Eyera (The Eyera Series Book 1) Read online

“What are you doing?”

  Miss Katherine Bennett stands with a doctor, glaring.

  “I was er … asking if she needed any help.” he says nervously.

  “Is that on your schedule? Did it explicitly state to help Miss Shader, hmm,” she poises.

  The boy begins to shake.

  “No, Miss Katherine Bennett. I thought … I … I don’t know. I am so -sorry,” he cowers.

  “So, you thought it be a good idea to interrupt someone else while they work, and not follow order,” she says stoic.

  Miss Katherine Bennett makes the girl shrink, avoiding the hawk.

  “Give him a break, he was asking if I needed help, he didn’t do anything wrong.” I bite getting irritated.

  I don’t realise I had said that. The boy and girl’s mouth open looking at Miss Katherine Bennett waiting to see what she do, and I’m feeling nervous, Miss Katherine Bennett clicks her jaw.

  “Get back to work now!”

  They scurry off. Miss Katherine Bennett looks at the ribbon and looks at mine, and she is fuming. I get back to scrubbing, and Miss Katherine Bennett goes back to talking discreetly with the doctor. She says my name as if I’m a deadly weapon.

  “How do people know what Miss Shader did to those guards?” she snaps.

  “Words travel fast, or unless, she is telling people,” the doctor responds

  “She wouldn’t do that; she’s smart,” she says.

  Loud boots pound and I take a quick peak to see Lieutenant Larcival walking to Miss Katherine Bennett, taking an indrawn breath.

  “Miss Katherine Bennett,” he says.

  “Lieutenant, what can I do for you?”

  I can feel him staring.

  “Why are you keeping the despicable child alive? Have you not seen what that child has done,” he says.

  “I’m aware Lieutenant,” Miss Katherine Bennett responds calmly.

  “Then why the hell are you not taking action; and kill her.”

  I shudder thinking what she will do, the guards respect her and would not dare to speak to her the way he’s speaking.

  “I’ll be careful where you tread, Lieutenant. I have my reasons,” she pauses making him scoff.

  “I have my reasons too, reasons why she should be killed, she killed my nephew, shot him in the stomach and right in the heart, she does not deserve to live,” he thunders.

  My stomach drops hearing that I killed his nephew. I didn’t know.

  “You don’t think I know that. Miss Shader will live, you ever go against my order there will be consequences. Who made you Lieutenant?” she says.

  He smacks his lips and his eyebrows arch.

  “You,” he says.

  “Don’t forget it. A snap of my fingers and I can have you crawling on your knees. Now, get back to work,” she says.

  Lieutenant Larcival glances at me, lip curled and walks away, but Miss Katherine Bennett calls him.

  “Oh, Lieutenant—”

  “Yes,” he turns round.

  “Talk to me like that ever again, and the scar on your lip won’t be the only visible thing, do I make myself clear.” she warns.

  “Yes, Miss Katherine Bennett,” he says through clenched teeth.

  Miss Katherine Bennett turns and our eyes lock intensively. I turn quickly back to scrubbing, hoping she doesn’t say anything. Her heels click gently, and I pray she carries on, she gets closer and stops. Right beside me. I tense.

  “A guard asked me to let you wear the ribbon, I never allow such a thing, but I thought I let this slide and see what happens, and I have seen enough,” she says.

  I continue scrubbing the floor.

  “Tell me Miss Shader, what does it mean?” she questions.

  I rinse the dirty sponge in the bucket till every last drop is free, she gets frustrated. I pat my hands on my clothes and look at her fiercely, not sure where this sudden courage is coming from.

  “I think you know what it means,” I say.

  She smiles sinisterly, so sharp. She walks off entering into the elevator, our eyes meet yet again, not breaking contact. The doors close and a part of me regret saying that, but another part it felt so good. I let out a heavy breath – that was pretty intense.

  “Wow, you sure pissed off Miss Super Bitch,” Raiya says frightening me.

  She puts her hand on her hips and tilts her head.

  “You are very good at it,”

  “I guess it’s a special attribute,” I say.

  “Let’s get out of here,” she says looking at me differently.

