Could Harlan be dead? I’ve never seen a gun, other than in the old Dark World videos, but there is no mistaking that cold glint of metal.
Relief washes over me as I pull myself into the cover of the trees, my fingers scrabbling against the rough bark. I lean against one as I catch my breath, watching the flurry of activity unfold beneath the lights. I wonder what they’ve done with Harlan. Surely they’ve moved him by now. Bodies in the middle of streets do not represent a peaceful society.
Rage fills me. To the Covinus, Harlan is the same as Easton. Disposable. A nuisance. They are no longer people at all, only problems that undermine the Community.
I turn away from Similis, instead facing the darkness of the forest, welcoming it. At least the darkness has never pretended to be anything other than what it is.
The lights that have comforted me since I was a child falter beneath the thick branches, and it only takes a few minutes of walking before they are enveloped completely. I am practically blinded, groping through the trees as if a handkerchief has been tied over my eyes. There is no electricity outside Similis. No lights, street-lamps, or flashlights. It’s the root of the land’s name, both a moral and literal description of the place. It was once called something different, but it’s been lost to time.
I expected the darkness. I didn’t expect that it would be so disorienting; to feel both enveloped and desolate. The same shroud blankets us all, but it is pulled so tightly over our eyes, we could wander alone forever.
I should have brought a lantern. I should have brought a coat. I should have brought some semblance of a plan.
The darkness settles around me and with it, the reality of what I’ve done. Left everything I’ve ever known and run blindly into a place I know to be dangerous. Whatever blasted a hole through the Boundary lurks beneath this same dark sky. Leaves rustle and branches crack. I swear I can hear the scrape of claws and the tormented howls of some forlorn beast off in the distance.
I have no rations. Nothing to barter with. I’ve no sense of Dark World geography, or if there are even any cities left standing after their multiple civil conflicts. How did I ever expect to find my parents with nothing but a silly coin?
The world suddenly feels unsteady as if the darkness itself will open up and swallow me whole. Lost in my own sense of panic, it takes a ridiculous amount of time for me to notice that the night has begun to flicker, casting odd, distorted shadows around me. They dance across the trunks of the trees, creating the illusion that the trees themselves are alive and dancing. It only compounds my feeling of unmooring, but I venture forward anyway until I discover the source—a fire.
I freeze, acutely aware of the loud crunch of leaves beneath my boot. Masses huddle around the fire. People.
Dark Worlders.
Dread fills my stomach like leaden ice. In all my time staring out into the Dark World, I’ve never once seen anyone in these trees. Oranything.And all this time, there have been people living minutes from the Boundary? It seems impossible.
And yet, here they are. Arguing and guffawing.
Dark Worlders are an angry people. Violent and ruthless, only beholden to their own twisted souls. Anyone who tries to bring light is torn down or mutilated. But not killed. Never killed.
It’s been drilled into us since we were young, the kind of people that reside outside the Boundary, but I’ve never taken it to heart. Maybe it’s because my parentsareliving outside the Boundary or maybe it’s simply that I’ve always thought that people are just people, no matter where they live. Now, though, it isn’t just my heart that will be tested. Am I willing to lay my life on the foundation of people being inherently good?
Something cold presses into the back of my neck.
“What do we ‘ave here?” The voice is gruff, his accent harsh and distinctly foreign. I make to turn around, but the man thrusts what I ascertain is a knife more roughly into the back of my neck. “Don’t move, girl,” he growls, and I don’t. I couldn’t even if I wanted to.
For another thought has crashed over me like a thunderstorm. The reason these Dark Worlders are so close to the Boundary isbecauseof the Boundary. They’re the ones who destroyed it. And if they were capable of blowing through an unbreakable wall, what will they do to my entirely breakable body?
“Where you from?” he asks warily.
I don’t reply, instead, biting down into my lip so hard it bleeds. Admitting to being Similian would be foolhardy, but I don’t know enough of the Dark World to make up a convincing lie. “No one comes this far into the Nemoran wood ‘less they plan on getting shot.”
My eyes widen. Shot? By who?
The man pushes me forward suddenly. I stumble on the uneven ground but manage to regain my footing before toppling over completely. He is herding me toward the fire—toward his companions.
“I…I was just out for a walk and got turned around. My brother is surely looking for me by now,” I blurt out. I don’t know why I say it, other than wanting desperately to not appear alone.
“A walk, huh?” the man muses, shoving me forward once more. “I know where you from running like that,” he leans forward and says directly in my ear, “pretty little thing.” His breath is hot and sour, his face rough against mine.
“I could fetch a good price for someone with skin like yours.” He laughs, the sound grating and humorless. Any thoughts of appeasing this man dissipate instantly. There will be no reasoning with him. There will only be surviving him.
“Maybe I won’t turn you in. Maybe I’ll sell ya and retire somewhere nice and warm. Let’s get a look at the rest of you in the light.” He chortles to himself as if he’s made a clever joke, but in my terror, it’s lost on me.
My fingertips go cold as he pushes me forward.
If we reach that fire, I will be his. I’m outmatched now, but it will be worse when it’s one against seven. The decision is made so quickly, I’m not even sure itisa decision, so much as instinct. As the man makes to push me again, I duck to the ground. Tucking my knees to my chest, I roll out of his path.
He roars in frustration, the force of his own momentum causing him to stumble, but I don’t pause to see whether he regains his footing. Instead, I take off in the opposite direction of the campfire. Angry shouts ring out behind me, the man alerting his companions to my presence.
