Eden

Chapter Twelve: Pride

Stars fall from the sky, slowly shining and hitting the trees. It's beautiful. That's all I can think of. Like comets. The moon is full and hanging above me, it's luminous.

"Claudius, it's so beautiful!" Priscilla gasps.

A star falls on a tree branch near me. I look closely at it. The star is smooth and unblemished, I thought stars were rough and callous. It's so bright it could blind me, but I don't care, it's too beautiful to look away from.

"Just wait, Priscilla." Claudius smiles, "Just wait."

The star starts to hiss, like wood in a fire. It cackles at me and burns up, the sparks fly at my face. My hands fly up, covering my face. The sparks land on my left hand.

I backed up against my branch, looking at my hands. My hand boils and blisters form all over it. It feels like a million small bugs crawl underneath my skin, eating at my muscles.

A harsh ringing comes from the sky. I look up at a large star falling toward the ground. The tree branch cracks and breaks in half. I fall forward on the branch, hitting the ground quickly.

"Look! Kirsten fell from a tree!" Priscilla laughs, "She's in the grove of trees, not the smartest place to hide."

"It was a brilliant place to hide! Until you ruined it for her!" Claudius snaps at her, "You know not to give away locations!"

I immediately stand up. I have to leave this place before the Tycoons come. I pick up what is left of my backpack and stuff everything back in it.

"These stars are not real stars of course," Claudius said, "But they're bacterial so they'll infect your skin if you touch them."

"Could've told me earlier," I mutter to myself.

"There she is!" Loki yells.

I force myself to run across the grass. They run after me. Making remarks, chiding me, shit-talking to me. But I'm faster than them. I'm leaner. There is a part of the mountain chain in my way. I climb the rock. The blisters start to pop as I climb, I can see the Tycoons below me. I settled on the highest part of the rock.

"Get her Loki! What are you waiting for?" A girl screams.

The sun begins coming up. The liquid from my hand oozes out like grease. As the sun came up the heat began to swelter. My throat swells in the heat. Loki tries to climb the rocks but fails. I'm probably 20 or 30 feet in the air.

A tall girl starts climbing after me. She has strawberry-blonde hair and brown eyes. I take a boulder and push it down the ledge. Hopefully, it hit her so she would stop. I don't want to kill her, I just need her to stop. The rock just barely hits her.

"What is she doing?" Priscilla hisses at Claudius, "She can't hurt my Tycoons!"

Her hand reaches the top.

"Yeah, Heather! Get her!"

I stand up and back up against the rock. She's getting closer, I have to find a way to get away from her. The wind starts to pick up and howl. The wind is irregular, natural wind would never do this.

Heather starts to scream, I look down at her, the wind is practically eating her hair. It whips around her head pulling her back. Heather falls down the side. Rocks fall after her, landing on her body. They crush her body. Loki yells her name. It's too late, she's dead. The blood from her head is splattered everywhere.

They look horrified, I always thought they'd be comfortable with death. They've watched people die so many times, they never look away from the Trials. Maybe her death just made it real for them. They've never smelled death before, they've never had to walk down a street and watch people sit on the side of the road with flies in their eyes. They've never had to beg for food. Their faces are struck with uncertainty. Was this worth it?