THE FIRE LORD

Michael POV "Michael! Michael!... Michael!" I heard my dad shout from the living room." Still sleeping this late in the morning?” I grumbled as I covered my head with my pillow, hoping it would drown his voice. A constant voice that I had heard since forever every morning that it was now annoying, like a wasp buzz. Can't I even sleep past seven o’clock even on a weekend? And he still calls it late. “Michael?” came his loud shout again. I resisted the urge to tear my pillow apart but then I couldn't resist throwing away my covers in annoyance. “Coming” I lazily shouted as I literally dragged my legs out of my bedroom towards the grand sitting room. My shoulders hunched visibly when I saw the sight that greeted me. “Not again” I sighed. Dante Marcus was standing beside the door fumbling with his red tie, just like he always did. He just never knew how to tie them. “Don’t just stand there, come help me” he frowned then threw his hands up in defeat. " You know dad, you can just call your wife to do it. I can't always be your tie butler every morning. I'm getting tired of it to be honest" I shrugged " it's your duty as my son to help me with my ties. As long as you are under eighteen and under my roof...you'll always be my tie butler" dad rolled his eyes when he mentioned tie butler " that sounds like slavery..." I got adopted when I was still a six-month old baby, or so I was told any time I asked about my parents. Dante Marcus was the only father I ever knew. His wife who was also my step mom owned a large pharmaceutical company and would most of the time stay at work. Dante Marcus was the owner of an executive watch company; they were so filthy rich but they still worked as if there would be no tomorrow. “ Quit grumbling, do you know how many people would kill to even get a glimpse of me?" dad puffed up his chest I scoffed " you have heard about the blood tests that have been recently going round” he said as a matter of fact “what about them?’ I asked Recently there has been talks about blood tests going round in the country. Kids at the age of sixteen were required to undergo the blood test and it was mandatory. That thing was all over the news, advertisements, blogs just to encourage people to get the test. I always wondered why not the old geezers or the new born babies, why sixteen? It could be any teenager but they only test the ones in their sixteenth age. “The doctors would come by to collect your blood sample and test it…I spoke with one of them earlier this morning” he said adjusting the tie I had made for him on his neck. He picked his briefcase from the floor then prepared to leave “Dad?” I stopped him “I already sent your weekly allowance to your card” he quickly replied after stopping to look at me. “not that” I sighed “don’t you think the tests are a bit doubtful? …I mean the government is giving hazy details about the stuff … shouldn’t I postpone this until I’m sure?” “you don’t fear syringes, do you?” he raised a brow “no” I shook my head “and you don’t believe in rumors” he asked again “no, and what rumors?” “Good, then you shouldn’t have any problems in the afternoon. I’ll be back to talk you through it if you perhaps fear being poked with needles” he left with that, not giving me a chance to speak back. I don’t fear syringes, I scoffed and what rumors was he talking about? I remained standing there thoughtfully until I had the sound of his car leave the parking lots and our automatic gates get shut. Are the tests some kind of blood control method the government is using to limit the population of citizens? Because there was clearly more than just the blood test involved, something the government was hiding from us. I never ever loved to be in the dark about something and I was surprised that most of the people in the country were very cool with it. They didn’t even raise questions like normal curious citizens. Our country, Crest country was a diplomatic one ruled by the government under one president. We lived in the state’s capital, in the richest estate in the city. I studied in Van private academy , the most expensive private academy in the city and I was currently on my tenth grade. Due to our high status in the social hierarchy, there was absolutely no way I would miss the blood test. This was akin to the government forcing me to jump into a crocodile’s mouth and test if it would bite me.