Feral Heart Edit by Duron Crejaro (best ereader for epub TXT) 📖

Epigraph

The world burned, and with it mankind.

 

It ended the rule of man’s law, and society.

 

Yet, we persevered, and rebuilt.

 

Seventeen years of terrible struggles.

 

Humans defied nature, stayed the course.

 

We coalesced into city-states, safe behind our walls.

 

Then the Wylder appeared, and moved among us.

 

Myths, Legends, Nightmares walked with us.

 

Society has once again taken root.

 

City-States flourish.

 

The Wylder roam.

 

~ Andrew Brooks ~

Chapter 1: A New Year

It always happenened the same way. I awoke in a pool of cold sweat, terrified or maybe exhilarated. I’m never quite sure which. Adrenaline coursed through me, as I sat upright my entire body trembling. I never can quite recall the dream, only remembering small bits. The rest lost to my waking mind. It’s always night. I’m somewhere dark, and it felt neither warm nor cold. I have the sensation of running, but it’s different somehow. I smell something, and instinctually I began to track it, energy surged through me at the thought of a chase. That’s when I lost it. I sat for several minutes, and grasped at the threads of the dream, trying to hold onto them.

                       

With an almost inaudible groan, I looked at the clock. Nearly six am. Time to get up, and I figured I could use a hot shower to wash away the sensations of the dream that lingered. I slipped from beneath the comforting warmth of my bedspread. I stripped the flannel nightgown, and tossed it lightly into the corner hamper. Fifteen glorious minutes of steamy exaltation later, I stood, clean, awake and feeling refreshed. The remnants of the dream faded like the sweat washed from my body. I stood before the large vanity of the bathroom, brushed my teeth and started brushing the kinks from my hair as I looked at myself in the mirror. I grimaced. The mint-flavored paste left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

I’ve never considered myself attractive, in the last year or two though, I definitely noticed the increased attention of the guys in my class. I am short. That might be an understatement since I stood just less than five feet. Petite some would say, to skinny I thought. Add that to the fact that my breasts lacked the size of other girls my age, and I just couldn’t see what they found so attractive. My hair was long, a few inches past shoulder length, and very chestnut brown, coupled with smooth high cheekbones, a narrow pert nose, and full pale pink lips that matched my tanned complexion nicely, and maybe, just maybe I could see what interested them, even if I found it a bit vain. I always gravitated to my eyes however. Mine were striking, at least in my estimation. They were a deep forest green in the middle of summer. The color faded inward lightening to an almost translucent sea-foam green with the faintest flecks of a pale yellow mixed in. Yes, I loved my eyes. I applied what little makeup I allowed myself to wear; just a little eye shadow and eyeliner to accentuate my eyes.

 

I sighed a little and retreated back to the dark confines of my room, and pulled out the crisp new uniform that all students wore. Bleep Bleep Bleep, the alarm on my desk sounded, startling me. I turned it off and pulled on my panties and bra. With disgust, I inspected my clothes, plain tan khakis and a white blouse, the same for everyone. This year I was starting at the Academy. A centralized school all the youths of my respective age were required to attend. This year we would take an exhaustive plethora of general studies classes that would culminate in a placement exam at years end. This test decided which profession we would be thrust into, next year we would begin training in whatever field we were placed, and be expected to become a contributing member of society. I dreaded it, but on the bright side, I could move away from home.

 

I pulled my still damp hair into a loose ponytail, and headed downstairs. Breakfast time, a boring routine that I wished I could skip out on. My mother, Margrete, would have thrown a fit if I tried. I plopped down at the table to a hot plate of eggs, and sausage with gravy and biscuits. At least it consisted of something good I thought to myself. I sat in a stark silence, David, my father was gone to work already, as per the norm. He was an engineer for the city and a busy man. My mother would be leaving for her nursing job soon as well, and I would be left to my own devices, which on this particular day involved catching a bus to the academy.

 

“Are you excited?” Mother asked.

 

I swallowed a mouthful of eggs before answering. “Excited? About what? School?” I laughed.

 

She ignored my sarcasm, “Of course. You know the Academy is very important. This is the year that will determine the rest of your life.”

 

“So you keep telling me. What if I don’t like the job I’m placed in. Or what if I’m no good at it?”

