Kingdom of Fallen Ash (The Order #1)

by Katerina St. Clair

Unfortunates. The people who have been placed on the lowest totem pole of this society.

Untouchable sector of New Haven, we have a good thing. We continue to create advancements in this society that better the people.

Unfortunates are only permitted to speak to Untouchables if they are in an academic or work setting.

They live to serve. We live to survive.

The scar under his cheek is deep, possibly deep enough that even the Cure-All couldn't fix it.

Unfortunate or not, he is beautiful in his own, terrifying way.

Foreign Entities, otherwise known as Shifters, are genetically mutated individuals scorched by the nuclear fallout after the wars.

the only people tasked with dealing with Shifters are Unfortunate military ranks.

“Sometimes I’m convinced your brother has a thing for Max,” Raegan says jokingly,

Mmm same Raegan, saaaaame.

“Don’t stop questioning, Forest. Don’t ever stop asking questions,” Kai whispers.

Now, all I have are questions.

You and me both!

“Someone is always watching. I'm sure you can get the whole picture from them. My word has never been as good as the cameras anyway,”

I stare at my right pointer finger, looking over the small white scar across its tip. Every single citizen has this scar. Every one of us is born with it to confirm our purity.

Claw marks work down her front, each one deeper than the last. Her body is torn, and her skin is charred.

“We don’t make decisions like that. You don’t get to decide that,”

“You don’t know anything about what I’d like to happen to you, Forest. What I want eats me alive,” Fallan growls. I admitted to myself then that I wanted to know what he wanted. I wanted him to confide in me.

“Never question your mind, Forest. It will guide you in ways you never knew you needed,”

There were ropes on their bodies and Officials with them, but after twenty minutes in the ash, each rope was snapped, bloodied on the ends while their screams broke the air.

Our people think their blood is Tainted, breeding a vile nature that goes against what they deem orderly-”

The Marked. He’s talking about the Marked.

“You don’t have enough energy for me to explain it like this. If I am in your mind, Forest, you want me here. Remember that,”

A necklace dangles from his neck. On it is a single golden ring. Even in the footage, I can see the band has an intricate design, carved of vines and wrapping all the way around.

“I saw what my father did to you. I saw what he did to your back,”

“That wasn't the worst thing that happened to me, Forest. Believe it or not, that punishment saved me that day.”

“How?” I qu...

“The scars remind me of o...

"W...

“That any of it was real, to ...

“That any of what was real, Fallan? What aren't ...

“Get some sleep, Little Dove. I don't have any more en...

“I won't let them hurt you again,”

“That makes two of us.”

“But then he touched you,” Fallan continues,

“Like he knew you. Like he knew my Little Dove,”

“The memory of him touching you drives me fucking insane,” Fallan whispers,

“He gets to touch you, to feel you. To be something to you. And all I can do is watch all of it while I have to prete...

“What am I to you?” I question, watching the torment that swirls in his eyes.

“I can't keep having you look at me like I matter. Like you’re holding a door open for me, and I can have you. It’s delusional to think there’s a way for me to get to you, knowing they'll rip it all away,”

“But having you look at me tonight the way you did was worth every lashing they gave me,”

"If he tells me, he’ll lose me,” I whisper to myself, reflecting on what he’d said.

I let out a sigh as darkness consumed me.

This bitch just ripped her own chip out!!

“I was supposed to stop finding reasons to come to this sector,” He whispers,

“Dove. I’ll call you Dove,”

“Well, you see, Forest,” He says

with a smile.

“you’re the first real symbol of hope I’ve seen in this society in a lo...

letting our noses touch once more before loweri...

“The Apparatus is near,” He says, looking back toward the dark sky. “They will lead us all away from this eternal hell,”

Two souls locked into an eternity of never understanding the bigger picture.

They spent hours on the operating table, their chips fortified with countless lines of code meant to keep them away from one another for years. How do two people with passed Expulsion tests and a formulated need to hate each other end up like this, inches apart in stolen moments of the night?