STEEL (The Aurum Trilogy Book 1)

Chapter 2

TWO

Lauren

“It’s about time.” I grumbled as Zac took a seat on the other side of the table. “You’re ten minutes late.”

“Sorry.” Zac apologized, running his hands through his light mousy brown hair and disheveling it. I was about to scold him for wasting my time but he brought out a small box from his backpack. “I brought you something…”

I took the box and looked to see what it was. “Berries.” I smiled. Zac knew that I loved berries, especially the fresh and newly-picked ones. Zac was my supplier of berries. He usually got these from the forest in the next division or stole them from his neighbor’s backyard. Berries were difficult to get since produce from our division is pretty scarce. Only the wealthiest among this division can grow these fruits in their backyard. “And that’s not all…” he said as he reached for something behind his backpack. He brought out newly-picked flowers. I knew where he got these this time. It was from his garden. Zac took interest in studying plants, especially flowers and herbal ones. I took his peace offering and said thanks.

“Well, I hope this did the trick. I knew you’d scold me for being late.” He joked.

“Well, congratulations Mr. Zachary Andrews, you just did a fantastic job.” I remarked and the two of us burst into laughter. It was the first time that we had a good laugh in days. We were so busy and preoccupied by our missions. People stared at us, thinking what two idiots like us were laughing about in a diner. But all that happiness was suddenly cut of as a I felt a wave of pain hit my whole body. For a moment, I felt a heavy thud in my chest. It was as if bricks were being thrown on it. My head started to ache as well. It was a small throbbing pain that suddenly grew worse each passing second. My eyes turned blurry and I released heavy breaths.

“Lauren, is everything alright?” Zac started asking.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” I managed to say. “Maybe I’m just hungry.”

“Let’s order up then.” Zac shot out his hand in the air and called in a waitress. My vision was pretty hazy but I could still make her figure out. She had blazing red hair and freckles spread all over her face. It was as if someone had sprinkled them and accidentally put on too much. I didn’t recognize her and she didn’t know me. She was probably a newbie. Zac and I always met up at Fred’s Diner. We always come here after a successful mission to have a celebratory meal and to plan our next move. It was the only diner in our division and it had the best desserts in town despite its musty smell of grease and oil. Only citizens who are better off in this kind of division could afford it. Lucky for me and Zac, The Hawk gives us enough money to compensate our obsession with this diner. Some citizens from Division 36 and 37 even go here to eat. It’s that famous. “Milkshake?” Zac asked. I nodded, cupping my face with my hands

While Zac was busy telling the waitress our orders, I fumbled for my bag and took out a syringe containing a green liquid. It was my antidote. Nobody, except my mother, knew about it. My mother begged to keep this antidote a secret among our family and I did. I’ve been hiding this cure for almost eighteen years. I quickly searched for an available vein and found one slithering under my skin. I took a deep breath and injected the antidote to my bloodstream. Immediately, all the pain that washed up on me ceased. Zac turned and looked at me and I quickly put the empty syringe back in my bag.

“Are you really okay, Lauren? You look sick.”

“I told you I’m fine, Zac.” I said in a stern voice. “This is normal to me already”

Zac’s dark eyes kept on looking at me. By staring at it, I knew that he was troubled. “I know, but don’t you think it gets worse? Do you think there’s a CURE?”