SKY CHILD

Chapter Three - Kali Laynie

Kali Laynie - Ring 1

       It's noon, lunchtime, and my mother still hasn't shown up. My nails are bleeding from biting them too low and my stomach aches. She has to be at lunch or they'll see her plate was never taken. What if they caught her. I shake my head in an attempt to clear my thoughts. It doesn't help.

I take one last look around the room and leave. My hub is at my door waiting but my mothers' is gone. I can't decide if that calms me or makes me more on edge. Either way, I get in and turn the screen on to the daily broadcast.

          "Good afternoon. I know you are all concerned about the update today. There is nothing to stress over. This new update was made to enrich your experience here in the Sky. Everyone from floor one may now have access to the viewing room on floor ten. You will get one allowed visit per month which you can register for at your nearest Schedule Center. Any concerns please consult your compound resource provider. That is all."  The screen fades out and I'm left once again with my thoughts.

I try to shut them out, to ignore the voices telling me somethings wrong, for once I wish I couldn't think at all.

The ride to lunch hall seems longer than usual. I lean forward and try to peak out of the dark tinted dome in front of me. My stomach turns when I realize what's happening. I'm in a security elevator heading to a different floor. Residents from floor one can't go up. So I'm either being brought in for interrogation or my gut was right and something bad happened.

I sit back in my seat and begin to panic. I continue to rise higher and I feel like I'm going to puke. My head begins spinning and I close my eyes and try to calm down.

Suddenly the hub stops moving up and takes a hard left out of the shaft. Ten minutes later and the shield opens up outside of a door. I stay rooted in my seat, attempting to figure out where I am.

"Please exit the transfer hub." A mechanical voice sounds through the speakers. Slowly I step down, the moment I do the hub takes off and I'm left standing outside a resident's door on who knows what floor.

I look down the hall and see the doors are far more spread out than floor one. The space between two housing blocks here is the size of five on floor one. My heart begins racing as I realize I have to be near the top.

I step up to the metal door and knock. Silence follows so I bang on it again. The knocks seem to echo down the hall and my heart skips a beat. Still no answer. My eyes drift to the scanner beside me. Out of curiosity, I put my wrist under it and the door unlocks.

My body freezes. I look behind me to the empty hall and back at the door. My legs begin to tremble, shakily I pull them forward.

I push the door open and gasp in admiration at the place in front of me. The entrance opens up to a white room bigger than my housing block with two glass doors at the other end, opening to a balcony to the sky. We had no windows on floor 1. This room is filled with light but not one is on and a warmth envelops me. My feet are pulled to the view ahead and I walk up to the glass and stare at the world around me.

I've never seen the outside.

It's stunning. The sky is a soft blue, like what I imagine the ocean was. White splotches scatter among the air while the sun illuminates their glow from behind. My hand touches the handle to the world outside and an electric current shoots up my arm and sends chills through my body. I push the handle down and the doors fall open. Air rushes through my hair and tickles every inch of my skin igniting my body with a sense of autonomy I've never known.

I take a step outside and breathe in the air for the first time in my life. It's exhilarating.

"Who are you?" A deep voice asks from behind and I jump as my heart stops. I rush back inside and hurriedly shut the doors behind me as I look at him.

He doesn't look much older than me. His sleek black hair is done in perfect neat braids. His features are chiseled and his skin glows a deep brown darker than my father's. His eyes radiate a bright amber tone that reminds me of both stone and sunshine. Not the sun I saw moments ago hidden behind cotton clouds but a bone-warming glow that sends comfort through me.

"Who are you?" I ask as I stand my ground, attempting to look like I belong in this huge place. He looks at the metal door and back at me in question.

"How did you get in here?" My heartbeat quickens but I keep a straight face and hold out my wrist. His eyebrows furrow together as he looks at my uniformed shirt and cargo pants and then to my wrist. I swallow hard trying to wet my throat.

"How did you?" I ask and he holds out his wrist and both of our features morph into confusion.

"What's going on? Why did my hub bring me here?" He asks me and I stare at him for a moment. I want to answer him but I'm not sure what's happening either.

I turn back around and look outside. A calmness settles over me as I stare at the world in front of me.

"Mine brought me here too."

"This isn't your housing block." He states. I turn around and study him. His stance is casual but firm and he doesn't seem to be in awe of the place as I am. His eyes haven't roamed the room once and his clothes are different than mine. He has on a purple hoodie and crisp black pants with white tennis shoes. My mind drifts to my mother and my stomach turns so I look back out the glass doors.

"No." I say and begin wondering if my mom sent me here. If so who is this boy and where is she. Tears prick my eyes as I think about the day this happened with my father.

He was supposed to pick me up from the learning department, my mom was extremely ill at the time and was on bed rest. After an hour passed and he never showed a guard came and picked me up and brought me home. My mom was already crying and the moment I looked at her I knew I'd never see my father again.

My heart shattered then like it is now. A coldness consumes every crevice of my bones and I shiver. What am I suppose to do now?