The Unexpected *SPORADIC UPDATES*

Chapter One: The Boy Named Jackson Moore

"Oh my gosh, I'm really sorry," the guy says as he helps me up, "Are you okay?"

There are loud shouts coming from across the street, stopping me from answering. It's Them.

"What-" I begin, but immediately cut myself off when the guy starts sprinting down the sidewalk. I follow, unsure what's going on.

It takes a few minutes before I finally catch up with him. We run side-by-side for a while before I find the breath to speak to him.

"What's going on? Why are They after you?" I question him.

"It's a long story," he pants, and we continue running. I figure it'll be best if I wait until we can stop before I pester him with a ton of questions.

It takes some time, but we eventually lose Them when we run into the woods. Of course, They're too lazy to go after someone if it means they have to dodge trees, or run through the mud, or get their stupid uniforms caught and torn on branches as they run past.

As the boy and I get deeper into the woods, we sit on a fallen tree and catch our breath. It's a little harder for me to slow my breathing and my heartbeat than it is for him, seeing as he wasn't the one who had just stopped running only twenty minutes ago.

"So, you wanted to know why They were chasing me," he states, referring to the question I had asked him when we first began racing down the street. I nod, and he continues. "Well, first off, I should probably introduce myself. I'm Jackson Moore," he smiles, extending his hand to me.

"Elizabeth Daniels," I reply, using my alias for the first time. I take his hand and we shake.

"Okay, I should start now, shouldn't I?" he asks. I nod again, and we both smile, each of us letting out a small laugh. "Well, it all started when I was six years old. My mom had had a baby, thus giving me a little sister, whom she named Lily. She was blonde. Now you probably don't understand the significance of that, but I assume you've seen posters up broadcasting a reward for whoever turns in the blonde girl?" I hastily nod, wanting him to continue. He had grabbed my attention as soon as he said his sister was blonde. "Well, I'm pretty sure she's the last blonde on the planet. Anyway, blondes can do these really cool, but really weird, things. It's like telekinesis and telepathy, but it's more than that. It's hard to explain, but that's why They're trying to kill them all off, so the blondes won't overthrow Them.

"One day, when Lily was seven and I was thirteen, They found us. My mom tried to stall Them and buy me some time to get Lily out, but-" he stops, taking a deep breath, "But they shot her, and killed her. They found Lily and I in my bedroom, attempting to boost Lily out the window. I ended up doing so, as well as getting myself through, before They could catch us, but They surrounded us when we ran down the street. I had been gripping Lily's hand the entire time we were running, but They ripped her from my grasp when They caught us. One of the guys grabbed my arms and held me so tight my arms were bruised for a week after. A few others grabbed Lily, and she started crying. They dragged her away, and the guy that was holding me brought a cloth to my face. Before I could pull it away, I was out cold.

"I woke up a few hours later in an alley, and headed out into the streets to search for Lily. That was when I overheard some people talking. The man asked the woman if she had heard that they killed another blonde. She said she hadn't and he explained all this unnecessary information about it, but the part that caught my attention was when he said her name was Lily Moore."

I see a few tears fall down his cheeks, but it doesn't stop him. It doesn't even slow him down. "Ever since then, I've been trying to destroy Their tyranny, but I've discovered that I can't do it alone. I've been looking for any blonde survivors for the past three years, but I haven't found any. So when I saw posters up for the last surviving blonde, I got desperate. I still haven't found anyone to help me, though," he sighs, "The last survivor's name is Lacey Bennett. Did you know that no blonde has lived to her age in the last century? They've all been killed before they could reach fifteen."

My eyes widen to the size of golf balls. I knew I was the last blonde, but I had no idea I was the only blonde to live to be fifteen in the last century.

"Um, okay," I start, "I should probably tell you something." I pause, and he looks at me expectantly. "I'm Lacey Bennett."

Jackson looks entirely confused as he stares at me, and I swear that his eyes are wider than mine were just a few seconds ago. "But.... How? I mean-"

"Okay, let me explain," I say as I giggle at his astonished, yet puzzled expression, "Elizabeth Daniels is just an alias. I also cut and dyed my hair so that people wouldn't recognize me. Obviously, it worked."

He asks me to tell him the story of how I began running, and I do. I explain everything from the time They killed my mother up until I changed my appearance and we ran into each other. I agree to help him take Them down, and we end up having various conversations about nothing until we fall asleep on the green grass of the woods, gazing at the stars.

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The first full chapter! What do you think? I feel like I could do a whole lot better, but I think my writing has improved over the past year. Enough about me, though. I just hope you all enjoyed the first chapter. I have a few other chapters pre-written, so I want to try to keep a schedule, but until I have more chapters written, that probably won't be possible. When I update, I will do so on Wednesdays, but I can't guarantee that I will update every Wednesday. I'm going to try to write a few more chapters before I post chapter two, so it might be a few weeks, but I have until January 6 to write as much as I want. Thank you all for reading, my lovely readers!

~Tiffani

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