The Beginning

Every day, Aurora was in her and her sisters’ dorm room, trying to clear her head while sitting cross-legged, on the floor, in the centre of the room. This was her way of keeping calm. Trying not to think about her sisters or her mother or her father, Aurora stood up and paced around the red room. It wasn’t that bad - considering the circumstances. The hot, fiery glow of the Children’s Quatre crept in through the two small windows that stood on either side of the cream coloured door. The three other walls that made up the cosy room were painted scarlet red and were plain besides from a few pictures and posters the girls were allowed to put up. Of course, they had to get some Leaders to check that they were appropriate to put up. Along the walls, there were simple fireproof beds for all of the girls.

Celeste and Courtney shared a bunk bed (as they were 17-year-old twins) in a corner and so did Maddy and Kayla. The other three girls had individual beds that were also neatly lined up against the wall. Nicole often said that it really wasn’t that bad considering that they were living in a world full of suffering and control. She wasn’t wrong. Even though it wasn’t much, it was very cosy and familiar. The way that the reflection of the flames from the Children’s Quatre played off of the walls and the red rug in the middle of the room made Aurora calmer. It somehow reminded her of when she saw her parents a few years ago

.

On a hot winter day, ten days before Christmas, The Core’s population all gathered around in the Flame room for yet another Massacre. Something went wrong in the control room so The Serpent had to go help his ‘mindless and stupid’ Leaders to sort it out. Fortunately, he was so worried about damaging his apparently perfect system, that he left everyone unattended for half an hour. It was so short but…it was so amazing. Aurora brushed her long dark brown hair out of her eyes as she thought back to the December Massacre of 1856. Even though it was a happy memory, when Aurora, her sisters and parents shared stories and laughed for that incredible thirty minutes, there was that thought at the back of her head that it will never happen again. That she will never get off this nightmare train. Aurora let one tear roll slowly down her cheek. She didn’t even bother to wipe it away; sometimes she wonders if it is even worth living. No one is really alive in the core. But Aurora knew that, no matter how she feels, her family can’t live without her. Especially her sisters. Especially Scarlet.

Scarlet was Aurora’s 15-year-old sister who was left to her care when Aurora turned twelve. When Scarlet was eight. This is because Scarlet is a very sick girl. She has been since she was born. Her mother couldn’t look after her, being in the Women’s Quatre and she wrote to Aurora, begging her to look after her fragile sister. Of course, Aurora agreed and wrote a letter back to her mother.

The way that families communicated in the Core was by writing letters to each other; however, before they were allowed to be given to another person, a Leader has to go through it to make sure it is ‘appropriate.’ There was no privacy whatsoever in The Core. Around every corner, there were Leaders, security- anything that made sure that people where in the right place at the right time.

Aurora’s dazzling green eyes were full of tears now. She tried to compose herself before her sisters came back from their walk around the Children’s Quatre. Taking a few minutes to dry her eyes, Aurora got up and sat on her neat bed. Her hands brushed the rough fabric as she smiled softly to herself. Celeste made everyone’s bed in the morning so it’s perfect and neat. The pillow had to be perfectly in line with the folded blanked and there couldn’t be any wrinkles or creases. Aurora liked remembering these little details about her sisters. It made her forget about everything that was wrong in her life. However, Aurora was snapped back into reality as the door opened to the dorm room. Her sisters came in one by one.

‘’Hey.’’ Kayla said, coming to sit down on the bed next to Aurora. Celeste looked like she just swallowed a raw lemon.

‘’Why would you do that? Now the bed isn’t neat!’’

11-year-old Maddy smiled shyly, hugged Celeste and said: ‘’Well, it has been clean the whole day, it is almost five o’clock.’’ Although she still looked annoyed, Celeste nodded curtly.

‘’So, what does everyone want to do today? Go skydiving? Jump off a cliff?’’ Nicole suggested as she laid down on her own bed.

‘’Um…you’re fourteen.’’ Kayla replied, slightly surprised by her sister’s joke. Nicole smiled weakly.

‘’Well, that doesn’t mean I can’t live life properly.’’

Aurora was only half listening. She was looking at Scarlet, who was in her bed, tucked in a corner; reading. She edged closer and sat next to her. It was like they just entered their own ‘Aurora-Scarlet’ world. A world that shut out the other five girls. At the moment, they wanted to be together and not listen to Courtney complain about how Maddy, Celeste, Kayla and Nicole needed a facial.

