Violet (Chapter One)

Chapter 1:          ADAM

“-and in another bizarre disappearance, four young men have gone missing from the Azure district in the night, following on from-“

‘Adam, what have I told you about watching that bloody news channel.’ Mum mutters. She flicks off the TV and puts her hands on her hips, waiting for an answer.

I give a heavy sigh.
‘Not to watch it.’ I roll my eyes. I know she hates it when I do that.
‘Not to watch it’ she echoed. ‘So you were listening, you just chose to disobey me.’
‘Mum, I’m nineteen! I think I can handle watching the news.’ I snap.
Her expression softens and I begin to regret shouting immediately.

She walks over to me and begins to play with my hair. It’s how she always used to calm me down when I was upset.
‘I know you are sweetheart.’ she sighs, ‘Just, there are so many bad things going on nowadays…’

Mum doesn’t finish, but I know why she doesn’t want me watching the news. It has nothing to do with me, it’s all about how it unsettles her.
‘Mum whether you see it on the news or not, bad things are still happening.’ I reassure her.

I see her eyes start to well, and know my reassurance isn’t helping.
‘I just don’t want you to disappear too.’ She sobs. I stand up and hug her, rubbing her back and squeezing her tight.
‘Mum, I’m not going anywhere. I promise.’

Young men and women have been going missing for a good few years now, and as I’ve aged, Mum has got more and more anxious about me. They disappear in the night, no sign of kidnap and no parting words. They are just gone.

Mum’s dries her tears on my shirt by rubbing her eyes against my chest; she’s a foot or so shorter than me.
‘Just keep yourself safe.’ She says, craning her neck up to look at me and smiling. I smile back. Ever since Dad died, Noah and I have been all she has. It’s only natural she’s this protective. She knows how easy it is for people to slip away.

‘It’s three o’clock, you’d better go pick your brother up.’ She says, drying her eyes on a stray handkerchief and breathing out, as though refreshed from her cry. I give her a smile, pick up my keys and wander out the door.
I step out the house and take in the outside. If there’s anything I can’t stand, it’s being indoors. The Jade district is without a doubt the most beautiful of the five districts, nobody could deny that. Fields of red, green and yellow dominate the horizon, split apart only by a thin country lane and the occasional house. The cloudless sky hangs boundless over the land as far as the eye can see.

I give my heavy four by four a pat as I walk past. We’re one of the few families who use a car in the Jade district. Since our district is dedicated to preserving life, it almost seems a little hypocritical to have one at all. But the guilt of owning one could never outweigh the practicality, in my eyes.

I hop in and start the engine. The car splutters into life as the engine shudders underneath the rusty red bonnet and we slowly coast forward along the thin ribbon of country lane.

The car shakes violently as we slowly trundle up to speed. I’ve never been sure if there’s a speed limit in Jade, so I just go at seventy; the likelihood of me seeing another car is almost zero. As I ride alongside a vibrant red field of poppies, I see the enormous billboard tarnishing the horizon.

Remedy: Are healing hands what you desire?

The words are written below a picture of an old man in hospital being tended to by a woman with glowing hands. Just more advertising for Violet.

Violet dominates the five districts more than any music or fashion trend could, and for a good reason too. A government issued drug that could alter you in ways once only dreamed of. Healing hands? A sharper mind? Stronger muscles? It all came from Violet, and everyone had it, everyone needed it.

I was yet to decide my Violet. I still had another two years until my twenty-first birthday, but that didn’t feel like enough time. How can you possibly choose how you’d want to genetically alter yourself?

It was no decision at all for mum. She had a knack for caring for people since day one, so Remedy practically chose her. Of course I only really have a choice of three, being in the Jade district.

Remedy: The power to heal others,
Bloom: The power to manipulate plant life,
Or Fauna: The power to interact with animals and feel what they feel.

Three tempting choices, I know, but I can’t help but envy the other districts. The Scarlet district trains the Sentinels - a force of Violet powered soldiers who guard the district borders and protect our streets. They’re the ones with the real power. Hands that melt steel and muscles enough to throw a car? Sign me up.

That’ll never be a choice though. Not as long as I’m Jade district. I was born a Jade, I’ll die a Jade. Trying to move districts is illegal, and getting myself involved with the Sentinels isn’t worth it. I’ve seen what they can do.

