Spectrum

4.2: Orange

A white car rolled by, its lights flashing as a radio blared from inside, the static overtaken by a single voice that was barely comprehensible. 

'Squad Car 27, Burning Star has been sighted near your location. If found, engage immediately; I repeat, Burning Star has been sighted near your location. If found, engage immediately.'  the elderly man inside the vehicle looked outside his window, and nearly crashed the car as he did so - outside was the person the police department had so lovingly labeled Burning Star, for so was her symbol:

Watch the stars burn.

The scruffy older gentleman got out of the car, a small weapon in his hands that - when used - would send a rather large dosage of electricity into its receiver. It was rather new technology for their department, and he had not yet had a chance to use it. 

Now, as he slowly advanced towards the two, he saw his chance. 

-

The pair's conversation grew quiet for a few moments, a mock tension developing between the two. Then, all of a sudden, an electrifying sound filled the air, a shocking pop that sent a blaring pain ricocheting through the teenage girl's body, starting ta the bottom of her spine and shooting up her neck into her brain, sending her into a pit of vast darkness. 

"Hello?" The young teen's voice was shaky as she said the word, pushing herself further behind the dumpster that she had run to for shelter. "W-who's there?" Gravel crunched underneath boot-clad feet, and soon a boy's head popped out from behind the corner of the metal bin. 

"Hello," he said, smiling mischievously, before extending his hand to the smaller girl. She raised an eyebrow, scared, and he retracted it. "Listen, kid, if you need a place to stay come with me, but you gotta come quickly. There's some bad characters coming our way and I don't want you to get hurt." His voice was soft and held a smirky character. "So, whaddya say?" Hearing footsteps advance towards them, the girl reached up and took his hand, grasping her bag with the other. 

As they fled from the dirty pavement valley, the boy threw back his head and laughed.

"I guess thats a yes, eh?" 

Days later, the pair stood in front of a brick wall, the streetlights behind casting ominous shadows across the pavement in front of it, dancing silhouettes depicting the two of them with their bags. 

"Okay, kid." the male said, a smile in his voice. "Its time for you to learn the art of the street." In his bag laid a couple of cans, and a large grin broke out on the girl's face when she saw excitement on the lid of one of the cans. That was the day she knew what her mark would be, as soon as Todd taught her the magic of Spray, the stars he taught her to light, so she could watch them burn as they fell. 

Metal clanged around her, a door slammed shut - silence fell. Her eyes opened hesitantly, for the world danced and spun around her like a ballerina, pixies fluttering in the air as dust fell to the ground in a hazy flounder.

"She's awake," A male voice called out. Footsteps sounded around her, and as the haziness ceased, she looked up to see a man behind bars working keys into a hole. The door opened, and she was roughly raised up out of her reclined position by a burly man who shoved her out into the hall. 

She knew she was in prison - this was made obvious by the cells that lined the walls, the dangerous looking men and women who were wearing excited jumpsuits and had ink staining their skin, piercings breaking through various places in their skin such as their noses and their lips. One girl raised her middle finger at the teen as she was paraded through the hall, and Autumn resisted the urge to return the gesture, knowing it would probably aggravate her and get her in even more trouble. 

A couple feet more down the hall, and they found themselves in a courtroom. Several people stared at her as she was marched down the aisle, to a wooden box where she was supposed to stand. Looking down, she saw that she was still in her street clothes, which gave her a burst of confidence. 

The judge said some words that she couldn't understand the total grasp of, but she figured that she was being charged with her crimes. The only words she could really pick out were 'vandalism' and 'breaking and entering'. They seemed pointless to her - Todd had taught her that her mark was never something that she should be ashamed of. 

After the judge had finished speaking, Autumn looked at her blankly before speaking. 

"And I should care…why?" 

A collective gasp rippled throughout the crowd like the whisper of a wave crashing onto a sandy shore - it wasn't normal for someone to speak so blatantly towards an official in such a high position.  

"Because, Mrs. Bloode, I am quite sure you don't want to make your charges any worse than they already are. Do you have anything to say in your defense against these things pressed against you?" A quiet fell upon the courtroom bit by bit, like a quiet snow falling upon winter ground. 

"Not really… I take claim to all the charges pressed against me.