PROXIMITY

ADEN ROSE

July 24th, 42 hours left.

Time: 7:24PM

SEATTLE

Outside there is chaos. All I remember is people screaming. As I leave the castle off it's roof I see a big JumboTron with the words.

JULY 24, 3042

THE KING OF ASTERISK HAS BEEN STABBED IN THE NECK WITH AN ARELIC BLADE.

BEILIEVED THE PROXIMITY HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH THIS ASSASINATION.

200,000 RELIC REWARD.

            It was less than a second, maybe even half a second, but I know that little moment of my life changed everything.

I grab the navy blue hiking bag and leap off of the roof. As I landed swiftly like a cat, I start sprinting down the alley. I feel a faint breeze trailing down my neck as I hear horse hooves and sirens pass by. Screaming, petrified civilians are being yelled at to get out of the way. It takes me a moment to realize what I just did.

"I just murdered the King of Asterisk..."

Though, normally people should be feeling frightened or scared after doing such a thing, but I don't. Sadness, anger, fear, happiness. All of it. They slipped right out of me easily, leaving me numb. I begin to sprint faster making a sharp turn to the left entering another alley. I feel beads of sweat on my back and on my forehead.

"Root A." I whisper to myself.

"This is the 3rd division. If I want to make it out alive I will have to make it to the 1st division unharmed, which means I have to find a way out of Root C. There will be twice the amount of patrols there than in the first two roots."

Well duh.. I just killed the King of the World..

              I jump on a dumpster and start to position myself to sprint my way through the streets of Old York until a small figure stops me. I almost immediately take out my gun I stole from an imperial soldier and pointed it towards the figure.

"Who are you?" I say tilting my head aiming for its shadowy body.

The figure reveals itself to the only lamp in this alley. Visible to my eyes I see two small petite ears pop out of hiding. I now see it's head.

A cat? Only a damn cat?

I take a long sigh of relief and put my gun back in its place underneath my hoodie. I squat down to see the cat better. My eyes widen in pure shock.

The cat has no tail and is missing one leg.

Then I realize we are outside of a testing area for diseases. I guess this jet black cat was experimented on and they took it's tail and left hind leg. I begin to coo at him taking out a loaf of bread I stole from a bakery before the mission. I hand it over to the cat clicking my tongue to get it's attention.

This cat looks like Marley... no it can't be. Marley was infected with plague malitina and taken into custody. How could one strange cat make me want to burst into tears?

The cat then disappears into the darkness. I sit in a squat position for 5 minutes. If it wasn't for the broken glass by the dumpster, I wouldn't be able to see what I look like. I pick up a large portion of glass and stare into the reflection.

Black hair, hazel eyes. Blood covering half of my face. I don't even recognize myself.

I drop the glass as it sends a sound wave of shatters through the alley. I take a step back hitting my back against the wall. I look down at my hands and see dried blood within my finger nails.

A moment ago I felt nothing and now I feel all of my emotions pouring onto me weakening my knees. I fall onto the ground and I begin to cry.

It all happened so fast. I didn't even realize I was injured. I was sent on a life or death mission to kill the king and now this is how I die. I curl up into a little ball and cry. I don't know how long I stayed here or what time it was, all I know is that I cried, forcing myself to sleep.

"Damn cat..." I utter under my panting breath.

Then I fell into a deep sleep. Dreaming about my once home, dreaming about my parents and siblings who were killed before my eyes, dreaming about the day I die.