Citizen

Chapter twelve // p1

The City Hall from behind was an unwelcoming sight. Whereas the front was full of light, ornately carved seats and blossoming nature, the back was empty but for a fountain. A single set of doors and two small windows dominated the back of the marble building. What was past them, Kyra couldn't see, and didn't want to know. Her goal for the year was to never set foot in that place again.

People milled in the market surrounding the city hall, far enough away to not notice the pair walking quickly across the grass. Kyra tried to focus on the sights and sounds as she followed Ethan to the fountain at the back of the City Hall, but she couldn't, not with James' words pressing on her mind. Have I ever struggled to cope before? Everyday, she'd wanted to reply. How could he act so calm? How could he pretend like everything was fine when his world was tumbling down around him? She heard James' voice in her head, saying a sentence he'd uttered many times before: Experience, Kyra. There are people in this world who need your sympathy more than I do.

Shaking her head to clear it, Kyra turned to watch Ethan. Much like the statue he was staring at in the centre of the fountain, his eyes were set forward, unblinking. She had no idea what was interesting about the statue - she'd seen it a thousand times - and yet Ethan acted like it was the most intriguing thing he had ever laid eyes on. It was a bust of their first ever president, and much like their current one, he was perfect; with skin like satin, hair gelled tightly in place, and eyes that could make you stop and stare - though not for a nice reason. In contrast to his friendly smile, the man's eyes were closed to slits like a snake.

Ethan got to his feet, standing precariously on the edge of the fountain. He reached his foot forward and placed it on the base of the statue. There was a date inscribed below it: October 31, 2020.

"What are you doing?" Kyra watched with a frown, turning her head this way and that, trying to see whether there was something she was missing.

Ethan didn't reply. He ran his hands over the stone, scaling the man's face and chest, and stopped as he reached the man's eyes. What he saw there, Kyra had no clue. She sat down and crossed her legs, pursing her lips to hold back all of the comments and questions that came to mind.

Why are we here? What are we going to practice? Why are you groping that statue? In her opinion, each question was equally important.

A loud snap pulled her back to reality. Kyra got up in a hurry, hands clenched, nails digging deep into her palms. She knew talking to him again would be pointless – he hadn't listened the previous times – but she had to try. "Ethan? I, I don't think you should be doing-"

Click.

The water of the fountain began to drain as the statue rose on short pillars, allowing light to be shed on the dark drain beneath it. Once every last drop had disappeared, the tiled floor split into wedges that dropped lower and lower with each one. Kyra followed their progress in a sprint around the fountain as they dropped lower, lower, lower... and out of sight.

Ethan jumped onto the first step with a grin. "Pretty neat, huh?"

Nodding without thinking, Kyra stepped onto the first step, her churning stomach weighing more heavily on her bladder by the second. "What's down here?" she asked, glancing around the square. There were people talking by the gate, though they didn't seem to notice anything odd. Shaking her head, she followed after Ethan, who was several steps ahead.

"It's a secret passageway. There's hundreds of them under the city. I think they were left over from the city that was here before Arabel, maybe during one of the world wars from the past but no one knows for sure. No one knows anything for sure, really, but that's a whole other topic. Anyway, this is how we get around undetected."