Undesirables (Sabre's NaNo)

[Sabre]

Alivia Chu was only sixteen when an Undesirable the DSR were chasing blew up the city block her parents were walking in. She never thought to question anything.

Four years later she was in her second year at University. Her brother was a popular news anchor for the Regime, and she was doing well in her studies. She had dreams of becoming a DSR agent herself to stop the Undesirables and prevent what happened to her parents from happening to other people.

However, one sleepless night she discovers she can control fire. Now an Undesirable herself, she finds herself on the run, aided by a mysterious man and the people she's been raised her whole life to hate and fear. As she moves forward she's forced to question everything she has ever known, including her seemingly perfect brother, her beloved country, and the fate of their parents. And she might discover a new people better than any she's ever known before.

The Undesirables.

---

So yeah, I'm looking forward to it. Think of this world as similar to X-Men, with people being born with superpowers. However, there isn't really a super team. There are a lot of rebels, both Undesirable and not, and an interesting history that sparked all of this (based off of an old story idea I don't think I'm going to write. At least not for a long while). I'm planning on making it a trilogy, with each book spanning about 100k words, so it's going to either require a lot of plotting, massive insanity, or both.

It is set in our world, several hundred years in the future. There aren't any of the current modern countries left, nor are there a lot of things left that are currently in use today because of the aforementioned history I already hinted at. *coughworldwidedisastercough*

I'm excited, especially since writing this synopsis renewed a lot of my excitement for it. :3

MORE WILL BE POSTED HERE IN THE UPCOMING MONTH.

Character Art done by other people (and yes, Jak is the mysterious person mentioned in the synopsis. He has invisibility powers) Images might be a little wide.

SPOILER: Click to show

Chapter Checklist (with titles~)
Will get a smiley to mark when each chapter is done.

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1 Spark
2 Stoke
3 Scorched
4 Coals
5 Ember
6 Inferno
7 Void
8 Demon
9 Monster
10 Ashes
11 Fireworks
12 Conflagration
13 Branded
14 Char
15 Sizzle
16 Simmer
17 Seared
18 Boil
19 Glow
20 Ablaze
21 Lantern
22 Dragon
23 Smoke
24 Hell
25 Furnace
26 Backfire
27 Phoenix

[Sabre]

Characters! (The main two!) Not complete because there's some stuff essential to the plot I don't want to reveal.

Alivia Chu

SPOILER: Click to show

Name: Alivia Chu
Age: 20
Gender: Female
Status: Known Undesirable in Violation of Code S-LY09123
Abilities: Control of Fire, Complete resistance to heat, average human physical abilities
Physical Appearance: 5’ tall Chinese Descent, slight build, female, eyes the color of ‘fire’, long black hair
History: Her parents were killed when she was sixteen and her brother was twenty in an incident where the DSR (Department of Supernatural Response) was capturing a dangerous Undesirable, and was unaware of how 'staged' it was. She lived with him for two years while he finished school and she completed high school. Was completely surprised when she discovered she was an Undesirable, and not entirely pleased because she was terrified of them due to government propaganda. Rescued by Jakson Monroe after her roommate reported her to the DSR.
Notes: Rebel. One living brother, news anchor Louk Chu, Undesirable, Telepath, possible rebel ties.

Jak Monroe

SPOILER: Click to show

Name: Jakson Monroe. Goes by surname.
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Status: Suspected Rebel/Undesirable
Abilities: Invisibility-physically present, sound suppression, telepathic resistance when active
Physical Appearance: 6’5” Caucasian, wiry build, short blond hair, light blue eyes
History: Born into a wealthy family, was a police officer for a few years before his wife and infant daughter died in a DSR raid. ‘Moved out to the country’ to mourn and grieve, but joined the rebel forces. Was visiting his brother when he was called in to rescue the Undesirable sister (Alivia) of an influential undercover operative.
Notes: Has one brother in the government.