 

“Honey. Don’t worry so much. Mrs. Davenport and the school board are thorough. I’ve never heard of someone failing their assigned role in the city.”

 

“That’s just it mom. Why do they get to decide my fate? It’s my life. Maybe I want to decide for myself. What if I want to be a historian and explore the Old World?”

 

“Nonsense, jobs like that don’t exist anymore. You’ll be an adult soon. It’s time for you to put childish dreams aside, and become a true citizen. We all have to do our part.”

 

I started to complain further, then stopped. It would accomplish nothing. Mother believed without question that this is the way life had to be. We were each a drone ant, and lived only to grow the colony. Sometimes, it sickened me.

 

The bus pulled up to the curb, monstrous, designed only for utility, a long construct with a double row of bench seats. As I boarded with a group of first years that lived in my complex, I noticed that the bus was empty. We must be the first stop I guessed. With disinterest, I ignored the others and picked a seat alone content to be left in seclusion. Of course, I knew my privacy would not last, soon my two best friends would join me. Camiella came first, but we called her Cami for short. She dropped into the seat next to me while I stared out the window. I smiled as I looked over at her. Taller than me at around five and a half feet, chesty, blond, with blue eyes and a bubbly personality. She was the poster child of hotness that all the guys wanted. She however, only had eyes for one guy. The bus halted smoothly at the next stop, and our third wheel boarded, Dhamon. He was tall, right at six feet. Though he had gained most of his height in only the last year during a spurt of growth. Brown hair hung just down to his ears with an almost identical colored set of puppy dog eyes to match. His carefree attitude suited him, and he pretended ignorance of Cami pining for his heart. He did this because of one problem, Dhamon was in love with me. We all three knew the score on this, but it never came up in conversation. We’d been friends for so long that none of us wished to jeopardize our friendship with the trappings of young love. Besides, I didn’t love Dhamon. Yeah, he’s cute, but he is more of a brother or a goofy cousin than boyfriend material. I watched Cami’s eyes light up as he strolled through the bus to sit with us, only to see the light sadden a little as she noticed him watching me.

 

We spent the trip to the Academy catching up on a little summer gossip. We stayed closely in touch during the summer months, so it’s not like we didn’t already know all the juicy stuff. I think that we were just nervous about the new school. The Academy was housed in a complex that had been converted from the old world. The older citizens still around, claimed that before the burning the complex served as a huge mall, filled with more shops than they could count. Now the government used it as the central school for career placement for young adults coming of age. The headquarters for the Nashboro ruling party was located adjacent to the school, in a remodeled hotel from years ago. It overlooked the school like an ominous task master. Each year a new group of students would come here for their general studies, then take the placement test that would decide their fate and the next three years of school, before they would be expected to take their place in society, and contribute as an adult.

 

I sat in awe staring out the window as our bus pulled into a massive parking area. Already dozens of buses had arrived, depositing their young cargo. An enthusiastic young teacher’s aide directed us to a massive auditorium. The room filled with a huge throng of new students, all wearing the same dull gray drab. I felt out of place, even with my friends near me. Looking around, I did notice that I recognized some of the students, but by and large most were foreign to me. We took seats together, somewhere near the middle of the room, and waited in anxious silence. We weren’t made to wait very long. Soon the lights dimmed, causing an eerie silence to fall over the room. A light passed overhead and a large screen came to life. Sound reverberated throughout the chamber. It was nothing more than a simple introductory video to being a new student at the school; graphics depicting the layout of the grounds, off limit areas, fingerprint identification for our schedules. All the boring prolific things that would make the start of a new year go smooth.

 

I sighed as I listened. I had never much cared for the controlled learning environment which the ruling party had instituted. I much preferred the freedom of the outdoors; the grass, tree’s, sky and all living things. This place seemed a little too mechanical to me, to unnatural. After two full hours, the assembly ended, and we all proceeded in long lines to the machines that would take our fingerprints, check them against the cities files, and print out our schedules for the year ahead. Soon, but not as soon as I would have liked, my turn came. I placed my hand on the screen and it bleeped at me. With an electronic whirl, a small slip holding my itinerary was deposited into my waiting hand. It was a disaster. I had almost no classes with my friends. Only my first class with Cami, and my fourth class with Dhamon, I grumbled my displeasure with the situation. Cami made out like a bandit, or at least I assumed she thought so. She had three