Houses of Hopeless

3

"She is not Vitae!" The scientist yells as gasps are heard from every corner of the stadium. It couldn't be possible because there's never been an imposter in any house before. No one could believe what they heard from the scientist's mouth, not even Regan. She'd grown up in Vitae, she knows everyone in Vitae, it had to be her house.

"That's not right! She's my sister." Kurt calls out but the scientist shakes his head.

"Not according to your blood." The scientist snaps at Kurt but also breaks Kurt's heart. The shock becomes so intense for both Kurt and Regan as more and more bad news comes a long. It's in front of everyone and will be the talk of the town.

"Excuse me? Regan has been a valuable member of Vitae ever since she was placed in Vitae as a baby. She can't possibly be in another house." The current leader, Clark, yells out as he questions the scientist but is quickly shut down.

"I can assure you this girl does not have a drop of Vitae blood in her." The scientist lets Clark know before storming to Regan, grabbing her arm harshly and forcefully pulling her to a bowl of salt. He squeezes her arm, making a few droplets of blood fall into the salt. Regan lets out a pained groan before the scientist lets go of her. She stumbles back, accidentally walking into a man. He has a smug look on his face as she looks up at him.

"If I didn't know better, she's a Mortem." The man comments and Regan becomes a bit offended by it. All houses wait quietly to find out what house she's in. Regan walks away from the man and goes back to Kurt, who holds her hand nervously. The scientist examines the bowl of salt as the droplets move through the bowl. A picture is shown in the bowl as the scientist furrows his eyebrows at it.

"Sh-she's Aureum." The scientist announces as Kurt lets go of Regan's hand, looking at her, thinking of her as anything but his sister. They grew up as siblings but a blood test tears them apart. The king finds everything falling apart so he calls for silence.

"Regan will represent Aureum, returning to her rightful house. These are your qualifying leaders; Halsey, Kurt, Matthew and Regan." The king says as the leaders all come together although they are all shocked from the events that just occurred. The crowd cheers at all the leaders as Regan looks at the small group of Aureum, wondering how she was misplaced. It couldn't have been possible. The kings men lead the king off the stage before they usher the leaders to leave the stage too. Halsey and Matthew walk confidently through a hallway as Kurt and Regan are stuck in shock.

"Welcome to the Royal chambers." The king welcomes them to the royal chambers as they walk towards a table covered with silver platters and pristine glasses.

"Do we get free wine every time we come here?" Matthew asks as he pours himself a glass, ahead of everyone. Everyone stares at him until he places the glass of wine down and takes the bottle with him, noticing there's more bottles on the table.

"I was to welcome you with a dinner, so, please sit." The king tells them as they all take a seat, Reagan next to Matt, Kurt next to Halsey and the king at the head of the table.

"Want some?" Matthew asks Regan as he holds the bottle out to her, expecting her to drink out of the bottle.

"I don't drink wine. It slows down the development of the brain." Regan tells Matt as he shrugs. Being a Mortem, he's been up to no good since he was a child.

"She truly seems to be Vitae." Halsey comments as she smiles at Regan.

"It was a complete surprise." The king contributes and Regan becomes a little uncomfortable. "The siblings being split. It's so tragic but we all have to remember, it was God's decision."

"Gods not real." Matt snorts before realising that everyone on the table is staring at him for denying the kings religion. "Its a joke. I'm a full Christian." Matt saves himself as he drinks more wine.

"We need to borrow Regan. Is that okay?" The scientist asks before the king nods, letting them take Regan away from the dinner.

"Regan, can you please come here first?" Halsey asks making Regan confused to why she would need her. Regan approaches Halsey before she gets pulled down so Halsey can whisper to her. "I'm praying for you." Halsey whispers before Regan gets pulled away by one of the kings men.

"W-what?" Regan asks as she walks with the kings men, following the scientist out of the room. They walk through hallways and doors until they reach a room that looks like a surgery room. She watches as the scientist sits down in a chair at a desk that's beside a surgery table.

"Regan, did you ever run away from Aureum when it was approaching its potential end?" The scientist asks as Regan is held, preventing her from sitting down across from him.

"No. I've never been near the Aureum house territory. I don't know how I'm Aureum." Regan honestly answers the scientist. She had never been this confused before. There had been no time where she was called out for being different in Vitae. She had always belonged there and never thought that she belonged to another house. She fit the Vitae profile perfectly.

"You see, I think you're lying." The scientist accuses Regan and she furrows her eyebrows.

"I'm not. I swear to God." Regan tries to convince him but the scientist stares at Regan almost furiously.

"You swear by God?" The scientist asks and makes Regan realise what she's done. She stutters because of how afraid she is, being in that room.

"No, no. I didn't mean that. I meant-" Regan begins to try and cover herself but she gets interrupted. Matt made it look so easy at the dinner table.

"You swore by God but you are anything but a child of God!" The scientist yells before gesturing to the kings men who tighten their grip on Regan. They pull her to the table where she starts to panic, scared of what's happening:

"Please. Don't." Regan attempts to be let go but she gets strapped down to the table like her worst nightmare. She lifts her head, not letting it lay on the table as she strives to wriggle her limbs out of the straps. "Let me go!" Regan yells before her head gets pushed down on the table, making her head ache. "No! No! Please!" Regan screams as she looks at the object in the scientists hands.