•••

The dining room is packed, and laughter comes from almost every table in it. I squeeze through a group of people standing near the entrance and make my way towards my group of friends sitting at the wooden table in the centre of the room.

"Amora!" Leo, dressed in a blue top and grey shorts, stands on his seat and calls out to me, causing a piece of bread to fall out of his mouth and onto the beige tiles.

My friendship group is an odd one, to say the least. Honestly, for the longest time, I wasn't sure if they'd like me calling us friends. Well, Leo, the chubby and short child who glued himself to my side ever since the day I told him a legend, definitely has never had a problem with having that title.

However, the situation with Zeke and Nova was a tricky one. It isn't any more, though, even when they try to pretend otherwise. It's amazing how the oddest situations can bring people together.

We all started hanging out because no other person wanted to be around us. I'm called a liar, Zeke is called strange, Nova is said to be too much of a gossip-girl, and Leo is the youngest person here. At eight years old, he's basically considered a baby.

"Thank you, Sir." I chuckle and slide into the seat Leo just pulled out for me, ruffling his hair and noticing he is growing it out just like Zeke's.

Leo frowns and tugs on my black, wavy hair as revenge. Getting no reaction from me, he then lowers his face to lick my copper-coloured arm. I pull my arm away and laugh, earning a smile from a defeated Leo.

He then starts to fix his hair by tugging on the ends and pulling some of it towards his face. Looking at it properly, his hair is probably the same length as Zeke's. However, due to what Leo loves to call 'brown boy magic' and what many call shrinkage, it isn't noticeable.

"Zeke says your story is bullshit," Leo says.

I gasp when I hear the child say an ugly word, mentally taking a note to speak to Zeke about his choice of words around Leo.

"I didn't say that," Zeke defends, "I said there are bigger things to worry about than how we became Vessels. Take the one per cent."

Everyone groans as Zeke begins telling us his theories about how the insanely rich, referred to as 'the one per cent', are planning to take over the world from their golden seats.

"Shut it, Zeke," Nova says, running her fingers through her ginger hair before tying it in a high ponytail.

Out of everyone here, Nova has to be my favourite. Sure, she might struggle to keep a secret, but she's a fun girl to be around. She's also really pretty, and I've always been jealous of her freckles and tall height.

"I'm telling you," Zeke slams his hands on the table, "they're laughing at us."

What makes this conversation even worse, and slightly funny, is the fact that Zeke always says these things with a straight face. He's never joking.

"Amora, tell me that Pandora story again," Nova requests and side-eyes Zeke. "Please."

I look around the table to make sure everyone else is okay with hearing the story for the millionth time. Zeke sighs and shakes his head. However, after a punch on his shoulder from Nova, he gives in and turns his attention to me.

"Long ago," I begin, noticing a couple of people from neighbouring tables eavesdrop on the conversation, "the god Prometheus stole fire from the heavens and brought it to us. Zeus, the king of gods, was angry at this."

"So he had someone make Pandora!" Leo chips in, and I smile at the fact that he remembers the story so well.

"And the gods made her as beautiful as they made her curious. After that, Zeus sent Pandora to Epimetheus to become his wife. He's Prometheus's brother."

Nova looks a little confused.

"The brother of the god who stole the fire." I continue when Nova nods, "Now, when Zeus sent Pandora to Epimetheus, he sent her with a box."

"The evil box."

"That's right, Leo! But he told her not to open it. That didn't matter, though, because the gods already made her curious. Eventually, Pandora opened the box and the evils within it were released. It seemed like that would be the end for mankind, but..."

I pause for a dramatic effect.

"Pandora begged the gods for help. As a sort of compromise, the gods allowed the evils to store themselves inside humans and only enter the world once these humans are triggered by feeling an emotion intensely. These evils are things like... different diseases and illnesses and...everything chaotic."

A number of people believe this story; the story of how Pandora's actions resulted in evils storing themselves inside humans. The evil-holding humans, now called Vessels, have to be careful when feeling emotions too strongly. We're actually advised to do the bare minimum in everything.

A lot of Vessels are happy to do so. As much as we want to avoid releasing a new evil into the world, we also want to keep on living, and everyone knows being triggered kills the Vessel. To the government's anger, killing Vessels also trigger us.

It's only when a Vessel dies of natural causes that the person is not triggered. However, as if the gods hate humans, a natural death will just transfer the Vessel's evil into another human.

There was only ever one Vessel known to die of a natural cause; a fat, pale lady called Shelly. When Shelly passed away from old age, the number on her shoulder, twenty-four, vanished from her skin and appeared on someone else.

Every Vessel has a number on them that indicates the evil they hold. This number is accompanied by the symbol of a flame, as if to remind us how it all started. Apparently, there are nearly one hundred Vessels in the world, but there might be more to come.

We're chosen even before we're born, so no one is sure when the next baby will pop out of their mother's tummy with that flame mark. It be now or a hundred of years. There was a point it was the latter, making it harder to believe Vessels actually existed, but my generation came with the birth of Vessels in numbers greater than ever before.

"Drugs could do the trick," Zeke says, suggesting a way to ensure a Vessel cannot feel emotions too strongly and avoid being triggered. "It can keep us calm."

"Seeing as you were the first in line for that experiment, you know it doesn't work." Nova rolls her eyes.

"Then cryogenic sleep."

"What's that?" Leo asks.

"It just means we'll be sleeping and under control for a long time," I turn to face Zeke, "but that idea was thrown out a while ago. It triggers us. The only safe-ish option is for us to be here."

I look around the dining room; one of the many rooms in this secluded building. After failed attempts at destroying the evils within us, the government decided that sending Vessels to an isolated place far away from main cities is best.

Seeing as evils first hurt those in close proximity to the triggered Vessel, this way, even if we are triggered, the evil will take its time before hurting other people. This gives scientists some time to figure out a way to handle the evil before it can hurt others, and fortunately for us Vessels, evils cannot directly affect us.

No Vessel is forced to be here, because people fear the process of forcing a Vessel to do anything. We're not forced to stay here, either. However, we are advised to move here for the greater good of society. Some Vessels even move here with family members who are happy to take the risk of being around them.

In this secluded city—The City of Vessels—over fifty families live in small, brick houses. Those whose families won't or can't make the trip come to this specific building; a large, stone compound built to house Vessels, otherwise known as Pandora's House. It's on the far end of this city.

"Okay, I don't want to see any more sad faces." Nova, noticing Leo drop his head, stretches her hand across the table and pinches his cheeks. "I'm getting us some dessert."

I watch as Nova pushes her chair out and begins to walk away from us. Unfortunately, her announcement isn't enough to cheer up Leo, and the table falls silent.

As Zeke returns to his book, I look at Leo. It makes me sad to see him this way, but I know he won't be like this for much longer. If the journey I plan to take is successful, no Vessel will have to be scared any more . Soon, I'll prove that the evils within us can be returned to that stupid box.