Earth, 2252
Earth, November 15, 2252
My name is Valerie. I was born July 24, 2235. The only family I have and remember is Gavin, my older brother. Our parents died when I was little, Gavin remembers them. I don't. Five years ago, the council deemed Earth as a failing planet. It’s noticeable too. First came the fires, then the sickness and now the remainder of Earth’s civilization is here in New Hope. A city of approximately 80,000 people. The council has been working on a ship to take the remaining people to a new planet. It’s supposed to launch within the year. We’ll see how well it works.
-Valerie
I closed her diary as Gavin walked into the small apartment they shared together. He looked angry as he grabbed a bag filled with clothes and tossed it at Valerie. “I need you to get ready. We are going out.”
“Where?” I questioned.
“You’ll find out when we get there, now go get dressed.”
~~~
I played with the beads of the beautiful, emerald green, embroidered dress that I had on while Gavin explained what they were doing. To be honest, everything melded together and I had little to no clue what was about to happen.
Gavin nudged me with his elbow and I looped my arm around his. Carefully, I picked the edge of my dress up and began walking the stone stairs of the Council headquarters. Music streamed from the old mansion. Light poured from the windows and doors. Laughter sounded all around us. “Straighten up and look like you fit in.” He said softly as a group of girls stared at him and giggled fiercely.
I knew my brother was a good looking young man. His skin was tanned from years of working out in the fields, gathering as much money as he could for them to live with. His hair was pitch black. Like the midnight sky on a moonless night. His eyes were a dark green. I looked very similar to him. I had the same midnight hair and tanned skin. My eyes, different from my brother’s, were a pale blue. They were a shade or two off from being gray.
Together we climbed the stone stairs into the elegant mansion. When we reached the door, the servants traded our coats for a skinny glass filled with sparking liquid. We walked through the spacious halls until we reached the ball room. Filled with fabulously dressed people. Men walked around with suits of different colors. Each more extreme than the last. The women wore dresses so extreme and bizarre that it made me self conscious of the dress I had on. One strikingly beautiful young woman caught my eye. She wore a silver gown adorned with lace and gems. She looked like a goddess among the others. Her brown hair carefully pinned back. A small tiara sat upon her head. The girl looked over and smirked at Me, then she glanced at Gavin and her face lit up. She looked at Gavin like a cat looking at a mouse.
“Ahem! Attention please!” a gurgling voice called, “attention!” A pompous man stood on a raised platform. He looked as if he had no neck and his large stomach was trying to burst from his shirt. “Thank you all!” He cried loudly. “You all know why you are here. You are the select few who have been chosen to be taken on the new ship ‘The New Dawn’ to a new planet and leave this dying old one for the miserable people that remain. Each of us has a ticket that will be delivered to your houses by only the best of my security team. We launch in a week's time! All preparations have been made and we are positive that the ship will do what it is meant to do. Thank you for your time and enjoy the rest of the festivities!” He bowed slightly then exited the platform.
Beside me, Gavin cursed. “A week?” He ran his fingers through his hair. “We need to get to work quickly.”
“Hello.” a smooth, calculated voice called from behind them. We turned to find the blonde young woman behind us. Up close, she was even more beautiful than far away. Her features were sharp and she had an unearthly beauty about her. “I am Regina Melisande. Heiress to the Melisande fortune. And you are?” she batted her eyelashes sweetly and studied Gavin with hungry eyes. She extended her hand for Gavin to take it.
He grabbed her hand and carefully lifted it to his lips, kissing her knuckles. I huffed and rolled my eyes, taking a long sip from my skinny glass. “I am James and this is my sister Lilliana.” Gavin used the fake names we had come up with on the way here.
Regina turned and looked at me with shock and surprise. “Oh! I didn't even see you there!” She smirked at me then turned back to look at Gavin. “Say, I haven't heard of you before and I know all the eligible bachelors here. Do you come from another civilization?” She asked sweetly.
