It was a hard slam of brakes that woke me, and I barely managed to stick a hand out in front of me before I could dive into the trunk's door.
But I wasn't fast enough to grab a still-asleep Gwen before she thudded head-first into the glass. She blinked herself awake, groaning as she held a hand to her forehead.
I snuck a glance out the window, and the breath left my body.
Wow, I thought, soaking in the view. Seeing it in a photograph had done nothing to prepare me for how imposing the real thing was. In front of the car, dozens of other vehicles lined up, separating us from a circular wall so high it seemed to scrape the sky. At least, I assumed it was circular; the concrete stretched so far in both directions I couldn't tell where the wall began and ended, if there was an end at all.
At the front, the indigo gate from the Polaroid opened and shut, letting in one car at a time, only after the police officers along the sides inspected the vehicle. No wonder the car seemed to edge forward an inch per hour.
I snapped back to reality when I heard Sophie's voice from the front of the car carry down to us.
"What was that?" she asked Timothy. "You secured the cooler, didn't you?"
My heartbeat sped up.
"Yeah, I did," Timothy said, sounding confused. "Should I go check on it?"
"Well, we've been stuck in this line forever. I don't think it'd hurt if you did."
Gasping quietly, I raised a hand to my mouth as Timothy's door popped open. I met Gwen's gaze, her eyes still hooded from sleep.
I raised my brows at her, asking the silent question. What are we gonna do?
Gwen didn't have time to answer before Timothy appeared at the front of the trunk, the sun behind him darkening his bouncing cheeks to a silhouette.
I grasped the front of Gwen's shirt and wrenched her down with me, ducking out of the line of sight of the window.
The trunk popped open, and my shoulders tensed. Well, it was now or never.
Timothy's jaw dropped in shock, but he didn't manage to get out a single word before Gwen sprang upwards to knee him in the groin.
Ah, so that was our plan.
Timothy howled in pain, doubling back and bringing his hands to his groin. Just as Sophie snapped her head around at the commotion, I threw my legs over the edge of the trunk.
Sophie grasped her partner's rifle and pointed it at us. "Oh no, you don't!" she spat, pulling the trigger.
I barely dove out of the way in time for the bullet to whiz over my shoulder.
"Kiara!" Gwen shouted, locking an arm around Timothy's neck. "LET'S GO!"
Nodding, I wrapped my hand around the fabric of Timothy's shirt. I yanked it toward me as I twisted away, and he stumbled into the trunk, crying out to Sophie for help. I shut the trunk's door just before she fired again and dashed after Gwen for the field stretching out from the edge of the road.
When I felt we were a tad far enough, I shut my eyes, putting my hands to my knees and stopping. Could I catch my breath? For once? How long would I have before Sophie climbed out of the minivan to shoot us?
"Oh dear," I heard Gwen mutter beside me. "We're so fucked."
Guess it wasn't long.
I opened my eyes, ready to get her to back off, but what I saw made my shoulders sink. We should've known the police officers at the front of the wall would notice the ruckus.
Goddamnit, I thought, the officers in navy blue uniforms thundering toward us.
"Stand down, hands on your heads!" the officer at the front of the pack shouted, but confusion washed over me when she didn't raise a gun, but her hand.
I caught a smear of black on her palm, but she switched her hands before I could get a closer look. It seemed eerily familiar, like I'd caught a glimpse of it before.
Peering at Gwen, I smirked. When would the universe learn? We couldn't be stopped with stupid fights. We'd practically trained our entire lives for this.
Gwen crossed her arms, her mouth curled into a wry smile as she stared down the officers circling us. They held their arms out, and I saw those black smudges on their palms too. Strange. There wasn't a weapon in any of their grips—only a gun on a few of their belts.
But with their arms stationary, I was able to see they weren't smudges at all.
No, they were tattoos.
On their right palms, a black dot was tattooed in the center of three lines forming a half square shape.
Chills ran down my spine at the sight of the identical markings on their hands. I absently rubbed my own. Is that what it would mean to join them?
Gwen's voice broke me out of my trance. "Uh, no. I don't think we will." She snapped twice before raising a hand to her chin in mock thought. "What do you think, Kiara?"
I shrugged, side-stepping to Gwen's back. As long-time partners in training, Gwen and I had devised a set of hand and cough codes years ago, two snaps being one of them. We called this attack The Double Benders, named after one of our favourite cartoons.
I focused my gaze on the circle of officers around me. "Nah."
Gwen nodded slowly. "Didn't think so."
In perfect sync, Gwen threw her hands out and whirled on her heels as I bolted for a pair of guards with weapons.
The officers blew off their feet, sloshing against the muddy grass while I wrenched two of their guns off their immobilized forms and threw one over to Gwen.
I held my weapon out, ready to strike again.
But it seemed the officers no longer had any interest in fighting us.
One of the dark-haired officers rose to her feet, holding her arms out in front of her like she was trying to tame a rabid animal. "You—you two are Gifted?"
