The Stolen

Chapter 26

Trinity sounds mental.

But well, what can I say, she is telling me the story of my own life and she was created by my imagination, so it's not like she can sound sane.

"You were born in Germany," she says. "But your parents knew you were more intelligent than the rest. They knew you were special. When you were four, they made you learn English as your second language to open doors for you since English was the most spoken language, but they made you focus on it so much you forgot German."

I try to remember any German words, but I can't.

Trinity rolls her eyes at me, and it looks kind of ridiculous in a person as small as her. Not that I'm a giant, but compared to me she's very little. "I said you forgot it. Don't try to remember it, because you can't."

I shrug, and she continues.

"Your parents were scientists. They were the ones who found out about the explosion, and they discovered it when you were just five. Immediately, some people who knew this founded an organization to search for kids and follow them for four years before sending the alarm into the world and recruiting them."

I nod, even though this is all new to me. The only thing I remember from when I was five is that I got my tattoo.

"But your parents wanted people to have a choice. They were supposed to go on the ship too, but they preferred to die with the billions that were staying than live with remorse. Your parents were the creators of the Stolen. They helped people make their own decisions. Your parents helped Olympia, Nico, Marta, everyone in this place.

"And they knew that the Stolen would need a leader. They marked that leader, and they were planning to help the leader through the process of directing a post-apocalyptic world, but they couldn't." Trinity pauses here, giving me time to process everything. But the little time she gives me is not enough. How could it be enough? My parents started everything. My parents. I can't remember them.

"Where are they now?" I ask, even if I fear the answer.

"They were murdered before the explosion."

I can't remember them, but my eyes tear up anyway. I am supposed to have thick skin and don't let anything affect me, but it's my parents we're talking about. My mother and father, who were supposed to be there for me all my life. And they couldn't, because they were murdered.

"Who killed them?"

"We don't know, but it was someone who would have hated that leader if their identity had been known. But it wasn't. Your parents hid that person from everyone, and told the most trustworthy members of the Stolen how they could find the leader years after. They marked that person.

"There was something your parents couldn't have planned, though. The leader was taken away from the Earth days after their murder. No marked person was left."

A marked person that was taken away. I stare instinctively at my hand. The clover drawn in black ink. When I look up again, Trinity is nodding.

"Wow," I say. I want to say so much more, I want to ask questions, but I don't know how to transform my thoughts into words. My mind is stuck.

How is it possible that I was meant to be a leader? I'm a sixteen-year-old. It's insane! My parents were insane! I'm a kid. Am I expected to direct Marta, Ségolène, Nico and everyone else in the...?

Wait.

Nico!

"So that's why he freaked out when he saw my clover!" I smile in triumph. I didn't understand it until now, but it kind of makes sense!

Trinity stares at me. "Is that the most important thing about Nico right now?"

"No." I shake my head. "I don't know if he's even alive. But I've gotta find him before it's too late! If his sister hasn't killed him for attacking her, he's got to be in the HQ! They wouldn't let him go, would they?"

"If they haven't killed him," Trinity says, "you're forgetting one little problem."

I have no idea of what she's talking about. When I find him, it'll all be perfect. We'll end Inés's life and everything will be right with the world again. I just got to walk out of this cell and find him.

I look at the door of the cell I'm stuck in.

Oh.

"You were so excited about your idea that you forgot the most difficult part of the plan: getting out of here."

I run my hands through my hair. "Right."

"Yeah."

"But you know what? I'm done sitting here without doing nothing. Done. It's stupid and it's taking me nowhere. Now, finish telling me my life."

"I'm not sure you want to hear them..." Trinity says. She's nervous, which means the memories she's going to give me make me nervous. "It explains where I come from, and I think it might be too much for you, after all you've heard."

"Really? Tell me!" I can't wait to hear who Trinity is, and why I feel connected to her in some way other than her being fake and all.

"Just wait a minute. I need to tell you other things before that," she says.

I nod, and she continues.

"Your parents trained you for four years, since you got your tattoo until they gave you away to the official Opportunity trainers. In those four years, they taught you how to throw knives, because you were small and didn't have much strength, so you wouldn't have many chances to win in a close-up combat. What you did have was amazing skill and you practiced a lot. When you threw knives, you always hit the target. You always heard them say it was because you worked hard, harder than anyone else your age. You were amazing, you know.

"And when you went to training, no one knew a thing. The Stolen were too busy looking for you in their own children, while the Betrayers were gathering as many people as they could, because most of the adults had left them. You heard everything, but you didn't understand it.

"The Stolen were aware of the fact that they had a chance at surviving, but if they survived, they would have to deal with Inés, the girl that was building herself a new life away from her family, the only people that knew of her mental state. I suppose that when she left, Nico spread the word about her, and then their parents and their little sister died."

Nico... If only I could find him.

"He knew Inés was coming back. He knew of her plans of escaping for just a few years, until the Earth had settled down and the earthquakes were gone. But he didn't share it. He kept it for himself, secretly hoping he was wrong."

I take advantage of one of her pauses to speak. "How do you know all this stuff? You're supposed to know just what I know. Just that. And instead you know things about Nico, things about the Earth when I was gone." I'm starting to believe she's not just part of my imagination. She looks too real.

I don't know. Maybe my mind is playing tricks on me. I extend my arm and touch her, but the place where her shoulder should be feels like simple air.

"I don't know how it works, I already said it, I'm part of you." Her nervous act is back, and I don't care what she says, I am really suspicious.

A/N: Sorry for making you wait so long! Thanks for reading! Vote and comment if you liked it.