REVOLUTION: A Rebel Among Monsters ✔

One••Welcome to Cerule

Was it all pointless? She was going to die, right? Decorations, designs, homework—was it necessary?

Dizzy from the memories crashing through her, she abandoned her essay and hastened to the room next door—her bathroom. A thin film of sun peeked through the slitted window, and she sucked in a breath as she pressed the button on the sink to extract water. The liquid trickled from the metallic faucet and into the silvery basin, where she dipped her hands. The icy sensation soothed her, eased her worries.

And in seconds, the soothing disappeared, hearing her mother's voice somewhere in the back of her skull.

Crap.

What would her parents say? Their eighteen-year-old already rebellious daughter trespassed. And to impress a boy, no less.

In a panic, she scrambled out of the bathroom and glanced down the hall, towards the stairs. Dry-heaving, she tiptoed closer, calves cramping as she fought tremors.

Ah, but the parents weren't home yet. It was mid-afternoon, how had she forgotten? They were still at the local supermarket, haggling prices for their gathered crops. Like every sixth day of the week, the fruit and vegetable farmers of Jorco met to exchange their goods. Meaning she had a few more hours to brainstorm; to figure out how to destroy their lives yet again.

"Hey Mom, hey Dad. Guess what I did last night? And guess what it's going to do to our family?"

Oh, they were used to her antics. But this? This wouldn't be the same. If it caused her to become the next sacrifice—

She stormed down the brick stairs and smacked her face to the foyer window, double-checking her facts. Sure enough, the family carriage was gone.

"Calm down, Mel," she told herself as she meandered to the living room and sank into the leather couch. Her mom's favorite fruit plant's leaves dangled over her face, shading her from the light pouring in from the window. "It'll be all right. I'm exaggerating. It won't happen."

"If you trespass, you die—there's no denying it."

The stupid rumor passed along at school echoed in her head. Gossip claimed many had ventured into the Forbidden Side before her... and none lived much longer to inform the world what they saw.

"Damn you, Quincy!"

The boy's bright azure eyes swam in her mind, along with his blinding sly smile as they snuck under the wall and into the dark. Their linked hands as they skipped farther into the unauthorized territory. A frozen space of obscurity, buried in snow, sprinkled with blue crystals.

Blue crystals that Quincy was obsessed with.

"Come with me! I have to see them, figure out if the whispers are true; that the purest Cerulean Crystals are on the other side!"

Why had she caved? He knew better than to entice her, yes, since he was nineteen and past the risk of sacrifice, and she wasn't... but still! Had he not learned not to feed her curiosity?

Scoffing, she imagined herself rebuffing his requests, saying what she really thought. "It's off-limits and illegal, Quinn! I can't go with you!"

But instead, she bit her tongue and gave in. Because the Forbidden Side... was too tempting to ignore. Deprived of sunlight, chilled by heaps of snow, it was a dangerous place for anyone to visit. Punishable by the Sheriff, and... reputed to send eighteen-year-olds to their deaths.

By some magical twist of events, she and Quincy weren't arrested. Oh, they triggered all the alarms, but Quincy navigated around them. He was prepared.