Cass always knew that- someday- The Majesty would come back to get her- to finish her off. She just hoped that 'Someday' would be never. Or- at the very least- when she was old and knew she had no reason to live. But, even though she had little to live for now, she still wanted to experience life, experience love, experience a first kiss, have children...
But then again- she should have seen it coming. The Majesty were never ones to wait for a 'good' time. They acted on the 'bad' times- the times where you had little reason to run, to protect yourself, to try and live.
They never gave much warning either. One may say that they acted on impulse, but that would be untrue. The Majesty was a group of the smartest people (If you could call them that- they were more like super humans) in The Mundus, they acted on timing, on bad plans and terrible luck.
They acted on bloodlust.
Cass knew enough about The Majesty to know that. She knew enough about them to know that she would have no warning of their attack. She knew she would have to be ready to run- to fight if the situation required it. Without a doubt, Cassandra Fletcher knew that she must remain alive.
As the final thought flitted across her mind, Cass suppressed the sigh she knew was coming. But she needed to remain silent. If not for her sake, but for the whole town.
In The Mundus, no one is allowed to be awake after nightfall. At that time, you are supposed to enter a sound-proof room, and sleep until dawn. If anybody was caught awake and out of the room, it would mean punishment for them and for five randomly selected people.
The punishment was always death.
The skinny teenager shuffled slightly on the windowsill on which she was perched. With her long-ish, blond hair and green eyes framed by thick lashes, she was something to look at.
"Look at, but never touch..." The words spilled from her mouth before she could stop them, and she quickly slapped her hands to her mouth.
"Shit." She knew she was in for it now.Because of her age, she was allowed three warnings, and then is allowed be punished as an adult.
This was strike four.
As quick as she could- even surprising herself- she lept away from the window from where she was certain she could see lights appear.
Cass sprinted down the hall, passing the few photos she had of her deceased parents and sister. Opening the door to the Majesty supplied room, she pushed inside, shutting the door quickly. She had had enough practice to do all this silently.
Without stopping to undress, she shot under the covers of her unmade bed, and pretended to sleep. Though her breathing was ragged from terror, the Wardens wouldn't realise she was awake. Terror was a normal thing in The Mundus- even in sleep you couldn't escape it.
Because of the sound-proof walls, Cass was unable to hear what was going on, and if she had gotten away with it. When she heard the bare creek of the door, she knew she had. She also knew that the time had come to leave.
It was Annunciata, Cass' best friend. She lived right next door to the blonds tiny house. She would always go to Cass after she saw the lights. Annuciata rarely slept- she was always too afraid. Years ago, when Cass' parents were still alive, the two girls made a small hole in which they could both crawl. Because of lack food and nutrition, they could still squeeze through, even at the age of seventeen.
Though their love for each other was platonic, the two girls shared a special bond- hard to find, and nearly impossible to break. The Majesty called it - or things like it- 'Disgusting, an abomination.' They just called it friendship- even though 'friendship seemed too weak a word to describe it.
While the two girls shared the same long-ish blond hair and tiny waist line, the similarities stopped there.While Annuciata, or Cia, had brown eyes, Cass had green. Cia had an oval face, Cass had a heart shaped one. Cass was as tall as Cia was short. They evened each other out in every way.
Their personalities were also as different as fire and ice. Annuciata was kind, shy- Cassandra was stubborn and outgoing, not caring much about The Majesty- until now.
The information- as always- came from Cia. Her father was high-up in the social hierarchy, so she received wind that they were coming and warned Cass straight away. She had had less than a week to run- to get somewhere safe.
Her time was up.
*
YOU ARE READING
Ashes to Ashes
Adventure> If your whole life was at stake, what would you do to protect it? If your whole family died, leaving you alone in the world, who would you depend on? If your whole hometown was destroyed, where would you go? In the year 2999, time is running out...
