Beginning of Nothing

Bruises and Soulmates

Rylan

They stated showing up when I was about 7. Little blue and black circles up and down my arms and back. I never took any notice of them: they didn't hurt and they kind of looked cool. I would pretend that I was deathly ill and these spots were a sickness. I would run around like a zombie shaking my hands while my friends ran away shrieking.

Then one day my dad noticed and started whispering with my mother. They looked at each other and then at me. I thought I was in trouble and tried to hide the colorful spots up and down my back.

It turns out I was fine, and had done nothing wrong. My soulmate, however, was having a hard time. I didn't even know what a soulmate was. I sat in a chair while adults whispered with pinched faces behind pale hands.

I was terrified, And I didn't know why. I didn't know what the marks on my body were, but they weren't a sign I was a zombie.

---

Out of breath, I sit in my seat and giggle with my friends. We laughed about the girls we chased into a corner and tried kissing.

My laugh catches in my throat when I see the lady in the corner. She looks at me and tilts her head in that 'disappointed in you' way. I look down in shame and try to focus on something other than her pointy shoes and black pantsuit.
The bell rings and she stands.

"Class," she starts," how many of you know what a soulmate is?"

Silence.

Cough.

"Good. Normally, you wouldn't learn about them until next year, but because of certain circumstances, " she glances at me, " we need to discuss this earlier. "

We spent the rest of the day talking about a soulmate. Basically your soulmate is the person your destined to be with. This term has been around for years, but it's practical uses are just being discovered.

After WWIV happened a man named Ludovico Likonswen came up with a plan to end wars.

Love

Sounds stupid right?

Well this injection that he created, which is now required to be given at birth, allows you to find your soulmate. All you have to do is draw.

If you write on yourself, it shows on your soulmate.

Apparently, bruises transfer over.

What I would later come to understand, is that my soulmate was being beaten.

The one person I was supposed to spend my life with and love and cherish may die before I even meet her.