[Sabre]

Woohoo! Finished writing the outline for my nano novel! My character has lots of responsibilities coming for the rebellion! And heartbreak (in the form of family getting kidnapped!) *cheers*

Now, do I drop outlining for now and relax a little before the month of November, or start the outlines for the next two books? Hmm. Maybe I'll get dinner. #lazy

[Sabre]

Thanks to this picspam done by LyraRowes now I want to write a scene where my MC lit a candle in her hand as she's exploring her new home a little and completely forgets about it until somebody points out she's holding a puddle of wax.

(Just finished another draft of my outline! Now I have to go in and clarify some points a little because somebody's going to critique it for me)

[Sabre]

So I gave in. I'm not going to do 100k next month. I'll do the traditional wordcount.

However, I gave myself permission to start writing on the story itself, now. I won't count it at all for the next month, but if I work on my story at the daily nano wordcount from now until I reach 100k, it'll mean that I'll be finished midway through December. I'll post the first chapter soon, since it's almost 2am where I'm at, but that'll be the last snippet of writing before NaNoWriMo begins.

It'll be in this post, and it'll probably be up around 11 am, NST. :3

My FMC's about to meet the MMC and sparks are going to flyyyyy (not romantic ones, but the kind that make you automatically loathe someone! 8D) This is going to be fun!

EDIT: Whoops. Forgot about it until after church. ^^;

WARNING: It has a few swear words, and it is a rough draft, so there may be a few instances of terrible grammar.

SPOILER: Click to show

The fire didn’t hurt.

In fact, there wasn’t even the slightest hint of pain.

Bright flames flickered around her hand, filling the bathroom with a taunting, wavering glow. Their light danced over the bathroom walls and shone off the small square mirror over the sink, bathing Alivia’s face in a harsh orange glare. Shadows waved across the bathroom floor and created shapes that made her think of creatures hidden in the darkness.

She couldn’t help the shaky breath that escaped her lips, causing the fire to flare and gutter. Dread and loathing swept over her, and she shivered. But she couldn’t get rid of it. She felt like she was covered in a thick layer of tar and oil.

She was an Undesirable.

She closed her fist, and the fire disappeared. Opened it, and once again there were transparent orange flames surrounding her hand and licking the air greedily.

All her life she’d watched the news. The law required it. Night after night there were reports of these people, of the crimes they committed and the lives they destroyed. Just tonight the Department of Superhuman Response completed a raid on a building that housed them. As the anchor talked about the efficiency of the raid and how there was only one death, mug shots appeared on the screen beside him with each person’s name listed below. There were ten in all, and each one of them glared out at the audience as if they had a death wish for anyone looking at their picture. One of them even had unnatural, violet eyes. She’d wondered what power he had. Which strange ability had he used to kill that poor victim.

Alivia jerked her head up. She found herself staring at her reflection. She didn’t look any different than she had just a few minutes ago. Her hair was still long and straight, pitch black in the low light of the bathroom tumbling over the hood of her sweater and down her back. Her face was that soft, round heart shape with a tiny nose and curved, almond shaped eyes. She was so small she was often mistaken for a child, and she still had trouble reaching for that towel on the top shelf of the cupboard.

She closed her fist and hugged herself. By all rights she should turn herself in.

But the thought of picking up a phone and calling the Department of Superhuman Response sent a chill down her back and goosebumps rolling all over her skin. She never learned what happened to Undesirables after they were caught. The regime told them that they were put in isolated camps at the edge of the country, far from any sort of civilization. A couple of whispers told her that they were simply killed. Either way, Alivia knew for a fact that none of them ever got to see their family again and she couldn’t bear the thought of being separated for her brother for the rest of her life—however long that would be.

The blood rushed out of her face and she shook. Her brother. How would he react? He was one of the several reporters who worked for the daily news. In fact, it wasn’t terribly uncommon to see him commenting about the dangerous abilities of the various Undesirables who were captured. What would he think of he saw her now, huddled in the bathroom? A threat?

She threw out her hand and with barely a thought felt a snap in the air. She heard a soft hush and all of a sudden the flames were back. They didn’t even feel warm as they spread across her fingers and up toward the ceiling. A sick feeling settled into the pit of her stomach, and her eyes burned. Her knees wobbled and her body shook and the fire sputtered.