  I walk to the doors, but her voice reels me back.

  “Why are you taking the stairs when we can use the elevator,” she says.

  Is she serious, really? She pulls me in.

  “What happened to don’t be lazy?” I mock.

  She flicks her hand.

  “Don’t get smart with me, I won’t tolerate it,” she warns playfully.

  Level thirteen catches my interest once again.

  “What is on level thirteen?” I say hoping Raiya will explain this addiction. Her face grows darker.

  “Don’t ever go there,” she spits.

  I was about to ask why but she silences me with a glare.

  “Because it’s evil, I know,” I say.

  “Good, then you should stop asking questions,” she says ending the conversation. The doors open and Raiya and I head to the cafeteria waiting in the queue, stomachs rumbling like whales.

  “Gosh, this line is slow. Are sloths serving us,” she says.

  I snicker and she laughs too.

  “You’re impatient,” I say.

  “Well what can I say, guess it’s a special attribute.” she winks.

  Raiya gets food slopped on the tray, Eethia looks at me but doesn’t growl or snarl, she gets something from back, and I wait for her to throw food on my tray, but to my surprise she doesn’t. She puts a spoonful of mixed vegetables and slices of mushrooms the ones Linxston gave me. Raiya grabs two bottles of water and hands me one.

  “The lion didn’t growl, how did you tame her?” she says.

  “I don’t know,”

  I think it has to be Phaedra’s doing.

  We walk in sync to the others, Cyren smiles at our presence.

  “Well, look it’s my two favourite gals,” he says making Raiya blush.

  Raiya sits next to Cyren, and I sit next to Parrish, we tuck into the food. I eat not realising that they are staring at me, I look up with a mouthful of food.

  “So the girl eats,” Parrish says.

  “I like a gal with appetite,” Cyren winks.

  “I bet you do,” I say.

  “You guys should have seen what Acelyn did earlier,” Raiya says which I scowl, Cyren notices and eyes light up like a child on a festive holiday.

  “Ooh what did she do?” he says engrossed.

  “She told Miss Super Bitch where to go,” Raiya says like a proud mother.

  “I didn’t … ” I interrupt.

  “Oh hush,” Raiya says putting her index finger up.

  Cyren lips grow wider.

  “Shut up, Cyren,” I say.

  “I didn’t say anything,” he responds.

  “You don’t have to, you are giving me that look,” I say.

  “Ya remarkable,” he winks making Orin giggle.

  Our conversation gets interrupted by a muffling noise from the speaker.

  “Delinquents, it has come to our attention about the infamous ribbons people are wearing, ribbons are banned, and anyone caught wearing one, will be punished severely, that is all.”

  All eyes land on me. I didn’t realise more people were using the ribbon. I stand, eyes following every move; they wait to see what I’m going to do, some of them are expecting me to say something. Guards watch cautiously, hands ready on their weapons. I pull one piece, and it falls in my hand, I look at it for a moment, then I scrunch it up throwing it in the bin. A few people do the same too, smiling as they throw theirs in the bin.

&n
bsp; Why are they looking at me like I’m hero, I’m no hero.

  I leave the cafeteria to the garden, needing air. I was wrong, so wrong, of course, they can take the ribbon away. I didn’t know people were using it as courage. I wasn’t expecting it to cause a fuss.

  The wind brushes on my skin making my hair stand up, the grey sky is darker, looks like it’s going to rain and thunder. I breathe hard. This place is getting harder to handle every day. It’s crushing my soul.

  A body slumps and strong arms pull me into a hug, it’s warm and gentle.

  “I’m sorry about the ribbon,” he says.

  It looks childish that I’m upset over a fabric, but this ribbon means so much more.

  “It’s not your fault,” I murmur.

  He brings me closer smelling of bleach and plastic.

  “Where did they get the ribbons from anyway?” I say.

  “From the fabrics on level twenty-five,” Cyren answers.

  “Couldn’t they wear something else?,” I say.

  “If they could they would, people are looking up ta ya, they know what ya done to those guards,” he says.

  “I don’t want them looking up to me, it’s not what I intend to do, and how do they know?” I mutter.