As much as I curse my district, I still love it. Our virtues are serenity and peace, which makes my life extremely easy for me, considering I’m as selfish as they come.

The stretch of fields and hills finally comes to an end as I hit the borders of the city. The country lane transforms into a wide cobbled street, flanked either side by small shops and buildings. The Jade city is less of a metropolis and more of a very large village.

People stop in the street and stare at me solely to tut at me. I see Miss Pearson in a pristine white dress emerge from the plume of black smoke my car makes, coughing melodramatically. I merely smile, and head around the corner to the city hospital, where I’ll find Noah. 

*

The hospital dwarfs every building around it, every building in the city even. It’s the largest hospital in all the five districts, which is no surprise considering this is where one hundred percent of all the countries healers come from.

I pull up alongside the road behind a row of ambulances. They’re the only socially acceptable vehicle in Jade. I however continue to receive stony glares and shameful looks from passers-by. I’ve grown used to it.

I see Noah emerge from the main doors of the colossal white building, dressed head to toe in sickly green scrubs. He jumps straight in the car with me. He’s a good two inches taller than me with the same sandy brown hair and muddy green eyes, a common trait in our family.

‘Hello there, sunshine.’ He grins, grabbing my head with his arm and rubbing his knuckle against my head. It hurts, but I can’t help but laugh.
‘Try that again and I’ll kick you out and drive home alone.’
‘You can try.’ He laughs, clipping in his seatbelt and gesturing me to start the engine and go.
‘Good day?’ I ask, making small talk is one of my weaker points. Humans in general are my weak point.
‘Yeah not bad.’ He laughs. ‘Still trying to get used to using these.’ He says, gesturing at his hands.  He recently was given Remedy, and is still adjusting. He’s doing a year’s internship at the hospital, shadowing a more senior doctor, and then he’s good to go out there and save some lives. I can’t help but feel a little jealous.

Noah looks at me knowingly.
‘You’ll get your Violet soon enough, Adam. You just have to be patient.’ He says reassuringly, going into ‘big brother’ mode.
‘I know, I know. I’m just not entirely sure I want it though.’ I mumble. ‘I mean, look at you and Mum. Your choice was easy!’
‘My choice was easy because I took the time to think about it long before it came about. You need to do the same.’
I just nod in agreement. I don’t want to think about it. Not until I have to. The thought of having to make such a massive decision makes me cringe.

As we reach the edge of the city, I slam my foot on the brake. I daren’t go any further than this. A Sentinel stands in the middle of the road, towering over a small Jade woman. The streets are bare, no one would dare stay outside with a Sentinel in the street.

He’s intimidating to say the least. Tall and thick, with buzz cut hair and tight leather armour covering him from the neck down. He has his hand around the back of the woman’s neck, forcing her to her knees. Noah is out of the car before I even notice he’s leaving. I go to stop him, but I daren’t get out of the car.

I hear the woman’s sobs and see the blood running from her eye.
‘You’re lucky I’m in a good mood or I’d be ripping your hands off your arms, you little thief!’  The Sentinel forces her head down further, so it’s being pressed against the road.

He releases her, and lets her flop down to the road, wailing like a tortured animal. As the Sentinel steps back, Noah is upon the woman instantly, tending to her eye. That’s when I notice the bump in her stomach. She’s pregnant.

‘Leave her.’ The Sentinel says to Noah. His voice is low and harsh but Noah continues to tend to her eye, placing his hand against it firmly.
‘She’s hurt.’ Noah states firmly as the woman continues to weep. My heart thumps in my chest. What the hell is he doing?

The Sentinel grabs Noah by his hair and throws him across the width of the road. His body crumples into a heap on the curb and remains motionless. From there I don’t think, I just do.

I force my foot down on the accelerator, firing the car forward and slamming into the brute of a man. His hulking body cripples the front of the car, but he is knocked flat on his back.

Everything goes silent for a moment. Noah stares at me, mouth agape. Did I just run over a Sentinel?

My heart leaps out of my chest as the Sentinel emerges at my door from nowhere and rips it off its hinges.
‘You pissed off the wrong guy, mate.’ He growls, grabbing me by the arm and throwing me out of the car. I land harshly on my back and crack my head on the curb. I feel my blood run ice cold throughout my body.

He lifts his foot over my head and stamps on my face.