{SHORTLIST OpenNovellaContest 2021}
{ONC 2021 Round One Ambassador Picks}
Aithne Pan, a Chinese-Irish girl living in the futuristic city of Venice has to decide between what her heart tells her is correct, and what she has always been taught is righ...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
After leaving the underground bunker where Lilac Royalty was hiding, I went back home and sent my superiors a message. A risky move on my part, but I have put so many people away that knowing there is a possibility they are kept underground, tormented every day because of their power, makes me feel sick.
I should have made sure the people I have put behind bars have been freed; that way I wouldn't be in this situation.
Looking at my phone I hope my message wasn't too straightforward.
Chief - Amber Garcia has some valuable information I need. I'd like to request a meeting with her.
The situation I am in is heartbreaking. I don't know who to trust, where to go, what is real and what is the truth. I feel stuck, fear and remorse my only company as I fight to keep my head above the sea of water threatening to drown me. I want to cry, but I know that if I shed so much as one tear, I risk being thrown into jail myself.
Thinking back I should have known something wasn't right - agents mysteriously disappearing, the ghost cries underground, the lack of powered people in the prison on the seventh level - it all makes sense, yet either because I didn't want to tie it all together or because of my naivety I hadn't figured it out.
Lilac Royalty might be lying.
But would they? They don't know I am a policewoman, they believe I am one of them. So why would they lie? What would their motives be?
"Agent Aithne, it's nice to see you," A voice says, a woman stopping right in front of me. She has her hair tied back in a military bun, the same style I was taught to keep my hair in check before I decided to cut it shoulder length after my parents' death. Her brown eyes are covered by large sunglasses, big enough to also hide the majority of the scar that crosses from her left eyebrow to her cheekbone. As usual she is wearing a black police uniform, her name tag hidden from view. I always wondered why she did it, and when I asked she told me it was so that people didn't recognize her during her off duty hours - I have a feeling it has something to do with unlawful things.
Standing up from the bench, I nod, "Nice to see you too. Are we going to go and meet Amber Garcia? The information she has is urgent,".
She crosses her arms, both thick as a tree trunk and strong enough to break one, too. She might not be a powerful Caeli Lorem but for some reason she has some extremely strong Robur Flexuram, a strange combination but it works for her.
"What do you want to ask her?"
I knew she was going to ask that, so during my wait, I came up with a few ideas, but I only say the one I think she is most likely to be convinced by, "Because she knows who all the Lilac Royalty members are and based on what the vigilante group have told me, she also has intel on Black Demon,".
Black Demon is an evil association that was shut down a few years ago by the police but a few of the members got away and reformed elsewhere in the city. We have been chasing after them since they slipped through our hands, and I know Chief has some personal problems with them - one of the members who got away gave her the scar that covers half her face - so she will be more than willing to let me talk to Amber. Hopefully.
