Miami 2017

Stakes + Prologue Outline

CONVERSATION:

"Do you think reincarnation is real?"

Hale glanced over from where he was tending to the fire, feeding scraps of wood into the eager maw of the hungry beast. "I hope not."

Flickering tendrils of shadows inched up the walls of the underground tunnel as the flames grew, casting sinister silhouettes over our gaunt faces. The acrid smell of smoke crawled up my nose and filled the pit of my stomach with a sense of dread as the burns on my back and upper-neck tingled in old, forgotten pain. "Why?"

"Because it's not fair."

"What do you mean?"

He turned towards me with a sigh, pulling the cloth mask from his face in order for me to see the firm, steadfast set of his mouth. "Reincarnation would mean that you've lived on this hellhole of a planet for years and years past your first death. I wouldn't wish that on anyone... least of all you."

I gave him a hard, searching stare, wondering what he could possibly mean. A wave of warmth rose up through my body, but I shivered, my heart pounding in rhythm with the tremble in my hands. The crackles and pops of the fire were assaulting my ears, each snap of the kindling driving slivers of primordial fear into my heart.

He chewed on his bottom lip before continuing, slow and cautious, as though not to frighten a wild animal. "You're different, June. You don't think the same way. I don't know if it's reincarnation or something else, but you weren't meant for this place." When I said nothing, he sighed again and got up from his fireside seat to plunk himself down next to me.

"What?" I muttered, refusing to meet his gaze, instead staring into the heart of my physical unease. I knew what was causing my stomach to twist and my burns to ache, but the uncertainty inside my mind was frustratingly new. 

"I just... I don't understand you."

A momentary flash of Calli, her hands touching my face, Fiorre's face, telling me she wanted to know, she wanted to help, but was confused as to how. Tears prickled in the corners of my eyes. "You're not the only one..."

There was several seconds of almost unbearable silence when I wanted to run from the tunnel, from the fire and the smoke, and my memories, before Hale suddenly took my hand. "Why are you here, June?" he asked, and the flickering light seemed to carve new lines into his tired face.

"My memories—"

"No. Not that bullshit. Why are you really here? Why are you doing this?"

My breath stuttered and I wiped an escaping tear from my cheek. "What else am I supposed to do? My mother is dead, I've got a wolf pack on my ass, and something's not quite right in my head. The only problem I might be able to solve is the last one. These memories aren't natural; I need to know what's wrong with me. I have to know."

"No, you don't." Hale looked at me sadly, flames flickering in the reflection of his hazel eyes. "You can forget all this and start over. You can find someone to settle down with, someone you love—"

"Everyone I love dies!" I said angrily, pulling my hand from his grasp. "You don't understand! That town is the only thing keeping me still going! It's the key to everything that has happened in the past three hundred years! It's the key to the memories!"

"June—"

"And the plague began there, no matter what you say; I remember it, and if I can figure out the cause, then I can get that information to the outside world. Think of how many people I could help save! To help—" My voice broke as my throat tightened, choking my words off. "That's all I've ever wanted..."

"June..." Hale's tone was soft as he voiced my greatest fear. "What if there's nothing there?"

"I don't want to think about it," I said, staring unblinkingly into the depths of my blazing enemy, swallowing past the lump in my throat. "Right now, my hope lives in that town, and if I get there to find it died a long time ago... there'd be nothing left for me to hold on to."

"There'd be us—Ada and I."

I smiled bitterly. "Like I said before, people around me die. If you wait long enough, you'll be sure to find out..."

WORD COUNT: 747 words

OUTLINE:
Prologue~It's an unusually cold December night in Miami, Florida in the year 2017. A man is out walking late in the city when, while cutting through an alley, he is accosted by muggers. They mug and subsequently kill the man, but decide they must get rid of the body quickly and efficiently. It is dumped in the river, but begins to contaminate a supply of industry chemicals. The water becomes the first carrier for the contagion.

WORD COUNT: 79