Houser 1

Lauren Houser

Professor Taylor

ENG 396

9 September 2021

A Heart Shaped Locket

A brilliant copper sun loomed behind the thick layer of smog. The air loomed heavily

with a foul smell. The smell of rotten corpses and maggots. The smell was almost as thick as the

smog. A figure bounced between piles of bodies, as if she were grazing threw a field of flowers.

She moved with cat like grace, her body lean and muscular. She leaned down and snatched

something off the ground, her wild copper hair falling in crimson waves over her shoulder. The

girl scoffed and tossed what she had just picked up.

Her forest green eyes scanned the area looking for anything worth something yet found

nothing. Had she picked this dump clean already? Surely not. She walked slowly through the

piles of bodies, thinking about how her life came to having to steal from them. She thinks back to

her old home, well built, clean, full of warmth; she remembers the shill scream of her mother as

the place was set a flame. The smell of charred bodies. She shakes away the memory. Her

stomach twists as panic floods her. The house with all of her memories, now ash on the wind.

Four people died that day: Her parents, her older brother, and her.

After the rebellion started the council destroyed anyone whom they saw fit. Scarlet’s

family were seen as fit enough to die. They weren’t involved with those rebel scum! They barely

knew there was a rebellion, but somehow, they were still cremated in their own home!
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Scarlet kicked a rock and watched it sail into the sky. The rock soared, skipped, and sank.

She saw something glimmer there. A smile spread across her face. With glimmer comes gold.

She raced over, careful not to step on anyone. When she got there a wide smile crept

along her face and there a shiny jewel encrusted locket lay. It was around the neck of a girl no

older than Scarlet’s 18 years. Her face would’ve been pretty if maggots didn’t crawl on her face

or if her eyes weren’t fear stricken. It was a shame to see people who were so young and

innocent in this mass grave. Scarlet reached down to grab the glittering necklace, the chain still

intact and luxurious feeling. She carefully turned the necklace until she found the clasp. She

released the necklace from the girl’s neck.

“I’m sorry to take this, but I need it more than you do. I’ll be sure to get a pretty penny

from it,” Scarlet promised the girl with a wide grin on her face. She whistled as she more closely

looked at the necklace. A red diamond sparkled as it caught the sun. She looked closer, it was

made to hold a very small picture or something of the sort. She tried to pry it open, but it was

shut firmly. She shrugged Anderson could get it open at his shop. She looked once more at the

young girl, waves of pity and anger coated her.

Scarlet was a deer leaping in the forest, well-practiced and quick, as she danced threw the

mass grave.

She went straight into town, making sure to pull her hood all the way up. A few too many

pick pocket jobs gone wrong to walk around freely. She went straight to Anderson’s shop.

He sold all kinds of goods from guns to children’s toys. Most things in his shop Scarlet

had found in the piles of dead bodies across various cities. The shop was a bit aged and tired, but

it still made good money.

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“Scarlet!” Anderson called his tone pleased when he saw Scarlet that meant money was

coming soon.

“Anderson,” She acknowledged him with a head tilt as she pulled out the necklace.

Anderson let out a small whistle.

“Where on earth do you find these things?” Anderson asked from behind the counter.

“You know exactly where,” Scarlet says with a crooked grin making Anderson laugh.

She places the necklace down, Anderson smiles as he scoops it up. He examines it with a keen

eye, something flashes in his eyes that Scarlet didn’t like.

“It’s junk,” he says quickly almost nervously.

“What no way! I checked it myself! That diamond is real! It’s made of pure gold!”

Scarlet said taking it between her teeth and biting it softly. The metal dented; it was soft.

“Yeah, most aluminum thin metals like that bend too,” Anderson said shrugging.

“Come on, Anderson! Surely you can sell it like it’s actually gold and diamond if it

fooled me!” Scarlet argued.

“Scarlet! You know better! I don’t lie about what I sell!” Anderson says with a harsh

tone.

“Come on give me something, anything!” Scarlet said rolling her eyes annoyed.

