Chains Made of Stars- ON HOLD

Chapter 1: I'm afraid we'll have to do this the fun way-Part 1

If there was one thing that Mith Rai was absolutely certain of, it was the fact that the boy currently sneaking into the Bangalore International Airport was up to some mischief. 

Mith watched him, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

 He carried no suitcases and no backpack and walked with his hands shoved into his pockets, striding through the flurry of travellers as if he owned the place. His audacious nonchalance only increased Mith's conviction that he was about to do something illegal, outrageous, morally lacking, or some combination thereof. 

Such as sneaking into an international airport without adult supervision.

Mith stood up from her seat at the cafe, deciding that if the boy successfully managed to sneak into the airport, she wanted to see how he did it. She followed him to the entrance, and peered inside the many glass doors. She could see bustling check-in counters inside, and hear the announcements calling people to board flights that would take them far, far away; to lands where even the stars and the moon were different. Mith repressed the Itch, and focused on the boy, who was smiling crookedly at the grand airport, as if acknowledging some secret joke shared between them. 

The Itch was something that attacked Mith regularly. 

It was the irrepressible urge to run out and keep running, without ever looking back. 

It was the uncontainable desire to stow away on the nearest airplane and go wherever it would take her. 

Mith instinctively knew that her parents were to blame for the Itch. Because of their mind-numbingly stupid insistence on a normal life (as in less monster-wrangling and more sit-your-ass-down-and-study-so-you-get-into-a-good-college-and-get-a-stable-job), she had been denied her legacy of travel and adventure. After all, her grandparents and every ancestor before that had been a member of the Carcerem Society. She simply didn't understand why her parents had wanted her to be any different.

She recited lines of the Society Oath in her mind. It was a nervous-reflex, and only thing that kept her sane these days.

 I will pay heed to the words of those who came before me. I will better the world for those who come after me. I pledge my loyalty to this institution, and loyal I shall remain until death.

With the blessings of my forefathers, I now take my place in the Carcerem Society.

After this, Mith wisely decided to stop dwelling on her teenage angst and focus on finding out what the boy was up to instead. 

She was only a few metres away from him when he wheeled sharply, his deep blue eyes fixed intently on a mouse-like woman seated at one of the cafes, sipping from a mug of coffee. There was an ornate golden C stitched onto her suitcase.

Mith inhaled sharply. C for Carcerem. 

One of the Society members is here, in the airport! 

The boy had noticed too, and for a short moment, a maniacal grin lit up his face.

Mith's heart started to beat, an irregular, staccato thumping.