Firedown Sun

"Xentri! Wait, Xentri, wait a second!"

I rushed through the crowd as the black-haired boy walked away from me, reaching toward him with one hand as someone knocked into me. They didn't insult me or apologize or anything of the sort, it was simply a hit and run.

"Xentri, can you walk a little... slower?" I huffed, and then he was right there, having paused at the corner and turned around. I skidded to a stop before I could swerve into him and avoided his dark, spiritless eyes.

"What do you want, rebel?" His voice showed no real intentions of listening to the answer, but the important thing was that he stayed. I tried to control my ragged breathing to give him an intelligible reply.

"I wanted to... to say to you... um... th-thank y-"

"No thanks necessary," he interrupted. "I didn't DO anything, Kitten, I just saved you from another stupid lecture. It's getting pretty old now, don't you think?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What do you mean? What's getting old?"

"That whole aura you put off, how you hate the city and everyone in it and how you're such a rebellious kid? That's not true. That's not the real YOU. Trust me, I know a liar when I see one, and you're lying pretty hard."

My mouth fell open, and I stared at him for three seconds flat. "You're joking, right?" When he didn't admit to the prank, I rolled my eyes and said, "Look, X boy, you've got it wrong. I AM a rebel and-"

He slapped his hand over my mouth and pressed down. HARD. I was about to shove him off, but he hissed, "Don't say things like that! Maybe it was alright to let things fly out of your pretty little mouth before, but welcome to the real world, Kitten. You're prey to them. You take one step out of line, you say one questionable thing, and you're as good as dead. Alright?" He let me go and acted like nothing had happened as people passed us by, his hair falling like a protective shield over his face.

I shivered. I wanted to fight against this, but I knew in my heart Xentri was speaking the truth.

"Are we good?" he asked, peering back up at me and extending his hand.

I nodded, letting out a long sigh. "We're good." We shook hands and I murmured, "But still, thanks for not letting Soren kill me."

"Don't thank me," Xentri whispered. "It'll ruin your reputation here."

And then he spun around and left me in the middle of the corridor, just like Poppi had.

Sighing and heading to my next class, I began to wonder if anyone was trustworthy after all. Because in the end, no matter what they did for me, they always seemed to abandon me.

*

The sun shining through the window was unnerving. It didn't look right. It was almost as if it was TOO bright, as if it was never going to shut up and it would just glare at me until I went blind.

As I walked past the window, I suddenly felt someone grab me from behind. Shrieking from the unexpected intruder, I whipped around and tripped over my own two feet. Terror filled me as laughter echoed down the entire hallway. I inched away, my bag an uncomfortable lump at the small of my back, the sharpened pencils in the front pocket stabbing through the fabric and scratching my skin.

"Are you gonna run, dog?" It was Havva. Her horrifying midnight eyes stabbed daggers at mine, and she grinned wickedly at me. "You can't do anything, can you?"

"Gah!" I gasped sharply as one of them kicked out and got me in the stomach. More laughter. "What do you want?" I hissed, bringing my fists up to my chest, the only protection I had. If only I was a weapon-disguiser like Hexa and could just whip out a harmonica or jewelry charm and use it against my attackers. But I was probably as good as dead here in the school hallway. No one cared what happened to me.

No one except my friends. But it was a false hope to expect them to come to my aid when they had no idea where I was. They probably thought I was in class, or maybe hiding in a corner somewhere with a flame for a few, quick moments.

"We only want to rid the city of dangers."

"Dangers like you."

"You'll try to bring the sun down. We're here to stop you."

I blinked, wincing as my stomach continued to throb painfully. "I'm not trying to do anything."

"What's this, then?" The boy who kicked me leaned over- at the moment, I couldn't think of his name- and jerked on my hair. "You usually have it up. That's your trademark."

"But now it's down," a girl crowed. "That's not allowed. You ALWAYS need to show your trademark."

The boy yanked at my brown locks harder and I bit down on my lip to stop the scream, but I'm pretty sure some sort of howl came from between my teeth, because they were laughing again.

"Hey!" I heard from down the hallways. I looked up, and I didn't believe what I was seeing. Resh sprinted forward, her eyes focused on the kids crowding me with jeers of laughter. Their smirks disappeared as she whipped off her shiny, metal hat and unfolded it with a flash. Moving at the one pulling my hair, she raised the shield, crying, "DON'T touch her!" as she smashed into his unsuspecting face.

At her sides were Hexa and Lune so suddenly I didn't see them approach. They both glared toward the crowd of rebel-hating kids, and Lune seemed to be about to pounce on them and punch one of them in the face himself.

"You alright, Kitten?" Hexa murmured, leaning down to help me up.

I took her hand and flinched as I stood. My abdomen was literally BURNING with pain. But would I tell her that? "I'm fine, Hex. Thanks." No, even those who suck at lying need to justify their feelings every now and then to protect the sanity of others.

