The Numbers on Her Wrist

40

A/N Please read this, my friends. It's important, I promise.☺️

Hello all! After writing the final chapters and the Epilogue, I wanted to do a Q&A! You can ask me (the author) AND Amelia Reyes any question you would like! It could be as random as our favorite food to something deep like why I wrote this story/ Amelia told her story. Just highlight this author's note and comment a question here, or you can think about it for a while and post it on the upcoming Epilogue. There is no limit on how many you can ask, but I want to try and include as many people's inquiries as possible.

This chapter took me a while to write... Plus school is stressful and tiring, so please be patient with me as I finish up this book! I wanted it to be longer, but it would've taken me a lot longer to edit and get up to my normal 4500-5000 word count... It's at 3500 now. (If I publish you'll just have to buy it to see it edited and more scenes included) 😉 Anyways, this is one of my favorite chapters, as it shows Amelia so... Well, you'll just have to read and see! No spoilers! :)

Thanks for all the love, it is so very much appreciated!

I watch Edward Carter skeptically as he smiles at me. My hands shift slightly to adjust my hold around the gun's handle- allowing me to grip it more firmly- with 583 and 541 staying as close as they can to one another. Carter's grin falters noticeable for a mere second when he observes the two orphans that huddle behind me, the falsified emotion he held fading into anger for that moment, but as soon as it appears, it is gone.

His hands move out from his sides and stay in the air to show me that he is unarmed, vulnerable- but I have known this man my entire life as a liar and a manipulator; he is bound to have some form of a weapon on his person; he would be a complete fool not to.

"Tell me, Amelia," he ignores my smart remark and barely acknowledges the gun that I hold in front of his face, remaining cool and collected as he continues. "Do the children still believe you to be a hero? Do they still trust you enough to follow you blindly?"

I raise a confused eyebrow, falling for his trap that is disguised as a seemingly innocent question.

"Do they still believe you to be a hero- even after you abandoned them so long ago?" His taunt cuts deep. I feel my heart twist painfully inside my chest, listening to the two orphans reposition uncomfortably at his words, and for that second, his logic seeps into my mind and corrupts my resolve. Edward is someone who chooses all of his words carefully, forming each of his sentences with precision and proving he is far more intelligent than many of the men of the Association; it makes it easy to convince children that they are worthless and nothing and should be unquestionably obedient to him.

He eases himself into his next line, complacent evident on his face, "A girl they looked up to is the girl who is the first to leave them here? Oh, how much that must have hurt..." At this, Edward turns to look towards 541 and 583, expecting a reaction out of them, but they only harden their gaze and one of them places a hand on my elbow.

I grit my teeth and swallow any self-conscious thought I have racing through my head, forcing myself to keep my voice steady as I speak. "You know nothing about us. You may have owned us, but you never knew us for who we were and who we are. You treat those whom you deem your inferiors with violence and hatred, but to those above you, you show only reverence and admiration; what kind of man are you for that? A man with two faces, with two sides, that only reveals one part to some and the second part to others. God only knows how we have watched both men inside you use their charm on others."

And much like him there are two people inside me, screaming for dominance. One begs for me to only wound him and escape with my life and the safeties of my friends; one orders me to make him suffer, make him die, and to forget who I am.