Aptum

Chapter One

"Ciara! Time for school!" my mother calls up to me, ripping me from my dream. I wake up with a gasp, my breathing shaky and uneven. I shudder, covered in a cold sweat, my blankets tangled around my legs. "Ciara, you're going to be late! Cece, come on! Cameron's already here!"

"I'm coming!" I sigh and roll out of bed. I shuffle over to my dresser, pulling out a pair of jeans and a ripped black T-shirt. I get dressed, brush my hair and teeth, and tromp down the stars as I pull my long, unruly, midnight black hair into a ponytail. Cameron's sitting at the breakfast table eating eggs and a piece of toast, talking to my mother. I steal my own piece of toast from my mom, who's sandy hair is pulled into a tight bun and is already wearing a navy blue pantsuit, ready for work. I sling my shoulder bag over my arm. I grab Cameron's wrist and drag him after me.

"Hi, Mom. Bye, Mom," I call over my shoulder as we run out the door.

"Ciara-" my mom starts, but we're already gone.

"You do realize we aren't that late, right?" Cameron asks.

"Yeah. I just can't deal with my mom today," I sigh. I roll my dark blue eyes that I reportedly inherited from my father and nibble the toast. Cam plucks the toast from me and bites into it. "Hey! Cam, gimme." I reach for the bread and he holds it above his head, higher than I can reach. "You're an ass."

"At least I'm an ass who got breakfast," he replies. I shoulder him, but can't keep the grin off my face. "So, why can't you handle your mom this time? Did you have another nightmare?"

"Am I going to tell you about it? And no, I told you, those stopped." Cameron finishes his toast- my toast- and props his elbow up on my shoulder, being just tall enough to do so comfortably. I shrug him off, but he just puts his elbow right back on my shoulder. I sigh and he grins.

"School's four blocks away. Is your elbow gonna be there the whole time?" I ask.

"Mmm... yep," he replies cheerily.

"Just to annoy me?"

"You know it."

"Great." I push his elbow off again, causing him to stumble for a second. Then it's right back on my shoulder.

By the end of the walk, my shoulder is sore and Cam has lost feelings in his fingers. I smirk at him as he shakes his hand. "Worth it?" He just sticks his tongue out at me. We walk together to our first class, Advanced Faction History. Everyone knows the basics; after a nuclear war wiped out 95% of the population, our city was formed. We were the only ones that survived the radiation. Some of us didn't only survive, though, they changed. People developed powers.

We split into four groups, Pyrrac, Avieas, Terrat, and Aquar. Terrat was for those who received earth related powers; they could grow plants, move the earth, that sort of thing. Pyrrac was for people with fire powers; heating, cooking. Aquar was water; they could heal, control water. Avieas was air, electricity, wind. Unpowered people went with their friends and relatives. After a decade and a half of fighting each other, people realized that they would survive longer together. They built our city, Terrat building the houses and buildings, Avieas taking care of the electricity for the city, Aquar dealt with the water supply, and Pyrrac helped make sure that people wouldn't freeze to death in the winter. We still live separately, but our city is stronger because we all coexist peacefully.

That was just over a century ago. The city is now led by one person from each faction as the primary government and several representatives helping. The people were protected by the Aptum. There are four every five years, one per faction. They 'emerge' on their fifteenth birthday. They used to protect our city; they were the police, the enforcers. Then, eight years ago, the government deemed them too powerful, too dangerous to be allowed to live. They were hunted down, killed in cold blood. Now, being Aptum means having a death sentence.