An Undesirable. She was the same thing as the person who killed her par—

Bam.

She jumped, and the flames disappeared as a rush of cold air pushed past her. She turned around. Her roommate stood at the door, holding it open with one hand as her mouth hung slack at the sight of her. Before Alivia could say anything she turned and ran, leaving the door open behind her.

Alivia’s mouth went dry.

Her roommate knew. Even now she could hear her roommate on the phone, telling it to hurry up and that somebody had to pick up and trying but failing to be quiet, as if Alivia was a serial killer who just invaded their dorm room and she was going to murder her.

Should she hide? Should she just stay here and wait to be picked up by the DSR? She was a danger now, and at the very least the government would keep her from hurting anyone else.

But then she flashed back to the broadcast with the raid. She saw the shiny, beetle-like helmets and the black, thin armor that they wore, specially made to protect themselves against any sort of attack. The guns that the officers held as they stood behind the barricade, pointed at the apartment building and prepared to shoot. To kill.

She ran. Her roommate wasn’t bothering to be quiet anymore. She was shouting in a high hysterical voice as Alivia rounded the corner and slammed into the front door. Her heart jammed into her throat as she scrambled for the door knob, nearly scraping her knuckles as she missed the first time. Her hands were sweaty as she grabbed the lever, and she nearly lost her grip. She grasped it tightly, turned the knob…

And it clicked.

Alivia swore. She should have remembered this. The school and the Regime had strict laws about students and curfews. Even University students were required to be in their apartments by eleven o’clock. If anyone was caught outdoors, even if they were barely a few seconds late, they were locked out of their rooms, awarded a penalty and given a small fine. If this happened more than three times they were kicked out of the university and sent home. People were allowed to reapply at other colleges, but unless they were prodigies or the child of a high ranking official, they hardly ever got accepted. Rejected citizens were usually sent on to do menial jobs and hard labor.

All of this was intended to be an incentive to stay in school. All of this only served to make Alivia realized how very trapped she was.

She bit her lip and turned around.

She saw a window.

Alivia walked over to it. Her roommate was still on the phone but she sounded less hysterical. Her stomach twisted a little bit as she realized that must mean the DSR had to be on their way to get her. She reached out to the window, and pulled the latch, but wasn’t surprised to find that it only lifted a few inches. She closed her eyes, held her breath and clenched her fists. Immediately a tickling sensation flew across her palm. She exhaled and shivered. Her eyes flew back open and she punched the window.

It molded around her fist like a piece of cellophane. Startled, she pulled her hand out. Some of the glass stuck. She gasped and shook her arm, then paused. She blinked, staring at the clear substance as it bubbled around her arm and ripped off. She had molten glass on her skin, and it didn’t hurt.

She swallowed, and fought the sudden urge to start laughing.

The window had a large hole in it now, but it was quickly cooling down and it wasn’t quite large enough for her to fit through. Grimacing, she called fire to her other hand as well.

It was like trying to grab something covered in mud. Her hands slipped a couple of times as the putrid smell of burning glass filled her nose. However, she managed to get a good grip and pulled herself up onto the window ledge, perching like a bird on the sill.

She hesitated when she saw how far down the ground was. She’d forgotten their apartment was on the second floor.

“Hey—oh my gosh!”

Alivia jerked, and her foot slipped. She flung her arms out wide to stop herself from falling, but her body pitched forward and her feet shot out from under her. The next thing she knew she could hardly breathe. Her hood was pulled up under her chin, around her neck and choking her. She grabbed the bottom of it and tried to pull it away, kicking her legs and trying to find some sort of purchase with her feet. She gurgled, and struggled to look up. On the other end of her hood, with a tenuous grip on the fabric was her roommate.

She knew that the girl couldn’t hold on for long. She was larger than Alivia but her arms were skinny little toothpicks that hardly picked up anything heavier than a book. Alivia was going to University to train to be an officer and spent a lot of her spare time in the gym, building up on her strength and stamina. She’d wanted to be a DSR agent.

But it was possible that her roommate could hold on just long enough for the DSR to arrive. If they showed up, she had no chance. A lot of people were afraid of the DSR, scared that they would come and take their loved ones in the night, but nobody could deny that they were efficient.

