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an excerpt

Exile. That is the first word I learned. Actually, that was the first word anyone spoke to me. When I was very young. I don't know why I was exiled, but, then again, I never asked. You could say that I didn't want to know. But that would be a lie. When I was exiled, I was only six. I don't know how I survived so long in the depths of Hell. Humans call it Hell. I call it home. Or at least I used to. The day they banished me was the day I was left with no such place. Until that day, no one ever spoke to me. They just grabbed me on my way to the cold and unpleasant place where I slept and dragged me in front of an old, tall, cold-hearted man. He was reading from a yellow peace of paper: «...current residence unknown, usefullness – none. Subject #135, sentenced to...», he looked down at me, «...exile.» I saw the hatred in his eyes as he said the last word... Then they left. And suddenly, i felt like i don't have a body anymore, and two seconds later, I was lying on something white and cold, and I heard footsteps. As I feared it was them again, I ran into the first alley I could find. It was very cold. I shivered all over. «It shouldn't be this cold at this time of year», I thought, and then I realized that I can speak. I knew words. I wanted to try this new capability, but again I heard footsteps. They sounded the same as before. I could tell. Since I never spoke, I learned to listen. Someone was coming my way. I had to run, but then I realized how cold it is. My fingers and my toes were numb, and I couldn't move my leg. It seemed broken. I wasn't wearing much clothes, since at home the temperature was regulated by certain people, and they made sure it wasn't too cold even in the icy season. «It should be rain season now», I thought. However, it felt cold, and the footsteps were coming closer. I was weak, weaker than ever before, since I wasn't used to this harsh weather, and I was, for some reason, exausted. The footsteps came very close, and they have stopped. I managed to raise my head. There, standing right next to me, was a boy. Several years older, much taller and way better dressed than me. He crouched and leaned closer to me, noticing my long, pointy ears, my purple hair, and my everchanging eyes. His fingers touched my arm. I closed my eyes. It was warm. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders, probably trying to warm me up. I twitched, opened my eyes and looked at his. Most of his face was in shadow, so eyes were about all I could see. They were pretty, also everchanging, but right now, they were colour of blood. Again, I twitched, but this time because I felt pain. I looked at my leg, still unable to move it. He followed my eyes, and he noticed my leg. It was swollen. He removed his arm and started checking my injury. He was careful not to cause me any pain. Then he picked me up and said: «hold on». His voice was so southing I forgot about everything and wrapped my arms around his neck. He was so warm. I closed my eyes. To be held by him, like that, was all I wanted. Then, I opened my eyes again and looked around us. And then I realized. This wasn't Hell.

Chapter one: The World Above

I closed my eyes and opened them. And again. And again. I couldn't believe this is happening to me. Fifteen minutes ago I was going to my crooked, cold alley, and I wanted only to sleep. Not to mention I couldn't speak, since no one has ever spoke a word to me. And if someone isn't speaking directly to you, you don't hear a thing. That is the rule of the underworld, made to protect people's privacy. And now, now I was held by someone, and I was warm, and we were walking under the white sky, and snowflakes were falling all around us. I have never seen anything like this before, but still, i knew what those fluffy, white and fragile things are, and I could read the signs that were placed everywhere. Then the wind blew, and suddenly, my vision was all murky. I had dust in my eyes. But yet, I felt great. I glared at the boy who was carrying me, and then, somehow, I fell asleep.
When I woke up, I was lying on something white and soft. At first I thought I was back where I first landed, but then I noticed that it isn't cold anymore. I opened my eyes, and through the opened door, i could see couple of children playing. They were younger than me. They were all similar, and yet different. I could say that one was from the upper class, and that two of them were from my class, or so to say lower than slaves. I didn't know how i knew all that. I couldn't see anything else because I heard a movement coming from behind me. I turned my head and I saw that boy. He was waking up. He must have stayed here with me and he fell asleep. I smiled. I never smiled before, so I was suprised by how laughter sounded. It was a pretty sound.
– «What are you chuckling about? What's so funny?»,
I heard, and so I stopped. Te boy woke up, and now he was sitting in that chair in which he must've slept in. For the first time, I had the chance to look at him more closely. Besides his eyes, which were still blood red, he also had pretty face, pretty lips, pretty hair... In short, he was pretty. And then I smiled again. He seemed confused.
– «What's with you? What's so funny?»,
he was somewhere between laughter and rage.
– «Y – your hair», I managed to squeeze between two chuckles, «It – it's white a – and with a purple stripe...», I chuckled.
– «What's so funny about it?», he asked. I suddenly stopped smiling. «Well, nothing, actually...», I said, «But, I never laughed before...I just like the sound of laughter, I guess...» I lowered my head. «A – actually, I think it's pretty». I looked at him again. I could feel I'm blushing, but it didn't matter. And again, he looked confused. He scrached the back of his neck and said:
– «Well, thanks...I guess...». He looked at me like he just remembered something. «How's your leg?» I already forgot about it, so I pulled the sheet off my leg. It seemed normal. But I noticed something. I wasn't as small as I remembered being. I looked at the boy. He wasn't looking my way. I didn't know why. The first time I saw him he seemed younger, but now I could tell that he's maybe fifteen or sixteen years old. But still, I decided to ask.
– «How old are you?» He glared at me, sighed and said:
– «I'm fifteen, for this world's standards. How 'bout you?» He looked curious, although he still wasn't quite looking my way.
– «Ummmm... I'm six», I said, «Although I don't feel like it». Then I looked at my body. I was taller than before, I had longer hair, my waist was thinner and on top of that, i had breasts. Then I understood why he was so embarassed. I pulled the sheet back. Then he looked at me.
– «Well, you're not six anymore. Now you're maybe thirteen or so», he said, checking me out, «And yet maybe you're even older, the exiles get transported here in an unsafe way that may have rearranged your cell structure.» I raised my eyebrow, but I understood every word. There was a slight and pretty muffled sound coming from the other side of the wall. I turned towards it, but that guy sighed again, approached the wall, knocked and yelled:
– «Would you stop it?! Control yourself, for crying out loud!!», the noises stopped, and he returned to his chair, closing the door. «They're the oldest. So they think they can do what they want. They're not even exiles, they just come here to...», he blushed and lowered his head, «Here they're twice as old, so they can legally...», he tried again, looked at me and said: «I mean –» And then someone started to yell:
– «Gen, where are you? Gen!! If you're still sleeping, you're...» He panicked, rose from the chair and sat on my bed.