Q3 Gold: Dystopian Short Story
Review your story arc before writing a section of your story. You can change the font, but make sure your document is 12pt and double spaced.
Exposition '
"It is 6:30 AM, time to get up."
I groan, pulling my pillow over my head. It was way too early to be awake, and too cold to get out of bed. Peeking out from the pillow, I glare at Onyx.
"Are you having difficulties getting out of bed?"
I rolled my eyes. It baffled me everyday how the Messiah thought that these tin cans were competent enough to take care of us.
"Take a wild guess you idiot." I buried my head back into the pillow.
Onyx nods, lifting me so i'm sitting up in bed, and begins to gather my clothes for the day. I grab my game console from the bedside table, my hands raised and moving across the game hologram as I wait for Onyx. Once he is done with fixing my outfit, he came over the bed and began to dress me for the day.
"I want crepes for breakfast and orange juice." I thought for a moment as Onyx buttoned up my shirt.
"Make it the freshly squeezed one, not that processed junk."
Onyx nodded and put me into the rest of my clothes. He pulled out the prayer carpet from the closet, it was black velvet with the mark of Messiah in white with a golden lace trim around the edges. I groaned in annoyance. Really? Isn't this silly doing this prayer every single day?
"Do i really have to pray right this instant? It's not like it's going to matter if i do it later."
Onyx stared at me, grabbing the brush from off my dresser, and came over to the bed. He sat behind me and began combing my hair as he spoke.
"The Messiah require you to pray every morning and every night, not doing so is seen as a act of defiance to the government." He turned me to face him, holding my chin in his hand.
"They would take you to the holy land where you will be seen by no one, you would leave our mortal realm so that all the sins here would no longer affect you."
He got up and put the brush away. Turning to me, i felt shivers go down my spine.
"You will be gone."
My eyes widened and i nodded, rushing to begin my daily prayers. Onyx lit a stick of incense and left me to my prayers.
-
I walked into the kitchen, the smell of fresh strawberries and oranges wafting to my nose, i smiled as i sat down at the table. Onyx placed a plate of crepes on the table in front of me, with strawberries and cream inside, drizzled with a bit of honey and light powdered sugar.
I devoured the crepes and Onyx set the cup of orange juice in front of me. The crepes practically melted in my mouth, complemented by the sweetness of the toppings and stuffing. I sipped on the juice, the freshness of it was delicious.
After i finished my breakfast, Onyx cleaned it all up.
"So what's on my schedule for today? Remember i told you i don't want it too busy" I played with my console.
"You are meeting with Rose in a hour or two."
I gasped and sprung out of my seat, slamming my console down.
I rushed to the door and grabbed my coat off the hanger, unlocking the door. Onyx simply followed behind me and to the car, as I hopped into the backseat looking in the mirror and fixing myself up.
Onyx got into the driver side and plugged himself to the car, and we took off down the street.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier! You are such a idiot, what if i was late?" I glared at him.
"You have a hour to get there." He stared back at me.
I groaned and rolled my eyes. Sometimes i really thought he did these types of things on purpose. I stared out the window in some attempt of a distraction. I watched the uniform houses pass by, each on painted white with black and gold trims. They slowly began to disappear as we got close to the main city gate checkpoint.
Onyx pulled to a stop as Watchers came up to the window. Watchers are covered completely in white, head to toe. They wore animal masks in an attempt to seem friendly to kids. I honestly just found it terrifying my whole life, seeing a pure white figure, with the body of a human and head of a animal. It didn't help that they had those guns by their sides all the time.
Onyx rolled down the windows so that the Watches can see we were unarmed. One came up to the window, this one had a rabbits head, its gleaming golden eyes stared at us. I felt a shiver of fear shoot through me.
I really hated these guys.
"State names and reason for entry to city."
"Onyx and Nico Belladonna, meeting with Rose Lumiere and Zircon."
We waited about 40 minutes for them to inspect the car, and for them to check their files to see if we were members of the church.
Who wouldn't be a member of the church? The Messiahs were literally gods, i highly doubt you could go against them.
Once we were cleared, we drove through the giant golden gates that opened slowly for us. I let out a small sigh of amazement. No matter how much this city gets on my nerves, the beauty of it was truly a sight to be seen.
There was giant golden skyscrapers, that seemed to almost kiss the sun. The surrounding buildings were all white and black with gold sprinkled about, with splashes of bright colors placed here and there, everyone dressed in blacks and whites.
