Colors

The Mysterious Alien

Colors

By: Cutegirlmayra1 (This is my first time writing an original story, So I'll need help. Please send me any information you can possibly find(and please, in lame man's terms, no website links unless it's REALLY good) about Light and its properties and such. Thank you, and enjoy Chapter 1!) *Editor/Beta Reader: Strifenhart

Ch. 1

The Mysterious Alien

In the downtown city streets of Koleroy, the black of the night reigned supreme as the whispering wind carried thick dust that tousled newspapers, glass bottles clanked as they rolled down obsidian roads. Barely a noise rose above the heavy lashing of the passionately passing winds—except the footsteps of a cloaked man. Pulling up his long, dark grey coat collar and hurriedly walking by an abandoned building—which had been shut down from all sorts of problems—problems that didn't stop me.

The grimy brick walls were a dark red, and even at night, they appeared stained by that dual killer of all things beautiful and decent: time and neglect. It was a few stories high, and probably the highlight of its era,... or at least, it could have been. But not now. Not ever again.

The part of the building I lived in had a gaping hole in the wall which led to an alleyway, opening out to the side-markets of the main city street. Here, street-born kids would lie about their ages to rub shoulders with newsboys or shoe shiners—heck, any kind of work to avoid starving on Koleroy's cruel pavements, covered in gum and rising weeds from sidewalk cracks. Even nature rebelled against this forsaken town of washed out... well, everything.

On the sides of the market lay a dead and forgotten highway that stretched over the first of three large descending tiers. There stood an elongated, pearly white gate up at the tippy top of the first rolling hill, above all our misery. The city slums below gave striking contrast to the white, glowing buildings that shone like dumb little twinkling stars in the sky. Bustling, smiling people living in blissful cleanliness. Only because they could afford fresh air, while we coughed through the smog that rolled its grey blanket over us like a cover sloping down the tiers, tucking us into this miserable life. I resided in the middle slope, a beat up and worn out ghetto where it wasn't uncommon to see a child working late, no one bats an eye at it, or even runaways living in buildings like mine. Before this block ended, a turn veered you to my humble abode. I call it 'humble' only to show some pity for the site I dared to live in. The place must have been wrecked by some Supers' fight or an earthquake. Maybe both. A crack could be seen stretching its reach to the far ends of the alleyway it faced, before turning off to open up and lead you to my fondly named, Hippie Cave. A broken entrance that a hero might have punched a man through or a villain blasted to get into. Yeah... this was home, sweet home.

I slipped off my backpack, placing it on the opposite side of my ripped-up, green vinyl bean bag. I pulled on the dangling chain of my black banker's lamp that stood on a small legless box stand, shining light down on my homework. It would blink every hour—I timed it—kinda like how your eyes grow weary and droop when the night sets in and your homework still isn't done. It has been three years since I ran away from home at the tender age of fourteen, and you better believe I wasn't going back. I disowned my parents, my life of pleasant but boring middle-class routines, and journeyed far out into the city, hoping to start a life that I could be proud of. Well, that wasn't working out so well... but you've gotta give me props for hanging in there, right? Because you can't just pack up two suitcases and expect to start at a new school without some legal documentation...

I got these fakes from the agency I signed up with, a shady delivery business that seemed very welcoming in its way of getting kids what they want, no matter what it was, for good labor. Just so long as you keep your mouth shut and do as you're told. I won't lie to you though, there were a few surprised—to say the least—faces when I stated that I wanted to attend the nearest school. However, they seemed to con me out of a few paychecks for the paperwork... Luckily, they were of good quality—just enough to slide past the school's radar and let me attend, believing I was living happily with my family in what looked to be an old apartment complex.