Rehabilitation: Unbelief 1

Chapter 4

After finding the house empty, there's little choice but to go home. I manage to sneak back in and make it to my bed without being discovered. Miriam is sound asleep in her bed by now, but I don't sleep well tonight. I don't sleep at all. Instead, my mind keeps churning, unable to stop dispel images of a white van and empty house.

Where is Jacob? And where is his sister, little Sammy?

I hope I'm wrong about what happened. I keep trying to tell myself I was wrong about what I saw, and keep thinking up alternate scenarios. Like maybe they left the house before the Elite got there—because I know it was the Elite in that white van—and were just hiding out somewhere. But then the image of that man being dragged out and shoved in the van flashes...

No. It was Jacob. I'm positive. I think. I continue tossing, feeling restless, my heart heavy with worry, eyes dry from lack of sleep.

When the sun finally comes up, I get up and dress as quickly as I can. I'm not sure who I'll ask about last night—I guess I can't ask anyone—but at least I can check the house again. Maybe it was a dream, and instead of getting up in the night to go meet Jacob, I never got up at all. Maybe I was asleep the whole time.

I know that's not true, though, despite my hopes. I can feel the tiredness of a night without sleep making my movements heavy and clumsy, and when I look up from lacing my boots, I catch Miriam's gray, bleary gaze. As the other girls go down for breakfast—what little there is—she lingers behind until I pass by her bed.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" she asks as she follows me out the door.

It takes everything I have not to freeze up right there. Worse, to round on her and demand to know what she knows. Instead, I turn to face her and answer simply, "No."

She studies my face and looks sympathetic, though that's uncharacteristic of the Gates. After a moment she shakes her head, something almost sad flickering in her eyes. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Then she continues on down the hall and stairs toward the dining room on the lower levels. All the girls eat there, from all the different dormitories. The babies who are too young for solid food and still breastfeed stay with the nurses, but the rest of us eat in the dining room. I stare after Miriam a moment, trying to steady my suddenly uneven breath. When I think I've composed myself enough to pass muster, I make myself march down the stairs for breakfast.

All I want to do is run and see if Jacob is alright, and Samantha, too, but I force myself to take the small bowl of grits and scrap of bread. I sit down to eat, barely managing to choke it down. But I know if I leave without eating, everyone will be suspicious. There's so little food that goes around that to step out on a free meal is a red flag for something big going on. I sit next to a couple of girls from the first floor, listen to them chat away about nothing, and go through the motions of meal time. I don't even taste what I'm eating, not that there's a lot to taste to begin with, and when I've finished I stand, taking my plates with me. I'm just dropping them off at the kitchen when I freeze.

Being escorted in with the Matron is Samantha. My fists clench reflexively down by my sides.

"Sammy?" I say aloud as I watch the small girl take hesitant steps, clearly frightened of her new surroundings.

This is bad. This is frighteningly bad. If Samantha is here, then it's because she no longer has family to take care of her—or family no longer willing to take care of her. Her parents have been dead for years and her only sibling is her older brother. I know if Jacob was around, he would never let her end up here and that's what convinces me he's gone. My stomach knots again and my shoulders slump as truth hits me. I'm right about what happened last night.

The Matron leans down and whispers a few things in Samantha's ears, to which the frightened little girl only nods. Then the older woman leaves. Samantha just stands in the middle of the dining room, the other girls ignoring her—it's not uncommon to get new additions. She looks around, probably trying to find a safe place to hide.

My stomach turns and tries to send my breakfast back up. With effort I keep it down. As calmly as I can, I walk over to Samantha. I don't want to draw a lot of attention to her, or me, so I try to appear casual.

It's pointless because as soon as she sees me and realizes who I am, she runs toward me as fast as she can. She launches herself at me, wrapping her thin arms around my waist and burying her head into my shirt. My arms wrap around her tiny frame automatically, my lips brushing against the top of her hair.

She starts sobbing.

I hug her back, shushing her to try to get her to quiet down. "Shh," I say, glancing around at the other girls who have now begun to glance over at us curiously. It's not unusual for a new girl to break down, but it's rare one of us offers any kind of comfort for that.

"Jacob's gone," she sobs into my shirt.

I freeze again. Something heavy hits my heart and drags it down into my stomach. I feel sick and cold and somewhat panicked.

It's not that this surprises me. I've been dreading it since I saw that van. Before that, even. Since Jacob didn't show up at the Gravestones last night. And I knew it the second I saw Sammy walk into the room. But hearing Samantha confirm it aloud... it's more awful than I thought it would be.

I swallow with effort. "Samantha, it's okay," I tell her, even though I don't believe that myself. It's definitely not okay if Jacob is gone. "Everything's going to be okay. Let's go upstairs."

It's with great effort I manage to pry Samantha off me enough we can walk up the stairs toward my dorm. I'm sure she's been assigned some bed in one of the other wings, the one for younger girls, but for now we'll be able to talk privately in the dorm I sleep in. Now's the best time for it, while all the other girls remain eating.

As we leave the dining hall, I catch the gray gaze of Miriam following us out. She's still watching as the door closes behind us.

When we make it up the stairs and into my dorm, I close the door behind us, making sure it's shut tight. I take a moment to check and make sure no one is in the room who might listen in. It looks all clear.

Spinning around to face Samantha, I kneel in front of her and grab her small shoulders. "What happened?" I ask with urgency, keeping my voice low.

She wipes at her eyes with her tiny fists, sniffling. "Jacob's gone."

I nod, feeling impatient now that I know something's definitely wrong. "Last night, right? They came for him last night?"

She pulls her hands away from her face and looks up at me. Her hair is darker than Jacob's, though lighter than mine, and her eyes are dark brown instead of the bright blue of her brother's. She takes after her mother, instead of her father, and it makes her look much too soft sometimes.

Definitely too soft for this world at any rate.

"Yes," she finally says. "They knocked and knocked and then they kicked in the door. Jacob argued with them, yelled at them, but they hit him and dragged him away."

I feel sick. They hit Jacob? Is he alright? If the Elite had taken him—and who else would have—then why did they attack him? Why did they take him in the middle of the night? Selection is always the easiest way to make troublemakers disappear. No one is exempt from Selection and Jacob is still within the age range it wouldn't be abnormal for them to Select him in.

"Then they came to me and said that Jacob was filled with bad ideas." She's sobbing again now, her body trembling in my grip. "They said they were going to fix him."

Fix him. The dread I've been feeling since last night boils to a head. I know exactly what 'fixing' means. It's the same thing they told me and my mother the day my father went missing and never came back. It's what they tell people who fail their Trials. I feel an involuntary shudder wrack my body.

Rehabilitation.

Read the full series: https://www.amazon.com/Unbelief-Trilogy-Box-C-B-Stone-ebook/dp/B077NF1GNC