‘’Hey.’’ Aurora started. Scarlet was very pale and empty looking. She had dark shadows under her sad eyes and her long straight black hair looked tangled.

‘’Hey.’’ She replied, looking at her hands.

‘’You okay?’’

‘’Yeah. Just, you know, tired.’’ Scarlet looked into her sister’s eyes.

‘’What do you want to do today?’’ Aurora asked, trying to lighten the mood. Scarlet thought for a minute.

‘’I don’t know. Read, I guess.’’

Aurora laughed slightly.

‘’Of course. Why did I ask?’’

Scarlet barely had time to smile as they heard Courtney’s sassy voice break into their personal bubble.

‘’Hello? Are going to do something or not?’’

‘’Fine, let’s have a girl’s night.’’ Maddy suggested, not wanting to listen to Courtney complain. Everyone agreed and sat on the floor in a circle, holding hands. It was their ‘routine.’

‘’Who wants to start?’’ Asked Kayla, closing her eyes and getting ready.

‘’I will.’’ Nicole answered as everyone copied Kayla. ‘’I wish that I could travel the whole world.’’

‘’I wish that I could see my parents.’’ Maddy continued. Kayla was next.

‘’I wish that I could be an artist.’’

‘’I wish that I could see the sun and moon and sky.’’ Celeste imagined standing in a lush field, looking up at the sunset. Smiling, she squeezed Courtney’s hand to indicate that it was her go.

‘’I want to work with famous fashionistas and make-up artists all over the world. And I want to go to France.’’ Everyone rolled their eyes and groaned.

‘’I wish I wasn’t sick…’’

Aurora put her arm around Scarlet and collected herself before talking.

‘’I wish we were all together and living in the real world.’’

They talked for a while and tried to pass the time until midnight. Aurora didn’t know why they bothered. Tomorrow is going to be the same as today. The day after is going to be the same. The same torture and agony will continue and drag on for the rest of their lives and there was nothing that they could do about it. Maddy and Scarlet stayed out of a couple of conversations the other girls were talking about. Maddy, because she was too young to care about that stuff and would have much rather brushed her puffy, curly black hair. And Scarlet because she didn’t like talking about that and was too polite and quiet to gossip. It was around three o’clock in the morning when Maddy Kayla and Scarlet headed off to bed. The four older girls stayed up for a little bit longer, not ready to sink into a sleep full of nightmares. They waited until they were absolutely sure that the three girls were asleep before they got serious.

‘’So…’’

‘’So...’’

There was a silence. Normally, the girls got along perfectly but there would sometimes be these awkward pauses that happen before they talked about some more serious stuff. Only Aurora, Nicole, Celeste and Courtney had these conversations alone because Maddy was too young and Kayla and Scarlet absolutely hated talking about the past. Even though Kayla was thirteen, it seemed to bother her the most. A year ago, Courtney and Celeste started talking about their parents and, five minutes into the conversation, Kayla started crying and yelled at them to stop it. Everyone was so taken aback. Aurora let Kayla hug her as she buried her face in her short light brown hair. After that, it almost seemed that the girls had a secret understanding.

‘’Guys, what are we going to do?’’ Asked Aurora, not looking at her sisters.

‘’What do you mean?’’

Aurora hesitated, choosing her words carefully. ‘’What are we going to do about…everything?’’

Celeste looked at her sister sympathetically.

‘’Aurora. You know there is nothing that we can do.’’

‘’Yeah. Celeste is right. There is nothing we can do about the Core, our parents, or Scarlet.’’ Courtney said quietly, reading Aurora’s mind. Before she could say anything else, Nicole joined the conversation.

‘’You just have to look at the positive.’’

The other three girls stared at her unbelievably.

‘’What positive? Don’t you realise where we are?’’ Aurora stated a little too loudly.

‘’Shh!’’

Maddy stirred in her sleep slightly. Courtney looked around for a change of subject.

‘’Did you guys write to Mum and Dad?

‘’Yes.’’

‘’I did.’’

‘’Of course. But who knows if they actually got through the system.’’ Celeste whispered, looking down and picking at the carpet.

