Eight years have passed since my parents were murdered before my eyes. I despise President Whittaker Monroe and his rules. He isn't even a president anymore. He's a dictator. A tyrant. My parents broke his number one rule by voicing their opinions, but I believe their opinions were correct. The only good thing about him is that he pulled us from the recession. But he still makes our lives a living hell.
My younger sister, Anastasia, is my life. Though we're only four years apart, I'm pretty much her mother figure, other than Aunt Sparkle. We look almost identical, with our straight, black hair-a trait of our mother's-and our snowy skin. The only difference is that her bright green eyes make her the spitting image of our mother. My eyes are from our father-sapphire blue.
Even with my damaged sense of humor-I guess that's what comes from watching your parents die-her sunshine can count for the both of us. Even in our depressing world, she never fails to make us both laugh. She has the sweetest laugh. I could hear it from miles away. When she cries, it's soft and delicate, like a pink rose. I always know when she's crying. That silence is always unbearable.
In our home, there is always food on the table. It may not always be flavorful, but it's there, nonetheless. Uncle Illyriad makes sure of that. When he goes to hunt, I hunt with him. We hunt different things, though. He hunts animals and I hunt edible plants.
********************************************
I sit up in my bed and stretch my arms, looking out the window to assess the weather. The sun is bright and the air is moist and hot. This is my favorite kind of day. I run downstairs in my pajamas to greet the scent of sizzling venison, buttermilk biscuits, and fried eggs. The smell makes my stomach rumble, making me realize how hungry I am.
"Did you sleep well?" Anastasia flips her egg in the skillet and turns to smile at me.
"Of course I did. With you on the bottom bunk, I slept just fine. I know you'll be there to catch me if I roll off." I wink at her and she giggles at my weak attempt of a joke.
"Have some breakfast before you go to see Keagan." She puts the egg on a plate that already holds a serving of deer meat and two biscuits.
Keagan Hale is my best friend in the whole world, besides my sister. Anastasia thinks he's in love with me, but I doubt it. He's only a friend, anyway. I just don't see myself feeling the way my mother felt about my father with Keagan. Their love for one another was evident up until the last moment of their lives. I want something like that: white hot passion and love until the end.
"You were thinking about mom and dad, weren't you?" Anastasia looks at me, a glint of sadness in her bright eyes.
"Yeah. I was thinking about how much they loved each other." I fight the urge to cry, my vision beginning to blur with unshed tears.
"Tell me how they met again." Anastasia takes my hand, knowing how much I love telling that story almost as much as she loves hearing it.
"I'll tell you before bed tonight." I pick her hand up and kiss it before laying it back on the table and standing up to take my empty plate to the sink. When had I eaten my food? Must've been while I was lost in thought.
"You promise?" She bounces in her chair.
"I promise. Where are Aunt Sparkle and Uncle Illyriad?" I rinse my plate.
She stands to take her plate to the sink, as well. "I turned off their alarm so they could sleep in for once. They work way too hard and deal with too much." She grins, mischief painting her features.
"You're a saint!" I kiss her cheek and walk to the bottom of the stairs.
"Someone has to be. With Monroe ruining everyone's lives with his stupid rules, no one is good at heart." She covers her mouth with both of her hands.
"Shhh! You know what happened to Momma and Daddy!" I grip the staircase with fear, my knuckles turning white.
"I take it back! Cancel, cancel, cancel!" She always says that when she says or does something she doesn't mean.
I silently hope that her cancels are enough to save her life. Since no one has barged into the house to kill her, I step up onto the stairs and look back at her. "I'm going to shower and go to Keagan's. We're supposed to go swimming today. We're both coming back here afterward for dinner and to watch television. Be good. I love you, Lost Duchess." Lost Duchess is what we've always called her, due to the fact that she's the namesake of Anastasia, the Grand Duchess of Russia.
"Okay, sis. I'll be here. I promise." She smiles wide, her jewel-like eyes glimmering.
I walk up the stairs to my bedroom, grabbing a pair of very short blue jean shorts, a black tank top, a black thong, and a push-up bra to match. I slip into my bathroom and lock the door behind me. "Hot water, please." I shed my red lace teddy as I watch the steam from the hot water cascade from behind the curtain.
I look into the mirror, noticing that I'm very pale and bony. I look like a skeleton. I haven't been able to gain much weight since my parents passed away, due to anorexia. I wish I was as pretty as my mother was. She was the most beautiful woman in the world.
I step into the steamy drizzle that is falling from the roof of the shower. "Rainforest setting, please." The water changes from a massaging Spring Shower to a Rainforest Downpour. Water falls from the roof like rain and jets squirt from the sides to ensure a relaxing shower.
