The plane finally landed, and Cassiopeia got off as fast as she could. For someone who was on planes so much, she really hated them. Come to think of it, that's probably why she hated them. Maybe it was the random people, maybe it was the crappy seats, or maybe it was the disgusting snacks, but Cassiopeia could not stand planes.
It was over, anyways, but now Cass would go to an even crappier hotel and meet some stranger—or strangers—and get an assignment. Basically, someone would tell her what to do and when to do it, they would argue over payment, and then they would part ways, her going to the hotel room and them slinking off to some fancier place.
Cass stepped out of the airport and took a deep breath in. Her father had taught her this technique to calm her nerves and slow her racing mind before he and Cass's mother had disappeared.
Cassiopeia's grandparents were from Argentina, an old country now mostly submerged in water. They had immigrated back in 2119, two months before the government had closed the borders. There were too many immigrants coming in from flooding countries, and Embria was already densely populated.
They had lived in an old abandoned barnhouse in rural South Indiana and had raised Cass's parents there. Cass had grown up there herself, or at least grown up for the 8 years that she had with her parents.
After her parents vanished, she was demoted to the streets. But she didn't stay in South Indiana for long. There wasn't enough food to scavenge there, so Cass traveled south to Hot Springs, Arkansas. There were plenty of street vendors and garbage cans to survive off of in such a populated state.
And then, after three harsh years of living on the streets, she met Arabellae. Sweet, sweet Arabellae who no one would ever suspect to be an undercover agent. But that's just what she was. A catfish for Selkath. Cass, who was 11 at the time, had never heard of Selkath, but she soon learned it was a clandestine group of renegades dedicated to destroying the Embria government.
Now, this was news to Cass. Her parents had sheltered her so much that she had no idea that some people didn't like the government. She hardly even knew what government was present.
But she joined Selkath and learned fast. Soon, her life became a rhythm. A heartbeat.
Now, four years since joining Selkath, the heartbeat still rang in her ears, sounding like an ongoing nudge to move forward.
Or a warning.
YOU ARE READING
Underneath Us
Action**ON HIATUS** Bex, Lucas and Cassiopeia all live in America, but theirs isn't the same as ours. That tends to be the case in different dimensions. Each of them are on different sides. Their paths cross through edict, murder, and politics and the pas...
