Timeless

Prologue

I ran. As hard and fast as I could from the place that had been, and in a way, would forever be my home.

Just come back, it will be alright.

I yanked down the hood of my dark blue baggy jacket. My mind is no longer my own. I shut my purple eyes tight and tried to force the somewhat calming voices out of my head. Thunder burst and snarled in the dangerous void of clouds above me, vomiting another round of pounding rain on my head. I blinked opened my eyes and looked at the endless forest in front of me. Almost there! I ran as fast as my legs would carry me, not caring what would happen, nothing that could ever happen to me out here could even compare to what they would do to me. My foot hit stone and I came crashing down the the earth. Sticks and stones pelted my face, hands and feet, being rewarded by scrapes and bruises wherever they could make contact.

Then I saw something. I stiffened as I saw the being staring back at me, their purple eyes gleaming. I calmed after I realized, it was me. My wavy brown hair laying still by the bruises on my face, the rather terrified look in my look in my eyes as I saw Society's headquarters behind me in the reflection of the rain puddle. For the first time since I escaped around an hour ago, I actually pondered what I was going to do. I had dreamed of this day every night since I had found out there was another world outside of my home. The reaches of this world seemed boundless, far better than the claustrophobic area of the confines under the Society building.

How will I ever fit in? What if there are spies or Society members out there that are just waiting to catch me? I looked at my purple eyes again in the rain puddle. Why do they even care? I should be allowed to leave, shouldn't I? It's not like I could choose which world I could be born in, isn't it? I was one of them... I know too much... hardly anybody knows we exist and I'm just one fish out of the water... one slip and we are ruined.

That's right. Just come back before things get any worse. You're only so young, out there is no place for an Amoris.

No!

My heart began to pound and I got up and started running again. I froze. The forest is the first place they would expect me to go...not towards the human town... I turned slightly and ran, ignoring the pain in my feet, the fire in my lungs, and the exhaustion in my body. I tried to remember places humans stayed when they had nowhere else to go... Motels? Orphanages? Orphanages sounded about right. I would rest there. I slowed my pace so I could catch my breath, and that's where I saw it. A building off in the distance. Pushed myself farther and farther until I collapsed near the entrance of the building. I took a few deep breaths and hoisted myself up on the wall, but my hand slipped and hit a metal button with a blue figure on it. My eyes widened. Security alarm! They're going to catch me for sure!....To my surprise, the door opened, and stayed open for a few seconds, enough for me to see there was another door behind it, then closed. Wow.. humans are even stranger than I thought. I pushed the button again and limped inside, accidentally leaving a trail of blood from the cut on my foot. An older human sat behind a desk and blinked at me, confused. Her eyes were an icy blue, and her hair was black.

"Er... May I help you?" I nodded breathlessly. "Are you another runaway?" She said, examining my bruised skin. Yes...

"No...C-Can I r-rest here?" She blinked and kept examining my clothing and skin, and looked startled when she looked into my eyes.

Expiration Date: May 14th, 2016..... Six years from now.

I rubbed my arm guilty. Of all the things that an Amoris could do, that bugged me the most.

"Why would you run from the Society?" She said quietly, and I stiffened. She gestured at the Society symbol on my jacket, something I had added to it a few years ago when I was bored.
"I-I... A friend gave this jacket to me... it's one of the only things I own." I said quietly. She sighed and handed me a pen and a piece of paper on a clipboard.

"Just fill this out while I find you a bed. You can call me Mrs. Rockwell by the way." She smiled sweetly and walked away. I sat down in the chair in the corner and examined the paper, then clicked the pen and started filling it out.

First Name: Brooklyn
Last Name: Amoris
Age: 10
Grade: I guess fourth
Parents: unknown
Allergies: unknown
Birth-town: unknown
Birthday: unknown

I felt a little strange putting 'unknown' on half of the questions, but it's better that way. I also had no clue what a 'Last Name' is... Hopefully Amoris wouldn't be too sketchy. Mrs. Rockwell came back and I allowed her to take the paper, pen, and clipboard from my hands.

"Follow me." She said, smiling. I rubbed my arm as she lead me back through the hallways and into a room with a girl sitting up in her bed smiling at me. I looked at the label on her bed. Jessica. She looked me in the eyes and looked puzzled, but probably decided to let my eye color slide.

Expiration Date: November 16th, 2014

I flinched. This sweet little girl.. was going to die at the age of 14... this was exactly why I ran away.. who could keep a sane mind while doing this to people? Jessica held out her right hand and grinned.

"Jessica Heartman, Fourth grade. You can call me Jess, because we are roommates." I stared blankly at her hand, so unsure of what it meant I had no clue if it was even along the lines of a death threat or a declaration of war.

"Shake her hand." Mrs. Rockwell whispered in my ear.

"What?" I mumbled.

"Shake her hand and tell her your name." Mrs. Rockwell whispered, and nudged me encouragingly. I put my hand to Jessica's hand and moved it side to side casually, trying to act like I knew what I was doing. Jessica giggled softly and smiled even more.

"You're funny."

"No... er...my name isn't Funny actually... it is..." I stole glances from the clipboard Mrs. Rockwell was holding. "I'm Brooklyn...Amoris..." I shuddered as I uttered my 'Last Name' and continued. "I'm in the Fourth grade and you can call me..." I tried to remember what she said... Jess? Didn't she just cut off the last part of her name? What in the world is a 'Roommate'? "You can call me Brook... because we are roommates." Jessica smiled and jumped out of her bed and wrapped her arms around me.

"We are going to be best friends." She giggled. The hair on the back of my neck prickled. Was she trying to strangle me? I studied as Mrs. Rockwell put some sort of sticky paper on the other bed and labeled it: Brooklyn.

"You two can talk in the morning. It is 11 at night. Go to sleep." She smiled at me before she left. "Make yourself at home Brooklyn, let me know if you need anything." She switched off the lights and closed the door after I sat on the bed, and burrowed under the covers. This is my life now I guess.

If you aren't going to come back and live like the rest of us, you may as well do something useful. Hunt down the Expired and either kill them or bring them to us. A bit of mercy you show to anybody may cause your own Expiration. No matter where you are, you are always going to be one of us.