Though it was summer, the air was frigid against bare skin. The full moon bathed the city in an eerie light and Aethera shuddered subconsciously. All the windows of the identical, dreary apartment buildings were dark. It was several hours past the city’s curfew, and almost everyone in the town was asleep.

But one girl was very much awake. She had decided to take advantage of the cover the darkness provided.

She was sitting on the edge of the low, wooden bridge that crossed the rapids. The strong current rushed beneath her swinging feet and she knew that if she fell, it would be certain death. However, she wasn’t afraid to die. Death would provide an escape from the shattered world she lived in.

Goosebumps coated the exposed skin of her slender arms and she shivered. It was below freezing, but she wasn’t one to pester her brother for something as simple as a jacket. He worked hard enough as it was and if she asked, he would only feel guilty. It wasn’t his fault. They were Unknowns - the lowest status - and the only way to climb up was through marriage. Neither of the two siblings was ready to leave each other, despite the advantages that came with belonging to a higher caste.

The teenager closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, trying her best to relax her tense muscles. It was times like this where it was especially important to sneak past the armed guards and snobby neighbors to practice controlling her powers.

It was dangerous, she knew that. She knew that she could be locked up, experimented on, or killed if she was discovered. She had watched dozens of children and adults massacred and thrown into the raging rivers, just because they had demonstrated unusual abilities and were identified as one of the so-called ‘Uniques’. Even her father had been shot in the leg and taken away by the hunters, who’d threatened to kill his sickly wife and children if he refused to cooperate. She hadn’t seen her father in eleven years.

She also knew that if she died, her brother would blame himself and would certainly lose his will to live. But, he did not know that she was Unique. He did not know the danger she posed to both of them. If she was found out, he would likely be executed because of their relationship. Being Unique wasn’t genetic, but the hunters were ignorant. They had to quench their thirst for blood regardless of species.

If she had any hope at all of living, she had to learn to control her powers. She knew the statistics. Most of the Unique population were not taught how to separate their abilities from their emotions. If she got angry and accidentally lashed out, she would lose control. She might hurt innocent people before the Hunters got to her.

Her brow furrowed as she forced herself to concentrate. She slowly curled her long, callused fingers into clenched fists and squeezed her eyes shut.

Almost instantly, clouds began to sweep over the once clear sky. Angry winds stirred up debris and sent the girl’s hair flying. Her heart raced as she gripped the edge of the bridge, and she jumped as a long strip of radiant light set the night sky ablaze. A clap of thunder soon followed, bringing a stream of heavy rain with it. It took only a few seconds for the clear droplets to drench the shivering girl.

Stop.

The girl gasped and her eyes snapped open as the wind howled around her. A narrow funnel reaching from the clouds to the ground swirled towards the apartments.

Wait. Stop.

The girl’s efforts to control the wind became more frantic as the twister loomed closer. Lights flickered on and off in the small room windows and the girl ducked to avoid being seen. Screams and cries were lost in the sea of thunder and wind as the funnel spun faster and faster, becoming nothing more than a deadly blur.

The girl screamed in frustration and threw her hands at the angry clouds.

STOP!

The wind finally ceased and the tornado retreated into the clouds. The small town became eerily quiet once more.

The girl panted, her breath coming in short gasps as she collapsed. Her hands shook as she tried to gather her bearings. She had lost control. She had nearly destroyed her whole city.

But, that was a risk she would have to take. She was not one to give up. Next time, she would start slower. Next time, she would be more focused.

“There’s a freak here,” a voice spat angrily, “I can smell their rotten stench.”

The girl whipped her head around and her eyes widened at the two men walking towards her. She darted behind one of the large rocks that bordered the river, praying that she hadn’t been seen.

“Send the drones out and do a headcount. We’ll find it,” another voice replied, “Screen the occupants thoroughly too. Kill anyone who seems suspicious. If a Unique slips through our fingers again, I’m done for.”

The girl didn’t dare breathe for fear that the hunters would hear her. She didn’t realize that they were so close. The guards usually stayed by the buildings, making sure that no one broke curfew. The twister must have chased them to the river.

Her breath caught in her chest as one of the guards stepped closer to her hiding spot. It didn’t matter whether she was found or not anyway. When they did the headcount and discovered that she wasn’t there, they would know instantly that Aethera Kapoor had started the storm. They would find her brother and take him to one of their prisons to interrogate him. Once they realized that he didn’t have any information, they would kill him.

Aethera swallowed the lump in her throat and exhaled sharply, gathering the courage to surrender herself. She wouldn't be the reason for her brother’s death. She couldn’t risk it. It would be fast. A quick bullet to the head. She wouldn’t feel a thing.

“Hey, come over here. Look at this.”