  “People hear things, ya becoming something to them, ya give them courage,” he says

  “I’m not giving anyone courage,” I say.

  “Why do ya wear the ribbon?” Cyren asks.

  “I wear it because it feels right, it’s the only thing that keeps me, me,” I whisper.

  “I understand,” he says.

  Cyren and I sit for what feels like hours; I enjoy his company, I feel safe, and only Hunter makes me feel safe. I miss him, so much but he’s not here, not even in my dreams.

  “Cyren, can I ask you something?”

  “Shoot,” he says.

  “How did you end up here?”

  Cyren lips lose its smile and seeing him think back hurt, he moves his arms from me and places them on the ground. He chuckles hiding behind humour, the way he deals with pain and escaping. I don’t want to be persistent like he has to answer, I don’t want him to unless he feels like he should and can trust me.

  “My mum, dad and I were eating at the time of the event. My dad asked me how my day was, and it wasn’t great at all. All the training I had ta do, I hated it. Well, guards busted the door and flooded in, they held my dad and myself down, and with my mum, they,” Cyren stops his voice cracking, he swallows hard.

  “They beat her ta death. They made us watch. She was choking on her blood, her screams play in my head every single night. Eventually, she became silent. She just stared at me.” He chews his bottom lip on the verge of crying.

  “I never got ta hug or tell her how much I loved her, they killed her because of me, because I refused ta be a guard, and follow orders,” he says.

  His eyes glaze but he doesn’t let tears fall, he holds them and puts on a little broken smile.

  “A guard?” I say.

  “Yeah, born in Eishen and raised ta be a guard, I didn’t want that,” he says.

  “Cy-I am so sorry,” I whisper.

  He looks directly at me and licks his lips.

  “It’s not ya fault, it’s Eyera,” he says.

  “How long have you been here, Cyren?” I ask.

  He shrugs and smiles weakly.

  “I’ve lost count.”

  one day to the escape.

  I replay Cyren’s story over and over again, it’s brutal and so vivid. I can’t get it out of my head; it made me sick what Eyera has done, they took his mother because of his refusal, and Cyren carries that guilt. Cyren is strong, caring and funny, and no matter what Eyera does to him he finds a way to keep going, Eyera is chipping away at him bit by bit, but he won’t let them break him.

  Orin walks into my cell with a schedule, hiding his hand behind his back. I take the board, and he shyly looks to the ground.

  “Hey Orin, you don’t have to hide from me, don’t let Eyera think you’re worth nothing, hand or no hand it doesn’t matter,” I say.

  He smiles heartily, bringing up his arm looking proud, he walks out with his head up high.

  I look at the schedule seeing Miss Katherine Bennett authorised it. I fall back to my bed sighing loudly not wanting to do this stupid schedule. I take the elevator pressing level twenty-two, the doors open and I see lots of people in vests and shorts doing pull-ups, press-ups, sit-ups and fighting each other, some are on running machines, others using apparatus and weights. The gym is massive it puts my father’s gym to shame. Everyone of them is focussed that they don’t notice I’m here. I walk across the polished wooden floor admiring the gym; an instructor stands in front holding a stopwatch and yelling at the teenagers to go faster; it’s quite frightening and intense. I turn to my right seeing a boy pushing a cart picking up dirty towels and sweaty T-shirts. He notices me and comes my way.

  “Ah, so you got stuck on sweaty duty too,” he says leaning on the handles.

  “What are they training for?” I ask.

  “They are the new recruits to be Eyera guards,” he answers.

  “I thought they train in Eishen,” I say.

  “Oh they do, but they come here too.”

  I watch a boy on the monkey bars up high, sweat soaks into his body and he is red, he puffs loudly as he leaps from one bar to the next, he does it again but misses it and crashing down, he holds his elbow hissing and the instructor towers over him.

  “I slipped,” the boy says.

  “Oh you slipped,” he says strangely.

  The instructor brings his knee up high and stomps it down onto the boy’s face, nose crunching.

  “Get the hell up, and don’t make another mistake!” he shouts.

  The boy is on his feet saluting the instructor.

