Revocation Preview

Chapter One

She always loved it there. The bright green grass brushed against her knees. The array of flowers scattered the field like fireworks in the sky. Trees towered over the clearing as rabbits hopped into the glade. Birds were singing and the hum of water flowing through a creek filled her ears. That was her place, no one could get her there and she never wanted to leave. A gentle breeze blew through Alexa's hair and the sun warmed her arm as it began to set. Romeo ran through the field, jumping after the butterflies. A sensation of release filled her as she untensed. Berry bushes lined the far edges of the glade along with apple trees and mint leaves. That was what she was there for. She brought the lined gathering basket her mother gave to her when she was younger. Although harvest was beginning to end, Alexa was still able to collect her meal for the night. Winter would be hard that year, she was growing hungry. She hoped she'd have a great final hunt to last her through the disparity of the cold.

Alexa climbed up the old apple tree as her fingers caught the groves and her feet found the branch stubs. The tree had stood strong from the nuclear storms of the 7 Day War, at least that's what her father told her. He was the strongest man Alexa had ever met, he was the one who taught her how to climb and hunt. She launched herself onto the strongest branch and tiptoed to the edge. She grazed the fruits, searching for the perfect one, ripe, red, and refreshing. That tree always had what she was looking for. She found a branch full of perfect apples high above her head, she'd have to climb onto weaker branches. Alexa reached for the branch hanging above her, it cringed as she pulled herself up. She straddled it as she tried to regain control. She spotted her target within arms reach. She imagined snapping the branch head and letting the apples fall to the ground, but they would bruise. She shakily moved her foot up to the core of the tree and propelled herself forward. Her heart was racing as she hugged the tree, her eyes were shut tight. Soon, she was climbing up to the branch. It was as wide as her wrist and maintained that width down its length. She sped across the skinny branch, it seemed to scream as she did. Alexa managed to pick six apples before the branch began to creak. Snap, Alexa hastily began to walk off the branch. Snap, she started to run. Snap, she was only halfway there. Snap, she hopped off of the breaking branch and hooked her arms around the tree. Bark caught her arm and a splatter of red painted the tree. Alexa groaned as she leaned into the bark. Her breaths were heavy and her arm stung. She made her way down the tree gingerly.

Alexa had repeated that routine for almost seven years, in fact, she had been alone for that long. She had escaped from the rubble of her London apartment when she was nine and had lived in the woods since then. She had a blurred memory of leaving and she could only remember rolling her ankles over fallen concrete and the weight of a violet backpack on her spine. Her father told her to run to the sunset until she found The Cottage, he used to say it every night before bed. And Alexa ran, she ran until she could splinter her hands on the door and she waited there until her parents found her. She was still waiting.

Romeo waited for her at the base of the tree, his mismatched eyes watched her jump off one of the overgrown roots. She went to the blackberry bushes and plucked the good ones. Romeo chased after her. His grey fur shook as he ran. Alexa hissed when she used her arm, every movement provided more pain and blood. Romeo sat beside her leg patiently, soon he was licking her injured arm. Romeo was not an ordinary dog or pet. He was large and his teeth were sharp. His ears were pointy and his claws were daggers. He was a wolf, the wolf that almost killed her on her first adventure outside of The Cottage. He was alone when she found him, scared, just like her. She had fallen backwards and scurried back until her head was touching a tree. Romeo's angry face followed her until she could taste the wolf's breath. She cried and he comforted her. Now, he was the only friend she had.

She made her way back to The Cottage and started to eat an apple. Flavour burst to life in her mouth as the combination of hunger and good food made her stomach growl. The Cottage was warm and small. There was one floor, one bathroom and two bedrooms. The kitchen was a gas stove, a broken fridge and a small cabinet. In front of the kitchen was a circular table with three seats and behind the dining area was a tiny living room that consisted a recliner and a television from the twenty-first century. The living room walls were covered with bookcases that were filled with literature from the past. She was taught that the books her family kept there were important and it was her responsibility to protect them. She had already read most of the collection, her favourites being ones written by Shakespeare. Occasionally, she would indulge in Stephen King stories, but they gave her nightmares. Alexa was mostly intrigued by the tales of the Grimm Brothers. The stories shocked her and they made her cautious of the things outside of the clearing and The Cottage. Beside the bookshelves were DVDs and CDs, they were flat holographic disks that either played videos or music. She reached for a CD and put it into the disk drive that was connected to the TV. Britney Spears filled the relatively quiet room. Alexa danced around to the lyrics of the fast-paced song.