The boy who pulled my hair- oh, right, he was one of the kids who encouraged Seem to push me down the hill that night I hid in the log, named Dummel, Rummel, something like that- got to his feet and stared at Resh. "You hit me in the face!"

"Yes."

"With a... a hat!"

She stroked the shield lovingly, then folded it back into an ordinary, metal hat. She flipped it around in her hand smoothly and began raising it toward her face. Somehow, in that twisting trick, she managed to set it back in place on her head and then turned to grin at the incredulous boy. "Trademarks have to be good for something."

"Hey!" A second time, a voice came from down the corridor, only it was louder and definitely a man's. I whirled to see Leirre Talma of all people, marching toward us with a very angry expression.

"He's normal," I choked, not wanting to believe it. "They didn't change him."

"No." Hexa stood closer to me, almost like she was protecting me from him. Why did I need protection from someone who hadn't turned into a savage monster?

Oh right. Because he didn't care if the monsters he might have even helped create killed me. No, he'd be wearing bright color and an actual happy grin on his face the rest of the year. I could just picture how he would react to the news of my death. EXCITED wasn't even close. Maybe more like high enough to fly through the starless sky and sing soprano and dance like a ballerina. He MIGHT be that insanely happy.

"What in the world are you doing out in the hallway? The announcement came for you to be in class seven minutes ago!"

Really? Well, I didn't think a single one of us heard it.

"Resh, how DARE you hit someone like that? Give me that hat!"

"But, sir, it's my-"

"NOW!"

Sulking and staring away with a black, evil expression, she tossed it to him and folded her arms tightly. She was NOT thrilled.

"Tummel Esson, this is incredibly LOW of you! And Havva, who do you think you ARE?"

"I was just-"

"Don't make excuses. Now, all of you kids that were a part of this, MOVE, or else all of you will be staying after school WITH me for SIX HOURS straight! Get to class." He hissed the last part like a snake, and I could tell he was absolutely fuming.

I glanced at Tummel- eh, I was close enough- and his eyes weren't black or shiny anymore. They seemed almost normal. A little darker than I remembered, but it seemed he was just a little disoriented, too, like that blow to the face had knocked some sense into him. He was staring at me, trying to figure things out and stumbling after his friends without any understanding on his face.

Was that the secret? Hit them in the face, and whatever drug inside their head that turned them into monsters got knocked out of place?

"Havva, Tummel, Hexa, Resh, Lune." He paused, then turned to me. "Kitten?"

I met his gaze. "Yes, Leirre?"

"All six of you come to my office. NOW. I need to discuss some things with you."

*

We sat in the six uncomfortable chairs facing Leirre Talma's desk, waiting for something to happen. I could seriously say the man was possessed with the number six, because it was EVERYWHERE now. Six kids guilty before him, six hours after school if you didn't listen to him, six blinding white Karina bushes burning with impossible immortality surrounding us on all sides.

Six different ways I could imagine him killing us right then and there. Most of them were too gruesome to ever even mention in PASSING.

"Do you think," Leirre mumbled suddenly, making me turn to look at him, "that this place is a war zone? Because I don't believe that's what it was created for."

"So, what, you destroy a perfectly good cherry orchard to make PEACE? Is THAT what this place is for?"

I hadn't meant to blurt that out. The moment the accusation flew off my tongue, I lowered my eyes and bit down hard on my lower lip. Who else besides me had really cared about the orchard anyway? And it had NOTHING to do with anything right now. Why did I even bother speaking EVER at all? I always said something stupid.

Leirre graciously ignored my outburst. He licked his lips and said even more calmly, "It's here to teach you kids education. And if you're all worried about differences and whether or not someone else follows rules EXACTLY how you think they should, you can't get an education, can you?"

"No," we all mumbled, looking off in different directions. I heard a sigh, probably from Lune. He still seemed pretty upset about the whole thing.

"So, tell me, then, Havva. What did you stop Kitten for?"

"Because she's a disgusting DOG. I don't want-"

"Ah, ah, ah. This isn't ABOUT what you want, Havva. I want to know what you were going to do, not what your opinions about her are."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, that's why. She's a rebel. She doesn't need to be here."

"But didn't you use to be IN her rebel gang? If I'm allowed to call it that?" He glanced at me when he said that, and I nodded. Did it matter what we were called now? That was what we were. Rebels. The gang part was questionable, but at least he didn't call us dogs or scum. A gang was better in almost every possible way than SCUM.

"I might have... been in it once."

"And what makes you believe she's a problem now?"

Havva hesitated only for a moment, but it was enough for me to know without a doubt that the true Havva, the one that loved Jaz and would never EVER encourage someone, no matter who they were, to beat down someone else because of her differences, was somewhere deep inside her still. She just wasn't thinking straight. There was something wrong with her.

