Chapter 1
Scrawl

Rei was still pacing across the grassy hillside. She stared into the setting sun, an image agonizingly burned into her mind. One year ago, to the day, she had lost Logan through the invisible barrier that still remained an unexplainable phenomenon.

An unexplainable phenomenon… Logan was right, it truly was depressing. The mere mention of his name caused a burning swell of tumultuous memories to sweep over her heart as rabid butterflies battled in her stomach. She tried to push back the rising wave of pain before it could overwhelm her. It was necessary, she told herself, to swallow the tears in order to press on with her only goal, the only thing that made life worth living.

“I will find you someday.” Rei vowed, her voice a barely audible whisper, as the last rays of the sun disappeared. A single tear rolled down her cheek as she turned her back on the horizon and headed into the darkness of the city.

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Another day, another class. Rei closed her eyes, drowning out the droning voice of her instructor by concentrating on the routine ticking of the wall clock. Tick, tock, tick, tock. She tried to imagine the metal cogs, the toothed gears and the coiled springs, all of them working together to produce the miracle of time. Tick, tock, tick-

FWAP! Rei jumped in her plastic desk seat, startled by the paper that flew down on her desk. The girl behind her giggled quietly, and Rei straightened up in her seat, taking one sheet and passing the remnants of the pile behind her.

Ms. Nelson scrawled a few math problems on the blackboard, her white chalk scraping against the surface. Rei spied the underlined title on the board, “Chapter 11 Test.” With a sigh, she began to copy down the problems and solve them. It was simple business math, reviewing the same concepts she and her classmates had been repeating for years, the only difference being the slightly more challenging figures substituted into the problems.

Rei effortlessly solved exactly three fourths of the equations, leaving the rest of the problems incomplete. She drew vague numbers and crossed them out absentmindedly as she wove a pattern of unintelligible pencil scrawls that the grader might mistake for some failed method of solving the equations.

As the other students continued scratching the paper with their pencils at a frenzied pace, Rei set her head down on her cold hard desk, closing her eyes and recalling, in an attempt to quell her frustration, why exactly she had chosen to be labeled as average.

Ms. Nelson had taken her aside only twice. The first time was three years ago, after Rei had become bored with the daily buzz of pointless mathematics. She could see the formula beneath every problem and, in knowing how the test worked, easily defeat it. Rei saw this as a triumph, but soon learned that it was not an ability to flaunt.

Ms. Nelson’s enigmatic words rang clearly in Rei’s head to that day. She had explained to Rei that she needed to hide her intelligence, suppress her thirst to know more and experience the world. “The best way to beat the system is to catch it off guard. Do not be suspected as a threat, even though you know how threatening you truly are. Every secret you keep within your heart is a weapon, until it is known.”

“What does that have to do with requiring me to purposely fail tests?”

Ms. Nelson shook her head, her brilliant green eyes holding Rei’s own. “Your intelligence is a threat. Hide it.”

And hide it Rei did, even though it was times such as these that she longed to express her gift, or her predisposition, whatever it was, although she had to admit Ms. Nelson’s words constantly grew more relevant.

Ms. Nelson called time, collecting the tests one by one. When she reached Rei’s desk, she paused, those same green eyes penetrating. “Talk to me after class.”

Rei subconsciously swallowed and nodded her head vigorously, her blond hair falling into her eyes. Ms. Nelson smiled and moved on, leaving Rei in wonderment.

After the students were excused and the classroom had emptied, Rei remained seated in her desk, awaiting something, she just had no idea what. Ms. Nelson pulled up one of the seats, the fabric of her long beige skirt and formal blouse scrunching up in the tight confines of the wooden desk. She looked so out of place, a teacher in the seat of a student.

“Rei, I’m worried about you.” Ms. Nelson finally said, breaking the silence. Her voice sounded sincere, but Rei knew what she really wanted to know but was too afraid to ask. Rei, what’s wrong? Is it because of Logan? Do you know where he is? Is he dead? Alive? Living with those street rats beneath the cobblestones?

Ms. Nelson took Rei’s silence as an indication to continue. “Ever since Logan,” wince, “disappeared, you’ve been so… distant. Is there anything I can do to help?”

Rei was tempted, no, driven by an entire year of loneliness, anguish, and fear to spill every secret. Instead, she barely choked out, “I’m fine.”

Ms. Nelson looked unconvinced, but rose from her seat. “You may be excused.” she commanded, and Rei found herself clumsily gathering her things into her numb arms and loading her books into her satchel as she fled stumblingly from the classroom.

And this concluded the second time Ms. Nelson had ever taken her aside.

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“Where do you think you’re going with that oil lamp?” a voice whispered harshly at her from the darkness. Rei held her breath, suddenly debating whether she should retreat to her room or run for the cold cobblestones of the street. Unable to commit to a decision in time, she froze in fear at the sudden sound of a match striking.

The small flame cast a dim orange glow on the surrounding kitchen walls. The peeling wallpaper cast eerie curling shadows along the floral patterns. The flickering light also revealed the face of the young man who had spoken to her. A smirking smile played across his lips as he spied Rei’s free hand. She was propping herself up on the wooden table, her hand gripped so tightly that her fingernails where sinking into the sturdy wood. Blushing at her subconscious fear, she extricated herself from the table and straightened herself up as if she was guilty of nothing.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded, her voice still shaking a bit.

Her brother chuckled and moved the match to pointedly illuminate the oil lamp in her other hand. “I should be asking you that question.”

A small sound of protest escaped her lips, but she knew there was no proper retort. Instead, she begged him, “Please, Jerold, do not tell father, please.”

Jerold’s smile was unwavering as he handed her the match. Rei accepted it carefully without taking her eyes off of his own, studying his unreadable expression for a moment longer before he disappeared into the front room.