The only other civilization in the area is over 2,500 miles away. Which is over a 10 day horse ride here not counting stops. It was said that it was more beautiful than any remaining civilization in the world.
“Yes. We come from the eastern civilization, Estes.” Gavin looked bored, as if he always gets approached by rich young women.
“Oh that’s so interesting!” Regina squealed in delight, clearly not realizing that Gavin was getting annoyed with her.
“If you’ll excuse us, we must say hello to a few people before we head back to where we are staying.” He said politely. “I hope you have a pleasant rest of your evening, my lady.” He pulled her hand to his lips one time and kissed her pale skin. She giggled once again and batted her eyelashes. God above, I hate her.
“Hopefully I see you soon, James.” Then she turned on her heels and stalked off.
I looked at Gavin in disgust then voiced my hate for her. Gavin just smiled and moved towards a chattering group of young men, leaving me to fend for myself.
~~~
Two hours later, we carefully walked back to our small, run down apartment. I fished the gems, bracelets, rings, necklaces, and watches out of a purse. All things I had stolen off of unsuspecting party attendees.
“Valerie! Why did you steal all that?” Gavin looked at me astonished.
I looked at him plainly, “I got bored.”
~~~
Earth, November 16, 2252
Six days is all we have. We have been planning on how to get onto the ship for a whole day now. After I stole the stuff from the party, I went to the Flats, a small black market on the poor side of town, and sold the jewelry for a small fortune. After that, I bought two curved daggers and a loaded gun. Oh, what a day! It’s only noon and I’m already exhausted! All in a day’s work I guess.
-Valerie
“We don’t have the money!” Gavin whispered in the hall. A muffled voice responded and Gavin huffed. “Rent isn’t due until two days from now!” A short silence followed. “Fine. I’ll have it by the end of the day.”
I slowly got up off of the small, stained couch that I slept on. Gavin met me at the hallway door. “Get your coat. We are going out.” Gavin said as he stalked out of the hall to his room, slamming the door.
“Someone is in a bad mood.” I grubbled and grabbed my coat.
~~~
The air was frigid as we strode through the city. Hidden alleys were everywhere and we managed to get to the exquisite mansion within an hour and without being seen. We watched the convoy of darkly dressed men holding ornate wooden boxes. We knew they held the tickets to get onto the New Dawn.
“We will follow them until they split up and take the boxes to the separate houses. From there, we will take the tickets.” Gavin said softly. I respond with only a curt nod.
Only, they never split up. The dozen or so men traveled in a pack with each other to each individual house. Which made it impossible for the two of us to take a box by force, or even ambush them. This was a game we would not win.
When we made it back to the apartment, Gavin cured and threw a glass vase across the room. I watched it hit the wall and then watched the shining shards fall to the ground in a deadly cascade. I watched in silence as he let his anger out on an unfortunate wall. With each impact, the wall gained another hole and Gavin gained bloody knuckles.
“That’s not going to help, Gavin.” I said flatly.
He turned to me, his eyes wild with anger. “What do you want me to do? Huh? We have one week Valerie! One week and our chance for survival is over! We will die like forgotten vermin on this rotting planet!” He yelled at me.
I sighed. “All I’m saying is that punching the wall and destroying things will get us nowhere.” I grabbed a small bag from off the rickety kitchen table. “Calm yourself down. By the time I get back I expect your mess to be cleaned up to the best of your ability and your temper fixed.” I walked out of the door before he could respond.
After paying the good-for-nothing landlord, I headed out to the launch zone. For such an expensive project and being the only thing that would get the rich off the planet, it was poorly guarded. Well, in my opinion, the security sucked. But I am one of the best thieves in the city; however, Gavin would never know that. At least, he won't know until a long time from now… hopefully.
I ducked behind a crate as a guard came by. Careful not to make a noise. Silently I sprinted over to a stack of scrap metal. I studied all the openings for the ship. One on either side of the ship, from what I would tell at least. Two guards per opening. Each armed to the teeth with guns and sharp knives. I shuddered to think what they were ordered to do to trespassers. With the images of being tortured to death by those wicked looking knives, I hurried home. The sun was going down anyway, leaving them with another day gone.
