I sighed as the call ended. "Well, that went well." It was understandable that Charmaine was mad, but I honestly didn't have a good excuse to tell her. If anything, I'm worried about her if she tries to look for me. Gaia and Braxton said that it was practically impossible to find the location of the Rebellion, so even if Charmaine knew who I was with, she wouldn't know the first place to look. But above all else, I was most worried about her safety. If the Raven was able to find my family in pursuit of me, I was scared Charmaine would be next. 'She'll be fine,' I tried to reassure myself. 'Charmaine isn't that stupid to get herself into danger'.
Gaia looked sympathetic from across the table. "It must not be easy. For most people, they willingly join, so they don't worry about having to say goodbye to loved ones, but for you, it must be scary."
I leaned back in my chair and tilted my head back, looking up at the ceiling. "Well, what can I do? I was left with no choice. It was either this or die, apparently." It was truly unfortunate how my life was playing out. Last month, if anyone told me I'd moved to a toxic wasteland of a country and in order to escape the government from trying to kill me, I'd have to join a revolt because they kidnapped me, I'd get a restraining order on them so they could stay far, far away from me. "What a horrible position I've been put in." I longed to go back to Cathesia and live near the rice fields again with my family. I was at my happiest there, and all of my fondest memories were held back home. Now, it all just felt like distant memories, far out of my reach. My eyes felt a familiar burning sensation, but I held back my tears. I refuse to look weak in any situation I'm put in.
"Would you like to call your family now?" Gaia asked softly. She didn't need to say it because I knew what she was thinking: It might be the last opportunity I get to talk to them if things end up going south.
I took a breath and looked at the burner device on the table. I haven't spoken to my family since I moved, so this was probably going to be the hardest moment in my lifeβsaying goodbye to them for good. "Let's do this," I muttered to myself. I dialed my family's home number, and the line rang for a while before a woman answered. "Hello?"
"Aunt Chantana!" I smiled. I felt warm listening to her voice for the first time in months. "How are you?"
"Oh! Evelyn!" Aunt Chantana sounded pleasantly surprised on the other line. "It's so good to hear from you. Your parents told me about how you moved to Epron. How is it? Is it as filthy and poor as we thought it is or worse? Did you get sick? You're not calling because you got sick, are you? If you got sick because of radiation, we're pulling you out of there and taking you straight back home." Her voice turned serious.
"No, Auntie." I chuckled. "I'm healthy. I just wanted to call and see how the family is doing. Is everyone there?"
"Oh, well, Ezra has the day off from school today because of the holiday, and your mom is home, too, but your dad had to go into work this morning."
"Oh." It was disappointing that I wouldn't be able to talk to my dad or get to hear his voice. "Can I talk to everyone?"
"Sure." Aunt Chantana tried to hold the device away from her face, but her yelling was still loud and clear. "Hey, everyone, it's Evelyn!"
I heard some clattering and stomping in the background, and soon my mom was on the phone. "Evelyn? How are you? Why don't you call? What have you been doing? How's that job?" Her voice sounded as stern as ever, but I knew she meant well with the thousands of questions she was throwing at me.
"Everything is going fine, mom." I said. "I've just been busy."
"Too busy to call?" My mom sounded suspicious. "You better not have a boyfriend. You just moved there."
"Gross, no, mom." My parents have always been particular about me not dating anyone to focus on school first, so I've never actually dated in my life, but it's not like I ever gave it much thought either. "I've just been busy with... work."
"Yes, and how IS work?" My mom wasn't super comfortable with the idea of me moving to Epron, so I had to give her a rundown of my entire life plan while I would be living there just to reassure her I'd be fine. Clearly, my mom was right to be anxious about me leaving.
"Actually, that's why I'm calling." I cleared my throat. Convincing Charmaine was hard after everything I've told her about and everything she's seen, but lying to my parents would be way easier, even if I felt guilty about it. "Mom, I decided to join the military."
"The military?" My mom sounded almost impressed. "You know your cousin Mechai was in the military, and he makes plenty of money now that he's retired. I know you'll make good money, too. Much better idea than working at that stupid start-up company. Your father would be proud."
I swallowed. "And how is dad? I heard he's at work."
"Oh, he's fine. Bad back as usual, but it hasn't gotten worse."
I rolled my eyes. "He should just go to the hospital, like I've been saying."
My mom sighed. "Your father is very hard-headed. Besides, a hospital is too expensive. Your cousin Kaew is a good physician, anyway. She comes over for free."
"I guess." I fidgeted with my hands. "It sucks I can't talk to dad right now, but you'll tell him I miss him, right?"
"Ayia, of course, no worries," my mom said. "Here, why don't you talk to Ezra? He's been moping around the house since you left. Ezra!"
A set of footsteps got louder and louder on the other line. "Evelyn!" Ezra's bubbly voice filled me with joy. I haven't heard his voice in a few days, exceptβ¦.