So she did what she knew she could do. She dropped her hands from her hood and reached up to grab her roommate’s. From this angle she didn’t have quite the strength to pry her fingers away, but she knew one thing that would work.

She reignited her hands.

Alivia landed on the ground with a firm smack before she tumbled to the left and landed on her side. Pain shot up her legs as if she’d landed on hot pokers. Her roommate shouted from the window, throwing obscenities and insults at her and screaming about how she shouldn’t exist. As Alivia picked herself up, her whole body shook and she allowed herself to sit on the cement for a moment. As she settled herself on the pavement she could hear other voices join in, windows sliding in their frames.

Most of them were looking down at her with expressions similar to the one her roommate had. But for the life of her she couldn’t figure out why there were a few people smiling at her. One of the guys actually started to cheer.

She cringed.

Then she got up and started to run. Her legs felt numb now and she was sure she must have done something to them when she fell from the second floor. But right now they didn’t hurt and she had to get going. The DSR was going to be here any minute to pick her up, and she didn’t want to be anywhere near when they finally arrived.

The DSR was the division set up by the regime to find and catch any threats to the nation—namely, Undesirables, the people with supernatural abilities. She’d heard stories from people who’d witness their retrievals, tales about the methods they used to capture their prey. Nets, tranquilizers… on occasion, bullets when the Undesirable proved too dangerous to allow even themselves to get close to. As her feet pounded the pavement, cement that rapidly turned into grass as she ran to the lawn behind the dorms, she couldn’t help but think that maybe it would’ve been best if they’d used bullets on the Undesirable before he’d killed her parents.

She came up to a fence. It was taller than her, but that wasn’t difficult to do. Made of iron, it was meant to stop vagrants and criminals from coming onto campus. She didn’t realize until now how effective it was at keeping people in. No doubt the lock at on the gate was locked like her apartment door was.

She held out her hand and clutched the cool, black iron in her fingers.

Could she melt this stuff, too?

She twisted her head around. Everything was silent. There were no crickets chirping, no midnight birds trilling, and she could hardly hear any wind whistling through the campus. A chill trickled down her neck. She’d never heard the birds go silent before. What could that mean? Was the DSR already here?

She gritted her teeth and tightened her grip on the bars. Very quickly they stopped being cold, and even though it didn’t feel hot she knew her fire must be working. One breath later and they began to bend under her strength.

It was tougher than melting the window. The metal didn’t give nearly as easily and after a few moments Alivia was grateful for all of those weights she’d made herself lift in the gym. Her muscles ached and she wanted to stop a couple of times, but she knew she didn’t have much room to dawdle.

Finally the bars bended just far enough that she could squeeze her frame through and she crawled to the other side, her feet tapping the glowing metal. Once she was through she closed her fists, and looked back at the fence.

The bars were bent in a circular shape, like ripples across water. Alivia’s mouth dropped open a little, and she quickly shut it. She did that. She hadn’t even been an Undesirable for five minutes and she’d already created damage to the world around her.

What would she do if she managed to escape?

She started to slow down after she ran past a few streets. Her ankles were starting to complain, and even though she was in good shape she knew she couldn’t last for forever. It was better to pace herself now and hope that nobody caught up to her in the meantime.

Everything was empty.

Tall buildings stretched up to the sky around her, clawing at the stars and towering over her. Street lamps covered the cement sidewalks and naked roads with a deep orange glow that horrifyingly matched the one she could create, one that dug into corners and chased out the shadows. Nobody was outside tonight. Not even the vagrants and prostitutes that always broke curfew, nor the clients they catered to. The world felt large and big without any noise to surround her.

No dogs.

Goodness, would they even use those to search for her? There was no chatter or voices, even coming from the direction of the university. No clatter of trash being knocked about by stray animals, and no sudden movements coming from the perfectly manicured hedges that lined the road.

So they weren’t chasing her yet.

Alivia glanced behind her for a brief moment before she ducked into a corner. She sat down in an alcove and pulled a phone out of her sweater pocket.

A few rings later and a voice answered.

