Solitude

Chapter one- Concrete coffin

     I suppose I was born in here to start with, although having no mother or father to tell me otherwise gave me reason to dream of having been born outside of this concrete coffin. There were no pictures telling me my origins, no people to clarify my birth inside this godawful place, and certainly no certificates proving I was born here like the rest of these people; well, supernatural creatures. Thousands of us- perhaps hundreds of thousands of us- laying dormant under ground in cells located in levels located in one huge game board set up, all underground. Quite tragic, really.

     Currently, I was walking around the 26th level's market place, looking for one specific ingredient: Rosemary. Usually, I had to search the black market on level 20 to the ends of the SCAR, but I heard about a place on this level that sold Rosemary by the pounds. Something I really needed this season.

     "Winnie!" Pulling my hood lower over my face I tried to lose myself in the crowd of unique people. I didn't need my best friend to know I was searching for my favorite ingredient again, he'd flip out on me. "Winnie!" He called out again only this time, closer. Taking a sharp right I darted into an ally and back onto another busy street. We ended up doing this every year or so, usually in the black market. This market is safer than the other one, so he shouldn't be this upset over me going out.

     A hand grasped my shoulder, spinning me around and sending my hood flying off. "Winnie." I winced, already knowing he caught me so early. Damn.

     "Hi, Dimitri. What's up?" He threw an arm over my shoulder, walking us in the direction I needed to go, seething to himself. God he smelled wonderful. No, stop it Winnie, you're supposed to be giving up on him. Think of the bad things, if there were any about him.

     "I've been looking for you everywhere. What if something happened to you? Why do you do this every year just for some damn Rosemary. I told you my friend has a shop in this level and I'd take you to buy some next week." He growled deep in his chest, his one brown eye almost literally glowing, his dead eye staying a flat color. A few years back, Dimitri got into a real bad fight with another werewolf and won. The only thing he lost was his right eye, which was now a murky blue color with scars running across the length of his handsome face. A shame for such a skilled werewolf. Plus it was killing my inner girly girl, scars were extremely attractive to me.

     "The Rosemary in the markets, I feel, are better. Absolutely no offense to your friend." I shrugged his arm off me, pulling my hood back over my platinum hair, and my blushing face. "Besides, your friend isn't my biggest fan at the moment. I still think he despises me for breaking his grandmother's urn." The wolf grimaced at the understandable hatred his friend wielded towards me. Although, none of his friends- nor family- really liked me.

     "He's a forgiving person, sorta. Look, I have to go pick something up, like, right now." He said, glancing nervously at his wrist. "I can't stop you from getting that damn Rosemary this time, but if you get into any trouble just remember what I taught you. 'K?" He laughed at my all too eager nod. "I mean it Winnie, be careful and at least try not to get into trouble- for me?"

     "Don't worry Mimi, when do I ever get into trouble?" I gave him a large bear hug and ran back into the crowd, avid about getting my Rosemary.

~~

Dimitri was going to kill me.

After locating the shop and buying the Rosemary, I walked all the way to the transport station only to be caught up in the sixth riot this week; and it was only Tuesday. People crowded the street around the transport station, some were flying, some hovering, and almost most of them had transformed into their true states. Since this was the 26th floor, most of this crowd's occupants were the Bugbears, also known as: The Boogeymen. All tall creatures with pointed ears and nearly translucent skin, and since they were very sensitive to light they wore black cloaks and tinted glasses to shield their nocturnal eyes. Large mouths filled with rows of normal teeth shouted out in protest, their clawed fists raised in anger.