“Where are you going?” she called after him, keeping her voice as low as possible. He did not answer and proceeded to slip silently out the front door without so much as a sound.

Remembering herself, she glanced quickly at the grandfather clock beside the door, indicating that it was just past midnight. Without another stray thought, she glided softly into her room and lifted her mattress from the frame. Concealed between the metal springs and the square block was a small black notepad. Snatching it from its hiding place, she gingerly lowered the mattress and used the match to light her oil lamp. She would have just two hours of light, but that was all she needed.

She took a deep breath as she turned the doorknob and escaped into the cold night air. The shock of its icy sting caused her to stutter for a moment before closing the door. Pulling the hood of her black sweatshirt over her head, she melted into the darkness.

Rei no longer needed a map to guide her to her destination, even though the winding cobblestone roads were as confusing as a maze. A sense of claustrophobia never ceased to grip her as she hurried down the narrow byways, each one squeezed uncomfortably between chunks of skyscrapers.

Her gait became less frenzied, her heartbeat began to slow. At last she had arrived at a building she knew too well. The large glass doors, once glorious and welcoming, were now smattered with cracks from stones, strips of dirty adhesive tape, and a tilted sign as battered as the building itself that warned all who cared to read it that the area was unsafe. Ignoring the sign, Rei pulled open the door enough so that she could slip inside the deserted lobby of the decrepit hotel.

Rei naturally glided toward the stairwell, pausing only briefly enough to roll up the cuffs of her long jeans. After checking to make sure her grip on the oil lamp was secure, she started the long, spiraling climb to the roof of the city’s fourth tallest landmark.

Her mind began to wander by the time she reached the 32nd floor. Only 72 more to go… maybe that was the real reason why the hotel was no longer in use. Not that there were any travelers to rent rooms. No one ever passed through the city.

40… 41… 42…

Her climb could have been worse. The tallest skyscraper belonged to the government, and the rumors flying about claimed it stood at 200 stories. What went on inside of that colossal institution, Rei had never dared to wonder about, until recently. All she longed for was the truth, plain and simple. Surely the secrets guarded behind those bureaucratic doors represented answers more valuable than life itself.

78… 79…

The second and third tallest buildings were out of the question, simply because of proximity. The rooftops of every building within at least a mile of the government’s headquarters were plainly visible. Rei was not doing anything particularly illegal, but she wanted to avoid the uneasy feeling of being watched.

103… the stairs came to an end and she doubled over in exhaustion, her hands on her knees as she doubled over, gasping for air. Even after her breath was caught, her heart continued to race and her blood boiled beneath her skin. She held the oil lamp out before her, as if cautiously testing the darkness, while she searched through the cobwebs and filth for the ladder to roof.

A few seconds later she found it. Curling the fingers of her left hand around the rusty rungs, and holding onto the oil lamp with the other hand, she hoisted herself onto the unstable ladder. She quickly scaled it, trying to ignore the sound of the ancient shaking metal struggling under her weight not to give away. Reaching the ceiling, he curled her back up against the trapdoor and pushed with all of her might.

There was a loud snap as the wooden door flew open, circling around its hinges and slamming into the cold concrete of the roof. The cold air rushed to meet her, and she embraced it for a moment until she remembered the unsteady ladder beneath her feet. Setting the lamp on the concrete, she pulled herself up onto the roof and closed the wooden door behind her.

The view from the top of the deserted hotel was breathtaking, but she didn’t come here just to stare back at the city. Instead she turned her attention to the darkness of the sky, and twinkling of the stars. She leaned against the pole of a rusting weathervane and met the unending sky. It was the only thing in her world that seemed limitless, and possibly the only way out of the city. The only way to escape the torture of life without true freedom, a life no more meaningful than those unintelligible marks scrawled across her math test.

Rei pulled out her shabby notebook, worn with use and harsh hiding places, and opened it to a fresh page. Perhaps it was blasphemy, or some misdemeanor or crime. Maybe even treason, although she couldn’t image how they could justify pinning that one on her. She wasn’t planning on overthrowing the government, unless they got in the way, for her notebook was filled with designs for escape. Some practical, others ludicrous, most of them untested and unproven.

If only she had Logan’s strength to act. Every plan was simply a concept, an idea that floated freely through space. She had no idea where to begin, so she just continued to write until her heart felt like it was going to give out after lusting for freedom.

Her newest area of interest was the sky. She knew that there were invisible barriers surrounding the outskirts of the city, but she had no idea if they made up a continuous wall or an overarching dome. For now, she prayed that freedom might come from reaching toward the stars.

Rei’s thoughtful reverie was shattered by a light that streaked across the obsidian sky. It was followed by another, and another, as if the stars above her were being shot like fiery arrows. Bright trails littered the sky; she had never seen anything quite like it.

Her translucent eyes were locked on the sky, mesmerized by yet another unexplainable phenomenon. And yet, she felt like she had nothing to fear from the bizarre behavior of the stars.

That was, until one of them came crashing down on her.

Rei was so absorbed in her thoughts that she failed to notice a large object falling from the sky. The sudden force of the impact slammed her across the concrete, bending the weathervane over and scraping her along the rusting poll. She felt the piercing beak of the iron bird cut into her back, but the pain was far from her focus. When she managed to open her eyes, she found an unconscious young man, barely older than herself, had slammed into her with incredible force.

Had he truly fallen from the sky?

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Author's Note: This story's title was formally "For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky," but that was a mouthful, haha. Don't worry, Rei isn't always this depressing. She'll cheer up soon and channel her mourning into stronger determination. Maybe I shouldn't have given that away, but I know that purely depressed characters always annoy me, so never fear, we'll see a better side of her soon.
P.S. Haha, cliff hanger.