“Hello?”

“L-Louk?”

“Alivia?” He sounded sleep deprived. “What’s wrong? Why… why are you calling me at one in the morning?

“I’m one of them, Louk.”

“What?”

“L-listen. I can’t talk long,” she whispered, her breath coming out in soft white puffs. She looked up at the sky. Even half hidden by the structures around her she could see the moon hanging amongst the stars, glaring down at her like a giant, all seeing eye. “My roommate saw me and called the… she called the DSR. Big brother’s probably already listening in, and they’re probably at my dorm already.”

Her hand shook as she rested it on her knee.

“I’m scared, Louk.”

“steamy dung. Listen Alivia, you need to get—”

A siren filled the air. Alivia’s heart leapt up into her throat.

“I can’t let them catch me, Louk. I want a chance to see you again. Look, I’ll try and make contact again soon. Love you, brother.”

“Alivia—”

She tore the phone away from her ear. Her brother’s voice shouted her name through the phone as she flung it against the wall. It hit the side of the building with a solid crack, and a few pieces of clear plastic fell from it as it struck the ground in front of her.

Alivia picked herself up, and just to make sure she stomped on it a couple of times before she took off running again.

It was difficult to keep going. Now that the shock and numbness had worn off, each step felt like she was walking on a bed of lit coals. She couldn’t keep running for very long, and found herself hobbling down a residential block with several apartment buildings and a parking garage blocking her in. A couple of large green dumpsters were perched a little off to her left and she could see a couple of shining eyes where a cat was peeking out from beneath one. Despite the late hour a couple of apartments still had their lights on and someone had their window open. She could hear music that dated back to before the Great Disaster, and the scent of cigarette smoke wafted through the cool air, causing her to wrinkle her nose.

She stumbled forward and scraped her palm against the stone wall. She hissed and drew her arm in close to her body. Was she safe? Had she made it far enough away from the DSR? She forced herself to breathe deeper and exhale a little. She knew she couldn’t stay here for long, but she figured that they were far enough away from her trail she could relax a little.

Were they thrown off by the broken phone? Perhaps she didn’t destroy it as well as she thought she had, and she wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. After all, if they were tracking the signal, surely they weren’t tracking her, right?

Alivia rubbed her arms. She looked all around her before pushing forward. The cat shot off and she heard some trash in the little alley to her right rattle and crash. She cringed and whirled around, falling back against the wall when the motion caused the pain in her ankles to shoot up her legs.

That couldn’t have been good. At this hour there was practically nobody on the streets. Her breath caught in her throat, and she shivered, rubbing her arms against the chill.

She pushed herself away from the wall and ducked into the parking garage, her legs wobbling beneath her. The tips of her fingers brushed against the textured gray walls and each step echoed through the empty, cavernous structure like the staccato beating of a drum. Her skin felt as dry as sandpaper.

A dog howled.

Her heart pounded harshly in her chest and her mouth went dry.

Please let that be an apartment dog. But it didn’t sound like a Chihuahua, or a miniature pet the sort that most associations allowed in their apartment buildings. It was a deep throaty bark like the kinds that she often saw in films. The films where the police used dogs to sniff out criminals and spies.

Ignoring her screaming ankles as much as she could, Alivia picked up her pace. The fact that no cats ran past her was a relief, though she was certain she’d never seen a feline in a place where the only things that resided inside where cars and trucks.

She wanted to cry and huddle up into a ball, but if they had telepaths coming after her she knew it would only be a matter of time before they caught up. She didn’t want to make their job any easier by just waiting around. She may as well go back to them with open arms.

But she still had to make her way out of here. She doubted there were any Undesirable pockets in this neighborhood, but even if there were, would she want to join them? She could just imagine the syringes and pipes hanging from their fingers, and the strange powers they controlled leaping out toward her to kill her, or worse.

Maybe she had a chance. They never told the public about it, but one day on one of her brother’s lunch breaks he’d told her that the DSR occasionally managed to lose an Undesirable. At the time she’d shivered and wondered how she would manage to stay safe, how her brother would keep his family safe when he’d just gotten married.