I massage shampoo into my soaked hair and suddenly wonder what it looks like when it's wet. It's always instantly dried as I step onto the mat outside the shower. I decide to step around it this time as coco-butter shampoo lathers into a foamy mess on top of my head and then swirls down my body to the drain. Vanilla body wash foams up on my lanky body as I wash and rinse my body. I love the tingle I feel when I'm clean.
I maneuver around the drying mat and peek in the mirror. Despite the water dripping from the ends of my hair, it doesn't look much different. I get back onto the drying mat and it dries me in an instant. I pull on my under-garments and my shorts and, as I walk, I pull the tank too over my head to put it on. I meander over to my dresser and put my hand on the hair pad. It shocks my hair into submission and zaps out the tangles.
Grabbing my neon orange and purple beach bag and orange bikini from the closet, I glance in my full-body mirror. I look kind of hot. I shove the bikini, a fresh towel, and some sunblock into the bag and rush down the stairs to kiss Anastasia goodbye.
I jog down the street to Keagan's house and bang on the door. His mother answers the door and her face brightens at the sight of me. She yells for her son and he comes bounding down the stairs, happy as can be to see me.
"You wanna go to the pool?" I run my fingers through my hair to fix it from the jog.
"Do birds lay eggs?" He laughs, his blonde hair glinting in the sunlight.
I notice that he has the prettiest ashen eyes and the whitest smile I've ever seen. I suppose I understand why girls swoon when they see him at school. He truly is handsome.
He goes to get his swim trunks and we set off for the public pool. He looks at me as we approach the gate. "You look pretty today."
I grimace. "I never look pretty."
"You always look beautiful." He touches my face and smiles.
He pays our way into the pool and we separate to change in the locker rooms. I pull my clothes off and put them in my beach bag and wiggle into my two-piece. I open my bottle of sunblock and squeeze it into my hand, smearing it all over my body.
I walk outside and look at the pool. It's so inviting that I have to restrain myself from jumping in. I head to the snack bar and order a virgin strawberry daiquiri.
"Hey, sweetie." The guy sitting beside me at the bar winks a bright green eye at me.
Suddenly, I know this boy. I lean against the counter and prop my head up with my elbow. "Hello, Ash."
"What have you been up to? Been making out with strangers?" He flashes a dazzling smile.
"That was only because you got me drunk. You spiked my drink. My better judgement was completely slurred. Literally." I roll my eyes and try not to laugh at my own joke.
"So no one told you what really happened, did they?" His face goes from smiling to serious in half a second.
I look at him intensely, wondering what he's talking about. "What?"
"I took your card." He flushes and diverts his eyes.
"My what?" By this point, I'm utterly confused.
"Your virginity." He tilts his head down and his shaggy hair falls into his face, creating a curtain of white.
I take a moment to process this, anger consuming me. "Does this mean I'm supposed to love you? Shouldn't I remember this? That's not how I wanted that to be!"
"I know. That's why I feel like such an ass. I didn't want to lose mine like that either." He touches my arm softly.
"It's okay. Let's swim." I smile sweetly.
He grins at me with a wicked edge in his eyes. He slips his arms beneath me and tosses me into the icy water. When I come up, I see the splash from him coming for me. He pops up out of the blue depth and laughs, splashing me purposely this time. I splash him back, sending a wave of water into his face.
Maybe I should consider Ash as a friend. I mean, we have fun together and we've known each other intimately, though neither of us can remember it. Maybe he does hold a special place in my life.
Suddenly, someone swims between my legs, breaking my train of thought. Whoever it is stands up and lifts me from the water. I see a white-blonde head of hair and realize it's Ash. He tickles my sides until I fall back into the gleaming water. When I come back to the surface, he takes my dripping wet face into his hands and comes closer. Just as his lips are about to touch mine, Keagan spins me around in his arms and hugs me. Anger rises in me, but I keep it inside and he kisses my forehead. It's not the kiss I wanted.
We splash and swim in the water for an hour, then we head to the locker room to change. I dry myself off a little with the towel and step onto the drying mat. I slide out of my bikini and into my clothes. As I'm changing, I hear some girls from school talking.
Shelly Hawkins says something that intrigues me. "I'm moving to the Virginia Territory tonight."
No one moves to other territories. It's another one of Monroe's rules: No One Moves to Other Territories Unless Authorized by President Monroe. What happened to force the Hawkins Family to another territory?
"Why? What happened?" A redhead pulls her shirt over her head, revealing a black bikini top.
"My father's company is expanding. Monroe wants him to oversee it." Shelly twists her hair into a bun.
"Oh! I thought something bad had happened. I was worried." The redhead puts her hand to her chest and exhales a sigh of relief.
