Chapter One
Outlines of furniture drew itself into the black of night. Part of the ceiling was missing. Bits of wood splintered off like something came through and blew it away. Despite the muscles feeling weak, my legs lifted with ease. The wood under my feet was chilled from the moisture in the air, and when I walked around on it, there was no sound. The room had no bed, just a dresser, a couch, and a mirror that was draped over with a sheet that might’ve been white once.
I curled my fingers, touched the pale hair that draped down my shoulders. A faint recognition registered this strange body as mine.
I pulled off the sheet covering most of the mirror to fully reveal the woman standing before me. I knew her, the sharp contours of her jaw, the shape of her nose, but the eyes that stared back at me were cold. Those weren't mine.
Before I could tear myself away, a thin golden circle caught my attention. It floated right above my hair, illuminating the dust around it. It wasn't very big, having about the same circumference as my head, and when I tried to touch it, my hand passed through.
I left the room, the halo a distant concern considering the rest of my body was foreign. To the right was a charred staircase and halfway up, it was splintered and broken, cutting off the second floor of the house. The remainder was similar, bits and pieces missing, and soot covered the roof and upper walls.
It was dark when I eventually ventured outside. Thick trees covered the perimeter of the house, though they were untouched by whatever had destroyed half the house. I walked into the forest, something inviting about the way the leaves rustled in the wind.
I couldn't place the recognition of my surroundings. I had no memories, as if that part of my brain had been wiped clean.
The stars were in the wrong place too, angled in a way I knew for certain wasn't where I'd left them.
My foot caught on a root. My hands took the brunt of my weight and scraped roughly along the ground. Black blood beaded and fell onto the dirt. I stood, irritated, and smeared it on my bare thighs. As I inspected the wound, the forest around me stilled, the wind dead.
My scrapes disregarded, I waited for any movement through the trees, painfully aware that the halo was a glowing target above me.
A shadow sent me into motion. I sprinted around trees, ducked under branches, and hoped I didn't trip again. But it wasn't enough. It was closing in on me. It was faster and knew these woods better than I did. I took a hard right, trying to throw it off and had to jerk myself around a tree limb.
The dark gave no indication anything was there, but a presence loomed behind me. It swatted at my hair, almost upon me.
I took another turn, but it was the wrong decision. It was able to intercept and snatch me up. I yanked away, but it tightened around me.
"Genesis," the voice was deep, but not threatening. The man was shaking me, irises that were split in two forming back into one solid black dot. He was tall, brown hair and tanned skin. Perhaps it was the expression that made his hard features more soft, but he looked kind. "Didn't think you were one to run away from an election." he said. When I didn't respond squeezed slightly. "Hello? Are you okay?"
"Get off me!" I pulled away.
"Where are your clothes?" He backed up further. "What happened to your hands? Why aren't they healing?" He took off his outer coat and helped me into the sleeves, then ripped off a piece of his shirt, ignoring my protests, and secured them over my hands. The coat went down almost to my knees and the cloth dug into my palms, but I couldn't help but appreciate the stranger.
"Thank you," I said and he frowned.
"Yeah, anyway. Are you headed to the compound?"
"The what? Who are you again?" I studied his face. Parts of him were familiar, just as my reflection had caught my attention. Pictures scraped against the inside of my skull like a wound that hadn't closed up all the way.
"Is that a joke? You never were one for humor, Gen," he said, and then gestured to the side with his thumb. "Listen, I need to get back to Cassius to give my report, are you coming or not?"
"Cassius," I repeated, sinking my teeth into my lip. This man knew me or was really good at lying. Either way, it would grant me answers that I couldn't come up with on my own. He had no halo, but those eyes. They were almost haunting. "Sure, as long as I can talk to this Cassius with you."
He did a terrible job at hiding a scowl.
The forest was stilled in our presence, but even so, our feet made no noise as we walked on. "So, are you going to tell me your name?"
"After all this time. No 'Hello?' 'How are you, Good Looking?'" One eyebrow was raised as he regarded me. "We're just jumping right into you doing this, huh?"
"Humor me."
"Well hello," he mock extended his hand. "I'm Riley. And who might you be? Because my favorite hobby is definitely meeting strange, naked women in the woods."
"I'd love to tell you, Riley, Mr. Good Looking, that I'm playing a game, but I'm serious. I think I may know you, but I don't remember. I don't know this Cassius, and wherever we're going is a mystery to me."
For the first time tonight, he grew truly serious. "We're just about there. Cassius will know what to do."
There was clouded by fog, enough that you could reach out and hold. As we walked closer though, it dissipated as quickly as it had come into sight. Within stood a castle of a stone building. It was several stories high with decorated glass on the outside. The rounded driveway out front was paved with cobblestones and was hard on my bare feet. Behind it, up a small set of stairs, was a tall red door.
Inside was just as extravagant, with maroon carpet against dark wood paneling. My toes shuffled against the soft ground as we walked through sets of hallways. We passed different people, who all stopped and stared.
"Alex," Riley called down the hall to a man in the midst of a conversation. His companion waved goodbye, and Alex met us half-way. His hair was dark and pulled back in braids, matching the mahogany of his skin.
"You're back," is all he said without any regard for me.
"Yes. Successful." Riley brushed off nonexistent dust.
"When is it not?" A hint of a smile appeared on his lips. "Anything to report to the Charge?"
“Actually, a lot to report, one being. . .” he trailed off.
Alex’s attention landed on me, and he tried to mask his surprise. I stood straighter but couldn’t help the sudden urge to do something with my hands. “Wow, you’re back too. I didn’t even notice you. You were so quiet,” he cleared his throat. “I mean, it’s good you’re back. We were concerned.” He turned back to Riley hastily. “I’ll see you later.” He departed without saying goodbye to me.
“Don’t mind him,” Riley mused. “Bit of an odd one, Alexander,” he chuckled and smacked my arm, as if we shared this joke together. “Anyway. Cassius will know you’ve arrived. We should meet with him now before he comes and finds us first.”