  “Yeah, they are extreme,” says the boy with the cart.

  All the recruits are tall, fit, broad and in great shape, they have been built their entire lives for this, they are pushed intensively to such extreme limits.

  A tall, muscly boy throws his towel at the boy with the cart, and it knocks him backwards.

  “Thank you so much,” he says sarcastically.

  He shakes his long brown shaggy hair into place.

  “I’m Fven,” he says extending his hand.

  We shake.

  “Acelyn.”

  “Nice to meet you, good to see a different face, we should get to work,” he says.

  Fven and I go round the gym picking up sweaty clothes and towels, I refill their water bottles and give them clean towels. Fven pushes the cart thought the double doors and I follow, three washing machines and three tumble dryers lined neatly opposite from each other. Fven empties the basket putting them in colour order.

  “So, we must separate the clothes, these machines are not like standard machines, they are built particularly, if we mix the clothes it will ruin it, so these clothes go here, these clothes there and these clothes over there,” Fven says.

  I kneel down sorting the clothes into three different piles, after five minutes of sorting we put them into the machines. Fven leans on the washing machines.

  “What did you do to get stuck in here?”

  I don’t want to say I murdered their people to keep Hadrian safe, he doesn’t need to know.

  “Interference,” I say.

  “Got to give me a little more detail than that honey,” he says.

  “They were hurting my brother, so I stepped in, is that detailed enough?” I snap.

  “Whoa, touchy subject,” he says holding his hands up.

  “What about you then?” I ask.

  “Take a guess,”

  “Stealing?” I say, and he touches his chest as I offended him.

  “Do I look like a thief to you?” he says and I shrug.

  “My family has plenty of food, and I mean plenty, we are rich, and besides I got caught giving food to the unfortunate,” he says.

  “Oh, would you loo
k at that, the most affluent area does have some kindness,” I say sarcastically.

  “We are not all the same, not all of us agree with Eyera,” Fven says.

  The machine pings letting us know it’s done, I’m glad it does as I can feel the tension is thick.

  Fven takes out the damp clothes and puts them into the tumble dryer.

  “There’s not much to do now, I finish off here and you go.”

  “I don’t mind staying,” I say.

  “No, it’s fine, go,” he says.

  I dip my head; turning on my heels and walk out. I walk to the elevator feeling uncomfortable as eyes glue to me and they whisper to each other, everywhere I go people do the same thing. I enter in the elevator looking at level four, I decide against as level thirteen calls my name, a quick look won’t hurt. I press level thirteen and the elevator goes down, I think what is so bad on that level, is it the drug level? That is the only bad thing I can think of, it has to be the drug level that is the only other explanation. Thinking about it makes my palm sweaty and stomach churn, my knees grow weak and I chew my fingernails. I get closer and my heart thunders, my ears feel like it’s lost its hearing. The elevator stops. Level thirteen. The doors open slowly and I tremble, I step out and a horrific stench meets my nose, it’s foul and rotten. I use my sleeve covering my nose, but the smell still gets through. The floor and walls are jet black with a little light that shines from the side, I make my way to it, each step I take the smell grows more potent, and I feel vomit creeping up my throat. Light reflects from a huge glass window, the room is touched with white, my eyes follow to the middle and a boy is tied, arms pulled high to each side, feet barely touching the ground. His head is down and he’s shirtless; covered in cuts, bruises, fresh and dried blood. A blue ribbon is tied on his right leg and I remember who he is. I put my hand on the cold glass, he looks blemished and raw red, his right eye is huge with black and purple bruises, he takes a moment looking and tugs a smile, I can see it pains him. He tries to speak, but I can’t hear or make out what he is saying, he mouths a word over and over again. I study his lips carefully, run he says. The room loses its whiteness and turns orange, he struggles but the wires pull him further apart. He moves his head signalling me to get out. He screams the word run, saliva dribbling down his chin. The room turns a deeper shade of orange and red, panic is in his eyes, he looks up as something called him and then I hear an explosion as fire blazes out of the wall and charges at his body. The fire burns his flesh ripping his raw skin apart; I smash my hands on the window.