The Divided

Chapter Fourteen

           I posted Chapters 13-14 so make sure you read them in order!

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 Mason didn't dare argue, instead, he sat back down as Vincent stood and led me out of the room without a word. I followed Vincent in silence all the way to his truck parked outside the leadership building. Not a single word was spoken as we climbed in and started driving toward the border.

"Why don't you like me?" I asked once we crossed over to the other side.

His dark-brown eyes remained on the rocky road in front of him. "I don't know what you are talking about," he replied, making me roll my eyes.

"Oh, please. It's not a secret that you hate me. I know it. My dad knows it. Everyone knows it."

He rubbed his thin lips together before replying. "I know you aren't the dedicated Ameliorate we need leading our country."

I stared at the side of his red hair. "I am."

Shaking his head, he glanced at me before looking back at the road. "No, you aren't," he argued. "It isn't how you are. You don't have a one-track mind."

"How would you know? You don't know anything about me."

He pulled the car into the Martins' driveway and turned off the car. "Melody, I know more about you than you know about yourself." With that, he climbed out of the truck, leaving me asking questions and chasing after him.

I followed him up to the door and knocked on the front door since he stepped to the side. We waited a minute or two until Dean opened the door. At the sight of me, he showed a smile, but it faded as soon as he spotted Vincent standing beside me. "What can I do for you?" he asked politely.

"We need to talk to your father," Vincent said.

With a nod, the boy opened the door wider, inviting us inside. As we walked in and shut the door behind us, Reagan walked into the room from the hallway. He flashed me a smile and then a fake one to Vincent. "Ms. Sharpe and Mr. Hart, what can I do for you?"

"Ava Thompson, a leader of our school education has gone missing," I explained before Vincent could. "She was last seen yesterday morning. We were wondering if you had seen her."

Vincent shot me a look. "What she means is, we know she ran over here and we would like to see her."

"Actually, no one has crossed the border since the last time Ms. Sharpe came over here when she was returning my son," Reagan claimed.

"You're lying," Vincent snapped, his eyes hardening.

Reagan took a threatening step toward. "If I am, there's nothing you can about me, or her."

"She's an Ameliorate. As Xavier Sharpe's first in command, I have the right to take her back to our side," Vincent argued.

"If she was over here, you'd have no right to take her back," Dean said. "Once she would step onto our side, she would have complete freedom. She follows our laws, not yours."

"I beg to differ. She has the Ameliorate emblem permanently imprinted on her arm."

"Vincent, stop," I interjected. "Mr. Martin is right. After someone crosses that border we have no control over them anymore. She isn't on our grounds, therefore she doesn't follow our laws. If she crosses back over, then we can do something about her, but not here."

He growled at me. "I was given an order to bring her back."

"Actually, I was given the order to bring her back," I corrected. "You were ordered to tag along. Now, we tried, but the order cannot be completed."

He turned to face me directly and pointed a finger at me. "If you want to be Leader one day, you need to start doing what your father says," Vincent said. "If you aren't going to, you know the punishment you will face."

I stood my ground. "I told my father this morning that I was focusing all my attention on my assignments."

"Well, you aren't pulling through on your words," he growled through gritted teeth. "If you want to be Leader, then start acting like it." He turned around and stormed to the front door, opening it. "Come on, we are leaving." My eyes fell on Reagan and Dean, silently apologizing for Vincent's behavior and wishing it was possible that I could speak to them without Vincent around. "Melody, let's go!"

Immediately, I looked away from them and quickly made my way to Vincent by the front door, and led the way out. Hearing Vincent slam the door behind us, I rushed to the truck and got inside as if he was going to eat me if I didn't. As soon as he got in the car, he sped out of there, not even having the common sense to put on a seatbelt.

"I can't believe you mentioned how we couldn't legally take Ava back to our side," he raged.

I looked out of the window, scared to look him in the eyes. "They knew the law, Vincent. They wouldn't have let her come back with us, even if I hadn't spoken about it."

"We can take her by force," he spoke.

"Then what?" I asked. "She would just be banished back over there. There's no point."

He drove through the main border gate. "No, she would be in prison for the rest of her life, or sentenced to death," he corrected me.

I looked at him, shaking my head. "My dad wouldn't kill her."

"The majority of the time, traitors are sentenced to death, Melody," he snapped, a matter-of-fact.

I kept quiet because I hadn't known that. It meant that not only would Ava probably get killed if she showed her face to an Ameliorate again, I could be killed for my doings, too. I wasn't just risking spending the rest of my life in prison anymore. I was risking my life.

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It's getting more intense;)

Thanks for reading!

~Emily