The same thing had been preying on my mind, though I could never be worried about Shelly. She had a crush on Ash and was trying to get with him at the party we had sex at. It was downright aggravating.
********************************************
I walk into my house and the feeling of abandonment creeps upon me. "Anastasia? Aunt Sparkle? Uncle Illyriad?"
I walk into the kitchen, still calling for Anastasia. There are two notes on the counter. The first one, from Uncle Illyriad, says:
Mercy,
Your aunt went to the market and I am out hunting. Stay safe.
Love you,
Illyriad
This note makes sense. It's not abnormal to find a note from my uncle. The second note, however, is more of an official letter, printed on parchment paper with Monroe's signature at the bottom. It states:
To the family of Anastasia Nightlock:
I am sorry to inform you that my spies have taken Anastasia Nightlock prisoner. She violated Rule #1. You're lucky I haven't killed her because she's so young. Seeing her again will cost you a pretty penny.
Sincerely,
President
Whittaker
Monroe
I crumble the letter in anger. Monroe has gone too far! He took my parents away from me. He can't take my sister, too. He just can't. I begin to shake with fury.
"Are you okay?" Keagan's arms wrap around me, bringing me back to reality.
"No. They've taken her. She's gone. I've warned her all her life. I've made her recite the Rules to me every night and she didn't heed them! Every single day if her life, I've reminded her of the loss we suffered." I search his eyes for answers that aren't there.
He wipes a tear from my face that I never realized was there and his voice is a calming whisper. "Don't cry."
"She's just so impulsive, like Momma. She would do anything for me. Now it's my turn." Hot tears fall from my eyes and he pulls me closer and allows me to cry for a little longer.
"Don't cry." He doesn't know how to deal with this, so he repeats himself.
"Crying won't get her back. I know from experience." I wipe my tears away.
"We have to go get her. That's the only way." His face turns serious and he walks to my uncle's weapon room.
I follow him. "How? We don't have any money to give him. Even if we did, we wouldn't be able to survive. His asking price would be millions! We'd be in debt for the rest of our lives."
"I'm suggesting we bust her out. No bail. He doesn't deserve it." He grabs a rifle and slides it into my beach bag.
"We could do that. We'd have to take food, weapons, and money." I shuffle through the weapons quickly and grab my set of throwing knives, two boxes of extra ammunition, a rifle, an old bow, and a sheath of arrows.
Keagan is fantastic with any weapon you put in his hands because he's been hunting all his life. I've only had the hang of it for four years so my limit is rifles and throwing knives. I'm mediocre with guns, but I'm deadly with knives.
I shove the weapons into my beach bag and head to my room and open my shoebox of savings. It has over six thousand dollars in it from special occasions, odd jobs, my parents' will, and selling animal pelts. I take out three thousand and leave the rest. We won't need extra food as long as we have this, but I take some non-perishable foods just in case. Downstairs, I find our unopened first-aid kit and slip it into the bag.
What if we need an expert? We need a stealthy person to help is get in and out safely.
Ash.
I press a button on our digital phone book. "Search Ash Redfield."
His number is the only one to show up and I call him immediately. He answers on the second ring and his image pixelates before me. I haven't called him since the day before the party.
"Mercy? That you?" He flashes a smile and runs a hand through his white hair.
"Yep. Pixel and byte." I giggle.
"I thought the saying was 'flesh and blood.' Have you been crying? Your eyes are puffy." Concern etches his features.
"Yes. That's why I called, actually. I need your help." I bite my lip.
"What is it that you need, babe?" He gives me a boyish crooked smile.
"I need you to help me find my sister. President Monroe has taken her and I'm not sure what he has in store for her. I want her back alive and unharmed. We have weapons." Tears form in my eyes.
"Weapons aren't a problem, love, he probably has your sister locked in his Presidential Torture Chamber, beneath the Lincoln Memorial. A lot of people don't even know it's there, but a trained eye knows all." He smiles weakly.
"Be at my house in an hour. We'll be ready to hit the road by then." I smile because I'm the only one in our trio who knows what is in store for dear, old Whittaker Monroe. I'm going to make sure he suffers a slow, painful death. He killed my mother and father, and plans to kill my sister. He showed them no mercy and I refuse to show him any. I refuse to let him continue to ruin my life. This will be his last year in office and he won't even be able to finish it because he'll be in Hell. I'll make sure of it.
"Who is 'we?' I mean, is there anyone else coming along?" He nervously shifts from one foot to the other.
"Just Keagan." I run a hand through my hair.
"I'm on my way, beautiful." His pixels dissolve into nothingness.
I picture Monroe with a knife in his heart and cuts all over his body from where I've used him as a dart board, repeatedly missing all his vital organs until the very end. I smile menacingly, but then feel almost sick enough to vomit at the gore of ending another human life.
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