All for nothing.
We’re turning ourselves in, leaving tonight. There’s no need for them to welcome us into the village. All their arguments, their questioning, their trust and mistrust, it’s all for nothing. We’ll be gone by tomorrow, nothing but a story.
I wish I could stay, I want to. Knowing that I have the option to stay makes it all the more difficult to leave.
What would it be like, living the rest of my life here? I could watch Rose and Marrielle grow up. Maybe teach some of the people what I learned in the Kitchens about how to make different food. I could live with Brinn, Piper, Bridget, and Canton until we grow old and pass away.
Instead, I have to spend my life running from Officials and Heads.
Spara and James watch excitedly for our reactions. I force a smile across my face. They can’t know that we’re escaping tonight. Even though we’re ‘one of them’ and ‘welcome to the village’, I’m not sure if we would be allowed to just leave. They certainly wouldn’t let us leave if they knew we stole some of their supplies.
Nikolas nods shortly, “Well, I’s be a-havin’ more impor’nt things ta be a-seein’ ta.”
He strides stiffly out of the room. Spara rolls her eyes at his back. The door slides open revealing the sun is disappearing from behind the trees. Most of the light has faded from the sky. Soon, we’ll be leaving.
The second Nikolas disappears behind the door, James grins, “In’t this great? Ya can a-live here for a long time.”
Piper smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes, “Thank you so much, I really don’t know how to react right now. It’s just so…overwhelming.”
Bridget forces her voice to be heard, “At least we’ll know we are welcome here, so that when we…”
Bridget stops herself, seconds before giving away our plans for tonight.
Spara asks, “When ya what?”
Piper recovers, “When we plan what we’re doing next. We weren’t really sure what we would do in the future, you know? Where we would go, how we would survive. Since you’ve allowed us to stay, our future suddenly has a lot more…hope.”
I don’t know how Piper can lie so smoothly, so perfectly. If I didn’t know any better, I would believe her without a doubt. I don’t know if we’d even be alive without Piper’s lies.
Spara nods, “Yeah, ya be one of us now. If ya be a-needin’ anythin’ or in any danger, we’s a-be there ta protect ya, no matter what. That’s what we’s a-do here. Ya be a-needin’ ta a-start workin’ soon, too. Ya can a-help Arrie with the young-uns ‘til ya decide what ya be a-wantin’ ta a-do.”
If only it was that easy.
James adds, “Ya be a-havin’ supper with us t’night. We’ll be a-sayin’ ta everyone how ya be part of our village, now.”
We can’t have supper with them tonight. That’s when we’re supposed to be escaping. That’s when we’re supposed to be returning to turn ourselves in to save the village.
Piper asks, her voice wavering slightly, “Tonight?”
James nods, eagerly, misinterpreting her worried voice for excitement, “Yeah, ya be a-havin’ ta a-wait only a couple of minutes before everyone else knows, but then ya truly a-be part of our village.”
Piper attempts to save us, “Could we do it tomorrow night? We, uh,”
I have a sudden idea and interrupt, “We want to give a, um, sort-of thank you speech, if that’s okay.”
YOU ARE READING
987 (Complex Series, #3)
Science Fiction-third book in the Complex series- Dana has been captured by Officials. She doesn't know who to trust and who to avoid. Anything she says or does could quickly cause her death. How long can she protect the secret of her and her friends' past? How lo...
