours were glowing with a vibrant luminosity.

"-power goes out," Aaron finished looking upwards. When he looked back down, I had a major sense of déjà vu.

Storm and I were looking up at the stars. We had broken curfew, something we used to do a lot, and we lying beneath an old withered tree. Broken remains of the past. There was a slight warm breeze, warm enough for short sleeves and long pants. Storm had managed to slip out some fresh fruits from the market where he worked for a few months before the Guards shut down the market. We were both munching on some apples and joking around. It was Storms thirteenth birthday coming up and he decided he wanted to get a jacket. He never told me why he wanted to get a jacket and I never asked.

"Storm, why do you think the stars are so far away?" I asked, looking over at him. The stars reflective lighting lit up his hair. He looked up, studying them overhead. There was a light in his eyes, whenever we talked about the stars. He told me I also had the same light whenever I talked about the stars.

"Because they watch over us," he replied.

I frowned, "How do star watch over us? They're just balls of light."

"They keep you from harm silly," he smiled, nudging my shoulder with his arm. I giggled, nudging him back. "The stars will make sure nothing will harm us."

"But what about the children who are taken away?"

"They watch over them too. When the kids go, they become the stars, then watch over the rest of the kids." That seemed reasonable. A never ending circle of kids watching over us, making sure we're kept safe.

"I want to become a star," I whispered. Storm, looking startled, looked over at me.

"Why?"

"Cause I want to watch over other kids and make sure they're not harmed." Storm smiled and before I knew it, engulfed me in a hug.

I blinked, watching as Aaron turned his head to see if anyone was behind him. The way the colours reflected in his hair from the glowing paint reminded me of that night. A smile tugged my lips.

"We need to hurry, June. Stephen is busy with his distraction which I'm too worried about," he trailed off, muttering about glowing dinosaurs. He took off down the hallway and I followed closely behind, until we came to a large looking room filled with glowing figures.

Glowing paint dripped off the walls and some was splattered on the roof. People were running around, covered in the stuff. In amongst the crowd I could see someone standing on what looked like a table. They were holding a gun, shooting people with the coloured paint. From here I could hear his laughter as he hit person after person.

"Stephen," Aaron muttered, stopping to take in the scene. Only when he said his name, I could see that it was him under the glowing paint. Stephen aimed at a woman wearing a white lab coat and sprayed her with orange paint, making her scream and tumble backwards.

"Aaron! Run," he cried before returning to the lady and dosing her with another spray of paint. He was enjoying this far too much, I thought to myself. Aaron gripped my hand and together we ran towards the emergency exit. With a good shove, Aaron managed to open it and together we spilled out.

Waiting for us was a large van. Paint was splattered along the side so it was hard to tell what the original colour of the van was. I saw someone jump into the front seat and the van roared to life. Aaron ran over, threw the back doors open and motioned for me to enter, just as someone grabbed me from behind.

"Let me go!" I cried, struggling. The person lifted me off the ground and I kicked and clawed at the person. The person grunted as my fingers gripped what felt to be a helmet. With a good tug it flew off and the grip on my body slipped. We both went down, the person landing on top of me.

It was a man with blonde hair. I think I must have dazed him when I pulled his helmet off as he blinked a couple of times. Now why did he look familiar?

Aaron came up behind him and grabbed the back of his jacket, yanking him off with a sharp tug. The man rolled off and Aaron quickly tugged me up. Stumbling backwards with my heart in my throat, I just managed to avoid his outstretched hand for my ankles.

"June, come on!" Aaron called from the van. Scrambling backwards I was just about to turn when I noticed something odd about the man. With his arms outstretched I saw the skin on his arm.

And I saw the veins stretched under his skin. The blue veins, waving in an invisible breeze.