Metamorph [Book Two]

[prologue]

Here we go :)

LET ME TELL you a fairytale:

Once upon a time, there were two kinds of people--Good and Bad. They fought for many years, and many people suffered. Then, one day, a Good person stepped forward and led everyone to victory. But she was shocked to discover that the Bad people weren't really bad, and that not all the Good people were good.

You see, a coven of witches had cursed the Bad people so they had no choice but to be Bad. But the Good woman understood this and broke the curse, and everyone lived happily ever after.

Can you guess which part I lied about?

Yeah, the 'happily-ever-after'. Funny things, happily-ever-afters--they never quite seem to explain what happens after the hero rides into the sunset. They don't mention the lingering tension between the cursed and the beaten, or describe the rows of angry protesters that will line the streets the next morning, screaming insults at each other. They gloss right over the psychological damage having a curse broken leaves, and as I've been discovering recently, there isn't any potion or magic that makes scar tissue less ugly.

I wish there was, though. Because looking at my family, my friends, my community... If we don't get a good witch in to heal us ASAP, we'll be nothing but scar tissue and bruised flesh.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. This whole thing started forty-nine years ago, when the Wall was built. I'm sure you know that story, though--the long construction, fierce political debates, and eventual completion of a barrier between the Evos and Non-Evos.

So I'll start a little closer to when things get really interesting--and to when they get more personal for me.

I guess the best place to begin is a windy day in October, 2115.