“I’m not giving you money for some cheap costume jewelry,” Anderson says shaking his

head. Scarlet huffed in anger but pressed no more.

“Can you at least pry it open?” She asks now curious what it held inside.
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“Scarlet! Come on now it doesn’t even open!” Anderson says.

“I’m sure it does! All it needs is a little shove!” Scarlet argued back.

“Honestly!” He says throwing his arms in the air.

“If you aren’t going to buy at least open it for me, I’m curious what would be inside a

fake locket!” Scarlet pleads.

Anderson huffs but grabs the tools to pry it open. Scarlet watched Anderson try to pop

open the locket. His lean arms working and wiggling trying open it open. His brown hair flopped

down in front of him, the texture waved from his hands being constantly run through it. His pale

brown eyes determined, and his brow scrunched. Scarlet found it odd that he’s her age, yet he’s

running this shop. He’s at most two years older than her, yet here he is with a shop and here she

is begging him to give her money for a piece of costume jewelry.

Just as he’s about to tell her what’s inside the door is busted open. He closes the locket

quickly and pockets it. Scarlet whips around to see Jack Thomas, a council member, come in

with guards trailing behind him.

“Arrest these two for stealing and selling stolen goods,” Thomas says making Scarlet turn

even paler. She steals a glance at Anderson who seems equally shocked.

He reaches for something under the counter. Scarlet averts her gaze so; they don’t follow

her line of sight. Scarlet raises her hands above her head. She’s unarmed, she doesn’t really need

weapons when she’s stealing from the dead.

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Jack Thomas scoffs at them. “Such a shame, quite the pretty thing you are,” He pauses to

look her over, “But a rebel scum is a rebel scum,” he says cruelly. Scarlet looks at him shocked,

she wasn’t a rebel she just stole from the dead, mostly.

She bites her tongue at these words trying not to lash out, the last thing they needed was

her attitude getting them killed. She sees Anderson grab something from beneath the counter.

Before Scarlet is ready, Anderson starts shooting the guards. Jack Thomas lunges for her. She

evades him and grabs one of the swords on display. Anderson looks at her pleading.

“Please do not break that! It’s expensive!”

“You know if I don’t use it, we’re as good as dead and it won’t matter!” Scarlet barked.

Jack drew his weapon and swung on her she blocked. She knocked the sword from his hand.

Then without a second though ran him through. The grip of her sword embedded in his stomach.

Anderson didn’t even blink as he took down most of the guards.

Guess she was a rebel now.

Anderson grabbed her and they ran from their crime scene. He took her to a part of town

she’d never been in.

“I can’t believe you just killed a Council member!” He cried pacing.

“Well, in my defense he was trying to kill me,” Scarlet said shrugging. Anderson handed

her back the necklace. She tried to open it; A satisfying pop sound rang out.

There were pictures in there: one of a beautiful woman with bright blue eyes, the other a

man with a thick mustache and dark hair.

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“This isn’t who I think it is, is it?” Scarlet asked Anderson. He rolled his eyes and

furrowed his brow.

“I knew who was in it even before I opened it,” Anderson said running a hand through his

hair.

“What?” Scarlet asked.

“It’s the necklace of the high councilor’s daughter!” He blurted. Scarlet blinked at him

confused.

“It’s what?” Scarlet asked raising an eyebrow.

“It was such high quality and had a red diamond in it I knew it had to be his daughter,”

He said pacing.

“So you’re saying I stole a necklace off a dead girl who happened to be the high

counselor’s daughter?” Scarlet asked. Anderson nodded.

“He killed his own daughter!” Scarlet shouted in disbelief.

“That man knows no kindness!”

“Well, quit panicking and let’s go! I know this isn’t where you meant to take me!”

Anderson takes a few breaths.

“You’re right, come on. There’s a hidden base of the rebellion nearby.”

