Bloodlines ✓

One

Asher was nervous. The year was 2567--his fifteenth birthday was upon him. The day he so very much feared was nearly here--Sentencing Day.

Sentencing Day was the day that every fifteen-year-old gathered in their city's community center and was given their fate. Their fate would be determined on their parent's good deeds, or their crimes. Good deeds would surely give the teen nice housing, a good education, and a chance to pursue any occupation without someone holding them back.

But, children of criminals on the other hand, didn't have it so well. When someone committed a crime, they would be detained until their first child reached Sentencing Day age. From there, the criminal would be released and their child would get the punishment for the crime--it was seen as a way to keep crime at an all-time low. The criminals would be scared into not committing any sort of crime in fear that it'd cause them to lose another child.

Asher felt like he had nothing to fear. He was sure that his parents weren't hiding anything from him. He was just nervous about what perks he might get for his parents' behavior.

Asher twiddled his thumbs as he sat on his bed, waiting for dinner to be called. This part of the day had been often slow going. There was no doubt in Asher's mind that his younger brother, Winslow, was already busy.

Suddenly there was a knock on his bedroom door. "Asher? Can I come in? We need to talk."

"Yeah. Sure. Come in," Asher said, a smile on his face. He was sure that this would be about the perks he'd be given on Sentencing Day.

His mother paced into the room and took a seat near her son. "I'm sure you're nervous about Sentencing Day."

Asher nodded. "Yeah. I am." He paused before saying, "I'm nervous to see what perks I'll get."

His mother sighed before wetting her lips.

Why is she sighing?, Asher questioned, his heart rate slightly picking up. He tapped his foot, nervously. "Mother-" Asher started. For some unknown reason, he found it hard to say anything to her. "You seem nervous too..." He paused for a moment. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Well, that's the thing Asher...." His mother inhaled. Her eyes were clouded with something. Pain? Asher believed it to be. "You won't be getting perks."

Asher's heart sank. "What do you mean by that?" The smile on his face had already long dissipated at that point.

"I bet you're wondering why you never see your father around," his mother began.

Asher could practically sense the unease on his mother. He wanted to reach out and pat her back or do something...anything...to comfort her, but he didn't; he couldn't bring himself to. Instead, Asher gulped. He knew where this was going.

"Your father knew a man by the name of Henry. Henry didn't treat your father the fairest--and because of that, there was..." A brief moment of silence ensued. "...consequences on Henry's part," Asher's mother told him. "Do you know what happened to Henry?" Her eyes were watering ever so slightly.

Asher was slightly shaking now. "No. Ummm... What did happen to Henry?"

"He was killed by your father." Asher's mother slightly sniffled. She seemed to be mentally reminiscing on memories of Asher's father...before he had killed Henry. "I'm sorry, Asher, I-" She stopped. She seemed to have choked on every word in that sentence.

Silence violently filled the room.

Asher's mother closed her eyes, inhaling and exhaling to a nonexistent rhythm. It was like she was running over numbers and beats in her head. Finally, she opened her eyes again, wiping the few tears near her eyes off her face with her sweater sleeve.

Asher's mother stood up, pacing toward the door. She called over her shoulder saying, "Dinner will be ready in ten minutes." Then, she left the room leaving Asher alone with his thoughts.