"Evelyn! I miss you!" Ezra beamed. "It's so boring around the house without you!"
I cracked a smile. "Oh? Should I tell Autie Chantana that you think she's boring?"
"Noooo, that's not what I meant." Ezra whined. "When are you coming back?"
I sighed. It was tough not knowing when I would come back home, or if I would ever be able to. I wasn't about to tell Ezra that, though. He and I were close since I had practically raised him most of his life. "Soon, Ez. I'll be back before you know it." It hurt to lie to him, most of all.
"Oh, by the way, Evelyn, me and my friends found a rabbit at school and adopted it. We named him Chewy. He's kind of silly."
I smiled. "That's awesome, Ez."
"Yeah! Oh, and dad started giving me some of your chores around the house, which stinks. So come back soon so you can start doing them again, okay?"
I laughed. "Okay, Ez." As I was conversing with my family, I couldn't help but keep the Raven's threat hanging in the back of my mind. Even my nightmare about Ezra made it all more malicious, almost like it was a premonition of some sort. "Listen, Ezra," I turned serious. "I know you're still a kid, but mom and dad are getting old and Auntie Chantana won't always be around the house, so I'm gonna need you to be strong and look over the family for me, okay?"
"I know, Evelyn." Ezra sighed. "You told me this before you left."
"Just don't forget, okay?" I feel like I needed him to take it seriously now more than ever, but he was just a child. How could I possibly explain to an eight-year-old how times were getting harder? "Don't make mom and dad's lives too hard. You promise me?"
"I promise," Ezra grumbled. "I miss you, Evelyn."
"I miss you, too, Ez. And I miss mom and dad. You guys stay healthy and happy, okay?"
"Okay," Ezra sniffed. "Do you have to go now?"
I grinned. "I wish I could stay on the line with you forever, bud."
"Me, too. I'll tell dad you called. He misses you a lot." Ezra sighed. "Evelyn?"
"Yes, Ezra?"
"Can you promise me you'll be happy wherever you are?"
I swallowed hard, my eyes stinging. "I promise."
π «π «π «π «π «π «π «π «π «π «π «π «π «π «π «π «π «
The Raven examined the wreckage done to his home. Windows were broken, shards of pottery and glass littered the halls, bodies were strewn about the floor, and blood was splattered on the walls and was pooling all over the ground. What a tribulation. This place was going to take forever to clean. The Raven stepped over the carcass of one of his bodyguards, glass crunching under his boot with each step.
"I'm sorry, sir," one of his surviving guards dipped his head. "We've let the Rebels escape."
The Raven looked over at the entrance hall, where the front doors were still hanging wide open, bodies piled over the floor. "I can see that." He walked up to the double doors and closed them shut. "It's such a shame what they did with the place. This will take days to clean."
The guard remained silent as he followed the Raven back to his office. The Raven went behind his desk and sat back in his chair. The guard frowned. "Are you not mad, sir?"
The Raven waved his hand carelessly. "I don't mind a good deep clean every now and then, but this will be a pain. As for the Rebels, it is unfortunate they were able to escape. Not only that, but it looks like they've taken Miss Evelyn Anong, as well. They probably knew I was going to kill her. Regardless, that means they've more than likely taken her in to become one of them. If anything, their escape might have been better than my original plan."
"Your original plan, sir?"
The Raven leaned forward and folded his hands on his desk. "Well, now that we've gotten rid of the malware and security the Rebellion has planted around the Nest, I suppose I could humor you. You see, I had every intention of killing Miss Evelyn Anong, for a fear factor to the others. It was supposed to be an example to the people of Epron of what happens to Rebel sympathizers. Once I would have distilled the fear of the Rebellion within everyone, it would definitely dwindle the numbers of their recruits. Not only that, but it would be my next action, a call to arms, once I found that spy they planted in my office. If only I had known who it was sooner, I'd have tortured so much information out of them. That way, we can end the Rebellion once and for all."
"But, sir," the guard said. "I'm still confused. Why would them escaping be better?"
The lenses of the Raven's mask gleamed in the light of the lamp. "Because we can track them down much easier this way." The Raven pulled out his watch and started typing into it. "Bring me Gale Douglas."
"Gale Douglas?" The guard spoke aloud. "Isn't he that famous bounty hunter who works on the dark net?"
"Precisely."
A few moments later, the doors to the Raven's office opened, and a tall and well-built man walked in. He had on layers of dark clothing and a scar running from the tip of his ear and over his eye. One of his arms was made of robotic technology and was grabbing onto his belt buckle. He sauntered up to the Raven's desk. "You called?"
"Gale Douglas." The Raven said gallantly. "It's an honor to meet you in person. I have a job for you. The Raven opened up a holographic screen with a file on display. "I need you to follow this girl, Charmaine Achebe. I believe she will lead us to finding the Rebellion's hideout. Once you successfully follow her to the Rebellion, I want you to kill her."