Trackers

Chapter One

"Only enemies speak the truth; friends and lovers lie endlessly, caught in the web of duty."

-Stephen King

Adisa slung the sack hastily over her shoulder, her knees buckling under its burden.

She awkwardly clung to the bag while attempting to grasp onto the decayed brick wall, her body buckling.

"You really need to work on your upper body strength," Emilo replied flatly, snatching the bag from her hand and slumping over to the other side with a shrill thump.

Adisa ignored him and focused on transferring all her body weight to her arms.

Her nails began to bleed as she dug harder into the wall, biting her tongue to prevent a grunt.

Finally Emilo flung an arm over her and tugged, causing her to topple over the wall onto her butt.

"Ouch! Next time you could be a little gentler," she grumbled, rubbing her hands over her backside.

"Watch it miss, you don't want to be messing with future authority!"

With that Emilo grinned and crossed his arms for emphasis, taking on the stance that usually got him his way.

Adisa rolled her eyes, "the only way you're ever going to be in charge is if everyone drops dead, including the mold growing in Boo Boo's ear."

Boo Boo happened to be the guard who patrolled Emilo's street, not only was he a very obnoxious person, but he also was cursed with extreme facial growths.

"Careful, you keep staring at him people are going to think you got a thing for him you know," he mocked, running a finger over a chipped stone, breaking it even further.

"That's a shame, I hear he has a thing for blond boys with large egos," she resorted back, jogging towards the small crook within the end of the wall.

Emilio smoothed out his shady blond hair before chasing after her.

Huffing and puffing Emilo ducked his head into the small incision, gasping he muttered, "it wouldn't kill us to find a more suitable hideout."

"Maybe it's just a sign you need to lose some pounds," she countered back, patting his nonexistent gut.

"We both know I have the body of a god."

"The only thing we both know is you think you're god."

Emilo glared, seizing the sack and exposing its contents.

The bottles sat gawkily in the grimy space, dust hovering in the air as he popped off a cap and took a swig.

The liquid slashed and burned as it plunked down his throat, his eyes lit up in satisfaction.

"And to think we used to sneak in here to play dungeon. Stupid to think about now, eh?"

Adisa chugged a bottle dry before glancing at Emilio, her eyelids already beginning to sink.

"Stupid no. Foolish, yes."

Emilio nodded in agreement, before draining another bottle and letting his back lean against the rocky surface, his legs uncomfortably bended to permit his head from hitting the ceiling.

Adisa took a seat, crossing her legs beneath her, her ripped dress hardly covering any of her pasty legs.

Emilio had to remind himself not to stare, it wasn't proper.

She shuffled her words over and over in her head until she could sum up exactly what she wanted to say.

"I want to leave," she finally sighed, resting her cheeks in her abnormally small hands.

Emilio blinked rapidly, as if adjusting his ears to the sound of words.

"But we still have more booze.." he replied puzzled, his brows knitted in confusion.

"No, I mean I want to leave Jezebel. Mum told me about life before, life outside these walls.

People don't have to wear trackers, or be monitored all the time; they can actually go anywhere they want whenever they want!

She said you can be with whoever you like, go and have this thing called a democracy-"

"Stop" Emilio commanded, before Asada could finish he had her pinned to the wall, his face inches from hers.

"You and I both know you can't leave, even if you did you would have nothing. You would be nothing. You know they're just stories. Asada, you are my dearest friend but you must stop this nonsense, if anyone heard you there is no doubt in my mind they would charge you for treason. Do you want to die?"

"Can't be any worse than how life is now," she answered back gravely, her limbs going numb under the pressure of Emilio's hands.

Emilio let go rapidly, as if he had been burned.

He began to pace and massage his temples, becoming more and more frustrated by the second.

"We better go," he mumbled suddenly, all the emotion drained from his body.

Without glancing back at Asada he ducked his head and exited the cove, leaving her in the darkness with the empty bottles.

Adisa fiddled with her identification card as she trailed behind Emilio who had slowed his pace in order to match Adisa's.

His hazel eyes lingered on Adisa as she scuffed her torn shoes in the dirt, kicking up rocks.

Her dark hair flowed down her heart shaped face slightly past her shoulders, bordering her sapphire eyes.

Emilio had always found Adisa attractive, although she wasn't anything to brag about.

He noticed her dress hung even looser on her than it had in the previous week he'd seen her.

"What are you staring at me for?" She murmured all of a sudden, searching his eyes.

Emilio remained reticent and averted his gaze.

"Nothing, I'm not. I'm thinking," he resorted back hastily, sending a pebble skyrocketing forward.

"Careful, you may hurt yourself," she replied with a smug smile, attempting to lighten the mood.

Emilio's face lit up, his award winning smiling causing Adisa's heart to race.

She did not know why but suddenly Emilio had begun to make her feel uneasy, as if she could lose him at any moment.

Suddenly she felt an electric pulse beginning at her neck and then sending a racing pain down her spine.

"C'mon, it's almost dusk, we better get back before your tag causes you to seizure," Emilio frowned, lacing his fingers through hers and dragging her back towards the opening to her hell.