"Elena." The man stared down at me. His scarred cheek rippling with the word like red grass in the wind. He raised his gun. "Elena wake up!" He fired and I shot up.
"Woah, woah!" A hand steadied me. Edison held a candle out from us so I wouldn't knock it over. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Bad dream."
"The Reaping's coming up. I'm surprised we haven't heard of anyone going missing yet. Usually we start hearing about disappearances at least three days before."
"It wasn't about that," I lied.
"Well hurry." He said leaving our room. I jumped out of bed and grabbed some shorts from the floor by my bed. I changed into a black shirt that said "Clearly I Have Made Some Bad Decisions" in faded red letters. I pulled on my team varsity jacket. It was black with our flag on the back. We only wear it for practice. It was the flag of the old country-- red and white stripes with a blue box in the corner containing rows of stars. It was once illegal to own anything showing the flag, but as our government became more sure of itself the ban was lifted. However, it did make you look suspicious to the guards and could hurt you if you were on trial for an offence.
I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth; my bangle bracelets tinkled with the movement. On the other wrist I had two woven string bracelets and a faux diamond one. I brushed out my black hair and stared into the mirror for a minute. I had hazel eyes that alternated between green and brown.
"Elena!" Edison whispered through the door. I sighed and walked out. He handed me my fingerless leather gloves. He had a pair as well and a similar jacket except he had an additional flag on the front corner of his. He wore jeans and a plain black shirt. We walked to the kitchen where the back door was and he blew out the candle.
Arcadia was split into six castes based on wealth which directly related to the kinds of jobs you could work. The bottom, or sevens, would be the poorest. It was likely that they wouldn't have a job, but if they did it would be collecting trash, sewer up keep, or something of the like. Sixes did things like public transportation, maids and nannies, factory workers. Fives had a lot of artists (singers, dancers, painters) but also some factory workers and store employees. There was a large gap between us and the other castes. Fours had a comfortable ammount of money. They were largely store owners, but had no real job type. Threes made a lot of money with no job restrictions. It was almost impossible to be a three if you weren't born into it. Most guards were three's. Twos are mainly people who work with the royalty in our government. Many were soldiers. One's were mostly people involved with the government, some rich business men, or people who had some removed relation to the royal family. Zero's were unofficial, but basically were the royal family members and the closely extended family and friends.
You could buy your way up the caste system, but it was difficult. We were going to be paid into five soon. It took the life savings of four generations to get us here, and we were the lucky ones. Most people never achieve it. The lower half of the castes had strict curfews. Sevens had to be in by dark until six am. Sixes and fives were 10pm to 5 am. It was barely one when we set out.
Edison opened the door slowly and looked out before motioning for me to exit. I did and he closed the door silently behind us. We took off at a brisk walk through the back yards. We took as many alleyways as possible. It was clear when we entered a mainly four area. There were more fours on the stores. If there was a number on a store, lesser castes were not aloud in. The houses got drastically bigger. It was almost two by the time we reached two territory. We approached one of the first large houses on the street and ran around the building. Edison stomped on the storm seller door. We both looked around. A slot on the door slid open and two eyes peered out before we heard the latch slide. The door opened.
"Hey Edison." Glamour said flipping her hair over her shoulder. Edison walked past her with only a small wave. "Hi loser."
I rolled my eyes, "Loser? What are you? Four?" I stomped past her and into the training room.
"Actually I am. A four."
I stared up at a large man with a scar along his cheek and stopped. He was the second in command of the guard.
