hi everyone..this is my very first post here..and this is also the very first novel i'm working on..please feel free to comment and critique..any corrections and suggestions are definitely welcome..i cut the code thing to make this shorter..
ARTICLE II: CODE OF SETTLEMENT
Section 1:
Any person/family incapable of achieving the standard status of living, having been deemed as a poison and threat to the society, shall be banned of residence in the "Realms of Light" and shall be sentenced of lifetime settlement in the "Realms of the Plagued" separated by the Gate of Settlement...
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Section 5:
Citizens of the Realms of the Plagued are only allowed to cross the Gate of Settlement on the day of the Thanksgiving Feast...
Chapter I
Thanksgiving Feast
The people in the plaza clapped in awe as they stared at the Emperor’s emblem in the sky. It was a golden sword thrust into blue flames. This fireworks display had been a custom in the town's thanksgiving feast.
The crowd belonged to the same community. The rich called them the "Plagued" but they preferred to call themselves the "Brotherhood". They had stuck together for the past ten years by virtue of the Code of Settlement.
In the midst of the crowd was a girl on tiptoe. Alex was short for a sixteen year old. She was usually at the front of the crowd during this event. But tonight her adoptive brother, Kayne, was the cause of her delay.
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When the fireworks display was over, she had to battle her way to the center of the plaza. On her way through, she bumped some familiar figures.
"Easy, Honey." It was Aji, their plump neighbor who would always refer to Alex with any name of sweets.
Honey? Eww. Alex thought as she moved past Old Fid, the jolly old man who lived three houses away from them. He winked at her like always. He was with Josie, his five year old granddaughter. Though Alex was never sure if the two were really blood related.
But it never mattered. Blood relations… Well, at least not in the Brotherhood where she belonged.
As she took another step, she bumped hard into someone. It was a very tall man wearing a hooded black cloak.
"Sorry," the man said in a very tense voice.
She had to tilt her neck to get a glance at his face but the man quickly covered it with his right hand.
"Mister, who - " Her sentence was cut short as the man moved past her without another word.
Weird. Have I seen him before? Uhmm...Maybe just one of the neighbors fooling around.
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Reaching the center was becoming harder each year since the population of their community had been growing alarmingly. Along the way, she saw that noisy brat Pono talking to a lad somewhere her age, whom she had never seen before.
Another addition to the population. She sighed as she moved faster.
"Finally." She had reached her destination.
There it was, a gold plated sword with the tip of its blade pinned down on a wide blue circular platform elevated three inches from the ground.
It was what she liked to see the most but it was also the most disappointing sight.
This used to be so clean. She recalled back ten years ago...
The sword back then was glimmering but now it was very rusty. Spider webs hung freely on its blade and hilt. The platform used to be cleaned by a paid personnel everyday. Now it's just another wide accumulator of dust.
She stepped up onto the platform and knelt on its surface. She leaned closer to it as if searching for something. She had to wipe the dust with her bare hands to reveal many encrypted letters. She looked for the name which meant so much to her and traced each and every letter of it. But still it wasn't enough. This would never be enough.
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There were also some people on the platform with her. Some were searching for names. Others were just loitering around. The local kids were simply reading names of people unfamiliar to them.
Alex could recognize Pono's voice reading "Mm-Aaa-rt-A" and another kid named Kelly saying "Sss-irr-gi".
"It's Sirg." She heard Josie snap.
"No. I think it's Sirgi," Pono joined in. "Sirgi Pine," he added with a confident tone.
It's Serge Payne. Alex said to herself. She remembered teaching those kids how to read that name last year.
Pathetic. She whispered as the same thoughts that had haunted her for the past ten years slowly crept into her. We are so pathetic! Pathetic! Her mind was screaming louder and louder. Her right hand clenched.
"AND WHAT THE HELL IS THAT USELESS GOVERNOR DOING?!!" she blurted out as she banged her clenched hand on the platform.
All fell silent. Alex caught a glimpse of Old Fid seizing Josie by the hand and beckoning the other kids to move out. The people scurried away from the platform - or rather away from Alex. A couple of piercing glares were cast towards her.
Having realized what she had done, she looked around for any signs of the guards. None. Her heartbeat was suddenly getting very audible.
Please…please…The only thing left to do was hope. Please…Kayne…Mama Len. Her hands were now trembling.
"Article III, the Code of Loyalty." She heard a hoarse voice speak from behind. It sounded very tired like it had been talking all day.
She gulped as she stood and nervously turned around. She was half expecting a man in a bulky metal armor or someone wearing a black mask. But it was neither. Instead, she saw an unfamiliar normal built man about his 30's and she had to let go a sigh of relief.
"You look pale, kid," the man spoke.
Alex just stared at him and scrutinized his face. He had an odd scar that funnily connected his forehead to the tip of his nose. It would have made her smile if not only for the remaining bit of fear in her chest.
"Fancy my scar?" the man asked in a weird friendly tone.
Alex wanted to lie and say "No" but all she could manage was "Uhh..."
"Still afraid? Don't worry. There's no guard and I'm no way acquainted to the governor." He said his last sentence almost in a laugh.
But still Alex couldn't utter a word.
What's wrong with me? No guards okay. None. She repeated the last word many times in her head but it wasn't doing her any better. In fact, she's becoming even more nervous. Cold sweat started to trickle down her face.
"Article III Section 1. No citizen from both settlement areas has the right to spread malicious, as decided by the Governor, his Representative or the town guards, statements against the government without any valid document to support his claims. Such person is considered a threat to the government and to the society itself," the man quoted.
I am aware of that damned law. She wanted to tell him that, but she just stood there and watched.
"It was indeed a justifiable law. If not only for the part where it said as decided by the Governor and his men. It logically means that they are the law." He broke off laughing.
Who is this man? He knows the exact words of the article. One of the riches? As she thought of this, she looked at the man's clothing. He was wearing a dirty white shirt and a pair of loose blue jeans that looked too big for him. His footing was only a pair of partly chewed brown sandals. No. She told herself. Probably a worker for the rich.
"Still speechless?" the man asked as he moved closer to her.
To her own astonishment, she backed away from him. What's wrong with me?
"Still worried about those guards?" and he advanced again.
Her eyes widened as she finally realized what was going on. No not the guards. Not about them. Not anymore. This feeling… She had felt it before. Many times years ago… The feeling she hoped she'd never feel again but it was also the feeling she thought she needed most.
The almost forgotten chills were now filling her body to the bone. There was no way to run.
He was alarmingly too close. She closed her eyes. There's only one way out of this. But I promised. Kayne...I'm sor-
She felt cold fingers rested on her right shoulder. Her heartbeat stopped.
Now! But before she could do anything else. She heard the hoarse voice right next to her ear.
"It was nice seeing you again, Alexis."
She heard him chuckle. Then the voice was gone and so were the cold fingers. Her knees dropped hard to the platform but she was numbed to even feel the pain. The chills were still there, eating the remaining bit of her strength. She stared blankly at the empty plaza, panting like she ran for miles. Her sweat still trickling her indescribable face...
The same face she wore nine years ago when she saw the fireworks of death.
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