‘’Well, hopefully, we will find out soon. Mail day is in a couple of days. Maybe they will write back.’’ Courtney answered. Nicole was looking very uncomfortable and nervous; her eyes darted around the room, avoiding eye contact with the girls. Aurora picked up on this immediately.

‘’Nicole?’’

‘’Uh…well…I’ve already written to Mum. And there might be a slight chance that I, uh, made her a little upset with me.’’ Courtney looked accusingly at Nicole.

‘’What did you write, Nicole?’’ There was a lot of seriousness and aggression etched into her voice.

‘’Well, I was telling Mum about how I wanted to travel the world and see everything. I told her about my dreams to find my passion in life. And she wrote back saying that it was hopeless and that I should forget about all of that. She told me that I can stop dreaming and get back to reality.’’ There was a small silence. Celeste was the first one that spoke.

‘’Wait, what? So then, how are you the bad guy?’’

‘’What did you tell her after that?’’ Aurora asked, talking quietly.

‘’I told her that is she feels that way…then…’’

‘’What? What, Nicole?’’ Courtney was close to shouting but she caught herself so the girls wouldn’t wake up. Nicole collected herself and took a big breath.

‘’I told her that if she feels that way, then she can stop writing to me and she can forget about being my mother.’’

‘’WHAT?’’

‘’Nicole!’’

‘’What the hell were you thinking?’’ Aurora yelled, trying to get her sister’s eye contact.

‘’I wasn’t thinking!’’ Nicole replied, her voice full of desperation and regret. The other three girls practically fell out of bed as they rushed to sit next to their sisters, asking what was wrong. Courtney and Celeste started shouting at Nicole while Aurora desperately tried to calm Scarlet, Maddy and Kayla.

‘’Alright! Everybody shut up!’’ Aurora yelled at the top of her lungs. Everyone went silent instantly. ‘’We all know Nicole made a mistake. But mustn’t we turn on each other. Nothing good can come of it.’’ Courtney and Celeste exchanged looks and mumbled and apology.

‘’Fine.’’ With one last look at Nicole, Courtney stormed out of the room.

‘’She will come around, Nicole. What you have to worry about is apologising to Mum.’’ Aurora spoke slowly and clearly.

‘’Fine.’’

‘’Good. I think I’m going to go to bed.’’ Aurora said. She wasn’t exactly tired but she didn’t really want to talk to anyone anymore. Without another word, she climbed under the covers, facing the wall. Maddy, Kayla and Scarlet exchanged worried looks while Courtney turned away and climbed to the top of her bunk bed without even saying goodnight. Failing to be her normal neat, organised self, Nicole hovered awkwardly in the centre of her room before walking out into the red painted corridor. Nicole sighed an went to sleep. Not in her bed but in the corner of the room.

The next morning, Aurora woke up and made herself check the calendar. Great. Three days until the fifteenth. She looked over at Celeste’s bed to make sure she came back; she was buried under her dark red blanket and pillows. So much for being tidy. Without waking her sisters, Aurora slipped out of the room and made her way down the corridor leading out to the centre of the Children’s Quatre. Even the name of the place infuriated Aurora. She was not a child. It was just another way for The Serpent to mess with people’s heads. The bright red flames of light illuminated the dark hallway as the fake light of the ‘sun’ crept into the Core. Aurora moved swiftly, her footsteps echoing as she sped up. Now running, Aurora felt the warm air whip her face and hair as she raced through the opening at the end of the corridor and out into the wide space of the Children’s Quatre. Aurora slowed down and listened to her breathing and analysed the familiar surroundings.

The Children’s Quatre was a big area that was surrounded by black and red rock walls. It looked like a huge cave that used to have lava in it. Orange masses or rock lined the walls and hung off the ceiling that was the same material. There were stands and benched made out of grey steel and marble. Aurora supposed everything was made out of special materials so that it wouldn’t melt in the centre of the earth. There were no animals or plants in sight. There weren’t even many children or teenagers in the mornings because people prefer to stay in their rooms all day, thinking about how messed up their lives are. Small tunnels of rock could be visible from the walls of the Children’s Quatre and led off to different parts of the Core. Aurora didn’t know where they led. She has never been anywhere other than here and the Flame room. That will change when she turns twenty. She never let herself think about stuff like that. But there was a particular subject that Aurora found very strange, mysterious and impossible to think about. How is anyone supposed to be in a meaningful relationship in the Core? Most people are alone for their whole life and Aurora just didn’t understand how it was supposed to work. She had never found anyone that she liked that way. Actually, she didn’t really like anyone but her sisters and parents.

