When The Clock Strikes Twelve

Chapter 9

When Zaria woke up the next morning, Jaye was gone. She didn't notice at first, because she was confused by the sunlight coming through her window. She blinked at the blinding square of light, information struggling through her head. Finally, she realized that it was daylight. She had woken up and it was daylight. Zaria threw off her covers, excitement filling her.

She felt energized, finally running on a full night of sleep. She wondered if everyone felt this was every morning, and how anyone could possibly be pessimistic like this.

Speaking of pessimistic... she thought, stepping out of her room and making her way to Jaye's. The door was already open, the bed empty. The rest of the apartment was also empty. Zaria glanced out the window again. The sun was only halfway up the horizon, so she still had plenty of time before she was due downstairs.

Zaria looked around the apartment again, as if Jaye would magically appear just because she checked again. She noticed a folded piece of paper on the kitchen counter, next to an empty can of beans.

Unfolding it, Zaria struggled through the messy handwriting.

Zaria,

Gone on an errand for Zander. I'll be back at sunset.

Jaye

Zaria had a hard time matching the sloppy, uneven handwriting Jaye, but she dismissed it, starting her breakfast. The apartment was eerily quiet with just Zaria, not that there was really that much conversation when Jaye was around, but this was a different sort of quiet, almost scary.

She was more than happy when she finished breakfast and ventured downstairs. The lobby was near-empty, but Jaye spotted Dalia and made her way to the corner to stand with her.

"Hey." Zaria greeted happily, still riding on the high of waking up in the morning. Dalia looked at her cynically.

"What are you so happy about?" she asked, yawning a little.

"Nothing." Zaria hummed. "Just... feels like a good day."

Dalia glared at her a little, but then dropped her gaze. "So, where's the Ice Queen this fine morning?"

Zaria shrugged, "Off on some mission for Zander apparently," she said, pulling out the note.

Dalia read it, struggling to make sense of the handwriting. "Alright then." she said skeptically. "I'm sure that Zander gave her a very special errand." She looked at Zaria suggestively.

Zaria just shrugged, trying to tamp down her irritation. She didn't really understand why Dalia hated Jaye so much. It could have been jealousy, but Dalia didn't really seem like the type to be insecure.

"Anyway," Zaria said, steering away from the subject of Jaye. "do you know what were going to be doing today?"

Dalia sighed. "Probably just hand to hand combat. We haven't done that one in a while."

"Oh." said Zaria, nodding. "That makes sense."

Zaria shuffled her feet, feeling the awkward silence settle over her like a suffocating blanket. The talking topics were scarce in such a closed environment. They had used all of them up by the second day. When the silence was unbearable, Zaria gathered her courage.

"Hey, Dalia?" she asked

"Yeah."

"What does that tattoo mean?" Zaria asked, pointing at a small rose inked into the flesh of Dalia's shoulder. She had mentioned that she got it just before fleeing the city to find the rebellion, but nothing else.