"I am," Gwen growled, firmly gripping her gun. She nodded at me. "She's about to be."
The officer turned to look at me, and her back went rigid. Her lips parted, brows wrinkled with confusion.
I snarled, even as the officer's expression dissolved into some mix of wonder and pain.
"Yeah," I hissed, stepping forward so we were eye to eye. It only strengthened her look of turmoil."Got a problem with that?"
A couple guards around her chuckled, and the officer snapped out of her stupor to smile. When she lifted her left finger and twirled it into a circle, a puddle of water materialized into thin air, enveloping my hand holding the gun.
I watched, hypnotized, as the water slipped the weapon from my hand and floated into the officer's.
Other Gifteds.
My mind swirled so suddenly I was sure I'd faint.
Other Gifteds.
We're not the only ones.
"I think that should answer your question," the officer said, her gaze focused on me again, but I didn't know what the hell she was looking for. She tentatively reached a hand out for my shoulder, but I stepped back just out of her reach.
What is up with this lady?
She blinked, clearing her throat. "Wow, this is amazing. Cress is gonna want to meet you two."
"Who?" I raised an eyebrow.
Gwen stepped up to my side, narrowing her eyes at the officer. "We're not going anywhere with you."
The officer scoffed. "Yeah, like you've got a choice."
One of the male officers held up a hand, and a surge of numbness flowed through me. I tried to step forward to beat the shit out of him, but my legs were frozen solid. I couldn't move.
Fear pumped through me as I watched the female officer hold a finger up her ear, clicking the black circular device stuck in there. "Hey, we have a situation at the gate."
There was a minute of silence. "No, you dumbass, a real situation." She rolled her eyes. Her gaze focused on Gwen and I, and she smiled again. "We have two new Gifteds at the gate. And they're kids." Another minute of silence. "Yeah, I'm bringing them in."
Alarm filled my chest. Bringing them in?
The woman tapped the device on her ear again, and looked around at all the officers. "Alright y'all, head back to your posts." Some of the officers stole quick glances back at us before beginning their march back to the gates. The woman's gaze stopped on the blonde officer that still held his arm toward us. "Except you, Edward. Keep them still for just an extra sec."
The woman put a hand on my shoulder, and if my arms weren't frozen solid, I'm sure the muscles there would've tensed.
"My name's Aaliyah Nasser. I'm the chief of police," she said. "We're gonna take care of y'all, so you need to promise to be calm when we release you, 'kay?"
I couldn't open my mouth to speak, so Aaliyah took a single blink as her answer. She nodded toward Edward, and he lowered his hand.
Another cold surge pumped through my veins, and my body regained feeling in slow prickles.
I wrapped my arms around my waist. "H-how are there other Gifteds?"
My head throbbed at the mere thought.
We're not the only ones.
For as long as I could remember, my life had been carefully mapped out, every move decided for me like chess pieces on board. None of my decisions were my own, and everything I ever knew was carefully instilled into me, like someone else was moving each piece the way that suited their needs.
And in a single moment, the entire board was flipped over, sending all the pieces—everything I ever knew about the world—crashing down around me.
"How many more of us are there?" Gwen asked quietly, looking as dazed as I felt.
"Sweetie, I'd prepare to be mind-blown if I were you," Aaliyah replied, smiling. "C'mon, let's head into the city."
"Osipyan?" I breathed out, my heart barely letting me believe it. It refused to let my hopes get too high, to set itself up to crash and burn.
Aaliyah's smile turned sad, her hands on her hips. "Welcome to freedom, sweetie. It's been a hard few years, hasn't it?"
Tears fell from my eyes, and Gwen practically bounded into Aaliyah's arms, burying her face into her shoulder.
Aaliyah kindly patted Gwen's back, and when she spoke, her voice was hushed. "It's alright—I promise. It'll be alright."
When Gwen finally released her from her grip, Aaliyah gestured for us to follow as she led us toward the wall.
Now that we were finally here, I felt weightless, like I was floating—swirling up in the open air. Like nothing could hold me down.
We made it.
Aaliyah waved for the officers to open up the gate, and the officer in the booth obeyed. The gate swung open, the hinges screeching.
"Come on." Aaliyah stepped through the gateway into the city, bypassing the car at the front of the line. I twisted my gaze at the driver inside the minivan, only to see a positively fuming Timothy and Sophie.
Gwen and I glanced at each other, laughing our stomachs sore at their expressions. Gwen stared right at them and stuck her middle finger out as the two of us stepped inside.
When I finally tore my gaze away from Gwen and turned to face the city, my soul left my body. I may have forgotten to breathe.
"Woah." Gwen let out a slow whistle, putting her hands on her hips. "This looks like my kind of place."
Aaliyah took one look at my wide eyes and dropped jaw before bending over in laughter. "Welcome to Osipyan, the best city in the world for a Gifted to live."