✧乀Night Lights✧乀 Prologue

Instructions

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─── Night Lights Prologue ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─── ┊⠀⠀⠀┊⠀⠀⠀┊⠀⠀⠀┊ ┊⠀⠀⠀┊⠀⠀⠀┊⠀⠀⠀✧･ﾟ ┊⠀⠀⠀┊⠀⠀⠀ ✧･ﾟ ┊⠀⠀⠀✧･ﾟ ✧･ﾟ “Come on, Lennon. We have to be quick now.” My mother said, adjusting the wig on my head. I caught sight of the perfect blonde locks that were draped over my normal hair in a mirror. The pale powder covering my body completely hid my golden-brown skin and pale vitiligo. “These hurt like hell” I complained, pointing to the sapphire contacts in my eyes. “I know they do, but you know the rules; if we want to make it over The Bridge into Gloire, we have to be blonde-haired and blue-eyed.” She looked at me with her kind eyes, which were now blue. I missed the warm brown. Walking side by side, my mother and I made our way across the city of Rubis. Tall, rusting buildings almost completely blocked out the grey, smoke-filled sky. Litter and dead leaves swirled along the dirty streets. The occasional yowl or bark from some unseen animal echoed between the buildings. A few hooded figures stumbled along, coughing from the bad air. Those people were Imperfects; anybody without blond hair and blue eyes and perfect skin. They were forced to live here, in Rubis, while all the Perfects go to live an amazing life in the other city, Gloire. Rubis was held tightly in the Perfect's command, with police from their city roaming the streets and killing any Imperfect who dared to show their faces while outside. Plenty of Perfects were born in Rubis, however, but they were allowed to cross The Bridge - the only safe way into Gloire. Many Imperfects attempted to cross The Bridge, either by brute force or by disguising themselves, like my mother and I were doing right now. This confused me when I was little until my mother explained it to me. "No, Lennon." she'd said, kindness sparkling in her chocolate eyes. "They wouldn't be sent back to Rubis. You see, the leaders of Gloire decided that there would be a reward for any Imperfect who was smart enough or strong enough to find a way to cross The Bridge. If any managed it, they would be allowed to live there forever." "Woah..." 7-year-old me had gasped, eyes round with wonder. "Has any Imperfect actually managed to cross The bridge yet, Mama?" Mama smiled again, the firelight behind her turning her chestnut hair amber. "Only a few, Lennon. But the few who have are still there, living an amazing life, free of judgement and cruelty." I shivered at the memory. That had been 8 years ago. Back then, I would never have believed that I would one day be attempting to cross The Bridge into Gloire, and yet here I was. This was the first time I had ever gone outside without a hood. I was terrified. We entered the Plaza; a large square of cobblestone with an old fountain in the centre. The fountain was made up of a diamond-shaped pool at the bottom, with four stone people standing in a circle inside the shallow pool. They were facing outward, arms stretched above their heads, holding some kind of large bowl above their circle. Inside the bowl was a vertical slab of stone, shaped like another diamond. In the centre of the stone was a hole; perfectly round and smooth. There might once have been water flowing from the circle into the bowl, spilling down the stone people's bodies and filling the shallow pool in which they stood, but now it was dry as bone, not a drop to be seen. I guessed that the diamond with the hole and the people had one been bronze, but they were now greying green, covered in lichen and moss. Mama and I crossed the centre of the Plaza, right next to the fountain. We got some glances from a couple of hooded people, but they looked away when they saw our wigs and blue contacts. A scream echoed through the Plaza, and I turned sharply around to see a girl, about seven or eight, with curly red hair and glass green eyes. She gazed at me for a second, pleading for help with her big eyes, but I stood motionless, my heart pounding as the police found her. They tackled her to the ground, yelling at each other over the small girl's screams, which were cut off abruptly. The police stood up, running their hands through their close-cropped blond hair. I felt fear bolt through me as their ice-blue eyes landed on Mama and me. I thought for sure that they were going to notice our disguises, call us out, kill us, but they only nodded, simply acknowledging two more Perfects making their way to Gloire. “Come on. Don’t look there.” Mama scolded, gripping my shoulder tighter. I tore my eyes away from the police and continued walking. ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───