My first memory is when I was five. I remember sharp pains, squeezing and releasing around my neck, screams entering through my ears, tears and air leaving my eyes and lips. It took a couple seconds before I could finally take in the image before me, but I felt blind for hours. My mother was kneeling over me, sitting and putting all her weight on my stomach and legs, calloused hands hugging my throat. My grandmother was pulling at her shoulders, weakly tugging, weakly talking. It took me a bit longer to process what my mother was saying. At first all I could hear were shrieks, but they soon became words. 

You shouldn't be alive

You'll destroy everything like him

You both are a monsters

You are a demon

That was my first of only three memories I have of my mother. After that, I was moved away into secret rooms. I was moved into multiple rooms whenever I heard nana tell my father that my mother was close to tracking me down. They told me they did this to protect me, but I knew that was only the half of it. I knew that they were also trying to protect themselves.

Those seconds while my lungs were scavenging for air, abnormal tornadoes ravaged the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After civilization was revived, as was agreed upon, walls were built. They started with the blueprints drawn out by Mr. Black: a massive wall encircling all of humanity and added to it four more massive walls evenly dividing the circle into fours, then dividing those fours with lesser walls. From that blueprint, they decided upon who deserves which land. Innately, they had agreed upon giving Darius the worst piece of land, where no life grows. Darius attempted negotiating better terms many times; however, they were unwilling to even listen. 
The development crew started with The Four Great Walls, investigating small homes, sending Darius' people, civilizations' once beloved protectors, to their quarter and other families to the Quarters their skills best fit, and gathering able bodied citizens to assist in building the walls. 
While the development continued, word and fear began to spread amongst the people. People began to fear the name Darius Black and his people. 
They kill for entertainment.
They don't need the things we need.
They don't eat.
They don't drink.
They don't cry.
They don't love.
They aren't human.
They became known as Stalkers, and they will forever remain separated from humanity in their own Quarter. The Possessors wrote it; therefore it is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Luke came to the decision that his parents and himself were the only humans with hearts. He decided that when he overheard his mother say it to a neighbor in an argument. They were arguing about his family being the only ones willingly entering the Stalker Quarter. The Stalkers are uncivilized savages that threaten humanity. That's what his neighbor said. He looked over to his twin brother, a devilish smirk was on his face. When Seán noticed Luke staring at him, he looked up to the ceiling where Luke followed his line of sight. 
In an intricate setup, a trap was created for the neighbor. Some knifes and water-balloons were involved in whatever he was plotting. Luke jumped on his brother to keep him from doing whatever he was planning, and, as the struggle went on, the neighbor had already left and their mother had already gone to get ready to go to work. 
"Alright! Alright!" Seán says, forcing his brother off him. "Let's go boys!" Their father calls and walks through the front of the house. "Coming!" They both yell, identical in every way.  As they sprinted to the outside of the house, Seán quickly spun around before Luke made his way all the way through the door and shot his makeshift toy gun to trigger his trap. Down water poured onto Luke's head.

 

 

 

 

 

 

"You're infected, aren't you?" 
"I'm a little sick, yes. I haven't told the boys yet. I'll get better soon."
"You are a dear friend to me; I can't lose you."
Mrs. Flame patted Selena's shoulder and slightly nodded her head. 
"The boys are out and about, would V be interested in joining?" 
"Of course!" 
"That's wonderful."
Shakily, Mrs. Flame took a seat and let out a deep painful breath. 
"Let's start with the evaluation, shall we. How was your day yesterday?"

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I wonder where V is.

I had moved so many times that the distance in the moves now resemble the distance in our relationship. 

My brother no longer wants to care for me. 

He learned that whenever he does, whenever he even mentions me, mother gets very very mad. He doesn't want her mad at him, so he doesn't talk to me anymore. He's found new friends, if we ever were friends. The last thing he said to me was a question I couldn't answer. 

My brother asked me, if my powers are so great, why hasn't he seen me use them?

My nana told me that everyone but us in the world thinks that we got the unfair end of the deal. They became afraid of us and our powers, so they sent us to the impoverished, resource deprived part of the world. They saw our surface: gravel and huts, a true slum, and didn't know our secrets beneath.

My uncail told me that, before I was born, a disease raged among the earth infecting a select group of humans with powers. With gaining their powers, they lose something with equal and opposite affect. The same was for me, my da, my mam, my uncail, and granny. He told me that my da saved my life because it was stolen from me by the disease because my powers were all so powerful.

My mam and da don't talk to me.

Now, I am living in one place, yet still always on the move. They think I don't notice the room moving, but I can sense it. It's like a tide pulling me up and down slowly, rocking me into a hazy daze. The only times I get to leave are when I'm being examined. Sometimes, I'll overhear the results. Failed. They say I'm overly emotional, leaving me ultimately a danger to Stalker Society. If only I could get control. If I could just get a better understanding of the world, I could have perspective as to how I should feel; I could understand what's the right way to feel towards things. I could become useful the the Syndicate. To the mission.

