Prologue
“Don’t look at the spires, Jessa. They weren’t built for your eyes.”
I pull my sister closer into the darkness of the shadows, my hand on her shoulder as the Aegis patrol car hums overhead, its searchlight slicing through the smog like a surgical laser.
“The world is a body,” I whisper, the words tasting like grit and ozone.
“The Bloom is the skin, pretty, soft, and smelling of flowers that haven’t touched dirt in years.” I say as I quietly maneuver to hold her close and point at the first spire. It looks like the personification of beauty. The overall design has an almost endearing softness to it, like porcelain just asking to be admired and untouched. It’s a carefully curated facade meant to distract from the fact that the people inside aren’t beautiful.
A little to the left, I point to the next spire. It almost looks futuristic. The spire twists in flawless perfection. In the middle, there is an opening perfect for the main light to shoot up into the sky. It mixes its light with the orange-polluted hue, creating a hideous blend that reaches into the night. It was designed so you would feel insignificant within its blinding light.
“The Flux is the nerves, all humming wires and bright lights that make the Elites think they’re gods.”
Lastly, I point to the tallest spire, perfectly aligned in the sky between the other two. Its rugged design looks out of place, but it doesn’t diminish the building’s intimidating aura. It wasn’t a spire that was built for beauty or perfection; it was built to emit dominance.
“Then there’s Aegis; they are the teeth. Sharp, cold, and designed to bite anything that tries to get too close to the heart.” Jessa shifts uncomfortably, grabbing the hem of my tired and worn tunic. She looks up at me, fear and uncertainty written all over her face.
“And what are we, Vesper?”
“We are the Silents, we are the lungs. The ones they ignore when they start to wheeze. We are the guts. The ones they dismiss, yet expect us to remove the harmful waste they produce. We’re the ghosts in the walls keeping the body moving efficiently.” I turn to her and bend down to meet her eyes.
“But remember this, my little breath: the body does not need teeth to function. Without the teeth, the body can still bite.” Jessa looks at the Aegis spire with sadness etched across her face, but I grab her chin gently and make her look at me.
“Nerves can be pinched and even severed, but the body will continue.” Jessa sucks in a sharp breath, her expression slowly retreating from fear.
“The skin can blister, peel, and even burn, yet the body finds a way to move on.” I remove the hold she has on my tunic and grab both of her hands.
“But the lungs, they are a force that keeps the body moving. They do not boast, they do not make a spectacle. They are the silent ghosts ensuring the body is maintained.” I look and see a silent tear running down her cheek, not from sadness, though. It’s from the one thing that is dangerous to have in our world.
Hope.
“Without us, the body collapses, it suffocates, it destroys itself from within.” I grab her tight, wrapping myself around her as a mother would around her cubs. She nods on my shoulder, understanding that this was more than a lesson whispered from within the shadows; this was the way of life. But life has a way of always keeping you on your toes. There is no monotony to chaos, just silence until the chaos is ready to wreak havoc again.
I wish I had realized that sooner.
I wish I had realized how fast the body could be poisoned.
How the lungs could have been attacked.
But that night, in the shadows and under the glow of the spires that were never meant for us, I held my sister close and believed things were going to be okay.
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Thoughts on the prologue?
I’m currently writing the rest of the book, just wanted to see how this came across!
People that do come across this don’t be shy and leave your thoughts <3
Should I update a chapter weekly?
Or would you rather have the whole book at once?
Or is this something that’s not for you?
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