The Secret of Soul

These Things Will Change

Whitney

March 3, 2113

            Weeks have passed since Sarah and I made up. President Emerald has grown stronger with each passing day, and Breena has stayed hidden somewhere in Europe. The humans’ war ceased to exist as the zombie virus plagued the world. If a single human still roamed the Earth, they were destined to become either a zombie or a supernatural being. The population of each species has increased since Breena went to, from what Kyla had told me, France; there were more vampires, shapeshifters, witches, and fairies in addition to new ones such as mermaids and elves. Soul was now filled to the brim, which forced every creature to share a bed with three or more others. I worked over twenty four hours a day trying to keep the peace between good and evil, which had gradually become harder as the population of Soul increased. Now that it is spring, more supernatural creatures are being bred, causing President Emerald to become much more aggressive.

            “All of the humans are gone,” Sarah informed me one evening. We were just sitting down to breakfast. Many creatures stood due to the lack of space in the cabin. The small living area had become claustrophobic and smelled like rotting gym socks. I looked up from my Frosted Flakes and grimly told her, “There still may be a few left.” “I doubt it. If there are more, there won’t be for long,” Sarah stated. She paused for a moment. “Did you know that I’m pregnant?” Sarah asked. “Really Sarah?” I questioned. Sarah and Jack were no longer speaking. “I have been for a while apparently. Jack doesn’t know though,” she told me.

We each took bites of our breakfast. I found myself breaking the silence. “I wish President Emerald would just let everyone go. The humans are gone now. There’s no point in this. If there aren’t any humans left to be endangered, then the only lives that are at risk are the zombies’ lives and no one wants them alive anyways,” I told her. “Then why don’t you just let everyone go?” she asked. I set my spoon down on the table and looked her in the eye. “Because I’m pretty sure President Emerald can kill me without hesitation if he wanted to. I’m not taking the risk of losing my life,” I informed her. Sarah stood up and set her dishes in the sink. She turned around and smiled at me. “What if we all just left? What could he do then?” she asked thoughtfully. “I think you somehow need to eliminate him before anyone can leave,” I told her. “I know what we need to do then,” Sarah smirked as she headed to the iron door. The door opened without protest as the crisp spring air surrounded our bodies. I followed Sarah out the door, cautiously trying not to trip over her long, black gown. “Where are you going?” I asked her, worried about what she could have planned. “To get in trouble again,” she told me as the pine needles crunched underneath her every step.

I followed Sarah past the stage, worried, yet in tune to the bull frogs singing. Spring took over Jack Frost’s harsh nature. Could Soul really eliminate President Emerald? I pondered over these thoughts as I followed Sarah. Sarah opened the now rotting wooden door to the Peacekeepers’ Cabin and quickly stepped inside, her heels clicking on the white tile that had just been newly installed. Many creatures were playing football on the old PlayStation, and others had been playing foosball. They became startled as Sarah yelled, “I need everyone to go to the meeting hall!” I quickly grabbed her arm and spun her around. “Are you insane?” I scolded. Sarah shrugged as she went into the meeting hall with the other supernatural creatures.

The meeting hall looked disorganized as each individual filed in. The books on the bookshelves seemed to fall into each other, making the collection look as though they were too tired to continue standing up straight. The couches, black and red, had faded due to the wear and tear from the use of the room from the last century. The carpet, once a perfect sea of royal red, had been torn from the constant fights between Soul and Anti-Soul within the past few months.

Sarah stood behind the podium, which now was composed of dark, rotting wood. Behind her the surveillance of Soul flickered across the TV screen. Sarah cleared her throat as the buzzing of conversation ceased. “I have a plan that will allow everyone to go back to their normal lives as if the Change had never happened,” Sarah began. The room, which originally had a few whispers of side conversations in the back, became deafening silent. Each creature looked into her eyes intently, tired of being discriminated against, tired of living in harsh conditions, tired of scarce food, tired of no personal space, and tired of the constant fighting between good and evil. I looked at her, arms crossed for appearance, hoping she would have a plan that could work. “We are all tired of being treated like second class citizens. People, President Emerald in particular, have seemed to have forgotten that we were all humans at one point in time. How is it fair that we have to continue to live like this? The few humans that remain walking on the streets are destined for death, or to become zombies, or even one of us,” Sarah paused for a moment as creatures stated their approval. “We are not going to tolerate this idea any longer. It is time to fight back!” Sarah yelled.

The room began to riot. The creatures looked at me as though I were the one to betray them, as if I were the threat. I looked at Sarah, begging for mercy. Sarah saw the worry in my eyes and called the creatures to a halt. “STOP! Leave the peacekeeper alone! Whitney was one of the few to treat us fairly. She treated us like people! She listened to us when we were upset, was always willing to help when we were upset, and even gave us more food than what the budget was supposed to allow! Take out the government! Take out President Emerald. He’s a hypocrite. Do you want to know a secret? Do you want to know the truth?” Sarah reasoned. Her chest moved up and down frantically as she gasped for air. Before Sarah could expose the secret, President Emerald entered the room.

“I’m not who you think I am,” President Emerald hissed. A purple light flashed, and President Emerald became nothing more than a dark purple energy orb, radiating traces of evil, hatred, and disgrace. His voice became shallow and nearly inaudible, yet continued to bounce off of the walls as power dominated his existence. Creatures gasped in shock. “I am a spirit. I have ruled this country for years. I led the country through the Great Recession, the second Civil War, and through the adoption of Puerto Rico and other territories into the United States. Shocking, is it not?” President Emerald paused for a moment to release his hearty, despicable laugh.

As he laughed, I felt my stomach churn. He did this. He did this on purpose. He wanted to end all human life on Earth. He wanted everything living to die. He was a dictator, a bully. He had no heart. He was merciless. He was the one that had been able to exterminate any race that hadn’t met up to his standards of “perfection.” He eliminated the sick, the poor, the teens that were going nowhere with their lives, the prisoners, the mentally ill, and anyone else that could have possibly have been struggling.

He ceased his laughter as his voice raised, seemingly more powerful than before. “I enjoy a good challenge. Do you think you can stop me? You are all destined to die anyhow,” he toyed. “You will never get what you believe you can get. How could you try to eliminate all of them for being a little different? Do you not have a conscience? Do you not have feelings? Do you want everyone here to suffer? Most of the world’s population has been crammed into these damned containment centers! There’s nothing existing outside of the containment centers. Nothing. Nothing but flesh eating mindless monsters that you enslaved under your idea of ‘power,’” I heard myself tell him. He laughed, mocking my words. “Meet me in central park,” President Emerald stated as he disappeared in a bright flash of light.

I stood in front of the podium. “That settles it. We are going to battle against the evil forces, but rather than Anti-Soul like we had been planning, we must battle against that-that thing. Are we ready?” I motivated. There was a momentary silence until Jack exclaimed, “Bring him down!” Everyone ran out of the room in a cloud of chaos. “Wait! We can’t all go at the same time!” I yelled after them, but no one heard me.

Everyone filed out of Soul and into the cluster of trees and bushes surrounding Central Park. Bombs went off above us, signaling a warning from President Emerald. The temperature seemed to drop as snow clouds lingered above us. Tents were put up to protect us from the elements, and then we waited.