Everything that could be traced back to before the war were burnt, only small amounts of artwork made it out. Those were under constant surveillance by royal officials. The Cottage was a collection of all of the fugitive objects, the remnants of history. If this was found she could be arrested or exiled for mutiny and The Cottage would meet the same fate that many other artifacts did.

Alexa returned to the disk cabinet looking for movies to watch. There was an array of choices, Disney, Marvel, Dreamworks, and Lionsgate films were the main collection of movies. She liked to think that they were the biggest competitors in the industry. Titanic stood out as her winner of the night. Once she tried to watch it when she was a child. It was too long and it bored her, instead, she would watch Frozen or Tangled. Now that she was older she would finish it. She removed the Britney CD and replaced it with Titanic.

She knew that it was about a boat that sunk in 1912, but she didn't know anything else about the plot but that. She pressed the play button and a long line of advertisers followed. She hated this most about DVDs, there were endless ads. To her knowledge, these disks were purchased and why should that come with ads. She ate her berries aggressively, many of them were crushed before they entered her mouth. The movie began to play and Romeo laid at the base of the recliner. Midway through her eyes became heavy and she'd blink for longer than a second. She fell asleep. She would be well rested for the eventful day ahead of her.

~~~

The sun attacked Alexa's eyes as it forced her to wake up. A familiar crunching noise flooded her senses and coerced her eyes to crack open. A sharp set of ears were moving in her basket and golden juice puddled around it.

"Romeo!' she yelled. The wolf was digging around in her basket. Frustration settled over the teenage girl as she watched him devour her food.

He backed away with a shameful expression on his face. There was almost nothing left of the perfect, delicious apples and the fabric inside of it was stained and tattered. She looked back at him with disdain and he cowered away.

She would have to get more.

Her day was already busy as she had to go out hunting once the sun was high and she had to go down to the river to attempt to find fish and boil salt which was nearly impossible. Now she'd have to spend time gathering with her wounded arm. She tried hard to breathe, but anger was beginning to take over her. She wanted to scream; she had too much to do that day. It was the highest influx of fish and rabbit of the season and she could miss it because of apples.

She took her jacket off the hook and stormed out of the home. Romeo followed her and sulked behind. He would forget soon. Alexa's feet thudded as they hit the ground. She was getting food on an empty stomach and her mother always said, "Never go searching for food on an empty stomach." Now she had to.

The wood clearing was nearly a ten-minute walk from The Cottage and picking good apples took the same amount of time. She would have to spend at least thirty minutes doing something she did the day before. She would be halfway towards the river at that time. Her eyes began to water.

"It's your fault, it's your fault, it's your fault," she kept whispering to herself.

She had faced much worse than a setback on her agenda, but this was a big day. She already was injured and hungry and tired, now she had to get breakfast. The sun blinded her as it cracked through the apple tree's branches. Romeo tried to pounce on hoping crickets and Alexa went back to the tree. She retraced her steps and climbed higher to find better apples.

A neigh could be heard in the distance along with the voice of his owner. Alexa froze, no one ever came out here. She had seen stray horses before. The horse's neighs became closer and so did the voice. It was a man. His voice was confident but kind. Romeo came to the base of the tree. A white horse came through the woods with his rider. He was handsome and his clothes looked old. Brown hair rested upon his head and blew back in the wind. His smile was wide and his eyes glimmered as he got closer. Alexa backed herself into the tree as she watched the stranger entered her glade. That was the first person she'd seen in nearly seven years. He looked around in awe. The horse and his rider went to the tree Alexa was standing on. She backed up a bit farther, but her upper body leaned in closer. He was prettier the boys in the movies she watched. Alexa smiled as she watched him pick from her tree. He smiled brighter after he took a bite. Alexa shifted back a bit more. Before she could catch her breath, her foot slipped off the branch. She was crashing on branches and Alexa was falling to the ground. A branch slapped her in the head and the world went black.