My bedroom is relatively empty. A couple dolls to keep my absentminded, a small bed for my little body, and two lamps on either side of my bed. One is shaped like the moon and the other is the sun, supposedly. They're both just glowing circles; am I simply supposed to believe that that is what lights our world? They say empty makes you feel empty, meaning no dangerous emotions to harm anyone, so I must stay in here unless instructed otherwise.

My daily schedule is relatively the same. I start with morning lessons with nana while eating breakfast, free time to play with my dolls, 12:00 lessons with nana, afternoon inspection, therapy, and noon lessons with granny.

I have to decide when I want to escape and where I will hide to escape. Then, I will see the world.

In clean, starched, white and blue uniforms the "doctors" came to pick me up and take me to inspection. Despite the decent lighting already in the room, I had my lamps on and positioned only on one side of my bed. The whole point of inspection was to measure the extent of my powers, which I overheard are seemingly limitless. I had learned a little trick from inspection. My powers are a combination of my own and a power that happens to be passed down through my family bloodline. My own power is to control the elements and what branches outside of it: earth, water, fire, air, metal, lighting, ice, lava, there's probably more. My family, the Blacks, all have powers related to the shadows.

"This surgery could solve all our problems. Hopefully Leo's craziness won't screw it up. Who knows what'll happen to us if we fail, if end up hurting the... hey, where is the girl?" A woman, walking in through a door that seemingly isn't there, asks. A man follows in behind her through the wall. In the shadow of my bed I let out a quiet breath, and, as though the air leaving my mouth engulfed my body, I became like a shadowy fog and left through the wall.

"Oh God, where's the kid?!" I heard the man frantically question as the elevator door closed. The tube I was in was something I was actually used to, but, soon, I will see a new world. Turning away from my door, I look at the buttons that order the elevator where to take me.

Outside the door I could hear the two adults throwing around what little number of things I have in my room looking for me. I made sure to pile things in a way that it appears I could be hiding under anything anywhere.

Once I click a button, the elevator door will close, locking them in my room and taking me to whatever place I desire with them unknowingly coming with me. I read the buttons from top to bottom.

MANSION

HQ LOBBY

TRAINING

SERVICES

LABS

INFIRMARY

MORGUE

.

"." is my room, of course, and is keycard access only. I click on "services" and feel the elevator speedily jolt me up to my destination. I walk through the crowd of white pants that go in every direction imaginable. The room is pretty empty when you remove the people, there's just a few large desks placed around the floor that circle around a small group of people that work there. I go up to the table in the center of the room and jump up to grab the counter and the man's attention.

"Hey! Hey! Hey!"

"Oh, hi? What are you doing down here? Are you lost?"

"It was yesterday. Where's my brother? Why didn't I get to celebrate with my family?"

Another adult comes up and leans over the counter.

"Aw how adorable! Okay, little girl, how about we take you up top and you lead us to your family. You must be so scared. It was very smart and brave of you to come to us for help. You must have very good parents."

"...thank you."

I listen to their ridiculous banter. The woman teasing the man over petty stuff while I held their hands walking in between them.

And, just like that, I made it to the surface.

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When we first saw her, we all had different reactions. V took a sidestep and silently stared. Seán smiled and stepped closer, introducing himself. Taking a sidestep from Seán, I felt pity and introduced myself silently. 

"I'm Ten. That's my brother. He's been hiding from me."

"I have not." V replies. 

Hearing her say that, I accidentally let out a bit of a laugh. Seán frowned a little bit and shook his head, hardly noticeable as he still maintained a grin. V doesn't have any siblings. We listened into one of ma's meetings with Mrs. Black who was weeping over the  loss of one of her twins during the birthing. 

"Nice to meet you." he said, taking her hand.

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It was the breakthrough they had never expected. No abnormalities in the environment, no sudden hailstorms, lightning strikes during cloudless mornings, lava bursting from abysses in the ground, wind sweeping away people, just people living their lives. 

Ten always found herself hanging around Seán, Luke, and V. When she wasn't, her nana would care for her. She became Ten's new mother, making sure to keep Ten away from her mother through any means possible. The world had yet become known to Ten and the same was for Ten to the world. Rumors began to spread among the stalker children and adults of a child spirit that liked to play with the children and could only be seen by children.

Darius began to hold galas for the Stalkers in his mansion. 

Overall, a peace had overcome the world. Silence from all sides. Emotions blunted.

Ten could recall only a single night during this era where she had felt panicked. She was in the kitchen. It was late at night, and she didn't want to bother "mother" when she was thirsty. So, on her own, she went off to grab a glass of juice before getting back in bed to sleep. She made sure she was quiet and kept the lights off. Groping around the counters and opening and closing cabinets silently, she made her way around the pitch black kitchen. Her mother must have sense her reassurance. After taking a final gulp of the juice, the glass was gently taken out her hand. Ten couldn't see who it was who took it, but she whispered a thank you and turned to leave. The same hands that gently took the glass from her hands threw her onto the ground and glass at her. 

In that same position that she remembers from the beginning, she found her mother above her. This time, the woman's thumbs advanced closer and closer to her eyes. 

They look just like his.

Just like his.

Then, a sudden flame in the night.

Fire took hold of the Stalker Quarter.