Sci-fi Short Story.

(Note: This is a short story that I wrote for English. We did an exercise called "Flash story writing," where we try to finish a story in a particular time frame. Unfortunately, during that exact time frame, I didn't get to finish it, but we did get the chance to finish it entirely. Also, this was heavily inspired by the dystopian game, BioShock, as you might see. I'm only new to writing stories; there might be a few flaws here and there, but nonetheless, I'm satisfied! Enjoy)

  My fate was sealed the day it happened. There was no other choice, so I was practically forced to choose this path. Although I am rather vague of what’s there to come in the future, I still had the slightest hope that things would get better…eventually.

When I first visited this city (for reasons, I must keep the name of this city a secret) after many years, I would say that, well, it was completely ruined.

    This whole place was a complete mess. The warm, bittersweet aroma that flowed almost in every corner of this city was transformed horribly into a deep, regrettable stench that was virtually hard for me to describe. The buildings that were once dubbed as the most insightful landmarks of this area were now demolished to a point where it was no longer known as history in the making. It was almost as if this city was built inside a grandfather’s clock, and the pendulum literally obliterated this place to pieces. And it’s best not to get started on what happened to the locals who once lived there; believe it or not, most of them were simply dead. There were literally corpses, lying around inanimately on the rough, solid concrete.

    You may not believe me, but this city was once beautiful. Seeing this place in a total wreck was overwhelming enough for me. Although it seemed surprising to me through my eyes, it was no surprise to why I had to visit my hometown.

    But there’s another thing that might keep you in disbelief – I’m a magician.

    Not the kind who has a secret behind every magic trick; I’m not like that. I’ve got magic in my blood actually – to be more specific, in my genes. It runs in the family, to be honest. I’m the magician who doesn’t keep any secrets to my own tricks. They’re real. Hard to believe, yes? But it’s the only way to survive. Although ironically, I can’t keep my identity as a magician public; guess I had no other choice.

    Since my magic was derived from my genes, this also applied to other magicians as well. It was a complex series of genetic modification and DNA, different from an average human being. In fact, it’s that intricate, that it was impossible to recreate or copy these “magic genes” into another human, which has puzzled many scientists for years. So I guess you would call me the lucky one, having the genes of a magician.

    Walking along the virtually silent streets of this once enchanting city, I stopped subconsciously in front of the city’s library. This was honestly my favourite part of the city. Back in my early adolescence, I was once a bibliophile; a lover of books. Actually, it was more than that – more like an obsession.

    Of course, I was willing to go inside this library once more, despite its half-demolished state, so I entered inside and…wow. Looking around all of these wonderful, vibrant books that brought this library to life; it was quite literally a massive place. Almost the size of a university, I’d have to say. But entering this library gave me a sudden shot of nostalgia. It’s bringing back memories to me. It was like as if I was walking down a deep, almost welcoming forest; the heights of the shelves are like a literature rendition of trees to me. This library gave me a widespread imagination – I used my imagination to the library in return.

    But it was hard to use my imagination in a library, sadly. This library, almost like the city, was complete madness. The walls and shelves have been brutally vandalised with such remarks like “You cannot destroy us” written violently in paint. At times, I would consider myself lucky for not visiting this city for longer.