Chimera

Him

In a world of flying men and monsters, the mundane and ordinary are kept away from them. Literally. Any creature with inhuman abilities or characteristics was classed as 'Chimera' and those who were ordinary, like us, were classed as 'Human'. The society worked a lot like racial segregation: the two classes were kept separate as much as possible.

Humans were seen as superior because they had the numbers. A large portion of Chimeras wanted to live in peace with us so they submitted to the laws that oppressed them. Others weren't as submissive, they used their gifts to terrorize their oppressors and wreak havoc wherever they saw it fit.

Cerise, Oregon had one of the lowest Chimera-Human segregation hostility rates in the northern hemisphere after: Qingdao, China; Chicago, United States; and Nicosia, Cyprus. Chimeras were only kept separate from Humans, in Cerise, they had separate facilities and residential areas but they were treated equally.

Genevieve Harrington, a junior, never thought much about it; when you were born into society as it was, why should you question it? Everyday was the same, anyway. Go to school, hate people, come home. Repeat. Genevieve lived in her own world, one with no friends (because who needs friends when you have isolation and food) and a world with a death-defying curiosity.

Her curiosity was her downfall; always trying dangerous things and haphazardly paying attention to their risks and consequences. Her death perception was negative and her dictum was 'what if' never happens. With that in mind, she wasn't afraid to die - if push comes to shove. For now, she was trudging passed shiny, new lockers.

Her school's hallways were filled with uneasy students' anxious murmurs and unsettling nerves. Everyone knew it was going to happen; they've been warned since before summer vacation yet nobody wanted to be brave enough to believe it. The Chimeras now shared the school.

By law, the humans and Chimeras weren't allowed to be in the same section of the school so, the original school grounds were given to the Chimeras. The humans were built a brand new campus with all sorts of upgrades. Digital art supplies, a computer lab, dance studios, a professional kitchen cooking class and - the most noticeable - lockers with tv monitors.

The original school grounds were purposely illy maintained just for the Chimera students - despite that it was already falling apart. The outdoor basketball court had cracks in it with weeds sprouting out. Some of the tiles were either cracked, broken or missing. Paint was peeling off the walls. Some of the windows had even been shattered, curtesy of a group of human students.

Before first period, everyone ranted and raved about the Chimeras, wondering if the fencing would be enough protection. If they weren't talking Chimeras, they were talking upgrades. Genevieve paid no mind to any of it as she passed them, searching for her new locker.

She exhaled as she opened it to find the monitor inside the door. It was no bigger than an iPad but it was a tv? The school mascot - Winston Wolf - was in the center with blue behind hit. "Why do people make such a huff about all this shit," rang Ramona's voice. "They're just people. Just like us. Back me up, Genevieve."

Ramona was Genevieve's acquaintance; neither one of them was dunce enough to call the other her friend. They scarcely knew the other and they weren't even sure they liked the other, much less tolerated the other. "No," was she said before trudging off in her usual inner broody mood.

She went to the library and spent majority of the school day there. Spiting Ramona, trudging through the halls, bunking classes, hiding in the library? "Just another day in the life of Genevieve Harrington," she replied to herself.

There's nothing more exciting (to Genevieve) then the thrill of a good book. Other than defying death. Either way, books will always be her favorite pass time. Defying death was more of a nasty habit caused by curiosity or just immensely agonizing boredom.