~~~
“There you are!” Gavin stalked toward me with lightning speed. “Where did you go? What were you doing? Are you okay? Are you hurt? Valerie! Don’t you ever do that to me again!”
“I’m fine, I’m fine. Calm down. What I did was come up with a plan.” When I finally finished explaining, Gavin grinned wickedly.
“What fun this will be.”
~~~
Days later, after finding a long elegant purple dress in the back of a wealthy widow’s closet, I slipped the stolen dress on. Gavin and I stalked through the filthy streets. On his shoulders, he carried two small black bags, each holding what we needed for the trip inside. He wore a pure black stealth suit, made specifically to stay well hidden. Luckily for us, Everyone was to load the ship before dawn, so as not to alert the “filth” of the rich’s departure. We made it to the landing dock and this is where we split.
Time for a show.
I walked up to the guards at the northern entrance. Tears streamed down my face.
“Oh, It’s just terrible!” I sobbed into a handkerchief. Before I reached the stairs I fell before them dramatically. The guards looked at each other then at me. Carefully they climbed down the stairs and came to me.
“Ma’am, what’s wrong?” A stocky red haired guard asked me.
I let out another strangled sob. “W-well, you see, my betrothed l-left m-me!” I cried. “H-he left me f-for a c-courtesan! A filthy w-wretch!” The guards again looked at one another. “I don’t s-see why,” I continued, Clutching the arm of the other guard, “because, well, she’ll simply d-die here with the rest of t-the vermin!” I was screaming now. I watched Gavin slip into the ship behind the guards and almost smiled. I raised my voice as loud as I could. “D-do you hear that William? She’s going to die here! Not me! Oh no! Not me! I’m going to li-!” The guards clamped my mouth shut.
“Ma’am, you have to stay quiet about this. Here, let me escort you to a room.” The red haired guard said softly, scooping me up and helping me walk up the stairs.
“Oh, of course!” I smiled politely, making sure to hold his gaze long enough for him to blush. “Thank you ever so much! You can’t even begin to understand what a terrible morning I’ve had.” I leaned against his shoulder as he led me through the halls. When we finally came to an empty room, he bid me a good morning and took his leave. I stayed in the room for a moment longer before going out to find Gavin. After wandering the halls for a moment, I found him.
“Come on, let’s go.” I said hushly.
A voice I would recognize anywhere spoke up behind me. “Not so fast, Lilliana! Or is that not even your real name?” Regina spoke behind me. “I figured something was up when I met you two. I had a servant follow you two around and she came back with startling news; you two aren’t one of the Chosen. No, you two are vermin! When I tell the guards they are going to make your deaths painful and long. Such a pity,” she looked at Gavin, “I really liked you.” She smirked and opened her mouth to yell for the guards but my instincts kicked in.
I lifted my dress up, grabbed the hidden dagger from the inside of my thigh, crossed the remaining space between us, then sliced her neck. Blood oozed out of her neck and she clung to the remaining seconds of life still left. My hands started to shake, but we couldn't just leave her there, so we stuffed her corpse into a supply closet and ran for our room.
Earth, November 22, 2252
As of now, everything is going as well as possible considering I just took someone’s life. I’m a killer. A murderer. The only thing that keeps me sane right now is knowing that if I hadn't done that, Gavin and I would be in the same spot she is, a lifeless corpse. We took off sometime after dawn. Luckily our room has a shower and two beds. Oh the beds! Not once have I been on one! They feel amazing! That’s beside the point though. Soon, we will be on another planet and our lives will be turned into something much better. Life will be something nice and wonderful. Something that I will look forward to and not dread. For right now, Gavin and I are safe. Thank god we are safe. All we have to do now is take care of each other like we always have. That is something I know how to do. As long as my brother is here, I will be okay.
-Valerie
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