Outsider ||ONC 2024||

Prologue

If they cut your name in half with a knife, it was just as tormenting as being burned alive.

It was almost as if you've become a stranger to your own family. They hunt for every piece of you, taking you from their memory.

You meant nothing to them—everyone's against you. And it could be a few days later that they put money out for your head.

It was almost as if sending your name to the grave took away all the emotions they used to have for you.

You were a throwaway.

And for what, doing something as little as saying the wrong thing to the wrong person?

I've seen people killed for even looking at someone a second too long.

Should I even mention what happened if you crossed paths with someone who took advantage of the opportunity to keep their name at the top?

It was as if we owed a stranger the very ground we walked on to stay alive.

But those were the rules, something that's been around for as long as I can remember.

They lay out like this:

-Your name is your source of life.

Every member of your family stands for something. If one falls, you usually all fall. Everyone's replaceable, so the story goes.

-When you are given an assignment, it has to be handled as a group, unless said otherwise.

It was their way to ensure that lips stay sealed, as if they were blackmailing us into fear—you are just as responsible as the person committing the crime.

-If anyone steps out of line, they are given one chance to step back in line.

I've seen cowards on their knees, and I don't blame them. It was almost instinct to beg for forgiveness when you had to answer to someone higher up.

And the most important rule:

-Anyone whose name is never spoken of, they are considered outsiders.

Outsiders had the choice to leave and never come back, or die. But don't be fooled, some would say there was a sense of honor in dying.

To quote what was said, it will free you of all the things you've ever done wrong, hah.

The truth, though, was that usually, by the end of the night, there was a price for your head anyway. It was just another way for them to keep people in line.

Outsiders, they were nothing but prey for all these little predators. No matter what, they were bound to be hunted and killed, and all for a little bag of coins.

I didn't choose this life. No one did. But the ones who starved for power in a broken system, they did this. They knew the poor would do anything.

And for some, including my family, reputation meant everything.

I'm not surprised with the way things are. Its been heading in this direction for years. And now, its all out there—a rich man's fanfare.

But when the dust settles, we'll see whose left standing. And trust me, I don't plan on being a little pawn in their game anymore.

If they want me, well, they'll just have to come find me.

-

A black cloak flapped in the wind. It stood out from the colors of the rising sun in the distance.

Seconds later, it was gone, falling from the rooftop of a rundown building.

It disappeared into the maze of other buildings just like it, the only thing left to show that someone had been there was a wanted poster.

Word Count: 587