Her Defective Secret - CURRENTLY NOT UPDATING

Estranged

 Chapter 5

Asher's POV

It's definitely killing.

They say it's 'ridding a society of an evil menace'.

But every time that someone tries to convince me of that, I flip them off.

In reality, my society is just some killing machine, but we all knew that.

I passed a tiati the other day. She was smiling so cheerfully it nearly made me throw up. It was as if she was unaware she killed innocents everyday. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the killing. Just the death of innocents. Like my sister.

And everyone else is just so unaware; grinning and laughing the entire time.

I know better.

I've always had a rebellious streak, even when I was younger. I was only about seven, but I remember the day tragedy struck. And everyone knew that once you go inside that court, no one ever came back out.

I push back the memory. Dwelling on it would just make me go do something reckless, and I was already in trouble. Especially that little stunt I pulled; glaring at that tiati. I was honestly surprised she didn't drag me to court right then.

I walk outside, squinting at the bright sunlight. I see one tiati walk around, her eyes dark, but her mouth curved up into a smile. It's a holiday for tiatis, which makes what I'm about to do much more dangerous.

Of course, I've tried it once before. Dreadful the first time around but it gets better. I found it a couple months ago on the outside of the district. A type of plant that had a peculiar fragrance. And the first thought I had: set it on fire. I'm not usually an arsonist, but when I am, I take only the best precautions. So if you see a kid setting a flower on fire while at the same breathing in the chemicals that it released, don't tell anyone. But if you lived where I do, you'd be forced to. I remember my sister telling me specifically to stay inside the boundaries.

"Asher, don't leave the Lily district," Mia ruffles my hair.

"Why not?" I move my sister's hand aside. "I'd be in the Daffodil district."

"Don't you want to stay here with me?" Mia teased. I giggle as she fakes her tears.

"But Mia, it would be so cool to be a Daffodil!" I gush. "Have you seen what they wear?"

My sister's face dims a little. "Yes Ash, but have you seen how they act?"

Her eyes start to glitter like they do when she's excited. "They're terrible monsters!"

She holds me close to her lap as I stare with an awestruck face.

"I've heard they eat little boys," Mia says, her voice dripping with fake menace. "And you know what their job is?"

"What?" I'm completely immersed in the story at this point. Mia had always been an excellent tale-teller.

"To hur -" Mia is interrupted by a shriek.

"Via!" I use my little five-year-old legs to take me to my other sister, who seems to be frozen.

"Oh, take it away!" She gasps.

Mia laughs at Olivia's expression. In front of her was a small puppy, barely five months old. It looked rather haggard, with sunken eyes, prominent ribs and sharp teeth.

"Via, it's a puppy!" Mia, being the brave little trooper she was, picks up the tiny dog.

"Isn't it adorable, Ash?" She pets it and murmurs to it softly.

"Miriam!" A woman comes out of our house after hearing the tumult. "Put that thing down!"

Our mother was always one to abide by the rules, never breaking one. Most probably, it was illegal for us to have such a thing on our farm.

"Why, Mother?" Mia clutches on to the furry little thing.

"You know very well why!" Forcing the skinny pup out of her hands, our mother takes it and quite literally launches it across the border.

All three of us scream at watching the frightened puppy being flung over the gate and landing with a sickening thump on the other side.

Olivia cries silently and Mia watches, horrifies at the unmoving figure.

"Why?!" Mia runs into our small home, shutting the door with a loud bang.

Our mother sighed. "Miriam doesn't understand the position we are in, but you do, don't you, Olivia?"

Olivia shakes quietly, her frame wracked with silenced sobs.

"Asher, please make sure your sister doesn't catch a cold," Mother walks back into the house, completely oblivious to the fact she had made her daughter cry.

"Wouldn't it be better if we were Daffodils, Via?" I sit next to her.

"We-we could ke-keep the puppy, then," Olivia chokes out through her sobs. "It's my fault isn't it? I was the one who found the puppy, I made Mother mad, I made Mia angry, and I made you sad."

"What's for dinner?" I get our minds off the topic.

Olivia scoffs through her tears. "Probably nothing, like last night."

"Would we have enough food if we weren't Lilys?" I ask stupidly.

"Maybe," Olivia says, in a hushed voice. "Maybe."

Olivia had long since moved out. On her eighteenth birthday, she became a Poppy, a lower class police officer of some sort. She rarely visited home and always blamed it on her millions of cases. 

On Christmas, though, she would send me a small package of cash and a note telling me to keep it for myself. I was still waiting to turn eighteen. After a few months from my birthday, I would have to apply to a class. God help me if I didn't get tried before then.

I had reached the edge of the territory. I took out my small lighter which Mia had given me for my sixth birthday. Call her a bad sister, but she looked out for me. I didn't know exactly what I was breathing in when I lit the plant. Probably something that would slowly kill me. All I knew is that it helps me forget.

Helps me forget that I haven't seen Via in three years.

Helps me forget my multiple infractions that too many people have seen.

Helps me forget that I won't ever see Mia again.

Helps me forget that the world I live in is far from perfect.

New POV! Who's this kid, what's he going to do? 

Word Of The Day: ashlar - a squared block of building stone and dressed for outward placement

Hehe, get it cos 'ash-er' and 'ash-lar' okay no bye. 

Fact 1: Asher actually means 'happy'. Infinity_Moon_36 and I wanted meaningful names, and we thought it would be kind of a sick irony to name him Asher. 

Hope you enjoyed!

- Angelica and Eliza