Seraphed

I wonder from time to time what the future will bring-I sure hope this sin't our fate.

• Science fiction

								
Year 2450 AD:

In the heart of a crumbling metropolis, once known as New York City, the last of humanity clung to their frail existence. The sky was thick with a dark grey smog that enveloped the city like a blanket, making it impossible to breathe. The Empire State Building, as it was once known as, had been burned down a few years earlier by a group of rioters. 
Efforts had been made to rebuild the glorious building and reclaim the once prosperous city, but they were all in vain. The remains of human existence, though they were scarce, bloomed under the depths of the tarnished ground, hidden amongst a labyrinth of paths that spiraled deep down into the dry earth.
The air within the Underground was thick and scarce, purified and recycled through a makeshift system of ventilation. The lighting was not much better,  faintly glowing bulbs sprang up from the dusty ceiling every few feet, revealing the worn faces of survivors. 
The circumstances, though unfavorable, were what brought them together, what united them…

                                            • • •                                                   
           Year 2445 AD:

 	Jade stood up quickly, her dirty blond hair nearly whipping my face. She turned around, looked me dead in the eye and whispered, “We gotta get out of here.”
The alarm had gone off just a few seconds earlier and with it a blaring horn that shook me to my bones. A chill ran down my spine. The Seraphs had arrived. We fled, still shaken by surprise and utter fear. The rest of the class followed; having no intention of being killed today.
I turned around despite myself and watched in uncontrollable fear as our teacher fell beneath the grasp of a hooded man. I shut my eyelids tightly, not bearing to take in more. A gunshot went off and my vision blurred, filled with a murky amber. And I ran, just ran, in no particular direction.  	
Tears spilling from my blood-shot eyes, my hair flailing in every which way. I had to get away from this mess of a world I lived in, I had to do something, anything. Suddenly, a surge of pain shot through my upper abdomen, incapacitating me. Darkness invaded my periphery and I fell to my knees. The last thing I remember before blacking out were footsteps, alarmed voices, and Jade…

“Aria, Aria!”
I peeled open my eyelids, the world looked fuzzier than I remembered. Dark walls surrounded me, stretching up to meet the swirling clouds above. Thick ivy in a vibrant shade of chartreuse crawled up the worn brick, slowly chipping away the rust-coloured paint. A striking scene, worthy of Charles Perrault.
Jade kneeled over me, gently shaking my left shoulder. 
“Aria…Good, you're awake.”
“What happened?” I grumbled, straining to even make a noise.
“You fainted, dumbass,” Jade teased.
“Well that’s obvious, but before…” 
She stares at me oddly and cocks her head, “What do you mean?”
I looked down upon my chest where, a few moments earlier, I had felt a stabbing pain grinding its way through my flesh. Yet, by some miracle I now felt not so much as a scratch. My disbelief melts away into confusion as I contemplate the situation.
A cry resonates through the dark alley. I shudder. We aren’t safe here. We aren’t safe anywhere in this messed-up world. Ever since the Seraphs took over dread and terror has filled our daily lives.
Jade helped me up and I slowly got to my feet. We cautiously make our way down the alley, slowly distancing ourselves from the ominous presence that seemed to follow our each and every move. I held my head high, each step perfectly calculated. Seraphs can smell fear, and I didn’t have a death wish. 
The narrow alley opened up onto a desolate street, buildings leaning precariously against each other. The sky overhead was starting to darken, slowly fading into twilight. Jade and I continued to navigate through the dilapidated urban landscape. Home was only a few blocks away, and though it wasn’t much safer than outdoors, it still brought me a sigh of relief.
“Bye, Aria!” Jade cried out as she started deviating toward a red-bricked building where she lived with her mother and younger sister, Mila. Her father had fallen mercy to the Seraphs a few years earlier. 
Jade had never since been able to overcome that mental block in her life. The once energetic, flaxen child I used to know had been replaced with a grim faced one who spoke little and loathed the Seraphs with a burning passion. Luckily, Jade had never been so desperate as to turn to suicide as an escape. I don’t know what I would have done without her. We basically grew up together. 
Soon enough, I arrived at my tenement. A building made almost entirely of reflective glass. What was a feat of modern architecture in the Anthropocene era now seemed like a relic, an ancient structure amidst the modernity of the 25th century.
As soon as I got to my bedroom I collapsed onto my striped linen sheets, the comfort seemed like a benediction after the cold insensitivity of the outside. I heard my mom’s tired voice calling me down to dinner but I had blacked out by then and her calls seemed like a mirage. 
I woke up a few hours later in dead darkness. I peered over at my alarm clock and winced, it was only 2 am. Groaning, I rolled over onto my stomach. Suddenly, a surge of throbbing pain flashed through my upper shoulder near the spot where it had hurt earlier. The sudden jolt of adrenaline brought me to my feet. The pain slowly disintegrating as I got up and with it all traces of fatigue. Miraculously, I had never felt more satiated in my life. 
I slowly passed my hand over the area where the pain had once been and let out scream. 
“What the…”
As my fingers grazed the skin of my abdomen I felt an unfamiliar bump protruding from my lower ribs. I ripped off my shirt to examine it in more detail. A large bulge of muscle, probably the size of my fist, was jutting out from my skin. The flesh was bare and slimy to the touch and I shrieked again out of pure disgust. 
“Calm down, Aria. Calm down!” I reassured myself “I-It’s just a dream.”
	I tried to fall asleep again but my breathing was harsh and assertive against my ear and my heart thumped loudly in its cavity. Oh gosh, this wasn’t going to work. I stood up again and headed to the bathroom. 
	With a twist of the faucet the water started streaming out; fresh and clear. I leaned over the sink and started splashing the cold liquid over my clammy hands and face. The water felt good against my skin and almost made me forget the happenings of earlier. But the lump was still there, fleshy and pink against my pale skin.
“ I’m dreaming. I’m dreaming. I’m dreaming.” I chanted, hoping to reassure myself.
I pinched myself; hard, hoping to wake up from this ghastly nightmare. But the pinching had no effect on me. My arm felt completely numb, as if I’d plunged it into a bath of ice cold water. I pinched again, more forcefully this time. Again, nothing. 
Panic surged through my veins as I started pacing along the bathroom’s tiled floor.

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