Chapter One
Outlines of furniture drew itself into the black of night when my eyes started to focus. Part of the ceiling was missing. Bits of wood splintered off like something came through and blew it away. Despite feeling as if I hadn’t used them in years, my legs lifted my body up with ease. The wood under my feet was chilled from the moister in the air, and when I walked around on it, it gave 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 my whole 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 of the house was similar, bits and pieces missing, and soot covered the roof and upper walls.
It was dark when I eventually ventured outside, and the air was warm. Thick trees covered the perimeter of the house, though they looked untouched by whatever had destroyed half of the building. I walked into the forest, something familiar about the way the leaves rustled in the wind.
But that's all there was. I couldn't place how I knew it all. There were no memories, as if that part of my brain had been wiped clean.
The stars seemed to be in the wrong place too. I didn't know why, but something about where they sat in the sky was wrong.
With my eyes pinned above me, my foot caught on a root. I extended my hands on instinct and a deep, suffocating smell of lilies enveloped the air. Black blood beaded and began to fall from my palms.
I stood, irritated, and smeared my hands on my bare thighs to wipe the dirt away. As I inspected the wound, the forest around me stilled, the wind dead.
My scrapes disregarded, I watched for any movement through the trees, painfully aware that the halo was a glowing target above me.
A shadow sent me into motion. I was sprinting around trees, ducking under branches, and hoping I didn't trip again. But it wasn't enough. I could feel it following 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 my head around a tree limb.
I couldn't see anything behind me, but I could feel it. Their fingertips swatting at my hair, their hands reaching out.
I took another turn, but it was the wrong decision. It was able to cut me off and snatch my arm. I yanked away from the grip, but fingers tightened around my skin.
"Genesis," the voice was deep, but not threatening. He was shaking me, eyebrows turned up. The man was tall with dirty blond, short hair. His irises, which were split in two, were slowly growing back together to form normal black eyes. "Didn't think you were one to run away from an election." He said, then winced.
"Are you okay?" he asked, shaking me slightly again.
"Get off me!" I pulled away.
"Where are your clothes?" He blinked down at me. "What happened to your hands? Why aren't they healing?" Without letting go of me, he took off his outer coat and helped me into the sleeves, then he ripped off a piece of his shirt, ignoring my protests, and ripped it again before fitting them over my hands. The coat went down almost to my knees and the texture dug into my palms, but I couldn't help but watch the man as I flexed my fingers.
"Thank you," I said. Immediately, his face pulled into a frown.
"Yeah, anyway. Are you headed to the compound?"
"The what? Who are you again?" I studied his face, and there was something I knew about him, something familiar, like I was looking at my reflection again, but the memories scraped against the inside of my skull like a wound that hadn't closed up all the way.
"Is that a joke? Not your best, I'll be honest, 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. I glanced above his head. No halo. And eyes that were haunting. "Sure, as long as I can talk to this Cassius with you."
The man rolled his eyes and took off without waiting to see if I would follow.
I caught up with him and we walked in silence for a while, our feet making no noise on the forest floor. "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. You're familiar, but I don't know who you are, I don't know this Cassius, and wherever we're going is a mystery to me."
For the first time tonight, his face 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, the fog dissipated as quickly as it had come into sight. Within stood a castle of a building. 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 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 looking down at me.
"Yes, successful," Riley shrugged nonchalantly.
"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 and looked to me.
Alex’s attention landed on me, and he blinked several times. 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 nodded and departed without further regard for 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.”
