Under the Clouds

Chapter 1

Matthew Halls was a dictator, a tyrant. He was unfair, cruel, unforgiving, and remorseless. He cared for no one but himself. He had rebuilt our city as a profit city; all of the factories and offices increased our economy, but most of the money went to Matthew and his family. Almost everyone in the city hated Matthew Halls, but we could say nothing about it. He had spies all over the place; one bad word on Matthew, and your life was gone in an instant. He was a bully and had an unhealthy greed for power. He was the most powerful man in Indova, and some of the citizens believed he was the most powerful man of the Cybrium States. Now, if that ever happened, the entire country would be doomed. There was no way to stop him, though. He was an intelligent leader, a manipulator. He knew how to get what he wanted without ever lifting a finger or batting an eyelash.

There was some hope, however. A small smile flew over my face as I thought about the Cybrium Press. Every Sunday, when the paper was delivered, there was an article about one of the Cybrium presidents thinking of declaring war against Indova or having Matthew thrown out. It did make Matthew Halls nervous; he was starting to issue out deportation letters to all of Indova men over the age of 19 to enlist in the Indova Militia. It was mandatory. I cringe at the thought of seeing my brother off to the military, knowing that there was no way he would come back. The Indova Militia was a bloodbath. If you were blind, you had to fight. If you had no arms and legs, you had to fight. If you were on the verge of death, you had to fight until your heart stopped beating and blood stopped flowing through your veins. If you were lucky enough to live out any battle or training that the Indova Militia had, you would come back home as a beaten, bloody and unrecognizable mess to your families. Every Indova solider that came back from training, war, or a battle, they told their stories, and they killed themselves.

I let out a soft sigh, thinking of my brother's smiling face, when I felt two strong hands squeeze my shoulders, causing all of the blood in my body to run cold. My brother had always told me to watch out for the creepers on the bus. The creepers always hung out on the bus, waiting for young girls like me to show themselves. I held in my scream and struggled out of the man's strong grip. I gripped his wrists, trying to pry his meaty hands off of me, but they wouldn't budge. His cheek suddenly pressed to mine, and his hot breath crept into my ear.

"Amiera, my darling, did you do the English paper?"

His soft chuckling forced heat to my cheeks, and I roughly pulled myself away from one of the most annoying adolescents that happened to be included in my generation. I wiped his germs off my jacket and glared hatefully at the boy as he continued to laugh and casually seated himself next to me, a wide smirk on his Cupid lips. I clenched my hands into fists and flattened myself against the window.

"Did you forget to do your homework again, Declan?"

He rose his dark eyebrows, taking out a small brush and brushing the dark waves of his hair. "It might have slipped my mind, darling."

"Stop calling me that, you'll make me sick."

A hearty laugh escaped his lips, and I ignored the goosebumps that formed on my skin. No matter how much Declan annoyed me, I couldn't ignore how attractive he was. He was the pretty boy of the school, the most attractive boy in our senior class. He had beautiful, dark skin that shined like the night. His eyes were wide, dark almonds that beckoned you to come closer to him. He was tall and lean, a star football player at school. Declan, though, had been the most disturbing thing in my childhood. He had been telling dirty jokes and crude things aloud ever since we were fourteen. He had one night stands and bragged about them, giving the girl a level of popularity for being with the Declan Johnson. I, on the other hand, would never fall into one of Declan's trap. First off, I hated Declan. Secondly, Declan hated me, no matter how many provocative things he said to me. He did that just to bug me. When we were thirteen, a game of spin the bottle had hastily ended once the bottle chose me and Declan to lock lips. The entire room was empty in a matter of seconds.