The Isolated

Chapter Three

I wiped some medicine over the raw skin on the boy's forearm and then wrapped it up in a bandage. "Alright." I smiled down at him. "You're all done."

The preteen's eyes brightened, and he jumped up from the wooden stool before throwing his arms around me tightly. "Thank you so much!" I chuckled at his excitement and said "you're welcome" before watching him run to his parents.

As I looked up to see who was next, my smile dropped as I watched my uncle Roman sit down on the stool. Without speaking a word to him, I grabbed his forearm, wiped it down with a cleaning wipe, and then reached for my mark removal stylus. The two of us still hadn't talked since I had confronted him about knowing that I wasn't Xavier's biological daughter.

"I can't believe we can finally get these Ameliorate marks removed," he said, forcing a smile. "It's exciting, don't you think?" I didn't even look up at him as I took the unique stylus and began tracing over his Ameliorate mark. He winced at the first zap of the small laser since I hadn't warned him like I had the others but didn't react to it at all after that. "Are you going to have Dean remove yours?" he tried again. "He was the one who gave citizens the Extricate mark before, wasn't he?"

I found myself holding my breath instead of replying to him. A part of me wanted to, but what would I say? I guess I could answer his questions first of all, but I knew that wasn't what he really wanted to talk about. I didn't trust him like I used to.

After the removal of his Extricate mark was completed, I wiped some healing cream on it and then bandaged his arm. As quickly as I pulled away from him, he stood up and stalked off, obviously aggravated that I had refused to talk to him. Sighing, I started cleaning up all my supplies. The only people left to get their marks removed were Bella, Landon and myself. We planned to remove their marks tomorrow, and as for me, I still hadn't confirmed with myself that I was going to remove it.

"Hey."

I looked up at the boy I hadn't noticed walk up to me. Sean crossed his arms over his chest and just stared at me for what felt like a very long moment. His auburn hair was short but spiked up and his golden eyes were intimidating. "Can I help you?" I asked, not bothering to hide the annoyance in my voice. It wasn't a secret that we didn't like each other.

"Why haven't you removed your mark?" he asked immediately, looking down at my exposed forearm that indeed showed off the Ameliorate mark inked into my skin.

I shrugged. "I just haven't gotten around to it," I lied.

"You can now. You've got nowhere to be." I just shook my head at his words and continued packing up my stuff and putting it all in my small tote bag. "You don't want to get rid of it, do you?" he interrogated me. "You are still an Ameliorate. You'll never be one of us."

It's like he was digging at the buried anger within me. "My mother is one of you," I told him, stopping what I was doing to face him. "The Sharpe's aren't my real family. I don't have their blood running through my veins."

"Blood doesn't make a family."

"I was thrown into that world without wanting to be!" I raised my voice.

Sean took an angry step toward me and soon we were just a foot apart. "They raised you though. And isn't that what family is? The people who cared enough to care for you?"

I gritted my teeth at his arrogant self. "They never cared about me."

He shrugged and uncrossed his arms, shoving his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. "You're still alive, aren't you?"
"Not purposely. They want me dead," I reminded him. "Why would I still be among the people who want me dead?"

His golden eyes hardened. "It's all an act."

"It's not."

He leaned in close, making me lean away from him, but he grabbed my upper arm to keep me from moving. "It is," he spoke lowly into my ear. "And I'm going to prove it..." With that, he pulled away and I jerked my arm out of his grasp. Sean grinned menacingly at me. "Watch your back, Sharpe."

My fingers clenched at the use of that last name. I mean, it was my last name I guess, but that didn't mean that I liked it to be used. I wanted it changed. Being viewed as a Sharpe was something that I would hate.

#

I laid my head down on Dean's chest as we stared up at the dark sky. We were laying in his treehouse, enjoying the peace and quiet and watching the occasional heat lightning strikes across the sky. I wanted to talk to him about everything going on in my head, but I didn't know where to start. Dean's highest priority right now was keeping me safe while I had this bounty on my head, even though I knew there were definitely more important things to worry about. And as of right now, Reagan's increase of border patrol had been enough so far. He caught the few people that had tried sneaking over the border with weapons this past week.

"What would you think about me if I decided to hold off on removing my Ameliorate mark for now?" I asked Dean after a while.

His fingers combed through my hair. "What do you mean by what I would think about you?" he asked softly.

I shrugged and listened to the sound of his breathing. "Would you be upset with me? Confused? Aggravated?"

I felt the movement as he shook his head. "Of course not."

"But I would still have the Ameliorate mark on me while claiming to be an Extricate," I said.

"You aren't claiming to be an Extricate," he told me. "You are one. Having that black mark inked into your skin doesn't define you."

"There are people who think it does though..."

"Why do you care what they think?" His breathing remained steady and the way he was gently running his fingers through my hair gave me comfort.

I sighed. "I don't know. I want everyone to trust me."

"Melody, your actions are what is going to get everyone to trust you." His lips pressed against the top of my head. "If you want to wait to remove your mark, I am perfectly okay with that. I'll support you no matter what."

"You'd support me even if I was trying to do something you knew would be completely wrong?" I asked, the thought making me chuckle.

His chest bounced as he laughed underneath me. "I'd probably join whatever shenanigan you get yourself into."

"You wouldn't be able to get away with it, unlike me," I teased him.

He scoffed. "Please. With this smile, I can get away with anything."

I laughed with him and his arms tightened around me before he kissed my hairline again. "I'll always be on your side, Birdie."

***

Sorry for the long wait! College is a handful XD

Thanks for reading:) I really hope you guys are enjoying this book so far!

I'll update again when I get the chance!

Love you all<3

~Emily