Ch. 1 Prey

18th August, 1977

The city bells tolled loudly as I dragged my feet across an avenue. On either sides, the pavements were as deserted as the crossroad ahead of me. Autumn leaves slid against the granite with the soft winds, signalling the arrival of Naharis, the season of the dead.

I looked up. The sky was transitioning to dusk.

An uncanny silence lingered on the streets, with lampost beginning to light up and tall shadows disappearing into the dark alleyways far ahead. A century had passed but Naharis still remained a stigma in the society. People hardly ever left their houses for the fear of encountering the dead spirits. Our land had developed fast but superstitions still persisted.

As I turned around the corner, my feet came to an abrupt halt. A few feet away, Lisa and her friends stood chatting with two men in format suits. Their school was north to the crossroads while I had come from the west. They must have stopped by to meet someone, I thought. As I approached them, her friends waved their hands at me excitedly. Lisa, however, looked away with a flicker of anxiousness.

I knew it. Something was off.

I openend my mouth to speak when one of her chatty friends introduced me to those men instead. "Sirs! She is Sandra Williams, Elisabeth's older sister."

They broke into polite smiles in an instant. "Pleasure to meet you, Ms Williams. We are Jeriff and Nicholson from the Redcliff clothing industry. We were hoping to hire Ms Elisabeth to model for our premiere Fall Collection."

A frown crinkled my brow. I flitted my gaze at Lisa, reminding her of her priorities. Fashion was all the rage, you see, and Lisa had fallen into what I'd arguably call a bad influence. "I'm sure she will be a good canditate but our parents have reservations. I hope you understand."

"Oh, we do! We do, of course. But she is exceptionally compatible with our latest collections, you see. We are looking for someone with a--"

"I'm sorry but she's not old enough," I told them with a sense of finalty, my temper getting the better of me. With a stiff smile, I grabbed Lisa by her hand and walked away. Her friends stared at us in surprise as we strode down the lane and disappeared around a corner. My hands were shaking. From the corner of my eyes I could see a streak of hot tear drip down her cheek. At one point, she yanked her hand away from my hold and stopped dead in her tracks. "It's enough," she whispered. "I hate you."

I shut my eyes to stifle a frustrated eye roll. "Lisa, what did I tell--"

"I don't care whatever you said! You aren't worried about me, you're worried about yourself. You're scared mother would scold you. Did you even care about me for a second? I tried so hard to keep it from you for an entire week!"

My eyes widened. "They were contacting you for over a week?"

She looked away, a derisive smile curling up her lips. Anger washed over me. I grabbed her shoulders. "Lisa! Are you out of your mind?!"

"I am." She levelled my gaze and pulled away from my grip. "Thanks to you."

I stared after her as she stormed past me, her words hitting me like a knife. I knew I was being harsh on her but it was for her own good. Schools had only recently opened up for our kind, their courses specifically designed and aimed to teach the ones with no magic. It was imperitive to get her enrolled in such a school and give her the finest degree we could afford. Fashion could come later! "Lisa!"

Her tall frame grew smaller as the distance widened between us. I clenched my jaws and quietly sauntered down the lane. It would me one, chaotic mess at home tonight.

~*~

Naturally, I didn't get a good rest. Mother's angry face and her lectures made me feel guilty enough.

I lay opening and closing my eyes on my bed, trying to ignore whatever had just happened. Lisa was probably crying her eyes out somewhere and I was infurated by her lack of better judgement. These were the golden times! The non-magus had a scope to get a degree! Why was she so stuck up on fashion, I could not understand.

I lazily craned my neck upward and eyed the wall clock above my bed. Quarter to seven.

My gaze drifted around the room. It was fairly empty for a two seater. Starting from my bed snugly fitted against a wall and going clockwise was a door on the same wall, an open space, a table and a window on the wall to my right and a dresser in between those and the bed. We had only recently moved in, my father had earned a seat in a research institute that had newly opened up here, in the capital. He must have returned by now.

Realising that I'd get a huge scolding for not sitting down on the study table yet, I jumped out of bed. Quietly opening the door, I tip-toed my way down the staircase to an open space that connected the kitchen to my left, the living room to my right, the lobby straight ahead and the rest of the house behind me. It was fairly quiet, so I decided to risk it and go make a drink for myself.

I had just begun to prepare it when a snapped me out of my reverie. "LIS—" I began to yell, then realised mother might come out and catch me, so I decided to answer the door myself.

As I opened the door, what awaited me nearly spread a scowl on my face. On the porch stood Mr. Jeriff and Mr. Nicholson, dressed in navy and beige suits respectively.

"Miss Williams." They smiled politely. "Pardon our intrusion. We were deeply concerned that your sister would drop a promising career and wondered if we could talk with here again."

"I'm afraid she's not available at the moment." I fixed them with a cold glare, unnerved. How did they find out where we lived? We never gave them our address, they simply found Lisa through her school. Now, I might be coming off as rather rude and I do admit I lacked the skills to carry out a conversation but as far as these people were concerned, my suspicions were warranted. I hated pretty much anyone who knew personal details that had not been offered personally.

"Ah, that's quite alright, then."

I smiled stiffly and shut the door the minute they had said that, feeling very queasy afterwards. Our conversation had turned up so messy! Suddenly, the cocoa was no longer appealing. I dropped the idea and walked back to my room.

The doorbell rang again, naturally. They must've wondered how ill bred I was. Mother walked out this time and, from the decorous voices echoing in the corridor that fully emphasised my mother's tone and hospitality, it grew more apparent that I might have been rude after all. I winced.

Withdrawing myself from the door, I began to focus on the task at hand. I had just begun to run a mental list of all the lessons that required a reading, but my mind was elsewhere entirely. There was something wrong with me, my gut was screaming that something was off. Something had been off from the start, I just knew it.

The voices grew louder, probably because Lisa had joined in. Curiosity gripped me. I turned towards the door and opened it quietly. Their words were clearer now, though still muffled. I could make out Lisa was upset.

I frowned and tip toed down the stairs, still embarrassed to face them all over again. Choosing to stick close to the barrister, I bent over the railing and watched them as they conversed. The men stood at the porch, Lisa and mother by the door. "No, she will not go," my mother said with a note of finality in her voice. Lisa began to speak when mother shot her a stern glare. "Get inside, Lisa."

Lisa frowned and whirled around defiantly, unable to stop the tears from welling up. She mumbled something and began to walk inside when, all of a sudden, Mr. Jeriff shoved her into the hallway, making her trip and fall face first on the floor. My eyes widened in disbelief. Before I could react, the other man grabbed my mother by her head. His eyes began to blaze a fierce orange and her body slumped on the floor lifelessly.

A scream found its way to my throat but I couldn't let it out.