Burning for a Thief

chapter i

We're all born with a destiny, a fate. People millenniums before them have tried to evade it and create their own. That's not how it works. The universe controls your fate. Only after the Great Awakening did they realise this. They started mutating, creating a superior race. This race still lives with the scars of the serums; their markings. Not one person has the same set of markings. But one person in the world is superior to everyone else- a mistake in the code.

For centuries people have tried finding this person. They posses all the power to control the world. Only people haven't found this person. Ever since the first was found, no one has seen any successors.

Then the world started falling apart again. People were going back to the ways of fake love and heartbreak. The race couldn't handle it so they started killing each other off.

One person stepped up and read the marks of the remaining people, all 47 of them. He gave all of them necklaces with a flame inside. At first the flame is red, orange, and yellow but as you get closer and closer to your soulmate it glows hotter and hotter, soon turning green, blue, and purple. Now every child is given a necklace. Only it attaches itself to their body. It takes a sample of their blood and comes up with their soulmate. From there their flame is lit.

It all takes place 235 AA (After Awakening) in the town of Kalder just fifteen minutes before the clock strikes twelve.

- Deane's POV -

I pull my hood over my head and start walking on top of the roofs of houses. My feet are used to the slopes by now and jumping from ladder to ladder. It's only in this time that I feel truly peaceful. Night is the only time when I can sit and soak in everything that's happened.

I sit against a random chimney and look out on the town. All the lights are off, shades drawn, and skies clear of smoke. Everything's still. But I don't stop there. I look out at the rolling hills and the mountains off to the left. Since we're in a valley high above sea level I can see the town at the sea. I can faintly see the lights hanging from the docks. No one's out in the street.

I sigh and lean back, looking up at the stars. They're as bright as ever and they seem to blanket the sky. I remember when Caleb taught me the constellations.

Just thinking about him sends a wave of regret and longing through me. I feel the scar on the side of my face; a physical reminder of what happened. Now every time I look in a mirror I only see the long white slash from half way up the right side of my forehead to my top lip. It made my, once dark green, eye turn to a lighter shade; almost emerald. My regular colour is about as dark as pine needles. The scar stands out on my tan skin.

The markings I have are all white, like my scar, and sometimes they burn when I get really mad.

I hear the sound of a door opening and I immediately crouch behind the chimney. The footsteps in the gravel echo in the silence. That's why I travel by rooftop.

I watch as the man walks further down the path. His clothes are out of our usual tucked lifestyle, half of his dress shirt hanging out, he's fixing his belt, and his hair is a mess. I swear I see scratch marks on his back. He enters in the home and I immediately know who it is; Mr. Baker. He just had an affair with Mrs. Smith. Both are married happily, or so I thought.

I come out from my hiding spot and start hopping back to my own cottage. I share it with two of my brothers; Jack and Elliot. My father named me with a guy name since I was supposed to be his fourth son. Caleb was my oldest brother, Elliot's second-oldest, Jack is next, and then there's me.

But I was the one to take care of him, my father. His pride and joys were off at war and I was left to take care of the man I absolutely hate with every bone in my bone. I could never love him. Not after what he did to Caleb, Mom, and I.

I climb down from the cottage next to my own and walk to the back trees acres away. This is where I spend my summer nights. I can get away from chaos and responsibilities for a few hours.

I let my eyes drift shut as the wind blows my hammock from side to side. Off in the distance I can hear the ringing of the bells. The start of another day. Another pointless day.