LIRA: Book I

CHAPTER ONE: The Acceptance Letter

"The LORD judges in favor of the oppressed and gives them their rights." Psalm 103:6

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After the Great World War during the mid-21st century, the president of the Republic of the Philippines decided to create a Caste Order for the government to easily control the citizens. Riot was rampant at that time, and people were out of control. After hours, days, weeks of deliberation behind closed doors, it was then decided that a certain kind of social system is the solution to the growing destabilization in the country. People with the same social status were grouped together and a leader was appointed for each caste. The government's reason for creating such feat was due to the fact that people of the same status understood each other better; they have common concerns and the government can address problems clearly and effectively if it was grouped according to people's needs. At that time, the President knew that the people might revolt once they recover from their state of shock and despair. But these things have to be done. The head of the nation later decreed that once pandemonium has been resolved, the caste system will be abolished and the country can start anew.

Shortly after the war, the Plague reached the Philippine shore; it rapidly affected the populace of the country. The entire world was devastated with the remnants of the one-year long war and the Plague that had caused a pandemic outbreak of disease. Even the great minds from powerful countries couldn't find a cure for the disease. It was then that a vampire named Magnus, who hailed he was a king on his own right, step forth and announced the vampires of the world are willing to cure the people with a single drop of blood from a royal line of vampires in exchanged for all the vampires to be allowed to make their existence known to the entire world. The Blood Compact Treaty was then created and the vampires began roaming freely.

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YEAR 2125

It was indeed a very fine morning, as seventeen-year old Lira Santos rushed towards their house, waving a piece of paper in the air, her brown eyes beaming with delight behind her spectacles. Oh, this is the happiest day of her life! And she couldn't wait to share with her Auntie May the news. But how is her aunt going to take it? The letter Lira held was a dream come true. It could change the course of her life; provide her and her aunt a much better life than what they have now.

She remembered the frenzy three weeks ago. All kids her age from different castes had waited for the day when the Imperial Academy would open its doors to receive applications from aspiring senior students. She recalled herself standing in front of the mirror, her small, gaunt face staring back at her, while she brushed her long black, frizzy hair until it became less frizzy. It was a hopeless endeavor, she knew. But she had to look her very best for the photo she would be using for the application form. She wasn't exactly pretty-looking if you asked her; she was passable. Her best friend Claire would often tell her that she did, however, have a cute smile if ever she thought of smiling, which she seldom did. Did she smile on the picture she had attached on the forms? She couldn't remember.

She also spent a month-long to write, re-write then re-write what she had re-written, a one-page essay explaining why she should be chosen among thousands of hopefuls. She felt dismayed afterwards when she mailed her forms and later learned that her neighbors Lisa and Jane prepared their essays a year earlier. Yes, acceptance to the Academy was coveted that much. All expenses paid; monthly allowances... It was heaven for someone in a lower caste. The only catch? She will be having vampires for classmate. But Lira would worry about that later, she decided.

For Lira, the Imperial Academy was the only place where everybody from different castes was given the same opportunity to study. After the Great World War 100 years ago, there was utter chaos all throughout the country. Desperation had driven the Government to divide the citizens into four groups in order for them to better control the situation at hand, they said. Lira belonged to the Third Order from the caste system. They serve as the workers of the society, or simply those who struggle to meet even the basic needs as per Lira's opinion. But they were simply called as the Third Order. I hate that term, Lira thought grimly.