Society

Chapter 12

I woke up before dawn the next day, the bed was too soft. I had nightmares that I was suffocating, I was too warm, and I felt myself sinking into the soft mattress. Over a decade of sleeping on garbage, on the cold hard ground, using only the bodies of the dead for heat has destroyed whatever good sleep could have welcomed me last night.

I pulled myself out of bed, and welcomed the cool touch of water as I stood in the shower. I washed and got dressed. I looked at my bedside table to see the note and the watch Dan had left for me last night, I lifted the watch, tilting the clock face so that it caught what little pre-dawn light streamed in through my window.

6:30.

It's too dark to be half six, I pushed myself off of the bed and peered out the window, true enough it was half six the sun had risen, but the city was cast in the shadow of the walls. How nice, they won't be rudely awoken by the sun until ten in the morning.

I sat doing nothing for a long time then I decided to see who was up. I grabbed my room key and shoved it in my back pocket after I locked the door, leaving with only the watch, which was now on my wrist, and my key. I followed the signs until I reached the canteen, hoping that Mick might be up and working. I reached the canteen, which was empty with the exception of a boy cleaning down the surface of the food table. He lifted his head as I approached; he was younger than I thought he was maybe a year or two older than me. He was good looking too; he had light brown hair, blue eyes and soft features.

"Hey, you're that girl from yesterday right?" he said smiling at me as he straightened his back. He was almost the same height as me only an inch or two taller.

I tilted my head to the side trying to imitate a confused expression, but not very successfully I guess since he had to hide a snicker, I gave up my attempts at pretend naivety but instead smiled and continued.

"Well, I could be the girl from yesterday, but it depends on why you remember me?"

He laughed and pulled a chair out, offering me a seat next to him.

"Well I remember you knocking out a six foot bloke and sent a girl flying across the hall, then plunging a knife into this table right in front of Dan. Pretty memorable, is there anything else that I should remember you for?"

I chuckled, remembering the childish way I acted with Dan yesterday.

"Well that was a very memorable thing, but I also was brought in for the mass murder of an area on the outside."

The boy then looked at me with wide eyes, but with the same awe as mike had done the day before.

"That was you?" I could hear the excitement rising in his voice, I nod and he just sits in quiet awe, I can't help but laugh a little at his reaction.

"So what's your name?" I ask, he snaps out of his trance, shaking his head, and his smile spreads back across his face.

"Neco." What's yours?"

I look at him, his smile still spread wide across his face.

"I'm called Aima, Greek for blood, yours sounds strange, what does it mean?"

He looked at me before laughing quietly.

"Of course, blood suits you well, Greek, it sounds nice. Mine is actually Latin, our names have similar themes, mines means to kill, and our names are well suited. How did your parents chose yours?"

I felt my smile fade from my face as I remembered the boring years where I was nameless.

"I was an orphan I didn't have a name, Dan chose it when he brought me here; he thought it would suit me. My full name means blood assassin, but I don't remember how to say the second name for the life of me."