Trial of Smoke

Chapter Five

The dress I wore was suffocating.

The mulberry color pulled out any color in my skin, paling me more than I was prepared to witness. The fabric clung to me like a glove permanently set into the skin, and my breathing was shallow as I walked, heels ringing around my bedroom. Paced was more like it. The whole week would be one large family-styled reunion. Only, the seven were far from my family. They were hungry sharks, lurking in the shallows, waiting for the smallest whiff of blood.

The only positive to the day was being reunited with Glenn's sister, Mara. We were once an inseparable group of four. Me, Mara, Glenn, and Castor were distantly related. Probably the only reason my mother was so soft on him. He was the product of her own cousin, after all. Imagine the scrutiny if she had turned him away in his need for a place to live after his father passed. The two had been our neighbors in the East wing. My room was directly across from Castor's and sandwiched between the two other siblings. Only then, Mara had been a different person. Much like me, she had hidden her true self for fear of what the world would think.

After her transition, after the change of her name, she had become the epitome of happiness. It floated around her like a drop of perfume and was so toxic, it was hard not to smile as she neared.

Not long after Glenn had chosen his profession as a chef, Mara had followed by joining the Enclave. Much like me, she dreamed of witnessing what the world possessed, experiencing life beyond the walls. We would often sneak into each other's rooms, giggling with each other about all the exotic men we would meet. All of the different cultures that were out there. I often envied her strength, her courage to have been able to break free. She was a pilot for one of the Seven families, and with that luxury came her very own skyfighter, one of the fastest pieces of transportation our country had to offer. Beyond chauffeuring the rich around, she was asked to transport packages and letters across the continent, flying into unknown lands and enemy territories. She always had a story to tell. They were always the same. Exciting, suspenseful, and terrifying.

The knock at my door was one I had been awaiting since I had received the update that the Reyes family had landed an hour prior. It wasn't a normal tap-tap, but rather a rhythm I had grown accustomed to. A secret knock we had come up with so we always knew it was the other awaiting the open door at two in the morning.

I pulled it wide and wasn't surprised as I was nearly tackled to the floor, seeing nothing more than a flash of honey-colored hair. The familiar scent of coffee and oil reached my nose as I tried to breathe through the bear hug I was receiving.

"Andromeda!" She howled out. Her grin should have torn at the corners, but instead, it forced my own. "A year is far too long to go without seeing your lovely face."

I laughed, taking her in. She wore her pilot uniform, a tight black jumpsuit that hugged curves she was always so proud of. "Try switching places with your brother. I think he's growing tired of me."

"Who could grow tired of you? You're funny and smart and... is that a new bed?"

Before I could answer, she flopped herself onto my mattress, nearly flopping right back off and onto the floor. Leave it to Mara to be unable to maintain focus on a simple compliment. She closed her eyes, the same eerie obsidian of her brothers, and made herself far too comfortable, considering Glenn would be showing up in five minutes for the long haul to the amphitheater at the center of town.

I huffed. "It's mother's old one."

"Leave it to that woman to only ever offer you her very comfortable and very luxurious hand me downs." She mocked my frustrations. She always kept me grounded, reminding me of the difference between myself and the rest of the world. You could always have it worse. It was her mantra that got me through each excruciating encounter with Mother. Helped me to fend of the nightmares that always attempted to consume me. I truly had missed her presence.