UNDEFILED

Chapter One

A/N: Hey everyone! So this is the first chapter of book 1 of my new series! I'll try to update weekly, but otherwise, enjoy!

Stay alive |-/
Laura x

Song - "Let's Kill Tonight" by Panic! at the Disco

Tyler's POV

I jog towards the looming, grey complex, looking left and right, making sure that no one even in this isolated location sees me. Even if they did, I'm wearing a thick, black ski mask under a black, metal face mask and helmet of sorts to match my black clothing, and no one, not even my wretched mother, dead father, or reasonable brother, would be able to recognize me.

I suppose that is the point. Anyone with a conscience wouldn't be here. Hell, anyone with a working brain wouldn't even think the way I do. But here I am, sauntering in like the psycho I am.

I'm not allowed to be here. No, I, a criminal, a killer, and an anarchist, should not be within a 100 mile radius of this place.

Well, that's what the papers say, anyway.

In reality, I am not intent on destroying democracy as they say. I simply believe that there are people in power who should not be in power, and some that should keep their power, as long as they cooperate. To achieve these big dreams of mine, one of my previous rivals and I joined to form the Ninth Division. It was odd to work with her at first. She had been an assassin trying to kill me for money, and I had just broken out of prison. However, when we actually met, we both realized we had the same goals. From there, we teamed up and became the most wanted criminals of our time in America. Tyler Knighton and Katrina Hellond, the founders of the Ninth Division, and the most despicable, evil people in this world.

It was too close when a bullet whizzed past my face, barely grazing my mask. I swore as quietly as possible. This assignment was supposed to be easy.

But when are assignments ever easy?

Thankfully, I was sort of expecting an attack, and therefore I am not caught by surprise. I also was thankful that my curse didn't decide that hiding in some bushes would be a good time to make an appearance. Because if it did, I'd be in big trouble.

See, on this God-forsaken planet, everyone's got a curse. There are some stories of people with powers instead of curses nowadays – urban legends, for the most part. One of these rumors may be true, however. A teen girl in Namer was said to have the power of manipulating and killed the Namish king. Fortunately, she died with him, but it still didn't stop the country from breaking out into civil war. It's too bad. I had enjoyed King Nicodemus's insanity.

But for me and the overwhelming majority, we all have curses. Mine is what you'd call an Oryp, which you don't see too often. My curse is to burst into flame. I am not harmed by fire as a result, but unfortunately I cannot control when or how I catch on fire, and in this case, standing in the brush, I would not have been in a good position to get my job done.

There are some powerful drugs out there now, though. Granted, they're ridiculously expensive and only temporary, but they are improvements. Echos, people with the curse to only repeat what is said to them, can now take a few pills and are free of their small curse for about 6 hours. There are also drugs that contain powers, like giving you X-ray vision or something special. Petty things, really, if you can use what you have. Regardless, these little drugs are nothing in comparison to the real powers that are said to be around.

These Powers, or literally, people with powers instead of curses, aren't as lucky as they seem. I've seen some, and how they're treated. They're powerful, but they're told that they're weak. The children with powers are usually abandoned and left to die because no one wants to be associated with a freak.