Tower of Souls

The last day of school, the day before he officially became an adult... ended just like any other- at least for Cameron, it did. The sound of the bell ringing, the excited shouts of classmates as they leapt up from their seats, eager to rush out...

And, of course, Mrs. Elsbet shouting over the noise with just one more reminder.

”Don’t forget about your final exams! The first day of next week will see the first of them, which will cover everything you learned about history. Make sure you prepare accordingly! The exam schedule is posted out front...”

”Who cares about finals!” Markum, the largest-and cruelest- boy in their class laughed with a smirk. ”Awakening day is tomorrow! While all you idiots will be crying over exams, I’ll be starting my climb as a Classer!”

Cameron held back a snort at that declaration, knowing it would only draw Markum’s ire. While the Inner Circle had dozens of Classers every year, one hadn’t risen from their district of the Outer Ring in over a decade. No one knew exactly why the distribution was what it was. Most just called it ’The Will of the Tower’...

Though a few researchers had suggested that the disparity arose because whatever made someone a Classer passed down through family lines... and the Families and Guilds of the Inner Circle rabidly recruited everyone with a decent Class, moving them to their compounds within the Inner Circle...

Unsurprisingly, all of those researchers either retracted those theories, disappeared in the Tower... or died unexpectedly in tragic ’accidents’... Only a few people were fooled by that. And even fewer were dumb enough to voice their thoughts on the matter, lest they encounter ’accidents’ of their own.

Cameron shook off his wandering thoughts, knowing they wouldn’t do him any good, and began to gather his things to head home- and deliberately giving the others time to exit the school before him and avoid another incident of his own... though his were rarely accidents, or even framed that way...

”Have you given any thought to what you want to do after graduation, Cameron?” Mrs. Elsbet asked, limping over to him as the last of the other students fled the room. ”You’ve done remarkably well with your studies, and I would be happy to recommend a number of job posting to you. Teaching, for one; I know that this school is looking for a new History teacher for one of the younger groups, if you are interested.”

Cameron smiled at the grandmotherly tone; truthfully, he had no idea how old Mrs. Elsbet was... Just that she had also taught one of his neighbors nearly sixty years ago...

And he appreciated her concern for him. In many ways, the two were similar: both from poor families and worse circumstances, raised here in one of the worst neighborhoods of their district... and both relentlessly bullied throughout their childhoods- Mrs. Elsbet had alluded once that that was where her limp came from, though she never told him the story.

”I’m not sure teaching is the right thing for me, ma’am; I’m pretty sure I don’t have the patience you do... Though I’m not sure what else I could do...” He trailed off with a grimace, knowing full well his limits. While Mrs. Elsbet praised his intelligence, and he was inclined to agree with her about it, his job options were... limited.

Things like teaching or bookkeeping were eagerly sought after, and often limited in number in the Outer Ring- and it was near impossible to move up, even to the Craftsman Ring, let alone the Merchant Ring or the Inner Circle... and the Outer Ring consisted mostly of the ’lowest tier’ of jobs: Farmers, Laborers, Tanners... Basically, the dirty grunt work that those in powers pushed as far away from themselves so as not to be offended by the smell and grime... and the people that do those jobs.

And Cameron... wasn’t well suited for labor. Not that he was above such; he certainly wasn’t against working hard, or getting dirty... But years of poor nutrition had left his growth stunted, and his body sickly.

Glancing at the small window nearby that reflected his image, he suppressed a sigh. He wasn’t the smallest person in his class of fifty people, but he was close. While most of the boys- and some of the girls- were already nearing six feet tall, he was several inches shorter... and noticeably underfed, lacking the broad shoulders and sturdy builds of his classmates.

His hair, a pale and unhealthy blonde that almost looked white, was cut short- and not by choice. He preferred his hair long, as it helped to hide his gaunt cheeks, but one of the ’incidents’ he dealt with took that choice away from him... Rather, Markum took that choice from him a month ago while his friends held Cameron down, and his hair was just starting to grow back...

Between his gaunt figure, sickly hair, and pale gray eyes- so pale that some people had mistaken them as white- the common joke was that Cameron had actually died on the same night as both of his parents, and that he was a ghost that refused to accept it...

