When The World Burned

Chapter 3

Staring into the mirror of her bathroom after taking a warm bath, Rue was surprised to see herself all clean. The girl gazing back was both a beautiful brown and alabaster, the colors melding together as if she were painted that way. Her ocean blue eyes were half-lidded with exhaustion from the day's events, despite the sleeping beforehand. Brown fading to gold curls flowed down to the middle of her back, framing her heart shaped face. Gifted with the right curves, she was petite and slender with the elegance of a ballerina.

Well, her brother said she was that elegant. She felt more like a freak with her odd skin. Even her nipples were different from one another, the left a soft pink color while the right was darker, almost brown.

Sighing heavily, the ombre haired teen tied the locks back in a quick high ponytail before turning from the mirror and stepping out of the bathroom. Going straight to the dresser, she looked through each drawer to find the same grey colored outfit in all of them. Pulling out a pair of panties, a shirt that ended halfway down her forearm, and a pair of pants that stopped just above her ankles, she slipped them on and went over to the desk.

Sliding her fingers over the hard wood, she thought of her old desk back in the little bunker she had shared with Benjamin. Nostalgia swept over her at the memory of her books and all the old drawings she left behind. Benjamin was proud of everything she had made, but they needed to leave. There was no more food, no more clean water, and it was obvious she was getting restless down there. Sixteen years locked underground did that to a person.

Looking through the drawers of the desk, she found nothing but air and a few pieces of paper. The same was said about the stupid vanity mirror desk. They were probably going to expect her to earn these items or something, which would be frustrating and take too much time to work towards. What the blue-eyed teen really wanted was to get back outside and find her older brother. She had no clue what to do without him around. He was the only person that knew her inside and out, knew how to keep her calm.

"Are you okay, Rue?"

Jerking up, she turned to find William Stanfield standing in the doorway, yellow eyes turned toward her. He was in that same suit from earlier, but the tie was now a darker red, resembling blood. At this distance, she finally took in his dark hair that was cut in layers down to his chin. A few of the locks did not seem to follow the flow of his hairstyle. In fact, they looked like feathers.

"I'm fine," Rue answered after a moment.

Tilting his head to the side, he nodded. "Well, dinner is starting soon, and I would love to introduce you to the rest of the bunker." Pushing the door open further, he held a dark hand covered hand out to her. "Would you be willing to come eat dinner with the rest and I?"

Almost instantly, her mind went to thinking of a way out. If she went with him, she could get a better map of the place, a better sense of where she was compared to the rest. "Okay," She murmured and walked over to the door. They stepped out of the room and he closed the door behind her calmly. They went to the right instead of the left from her room this time and took multiple turns. It was easy enough to make a mental map, but she needed a pencil or something to draw out a real one.

As they continued down the hall, she could not stop the rising curiosity in her. "Why does the big guy named Kage think I'm his?" She questioned. "He called me his...bride."

William stopped in his tracks, head turning to look at her. "You've met Kage?"

"He visited when the doctor took my blood."