noah bane, district ten | cbd [3]

There is a lawlessness in Ten that we abide to. It is the way of my family, and those like us, to stake our claim on the outskirts of society. In the shadowy corners where even the thunderclap of a pistol going off can't be heard; we sign our signatures with only the blood of our calloused hands, making our deals in the dirt and the dark and burying them there. The Devil knows us all too well.

There's a mine shaft just a few paces south of the Bane household, and surviving only in rumors and the reality of a select few, is the knowledge that a black market thrives there. Full to the brim with antique goods, and the rare Capitol machinery left over from a time gone but not forgotten. After all, there must be some way my family manages to pay off all our bank notes on time; how we dance with and dodge the law like gunslingers at dawn. All we have is this, and the countless stars that shine so brightly this far away from the city lights.

My twin brother, Landon, told me once that I gaze at the horizon like a man who wants to make a run for it.

But I am only staring at the constellations, the ones Cassidy told me all the names to — and glory, resting there just out of reach.

This vain treasure I seek more than gold.