Aspirations

Chapter 4

I Get to Run Around and Capture Naughty Aspirations

The way she said chat made it sound like I was going to be interrogated and maybe harassed, but it wasn't at all like that. Hyrumn basically told me all the strange rules of this place and to just let her handle the talking and situations and follow every order she gave no matter what. She then explained to me what exactly we were doing.

To cut it short, there were rules all the Aspirations had to follow. The eleven weren't just the eleven because they were the most known Aspirations, but because they were also the peace-keepers between all Aspirations. Sometimes, smaller and lesser-known ones would break certain rules and the eleven were there to set them straight. It was like a job to hunt down the rule breakers.

Hyrumn had a list of Aspirations she'd been putting off because of certain difficulties. She explained that she need my help to capture them.

"Wait, so why do you need me then? Couldn't you just ask another Aspiration to help you?" I asked.

"I could've, I guess. But no one will help me."

"Why not?"

"Let's just say I'm not just called Double-Deal. I'm also called Two-Faced because I don't play nice and I usually trick people. Honestly kid, I don't know why you made deals with me in the first place." I watched her carefully.

"Does that mean-"

"Don't worry, I haven't lied to you yet about anything. Cross my heart." She drew an X over her chest in the air. "You see my symbol on your palms? Yeah, that means I'm literally bound to the deal. I can't break it, even if I really wanted to. Speaking of your palms, we need to do something about that."

She stood up arm opened one of the cabinet drawers and there me a pair of fingerless gloves. I caught and examined them. She kept rummaging through, pulling out random clothing items.

"Put those on. Sometimes Aspirations can get a little... weird with other Aspiration's victims. It's best to keep those concealed." She threw out another pair of clothes. "Just be lucky my symbol is on your palms. Sometimes people don't get so lucky with other symbols, like Two's for example. How would you like it if my symbol was right in the middle of your forehead?"

I slipped the gloves on, noticing they didn't look half bad. She then turned around to me with a handful of clothes and handed them to me. I looked at them, then back at her who sat her own pile on the ground next to her feet.

"Right. If we're going to hunt down some rule breakers we need an outfit change." She lifted her foot up and slipped off her shoes. "I don't want to get my new sandals dirty."

I watched as she took the thin straps of her dress, hooked her fingers underneath, and slid them off her shoulders. Faster than I think was humanly possible, I spun around and covered my eyes before I saw anything. I heard her giggling.

"What's the matter? Are you afraid of me?" My checks began to grow hot again.

"N-No I, uh, just... I just am a well-mannered person and, uh..." She giggle more.

"I'm just teasing you, relax. Now, get dressed into the clothes I gave you. I want to match." I glanced down at my pile of clothes. "I know you're shy so don't worry, I'll turn around too."

I quickly glanced behind me to make sure she was true to her word before I got to my clothes. I didn't have much, just a black jumpsuit with some cool designs and shoes that were way cooler than the ones I previously had on. She also gave me a watch which looked complicated with all its gears and numbers, but I could figure it out.

I waited till she was done to turn back around. When I did she was basically wearing the same thing as I was, but I could tell her outfit had a little more care to it. She was rebraiding her hair, her hair-tie in her mouth when she turned back to me.

"Finished?" She asked, tying her hair and then straightening out her suit. I nodded. "Great! Now we look badass! Only one thing left before we get going: I need to sync up our watches."

I raised an eyebrow, wondering what she meant. She grabbed my arm where I had placed my watch and began to meddle with it. "I got these because we'll be running around in Time Stop and that gets tricky. This way we'll both know what time is real and if we somehow get separated I can find you." She flashed me a grin and moved to hers. I glanced at it once again, none of the numbers meaning anything now.

I began to contemplate my life and all my choices that led up to this. Not too long ago I was just at school like a normal kid. Now I'm in the Seam helping an Aspiration, who I've made a deal with twice, hunt down other Aspirations to put them in prison. All of this because I was lonely? What is actually wrong with me?

She finished with her watch and pulled a small paper out of her pocked. It was a list of what I assumed to be all the Aspirations we were looking for. A small smile spread as she read down. She glanced up at me, putting the paper away.

"So, we've got twenty Aspirations to hunt and I know just where to start: Aspiration #283; Inconvenience."

In the next chapter you'll really get to see what Aspirations are and it was really fun to come up will all sorts of designs and descriptions of what they look like

Comments are always welcome!