But if someone managed to get through the wide net the government cast, surely there was a possibility she could slip through it as well?

The lights flickered, and a dog howled again, much closer. A lump lodged itself in her throat as she took off as quickly as she could manage, scraping her hand against a pipe on the wall. Somewhere behind her a voice swore and a siren began to wail.

Just as she made it to the corner of the building, something pricked her shoulder. The next thing she knew she was wracked with pain as thousands of volts of electricity coursed through her muscles. Her body stiffened and she hit the ground with a solid thump. Black dots filled the corner of her vision. She couldn’t even breath as she lay there, twitching and staring up at the ceiling lights. Flames shot up all around her, and a voice shouted again.

She was done for. All of that effort, for nothing. She may as well just give up now.

But she remembered the Undesirable that killed her parents. The man that strode through the front door without even knocking had told them that when the monster had realized he was trapped, that he was in a corner of the square with no real option of escape, he’d just exploded. He suddenly blew up the square he’d been standing in because he figured he may as well take everyone he possibly could with him.

Maybe he felt betrayed. Sick, like I do now. Lost.

I knew I’d rather die right then, than face whatever waited me on the other side of freedom. I knew I didn’t deserve to walk around in public, but I didn’t want to find out what happened to Undesirables after they were captured. I didn’t want anyone else to die.

As the electricity fled my body, I picked myself up.

The flames disappeared.

And the DSR agent standing before me crumpled to the ground.

[Sabre]

So as of this moment I'm at 3,342 words! *points at widget in signature* I'm sure I'm going to write more, and I'll probably reach 5k tonight. I'll definitely edit this post if I do, though. I'm determined to have a nice buffer for the points in the month where I can't hit the daily word count (which happened quite often last year, actually. Twas not fun playing catchup at 2am)

My favorite line from everything I've written today?

“Listen,” he hissed, leaning his head toward my ear and speaking in a low voice. His hot breath grazed my neck, and I fought the urge to shudder. “Do you want to stay? I’m sure they’ll have all sorts of silk bed sheets and upscale dining at the compound for Undesirables they’ll take you to.”

EDIT: Mmkay, I reached 4332 words tonight.

[Sabre]

So I'm at 6960! ^-^ I'm really happy! At the end of the 2nd last year I was at 2,136, behind on the wordcount.

I think I'm going to take a moment to be happy that I'm not behind like I was at this point.

...

SO yeah, my character's at the safe house, which technically shouldn't have taken up an entire chapter, but now I don't have to buffer word count by talking about preparations for the characters to be smuggled out of the city. I still have to talk a little about that, but it can wait until the next chapter and it doesn't have to be as extensive as I plotted out. Then there's the family that my MC meets as well as other characters that are going to have a great influence on the plot!

I'm excited. Here's to hoping that lasts!

[Sabre]

I'm working on it! I swear! *points at wordcount*

I just introduced a couple of characters who I'm going to have fun with! And discovered that one of them has a tremor in her right arm as a result of head trauma from an incident before the book starts! :3

I just hope they don't turn into characters more interesting than the MC. They were originally OC characters in an X-Men fanfic.

[Sabre]

17,345, and my brain is trying to tell me to go to sleep. I've almost sent my characters through the checkpoint to get out of the city, and my character just another one who might just help tip the balance on whether she wants to align herself with the rebels or the government later on.

I went to a write-in today, and honestly? I didn't write that much while I was there. My brain has just been out of whack today and I think I needed the quiet to be able to make much progress on my story. I got quite a bit more done once I was home.

EDIT: That was written last night. My parents just happened to shut off the internet right when I was posting.

[Sabre]

<3

[Sabre]

Yup. 38k. I'd break to 40k today, but I have real life matters that are more important than Nanowrimo tonight (mostly the math test that I have to pass tomorrow >_>

But I'm super proud! Last year I wasn't quite past 25k at this point! I'd say that's a vast improvement. I think I've learned a lot about my writing capabilities this year. Next one I'll definitely aim for 100k. :3

[Sabre]

50,632 words, eight days early! Now I'll be able to focus entirely on Thanksgiving this year without having writing guilt!