Aethera flinched. She couldn’t do it. King Rae had warned the public what would happen if one was caught harboring a Unique. What if they killed her brother anyway? What if they tortured her? What if they locked her up in one of their prisons and let her slowly starve to death?

The very thought of Rae’s prisons sent trembles of fear down her spine. She had heard stories of the gruesome conditions that the inmates were forced through. They had special devices that dampened the power of a Unique. Without their abilities to protect themselves, not many survived. She wouldn’t have a chance.

“I’m serious, there’s something here.” One of the guards whispered.

Aethera snapped back to reality at the sound of the guard’s wavering voice. She frowned and craned her head to look at the dark lump the officer was pointing to. Her chest tightened as the guard nudged it with his toe.

“Is that...a body?”

The other guard grabbed it and dragged it closer to them, “Sure is. Must have got caught in the twister.”

Aethera's eyes widened and her breath hitched. Had she killed someone? Had someone lost their life because of her?

She instinctively glanced away as the guard exposed the corpse’s face.

“Yeah. It’s a body. Call headquarters to pick it up.”

Aethera forced herself to look, and she immediately wished she hadn’t. Bile rose in her throat and a soft gasp escaped her gritted teeth as she identified the corpse.

She shook her head as tears pooled in her eyes. No. It isn’t possible. He was supposed to be in the apartment. He wasn’t supposed to be outside.

“Check his code.”

Her heart stopped as the man reached for the boy’s stiff arm. Each citizen of Rae was imprinted with a series of numbers. It was a painful procedure - they had to burn the black characters into the receivers' skin - but the alternative was death. Most had accepted their identity as a number.

“178445.”

The officer pulled a black device from his pocket and tapped the numbers in, “We need to figure out who is missing. The drones are sent out?”

The younger guard nodded, “Yes, sir.”

Aethera chewed her lip and ignored the sharp, metallic taste that filled her mouth as she watched the guards slowly walk away from the body. Her jaw was partly agape with shock and tears pooled in her eyes.

Her brother was dead. The last person she cared about was gone and it was her fault.

Aethera forced herself to breathe and winced as her fingernails dug into the soft flesh of her palms. She had to get out of here before they caught her. She wouldn’t be of any use if both of them were dead.

She clutched the rock and forced herself to stand up. The guards were gone, most likely walking back to the apartment. Aethera glanced towards Adam’s body. The corpse would be collected tomorrow and sent to the cemeteries to be burned. They would remove his clothes and use the cloth for prison uniforms. They would dump him in the cremation chamber and his ashes would be disposed of and left to disintegrate.

Aethera leaned forward and touched her brother’s ashen face. She wouldn’t be able to drag him away with her. His corpse was too heavy.

“I’m sorry,” Aethera whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

She unwrapped the shawl around her neck and covered the body, tears running down her face. She muttered a quick prayer and stood up to leave.

Her face felt bare without her dark colored cloak and her ears were red from the biting cold, but she didn’t care. Adam would have done the same to her. He had given up everything to take care of her.

Aethera raised a hand to her mouth to muffle a sob and ducked her head as she sprinted across the meadow and towards the woods. She wasn’t sure where she was going or what her destination was, but any place was better than the one she was in now.

She wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand and blinked quickly to keep the tears at bay. Aethera wrapped her arms around her as she ran, conserving what little body heat she had left. Pieces of brush scraped at her face and arms and the tall trees blocked the moonlight, preventing her from seeing her path.

Her chest heaved and her legs screamed for her to stop, but she ignored the pain. She was used to the painful stitches in her side and the agonizing exhilaration that came with fleeing. She loved the adrenaline pulsing through her veins and mind. Sometimes, she could forget her harsh reality. Sometimes.

But the loss of her brother was still fresh in her head. The death haunted her and scared her enough to flee. She was familiar with death. Death was a strange and hollow inconvenience. It came in and ripped everything to shreds when you least expected it.

Death wasn’t a stranger. Aethera had watched her mother die from the disease. She had watched multiple children starve on the streets or freeze to death. It wasn’t uncommon to find a body or two laying on the cold cement of the sidewalk with a bullet to the head.

But, Adam’s death was personal. He had risked his own life for her several times. More often than not, he would go to bed hungry so Aethera’s stomach wasn’t rumbling. He sacrificed everything for her and this was how she was repaying him.

Yes, she had witnessed death uncountable times. But this was the only time where someone had lost their life because of her. Where she was the one at fault.

Her legs buckled from underneath her and she collapsed in a heap in the overgrown grass. Her bones felt as though they were filled with lead and her body wouldn’t obey her command to get up and continue to run.

She was in the open. When the sun rose, she would be exposed.

But, grief weighed her down and she couldn’t do anything but close her eyes and let darkness rock her to sleep.