But wouldn't Leirre know that? And why wasn't he the same way? Was it the same reason Farrens and Soren had been left alone? But if they were normal, why was my mother a monster? Jaz's parents? Why were half of my "rebel gang" rebel-haters now? Why did they split and divide us like that?

It was too disorganized to be a plan thought out by the leaders. But who else could get to so many people in such a short amount of time?

"I don't know," Havva muttered. "I just... don't think she's right anymore."

"Right? About what?"

"Everything. She's a rebel. What COULD she be right about?"

Leirre seemed satisfied, or at least accepting, toward that answer, and moved on to Tummel. The corners of his lips rose exceedingly so, and he whispered, "What about you, boy? What's your purpose here?"

Tummel seemed confused. He glanced back and forth between Leirre and I, the disorientation clear on his face. "Um... I don't... I mean-"

"Speak up, boy, you're mumbling. Can't hardly hear a WORD you're saying."

Tummel cleared his throat and sighed, "I don't know why I'm here."

"Ah. Good enough for me. Havva, why don't you escort your friend here to his next class? He seems a bit out of it."

"A bit," she scoffed, but she took him by his arm quickly enough and left the room, giving me a dirty look. But I thought I saw a change in her. Just a tiny one. Like she was realizing I wasn't some horrible witch that cast a torturous spell to convince teenagers to join my gang and take over the city. Because, obviously, I was too idiotic to even control my tongue in front of an adult, let alone a whole crowd of kids.

Leirre faced us again, and the moment the door was closed, a more serious and angry side of him took over. "What do you kids think you're doing?" he accused harshly. "You can't just fight back so strongly like that, you'll just create a whole bloody war, and I don't think you're trained enough to handle that one."

"Excuse me?" Lune's voice echoed off of the walls angrily, and he stood up, furious. "They ATTACKED Kitten, and you just expect us to sit back and watch that happen? How could you ask that, you miserable-"

"Sit down, Mr. Drumer, that's enough."

The fact that he'd used his last name was enough to convince Lune the school head wasn't someone to be trifled with. He sat back down, glancing over at me, scrutinizing me for any injury, I guess. His gaze made me suck in air and look away, my cheeks flooding suddenly with pricks of painful flames like I'd been slapped.

"Now, if you're done shouting your heads off, I'd like to explain some things to you." Leirre leaned back and let out a long breath, like he was fighting the urge to scream out himself. "You four have noticed some changes in the people around you, haven't you?"

We all nodded.

"Of course, some people weren't affected. And do you want to know why?" He didn't wait for one of us to speak up. "Because only some of you show any potential. Some of that gang of yours wouldn't really last that long as rebellious kids, and we need a way to get them out of them before they get themselves hurt. Understand?"

I felt the world shift under my feet. He WANTED the gang to exist? "But, Leirre," I said, blinking rapidly, "why would you alter their brains when you can just do something in ours and turn us into your perfect puppets?"

"Come now, come now, where's the fun in that?" He laughed, then sat up straight and told me, looking right into my eyes, "The leaders make all the decisions. I don't have a part in who gets chosen and who doesn't. I just carry out the procedures. Now... I believe it's time for you to each have a bottle of these."

He reached deep into a desk drawer and pulled things out that made soft thunking sounds. I craned my neck to see what he was holding, eyes narrowed.

He stood up and came toward us with the biggest, most friendliest grin I'd seen on anybody's face my entire fifteen years.

What the heck?

"One for you, Mr. Drumer."

"Aren't last names-"

"Yes, yes, just take this. LUNE, there, is that better? One for you, Resh, Hexa." He came to me, gently pressing the object into my extended hands and closing my fingers around it. "Here you are, Kitten. Use them wisely." He laughed again, adding, "Trust me, it's dangerous."

I peeled my fingers back and saw I was holding an orange bottle of different colored pills. Purple ones, green ones, white ones, blue ones, red ones. We all shared the same look written in our eyes: we were completely mystified about what the heck these pills were for.

"Leirre, I-"

"No, no questions. Go on to class. You'll use them when you need them, I'm sure. And remember. They only last so long and aren't always permanent. Look what they did to poor Tummel. Now go on, kids. Go learn something."

Learn? That would be impossible now. With these pills rattling in their little medication bottles in our bags, could we even THINK at all? It was like he'd given us a poisonous shot. I remembered my mother's needle and wished he HAD stabbed me. It might have been a better way to go.

The door shut behind us, and we all pulled the bottles out to see them more clearly. We looked into each other's eyes and wordlessly knew what to do.

It wasn't like Leirre would find out we weren't going to take them. I might light mine on fire for good measure, and they might just bury them in the ground or something.

But we weren't swallowing them. That was out of the question.

I didn't know about anyone else, but I didn't want to end up like Tummel.