Perception [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

“Adrian, where in the world are we going?” I groaned, stumbling quickly after him. He was jogging through a large crowd of Regulars in New York City. Adrian laughed at the double meaning to my words that I hadn’t even noticed I’d made.

He looked back at me and shouted over all of the noise, “Anywhere you like, little sister.”

Adrian seemed way too calm. Not even eight hours before, we were literally seconds from being caught and probably murdered. Now he gave me the vibe that he clearly thought we were traveling the world because for our own desire.

I furrowed my eyebrows. Usually, he’s much more serious than this. He knows how much danger we are constantly in.

“Well,” I said, pausing for a moment. He had stopped in front of a coffee shop and sat on an empty bench. “I think we should stick to a busy city; I don’t think we’ll be caught as easily.”

Adrian, running his fingers through his dark hair, grinned. “How about here, then?”

“Uh-uh. I can barely walk—let alone breathe—when surrounded by this many people! How about somewhere like Los Angeles, or London?”

Truth was, according to my great-grandparents, the world hadn’t changed much. Even according to their parents, it was still very similar. Aside from the Perceivers, and the newly issued world-wide government system, it was all the same. We were all still ignorant, awful people who spent their Friday nights’ drinking and getting high. We all still went to school until we were eighteen, and still worked regular jobs. People still committed crimes and went to jail; talked on the phone for hours on end about the cute new boy who transferred to school from another state.

We were still . . . well us.

Even the constant fighting was continuing; the silent war between the Perceivers and the Searchers still restless and ongoing. I would have figured that by now humanity would have learned that we’re in this together and there’s no use fighting.

“Okay, Audree,” Adrian said, grinning wildly at me once more.

I sat next to him, “Why are you so excited? You haven’t been this way before. I mean . . . after mom and dad died . . . then Aaron and Alex—”

“We survived a close one there with the Searchers. Who wouldn’t be in a good mood? And yes, I know. I’ve been mourning for the past five months, Audree! But we’re alive, and somewhere, so is Agatha. Mom, Dad, Aaron, and Alex are probably dancing around too; almost as relieved as I am; they may be dead, but I believe they’re still with us.” He swung his arm around my shoulder and hugged me. “I don’t know if I would have survived without you little sister.”

I smiled. It was so great to have a brother like him; he always said the right things to make me feel better.

If I didn’t have Adrian, I’d be dead; like he so claims vice-versa for myself. He taught me in the few months we’ve been running how to do many things; how to climb, how to hide, how to run without making a sound. 

The only way I’ve helped him is by helping him with food; the reason I could do that was because back at home in Maine, before we had to escape, I had started to accumulate money just in case there came a day we needed it. I began saving at the age of thirteen—four years ago. Doing everything I could, I filled up eight piggy banks. It started off with pennies I’d found on the floor and nickels that fell out of Dad’s pocket and into the couch. After a year, I had a hundred dollars worth of coins, but if I continued at the rate I was going, I’d never build up enough money to survive. So, I told Dad and Mom about my idea and they agreed wholeheartedly. Each paycheck, they both put in sixty to a hundred dollars. That was a lot of money to give up, but they knew we'd need it in the future so it was obviously well worth it. This continued until they knew we’d been discovered.

By the time the leadership discovered us, we’d already had almost eleven grand saved up. I poured the contents of the banks into a backpack full of everything I’d need and took it everywhere I went just in case. I knew they wouldn’t act for at least two weeks; they were forming background checks on us to ensure everything before coming to collect us; but I couldn’t risk leaving it home. The Searchers burn down the houses of the Perceivers they find. My money would be lost.

I was crazy without realizing it. Who carries eleven grand around with them constantly? Alex, my oldest brother, suggested a bank account—smart lad he is. So, I created a fake name for the account two days before they invaded. Lesley Parker. I had Aaron, my youngest brother, who was fantastic at creating anything and everything, create me a fake ID. The bank fell for it, opened up a bank account for Lesley Parker, and gave me a card with a four digit pin.

My family was amazing.

Was.

Agatha was quiet throughout everything. She didn’t offer to help, she just sat by each day admiring me. She thought I was so strong. But I can't help thinking that if I was so strong . . . she wouldn’t be tortured daily.

What a great sister she is, too. She’s obviously not given out any of my information about the bank account, my fake name, or anything. Otherwise, Adrian and I would have been caught weeks ago.

“Why don’t we get some food?”Adrian asked, standing up and looking around. I blew my blonde curls from my eyes and agreed.

“Sure. Where too?” I copied Adrian’s actions and looked up and down the street. It was lined with restaurants we could choose from. Even though we had thousands of dollars worth of food money, I was still wary about how we spent it. It might seem like a lot now, but I don’t know how long we’d be running and how long we’d need the money.

He grinned at me, “Anywhere with pizza.”

Pizza. Mmm, our all time favorite meal. Mom used to make it every Friday; well, she told us she made it. We knew that she just ordered out while we were all at school and then pulled it out of an off oven with a big smile on her face.

What a liar. That’s why we all loved her.

“Okay,” I replied, grinning at him in return. “I think I spotted a pizza shop back down that way, while you were dragging me through that horrid crowd.”

He nodded in reply, and began sprinting as fast as he could in the direction we came. Sometimes, people would mistake me for the older one since he acted so immature. But he was right, we’d closely avoided death and that was definitely a reason to be happy. I shook my head for a moment before laughing and running after him.

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Hey everyone! This is chapter two. I know the first two chapters might have been a little boring, but without all of the information, you'd have no clue what is going on. (: I haven't reread this, so yeah. ALSO. Please check out FallenAngel247 and Micake256. They definitely deserve it. :D

Also this chapter was dedicated to TwinCity1518 for making my fabulous cover. Thanks a ton (:

This is the last chapter of this story that will be published. The rest is going to be kept safe in my documents. I think I might want to get this published one day, but I don't want to be denied because it's already online to read! I hope that makes sense.

Cayleigh <3