Scarlet rolled her eyes at him. Scarlet thought of her family burned to ashes. Scarlet

thought of the young girl dead in the mass grave. She’d get revenge for her family, for the girl,

and all the other people he killed. She never wanted to be a rebel, but the world made her one.
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She entered the camp and instantly people stopped talking. The people here looked like

most folks from around tired and hungry. They looked at Anderson with placid smiles and some

even looked at him in awe. Anderson went straight to one of the crumbling homes and demanded

to speak to a man named Joseph Park. Instantly a tall man walked out his eyes a deep green and

face handsome.

“Anderson? Why are you covered in blood?” Joseph asks.

“Jack Thomas came and tried to arrest us, and she killed him oh and she had the head

councilor’s daughter’s necklace,” Anderson blabbed. Joseph looked at Scarlet dumbfounded but

somehow made out what Anderson was babbling about.

“Let me see it,” he says stretching his hand out. Scarlet eyes him untrusting. Her gaze

flickers over to Anderson. He gives her a quick nod. Scarlet sighs but hands over the necklace.

He looks it over, opens it and smiles.

“Good work,” He say to Scarlet handing it back to her, “You’ll do perfectly for the next

step in our plan.” He hands her a script.

“Memorize that and we’ll go to the capital, and you’ll give a speech about how he killed

his own daughter,” Joseph smiles.

“Wait isn’t this too soon you barely know me,” Scarlet says nervous about suddenly

becoming the figurehead of a movement.

“Don’t need to! You killed Jack Thomas, that’s enough for me,” he says shrugging.

“So, you’re asking me to give your speech? What exactly is in it for me?”

“You’re telling me you don’t want to kill the counselor and his circle?”
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“But how does me reading this speech kill the counselor?”

“You’re going to become our figurehead. Who’s more perfect that someone who already

killed a console member? Plus, you found the locket, you saw the dead daughter, and you have a

personal vendetta against the consoler,” Joseph says shrugging.

“How do you know I have a vendetta again him?” Scarlet air quotes the word vendetta.

“Everyone here does, if you didn’t have a problem with him, you wouldn’t be here right

now. You’d be in some cushy house with food on the table and people waiting for you,” Joseph

said with a quirky smile.

Scarlet looks at him and hated how much he was making sense right now. She hated

knowing that he was right. That she would make the perfect figurehead to the rebellion.

“Fine, damn it, fine. I’ll read your stupid little speech. But just so you know I’m a grave

robber not a speech giver,” she says annoyed that she was so easily talked into it.

She spends the next few days reading over it again and again. It felt more stiff and

awkward every time she read it. So, she decided to scrape it and write her own speech while

keeping some of the story the same. She cut a bunch of stupid propaganda out of it and got to the

meat of the speech.

She was briefed on how they were going to hack the air waves and show this on live tv

instead of the pastor’s sermon of that Sunday. It was perfect because when sermon was

happening everyone was forced to show it on tv. So, it would be the only thing people would see

if they had their TVs on. Not to even mention the crowd at the sermon itself.
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She had everything ready Saturday night when they entered the capital. The night before

the speech her stomach was in knots. Nerves were eating away at her. She’d never talked to

anymore than Anderson and other people in the shop.

The next morning Scarlet awoke from a dreamless night and got ready.

They lead het to a stage where a large group of people stood waiting for the pastor to

come out. This place was always crowded with good god worshiping people.

She stepped onto the stage fully awake and ready to speak. The nerves of last night

forgotten as she looked at the images in the locket. It reminded her of all the people the console

has hurt. She was the only person who could enlighten these people and show them the true

horror of their console.

Scarlet took a deep breath as she stood in front of the mic. People looked up it in surprise.

They were expecting a wrinkled old man but instead got a young woman with flame red hair and

bright green eye filled with determination and rage.

“There is an evil in this world. One that is man-made. One that feed on cruelty. One that

needs to be taken down. One that need to be toppled. Because the one on top will stop at nothing

to keep his power even killing his own daughter. This was found in a mass grave of so-called

rebels!” Scarlet started her speech and held out the necklace everyone gasped at the sight. She

took a deep breath to ready herself to continue and uncover the horridness of their leader.

And just before she opened her mouth to speak a bullet screamed through the air, and

everything for Scarlet when dark.