Shamsun Tiba, “Damned City”

Artwork by Shamsun Tiba

DAMNED CITY

Shamsun Tiba

Closing her eyes, she felt the large needle stab the side of her head. She laid very still, the pain dulling as the implant was jammed straight into her brain. The needle stayed there for a short while, before the doctor swiftly removed it. Raven sat up, her gray eyes immediately finding a woman with brown eyes and a man with the same gray eyes as hers. Their clothes were ridiculously lavish with diamonds adorning their necks and wrists. “How do you feel, sweetheart?” the woman asked, a hopeful expression on her face. “Fine, Mother,” she answered bluntly as she hopped down from the glowing bed. “The implant will activate within a few hours,” the doctor said curtly, nodding at them. “Have a good day.” A boy with honeyed hair and light brown, almost golden, eyes cycled through the streets, delivering the last of his letters. He steered through a particularly narrow alleyway and into a neighborhood with old houses and dirty sidewalks. He stopped at one house with a rusty green door, locking his bike in place and jogging towards the doorstep with a bag in his hand. “MOM! I’m home,” he announced, setting the bag on the rickety dining table. His mother answered by wobbling out of her bedroom, a tired smile etched on her face. “Hi, honey.” Her smile widened as Mark approached her. “Hi, Mom.” Mark beamed. “How are you feeling?” “Better, honey. What about you?” “I’m good.” “Are you sure?”

“Of course. I’m just trying to take care of you.” “What about taking care of yourself, honey?” The smile on Mark’s face faltered. He took in the creaky floorboards, his ripped jeans, and orange hoodie. He looked back up at the woman’s face, the smile a bit more melancholic. “I’ll be fine, Mom,” he said at last. “I just want us to live a better life.” His mother’s own face scrunched up into a smile, mirroring her son’s. She then embraced him, squeezing him tight. Mark chuckled, hugging her back. Then suddenly, the front door broke down, revealing a man with a large chainsaw merged into his arm, glowing blue with red liquid splattered on it. He laughed as loud as a maniac. “Broke bastards!” he launched himself at the sick woman, throwing her to the ground. “NO!” Marked yelled as his whole world turned upside down and toppled over him. “Do you feel any different, Raven?” the woman asked, setting her fork down. “That’s the fifth time you asked me that, Mother,” the girl voiced out in a low timbre. “We just want to know if the implant is working well,” her father chimed in. Raven felt her head ache at that statement. Not making eye contact, she stared down at her plate, her pale hand gripping the fork. “Oh, I just know that everyone will be jealous,” her mother chuckled. “We did just get the most expensive implant,” the woman’s husband agreed. Raven gritted her teeth, a loud ringing going off in her ears.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she saw blue numbers flashing red and the word error behind her eyelids. Her head pounded. Then, Raven snapped her eyes open, gray eyes cold as ice and soulless as a dead person. She abruptly stood up, her chair falling over. “Raven . . . ?” Her vision flashed red as she threw herself at her father, tackling him off his chair and to the floor. She raised a fist, which happened to be glowing gray, and her memory blanked. When Raven opened her eyes, she saw her parents on the floor, blood spilling from their chests and faces. The thick smell of iron blood filled her nose. She could almost taste it on her tongue, bloody and metallic. She stared down at her hands. They were drenched in blood. Then, a scream resonated. Raven turned to look out the window, approaching it. Humans were running on the streets, screaming as one person fired a machine gun. Another one had daggers attached to both arms, swinging recklessly. Her eyes flitted to a glimpse of golden eyes behind a pile of debris. She finds herself willing to get down there as fast as possible, feeling intrigued all of a sudden. Mark trembles, the cut on his cheek stinging. A man with multiple spikes on his legs kept walking back and forth around him. The boy couldn’t find any way to sneak away, stranded. Then, Mark shrieked. The debris he was hiding behind was blown to bits, the dust causing his eyes to sting. The spiked man was glowering down at him, his stance towering and intimidating. But, before the man could even lay a finger on him, a beam of gray light suddenly blasted him from the back, halting any movement. Then, he collapsed, crumpling on the floor like a discarded doll. Once he fell, Mark was startled to see a girl

around his age with glowing gray eyes. She stared at him before grabbing his arm, pulling him away from the havoc. “Come on,” she hissed, “I know a place we can hide.” “W-wait! I don’t even know you!” Mark stuttered. The girl held him and everything around him warped. Blinking, he suddenly finds himself in what looked like an old, abandoned classroom. “My name’s Raven.” She tilted her head to the side. “You?” “Uh . . . Mark.” “Now we know each other.” Mark couldn’t help but scoff at that statement. “How did we even get here?” he asked, looking around the dirty area. The raven-haired girl merely shrugged, not answering his question. The honey boy frowned. “Why are you helping me?” “Well, when I first saw you . . . you were glowing.” “E-eh?” “You were glowing. And you still are,” she muttered, glancing at him. “You’re different from all the people I’ve seen.” “I’ve . . . never been told that before.” The raven girl hummed thoughtfully, taking in his honey hair and golden eyes. Even now, he was still glowing brightly, his aura making the cold classroom a little warmer. “I want to show you something,” she says before the world warps around them once again. This time, they are on a rooftop, the sky above a hazy mix of gray and orange. The whole city had been torn apart. Raven pointed to a further place filled with trees, away from the city. “There is another town about 50 miles from here,” she eluci-

dates. “We’ll be able to find refuge there.” “Hold on,” Mark interrupts, “You’re gonna take me with you?” “Of course. You wouldn’t last on your own.” The honey boy pouted, knowing that she was right. “Then, when are we leaving?” “Tonight,” the raven girl said before planting herself on the floor. “But, for now, rest.” Mark sits next to her, hugging his knees to his chest. Raven sent him a tiny smile. “We’ll get out of here,” she said, “I promise.”