The Lost Heiress Of Hyperion

Chapter 1- April

The empty streets of Foedo are almost peaceful. Peaceful. A feeling I haven't felt in so long. Ever since the plague had swept through, only terror and desperation I felt. For life. For my sanity.

 I'd seen some of the plague victims, their heads lolling and talking in garbled voices. They got carted off by the Hypersoul volunteers, who volunteered to make our, Uncounts, lives better.

 They never came back. Ever. They took them to the Forbidden Forest, which Grammy told me never to go into, because of the vicious animals and monsters prowling inside, waiting for one of us powerless UnCounts to walk willingly into their mouths. 

I never would've believed her, except I had heard the monsters, either it was screaming in pain, or howling in triumph. 

It was enough to quiet my doubts, to instill bone-chilling fear into me. I trained every night with the punching bag Grammy had bartered for my eighth birthday. The training came in useful many more times than I could count. When slums took over all the floor space, or when someone tried to run off with me. 

Eight years later, now, I am sixteen, and Grammy died from the plague. Her skin was pale, and her skinny form looked tiny when they hauled her body onto the cart. I ran upstairs to the safebox and unlocked it with the key she had given me just seconds before. Inside was a ring, the polished silver still gleaming, a necklace, which was a brilliant bronze color, and a note. I read it carefully, making note of the coins that fell out when I opened it. 

Dear April,
I'm sorry that you have to read this, written in my own hand when mine is probably cold now. I love you dearly, my darling. I told you about this a few seconds before my final breath escaped my body, but I have kept this a secret for a very long time. You are not my child, or a relative of mine, as much as you think so. Your final wish before you allowed yourself to have your memories altered was to find a person who could let you know who you really were and be able to let you go. I almost wasn't able to, you, a child just barely ten, so innocent, so unknowing of the dangers you put yourself in, just to save us worthless UnCounts. I loved you like a daughter April, and I wished you were mine. Beware of the road ahead, riddled with doubt and hardship. Lean on shoulders, as much as you know you're capable of doing it by yourself. Auntie Bast lives in the Forbidden Woods, and will help you should you ever need it.
Love,
      Grammy

The note befuddled me as I skimmed through, not believing anything it said. I wasn't who I thought I was? Then everything I knew, knew was a lie. My parents weren't dead, and I had a whole family to come back to, who loved me, and cared for me. I had a family. The thought rang through my head many times, echoes sweet-sounding but melancholic. 

I slip the ring on my middle finger,  it's cool touch almost sickening. The small insignia on it was similar to the necklaces', a Phoenix wrapped around a small orb. The necklace was different, the chain was cool, but the jewel was warm as if it had just been touched.  

I ran out of the room, running to my room where my packed bag was kept since Grammy always said to have it in case of an emergency. This, I knew would be classified as an emergency. 

Nightmare, Grammy's starling, whistled loudly, loud enough for the neighbors to hear. She flitted to my shoulder and sat silently, even as I rushed around packing any extra stuff I would need. An extra sweatshirt, underclothes, socks, even an extra pair of shoes. My next stop was the gun cabinet, which Grammy had instructed me on how to use them.

The gun cabinet is musty-smelling, the black guns shining as soon as the sunlight from the open door hits them. I hesitate, the temptation to draw one from its holding place and use it on myself. I wanted to go live with Grammy, but I had a family to go to. I pick a small handgun, its cool slick handles clinking against the ring. 

The leather holster slipped over one end of my belt, and I pocketed the gun in it. It bounces against my thigh as Nightmare screams, “Intruder!” I spin around, flicking the clip off of the holster and shoving a magazine into the gun. “Show yourself!” I bark, the darkness creeping around me, making every step towards bravery and fearlessness darker. A shadow moves and I swing the gun to follow it, but it disappears. My hands shake, so I put the gun away and run out of the house. Past pictures of me and Grammy, laughing, our faces red. Past the kitchen, but stopping only once to grab one of the bags of oranges and bananas Grammy had left for my snack. 

Tears fill my eyes, and I look back at the house, its silhouette dark and gloomy, despite the rising sunrise. They spill over my eyes, splattering the dead grass below like rain. Now, I know. This is not a dream. It's real. 

—<—☆—>—

The trip into the Forbidden Woods was one I do not wish to remember. Shadows crept everywhere, held back only by the flashlight I had. Half human creatures shank back in the sudden light, their fangs-like teeth and their claw-like nails. Bats swooped ahead, and chimeras and other mythical creatures fled from the light.

 Grammy had taken me to see Auntie Bast once, when I had a fever. She boiled me some soup, and once I had eaten it, the fever chills had ebbed away and I was fine. The underground cottage was easy to find, and I slid down the hole, dirt skimming under my jeans. 

When I reached the bottom, a knife was pressed against my throat, and a woman's voice spoke up. "Why are you here?" She growled. 

"Grammy's dead. She died from the plague." I said plainly, biting my sore lip to keep myself from bursting into tears. 

The knife dropped, and I turned around to look at Bast. Her eyes were yellow, and her pupils were slit. They got bigger in surprise, and her brown ears flattened in surprise, and remorse. 

"She. . . She can't be dead. Are you sure?"

"I felt her hands. They were as cold as ice. I'm sure."

The feeling of dread washed over me, stronger than before. Bast sighed, blowing a strand of her golden hair out of her face. Nightmare flew in, and circled around once, before landing on my shoulder. Bast pulled the knife from her hand and inspected the bird carefully. 

It whistled shrilly, as if afraid she would eat it, and flew out, a few feathers dropping to the floor.  
I cocked my head curiously. “What was that about?”

“Animagus.” She murmured, sheathing the knife in her back pocket. “Shapeshifter.” She said, after looking at my confused expression. 

She slammed her hands down on a nearby coffee table, obviously stressed. "It was a friend of your Grandmothers. He had a message, that there were other children here, with Hypersoul families, that needed your help. Obviously, since I'm not a polyglot like some other people, so there's a chance that I didn't interpret it correctly. Him, I mean."

Blankets covered the dirt walls, a section fluttering enough to suggest an open wall behind it. They fluttered upward, and darkness behind it showed little, a bed with messy sheets spread across it. Basts eyes darted to and fro, nervous that I might find something she didn't want me to see. 

A slight breeze drifted by my cheek, and  something tickled my neck. The breeze stopped, and after looking down at the ground, slight indents where feet might've been if someone visited Bast right before myself. I turn, and look for the footprints to continue up the hole, but they don't. They stop right behind me, the dust moving ever so slightly. 

I reach out, half expecting for my fingers to grasp air, but they don't. They grab a silky-like material, and I tug it down. A man's face comes to view, along with the rest of his body. He smiles, lighting up his face. "Hello April."

The last line gave me the chills writing it. Hope you guys like it! I've been working hard to make it something fun, easy, and interesting to read. Let me know on your guesses of who the man is, and why he was in Bast's home.