The only color allowed on clothes is your caste color, which is decided with what career path you choose. Politicians could wear lime greens, culinary workers wore lemon yellows, and firefighters wore bright reds. It generally gets more specific but those are a few.
I looked down at my own pink accents, It stood for those who are yet to be employed or who are students. I was studying textiles and art, hopefully to work with the higher powers one day. They really did hold their images close to heart.
I came back from my thoughts when the car came to a stop, pulling up in front of a small cafe. Onyx disconnected from the car and came around to let me out. I climbed out the car and stretched.
"If we are late im blaming you, Holy Messiah won't even be able to save you from my annoyance." I glared at Onyx but all i got in return was a blank stare.
Rolling my eyes i walked into the cafe looking for Rose. My eyes landed on her and instantly i felt butterflies in my stomach.
She had pink curly hair, that framed her face in a short bob cut. She wore a long black skirt, with a black cardigan over a lace pink shirt. She was cradling a cup of coffee in her hands as she spoke with her companion, Zircon whose build was slim and feminine. She had glowing blue eyes and her black hair was braided back, most likely Roses doing.
I sighed, when will Rose learn that these chunks of metal dont process stuff like that? Oh well, i just let her have her fun.
She looked up from her conversation with onyx and waved me over, smiling at me sweetly.
"Nico over here!"
I smiled and waved back, walking over to them and taking a seat across from Rose, Onyx taking the seat next to me. He nodded to Zircon who was across the table from him, and she nodded back politely.
"So tell me Rose, what has pushed you to call me out this lovely afternoon." I folded my hands under my chin, waiting for a reply.
Rose let out a small laugh, setting down her coffee delicately. She looked to Zircon and nodded to her. Zircon looked to Onyx and there was a moment of silence. They suddenly both got up and left to the counter to get us more drinks.
I turned back to Rose and suddenly her calm demeanor was grim. I was slightly taken aback, what had happened?
"Nico, I have something important to tell you, something you cannot tell anyone." She reached forward and held my hand in hers.
I stared at her, preparing myself for what she had to say.
"Everything we have ever believed in, everything that we have held close to us. The Messiahs, our religion, our life." She gripped my hand tightly. "All of these things that were fed to us in a golden spoon, since our birth and probably till our death." She paused and let out a shaky sigh, and i nodded to her to go on, now holding both of her hands in my own.
"It's all a lie."
My brows furrowed together in confusion. A lie? All of this is a lie? The Messiahs, my life, our religion? I let out a small laugh, this must be a joke right?
"Come on Rose stop making jokes like that." I pulled my hands away and shook my head. "Did you really call me out here just to make jokes?"
She sighed again, shaking her head.
"Im telling you the truth, Zircon showed me The Messiahs true intentions." She spoke in a cautious tone. "They treat us as livestock Nico, every time someone is supposedly taken to the holy land, they are taken to whoever is running this joke of a city to be-"
She cut herself short as Onyx and Zircon came back, Onyx placing a parfait in front of me and Zircon simply bring Rose a to go box for her cake. Her eyes moved back and forward between me and Onyx, and Onyx simply stared at her with his red glowing eyes.
Her brows were tight with tension and she got up out of her chair, grabbing her container with Zircon following behind her. She turned to me one last time.
"Don't trust anything Nico, anything."
Just like that she was gone. I stared wide eyed at the doorway, and shook my head when Onyx gestured to my parfait.
"I've lost my appetite, i'd like to go home."
Onyx stared at me and simply nodded. He gestured to the staff to take my parfait, and got up. I grabbed his arm and looked up at him, tears threatening to fall from my eyes.
"I dont-" I let out a choked sob. "I don't think i can walk."
Those ruby red eyes stared at me. Finally he lifted me out of my seat, holding me close to him, with my face burrowed into the crevice between his shoulder and neck. My body shook with tears as i held onto him tight, in some attempt to anker myself to reality.
Whatever reality i had left.
Rising Action
I set Nico into the back seat, the rush of today getting to him as he fell asleep. I stared at him for a moment, when suddenly i noticed a pink envelope slip out of Nicos bag. I narrowed my eyes at it and picked it up. It was from rose.
I looked back at Nico and let out a sigh. This was for his own good. I lit the envelope on fire, dropping it into a nearby empty trash can, and watched it burn. Rose and Zircon were nothing but trouble, they were trouble for Nico.
I knew what i had to do. I walked back and got into the car and drove off, looking back a few minutes to make sure Nico was till sleeping.
I pulled up a hologram screen, sending a message out to the Watchers and other companions.
