Taken - Lost (Book 1 of the Taken Trilogy)

Chapter 2

    Allium

  Gen seemed nice, after the chilly first impression my twin gave was dispelled. We chatted a bit about how hard the Academy test was and what our essays were about until our parents told us to get in the van. The A/C was like a blast of air straight from Antarctica after being baked alive outside. Lav and I scanned the rows of seats before picking a window view towards the back. Genevieve climbed on and sat next to us, smiling at us to say, "It's all good."

"Hey," I said.

"Hey, how're y'all doing?" Gen asked.

  "Mm, all right I guess," I replied. I looked over to my sister to see if she had anything to contribute, but as per usual she was in her own little world. I poked her arm a couple of times to see what would happen.

"Hey!" She yelped, pulling away from me to give me a smack. "What gives?"

"I thought you were dead," I giggled. That got me another smack. Note to Self: Don't laugh at Lavender's expense when trying to act like a caring sibling.                                                                      Oops.        

  The whole time, Gen had a faintly amused expression on her face while watching us bicker. I guess sibling rivalry looks kind of ridiculous to an only child. Lavender saw it first and shot me a look. I shut up.

"So, um, what's the schedule?" Lavender asked as awkwardly as humanly possible. I silently cursed my twin's social skills, or lack thereof, depending on how you look at it. Thankfully Gen didn't seem to mind. 

"Well, we're staying at a campsite tonight, then some heavy driving until we reach my place in Houston, where we'll stay for a night or two before getting shipped off to the Academy. Assuming we get in, of course."

"And if we don't get in?" I asked.

"Then your parents do their business in Houston and you guys go back to Dallas," Gen answered.

"Great!" I chirped. Oh, rot. Chirping was something I did when I felt awkward. Lavender must be rubbing off on me. I pushed that horrifying thought aside just as my Lens chirped - No, not chirped! Rotflesh! My Lens beeped. Beeped. That meant I had a LensLetter. I tapped the screen on my arm and died.

Well, not died, but this definitely did not feel like life.                                                              

 ALLLIUM HALLOS HAS 1 NEW LENSLETTER 

TO: ALLIUM HALLOS ________________________________________________________________________________

FR: UNITED STATES ACADEMY FOR GUARDIANSHIP AND VIRUS CONTAINMENT

________________________________________________________________________________   

   I squeaked. "What is i-" Gen looked at my screen and made a small strangled noise. "What're you two squealing abou-" Lav also stopped dead in her tracks. "Oh, my God," she breathed. "Oh, my actual -" Her Lens beeped before she could finish. She looked at it and went white. "I got one, too," she whispered, looking terrified.

   "The only one left is me," Gen said a hollow voice.

    We turned to her and stared at her Lens. Seconds dragged by, each one wearing at us bit by bit as they passed us. Breathing was forgotten. Blinking was a thing of the past. Two minutes of unbroken silence later, we all looked away, each trying to hide their disappointment from the others.