Aurora kind of wanted to know what it feels like…to have someone like her in a way that no one else does. She tries not to think about all that she is missing, Aurora’s mind always wonders back to this topic. Pushing it to the back of her mind like she often does, Aurora walked around the edge of the Centre, sometimes glancing up at the orange, rocky dome above her.

There were a few people dotted around the Centre now. It must have been about ten o’clock in the morning by now. As long as Aurora got back by one, she was safe. At one o’clock, the Leaders checked every inch of the Core to make sure that everyone was in their dorms for lunch. Otherwise you would get shot on site. The Serpent likes order. And he will go to any extent to get what he wants. Aurora tried to find a memory in her head that The Serpent has no control over. The only one she could think of was that half an hour in 1856. But even that memory didn’t feel right. It felt…out of place. Like it didn’t really belong there and that it was never real. Aurora continued to pace around for two hours, and felt like it would be safer to go back now. Besides, her sisters were probably getting very worried about where she had gone. Without looking around one last time, Aurora turned and marched along the path she knew so well and rushed into her dorm room.

‘’Aurora!’’ Maddy gasped as she threw her arms around her.

‘’What?’’ Aurora asked, confused about why everyone was so worried. Maddy slapped her on the arm gently.

‘’Never do that again! Its’s twelve fifty-nine!’’

‘’Oh.’’ Aurora’s face sank as she stared at the clock. She just about made it. Five, four, three two one. The bells struck one o’clock as a gunshot could be heard in the distance.

Kayla jumped and closed her eyes.

‘’Sorry.’’ Aurora mumbled. She knew it was a stupid thing to say at that moment but she couldn’t think of anything reasonable. A Leader came through the door at half past to escort them to the dining room to have their lunch. They were all assigned a table and had to sit where they were told. Today, Aurora got told to sit with Courtney while the other girls got split into two groups. Even though they got split up, the girls were glad they didn’t have to sit with total strangers. Courtney and Aurora got a small table at the back and sat down. The dining room looked the same as the Centre except, instead of benches, there were tables.

‘’So, have you heard from Mum and Dad?’’ Courtney asked before hungrily gulping down her small bowl of soup. She finished it and stared longingly at the empty bowl, as if more food would magically appear in front of her.

‘’No.’’ Aurora replied, not really wanting to talk. Savouring each hot sip of soup, Aurora slowly ate her food, not looking at her sister. As she finished, she somehow felt hungrier than before the soup.

‘’Oh. Okay…’’ Courtney sounded disappointed. Maybe the letter didn’t get through. It hardly ever does. Mail day was today and letters should have arrived by now. Nicole, hesitantly, apologised to Mum and sent the letter before she was too late, so she didn’t have to wait until next week. Aurora slowly looked around and tried to spot her sisters. The dining room was just as big as the Centre as it had to fit all of the children and teenagers comfortably. Pushing her bowl away from her, Aurora asked a Leader if she could leave. When he said yes, she rounded up her sisters and were escorted back to their dorm room. As soon as the door was closed and the Leader’s footsteps disappeared, Aurora threw a book at the door.

‘’I hate that they come into our room!’’ Scarlet put her hand on her sister’s shoulder and gave her a you’re-used-to-it-so-drop-it look. Aurora shrugged her off and lay back on her neatly made bed, causing Celeste to squeak. Sitting up for a second, Aurora shot her an annoyed look.

‘’Sorry.’’ Celeste whispered, backing away. Aurora sank back down and saw the others sit on the floor out of the corner of her eye. Aurora stayed in that position until six o’clock, staring at the ceiling, not talking to her sisters, who talked and passed the time slowly. They didn’t bother their sister and left her to her thoughts. Aurora was glad about this. She just couldn’t take Courtney’s sassy comebacks or Nicole’s loud outbursts right now. It was like time was swirling around her, passing faster and faster, eager to skip the three days of freedom they had left.

At six o’clock, the bells chimed for dinner. Aurora told the Leader that she wasn’t hungry and stayed in the room while her sisters silently made their way down the corridor with the Leader. Sitting on the floor in the middle of the rug, Aurora picked at the lose threads of the carpet and waited for…well, she didn’t know exactly what she was waiting for…