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”I could always talk to Mr. Hensly in the Library for you.” Mrs. Elsbeth said, pulling his attention back to her. ”I know they aren’t looking for anyone right now, but he’s been having trouble keeping up with things as he gets older. Maybe we can come up with something?”

A brief warmth flickered in Cameron’s heart; Not many people really cared, especially about him... But Mrs. Elsbeth was like the grandmother he never had.

”Thank you, Mrs. Elsbeth. Not just for that, but...”

”Oh, no need for that!” She smiled brightly, patting his arm. ”You go on and head home while I see what I can do. And don’t forget about exams next week! Or the Awakening Ceremony tomorrow! I’ll be sure to be there to see you step into adulthood!”

Cameron smiled brighter; it wasn’t required for teachers to attend the ceremony- or anyone other than the children that were coming of age this year, really... But she never missed it, always there to support and encourage her students.

Even if so few of them ever appreciated it.

”Thank you... And, who knows, maybe after tomorrow I’ll be a Classer.” Cameron said, not really believing it. The district hadn’t produced a Classer in so long, and his parents were just regular folks too... Him Awakening a Class was basically impossible, right?

Cameron was barely a outside the building when his smile disappeared as he was slammed into the stone wall. A loud pop echoed in his ear, and searing pain shot down his arm, as he crumpled to the ground.

”You really think a pathetic freak like you will become a Classer?” Markum smiled menacingly down at him. ”Your own parents died rather than raise trash like you, and what? You expect a miracle tomorrow? That you’ll suddenly gain a class and have every Family and Guild knocking on your door?”

Cameron flinched as Markum deliberately spat in his face. ”You should have killed yourself already, Ghost, instead of making us suffer from you being here...”

”And tomorrow, after I Awaken a Class... you better. Or I’ll do it for you.”

As Markum and his friends walked away laughing, Cameron groaned in pain... and wondered how things had changed...

They had been friends growing up... Until Cameron’s parents died mysteriously- they were simply found dead, beyond the outskirts of the Outer Ring, and no one knew how or why... After that, Markum’s parents wouldn’t let them hang out or play together. Very few parents let their children near him, for whatever superstitious reasons they had...

Some said he was cursed, or plagued, or haunted, or... any number of things, to the point where The Council actually sent out a person to investigate. And, despite the investigator finding nothing of the sort, the rumors and superstitions persisted...

The people of the Outer Ring were commonly called ’Outcasts’... but Cameron was an outcast among the Outcasts... and, for six years now, he had wondered...

”If I don’t belong here... where the hell do I belong?”

It took Cameron nearly a half-hour to lever himself up from the ground, his left arm not working properly and pain shooting up and down it every time he tried to use it... or it so much as shifted with his movement. Gritting his teeth, he leaned back against the wall.

Eyes going distant, he stared up at the ceiling far above- some called it the ’False Sky’, though no one remembered where the saying came from, or what it truly meant. Far off to his left, beyond the farms that produced all of their food- most of which went straight to the higher rings and Inner Circle after being harvest- were the Wilds and Wastes where people never traveled... unless they had a death wish. It was where his parents were found, right on the edge....

But, beyond the wastes, far in the distance but still clearly visible due to the immense scale, were the walls of the Tower that they called home. It surrounded them and, according to legends only half remembered, protected them. Though from what, no one knew- if they ever did.

Of course, since no doors led outside of it, they only had stories to go on that it was a tower. Though very few ever questioned it...

Far to his right, perfectly in the center of the city in which he lived and surrounded by the Inner Circle with all of it’s giant mansions and elaborate buildings... was the a massive pillar extending from the ground all the way to the ceiling above. Dwarfing the expansive mansions- like small children around an adult- it glowed dimly at all hours. And, according to legends- though no one living could confirm it, that he knew of- it could be seen all the way from the walls of the Tower.

It was the Tower within the Tower, and the goal of Classers throughout the city. Some climbed for power, or wealth, or fame...

And some climbed because of the burning questions: What was at the top? And what was outside the Tower in which they lived?