Revelations

Eric heard the voices first. With my mind focused on the books I failed to process what was happening until Eric had me slammed against a wall, hand pressed over my still moving mouth.

                “Enforcers…” I go stiff in his arms, and they tighten around me instinctively.

                The voices I can hear now come closer, bouncing off the street walls. How could I not notice them? They’re so loud. Eric, clearly the one with the brains between us, drags us backwards into a doorway indent in the alley wall. A curse softer than a hiss brushes my ear. My heart beats loudly, filling my ears with a rushing sound. Of course the night I choose to sneak out on the Enforcers decide to run proper patrol.

                Two men walk onto the part of the street up ahead that I can see from my new angle. Silver pins glint on their shoulders. They are too far away, but I know engraved on the metal is a phoenix raising up from a shattered world. The Governments personal insignia. The silver pins are just identification that these men are Securities.

                With the men in eyes sight, their conversation reaches my ears, instead of just snatches of individual words.     

                “I haven’t seen the Evagline girl around town lately,” the larger of the two men says, rubbing at the stubble on his chin.

                I stiffen. Why would he be talking about me? Eric stiffens to, his arms wrapped around my waist and arms going rigid. There is only one family with the last name Evagline, and I know my mom never leaves the apartment complex unless it is to go to the small gardens area in the back of the building. 

                The other man shakes his head, throwing it backwards. A rumbling laugh leaves his mouth, “her parents are probably being smart. Keeping her locked up I bet. Probably because of what happened to their son. But that’s not why I am calling them smart.” The tone to his voice causes bile to rise in my throat. I’ve heard rumors of the Enforcers taking women for sex, but this is just proof screaming in my ear.

                Eric’s arms tighten even more, fingers digging painfully into my side. I squirm slightly, telling him to loosen up. Leaning forward slightly I strain my ears to hear more of the conversation, despite the growing horror.

                “Shut up,” the other man growls, he slaps the other Enforcer over the back of his head. “That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m wondering where she went. Her brother came to damn close to starting a revolt.”

 Thoughts start to churn in my head. What does my brother protesting the Government have to do with me? “Don’t you think that after living with him after all that time…nothings rubbed off on her? I’m willing to bet you that the apple didn’t fall to far from that particular tree.”

                Then all the pieces click in my head. They think I’m like Seth, think I’m a potential threat breaking the Codes. Nobody breaks the Etiquette Codes, the rules stating how the Citizens of the World should act.  I swallow hard. Nobody wants to be called a threat.

                If I was sent to Region Court, the first court in the judging process ruled by the Region Enforcer and his Securities, and found to be a threat. A shudder races down my spine and I feel Eric shift behind me, his mind probably figuring out the same things as mine.

                A person found guilty, is sent to World Court. The place where nobody deemed a threat comes back out. I swallow hard, as kids we used to swap the horror stories of the execution process. But there are those who are unlucky. The ones, unlucky enough to avoid that fate come out bound in chains and sent to the jail zones, a place maps in our old books call Hawaii. 

                Being sent to World Court means you have to face the Chief Enforcer, and all twenty nine Region Enforcers. They are the people who rule the world, keep it divided into twenty nine parts. The Chief Enforcer rules it all. He leads the Regions to be a unified force, while each individual Region Enforcer leads his own branch Security Enforces, who watch over the people.

                One of the Enforcers moves towards the mouth of the alley. My breath hitches, and I silently scream at him to go away. I see him lean forward, twisting his head side to side. His eyes slide over to where we stand and I swear my heart will beat out of my throat and slap onto the pavement.

                I slump backwards when he makes the all clear sign with his hand, turning back towards his partner. They continue to talk, though no longer about me to my relief, as they walk away. When their voices fade completely, I jerk myself from Eric’s arms and stumble over to the opposite wall.

                “They think I’m like Seth. Why would they think I’m like Seth?”

                Eric follows me out of the hidden cubby in the wall, pacing back and forth in front of me. His fists clench and unclench, “I don’t know. But don’t you worry; I won’t let them touch you.” I nod, and walk over to him offering him my hand.

                He twines his fingers through mine, squeezing gently. I lean towards him and whisper in a soft voice, “We both know you can’t stop them if they really wanted to.”

                Eric grunts and pulls me back down the alley way. He moves us to the lesser known alley ways. The ones only the stray cats go down and are familiar with. We reach the back end of the city after ten minutes of fast paced walking. Large trees surge up several feet behind the last buildings. Another thing the Government changed when it came to power. One of the better things.

                After the war, the world was damaged to the point of being broken. When the Government rose up, after the first two years, they started the Rebuild program. They made it so the world was repaired to the point it was better than it was originally. Cities were destroyed, and some were rebuilt. The whole program took years to organize, but the end result was massive. The rule stated that around each city had to be a ring of the lands natural habitat at least 50 miles thick, and each city has to be fifty square miles. Perfectly uniform they called it, but people were wary of it at first. Concerns of the ability to travel grew, but with the development of Hover Technology, travel became a worry of the past.

                Eric leads us through the trees. Darkness swarms up around us while the dim street light fades. Forms start to take shape gradually in the eerie white light created by the full moon and stars. I study the forest, watching the way the leaves shimmer in the blue haze only moonlight can create. Glancing up ahead I spot the trees start to change in appearance, they appear almost normal in the pale light.

                The Shack appears after a few more minutes of walking. The building in itself is a sight to behold. Built among the trees, painted to look invisible, it blends in magically with the forest. Seth designed it years ago, and recruited me and my friends to build it with him. In more ways than one, that one room shack has served as our home.

                The light streaming out into the trees comes from the single window Thalia and I insisted on cutting in just last year, despite Seth’s protests. Eric walks up to the door and grabs the worn wooden door knob, pushing open, revealing a familiar sight.

                I smile walking into the room; the mismatched carpet sewed together remains the same and so does everything else. A memory flashes across my mind, the one time I asked Seth, while building the Shack, why we couldn’t have matching carpet. He promptly told me, his tone mocking, that if I wanted to go to town and smuggle out a whole roll of carpet without getting caught, I was more than welcome to. That settled that and the Shack floor was covered in multi patterned carpet that ranged from sickly green shag in one corner, to a rough Berber in another. The description can match the rest of the room to. Mismatched.

                A book shelf that was carried out here in pieces stands tall beside the door. Its shelves are littered with the twenty two books we found and other objects to valuable or sentimental for the Enforcers to find. Next to the bookshelf is a tall lamp designed, once again, by my brother. Its bottom is round with a flat edge so it can stand straight, with a tall, skinny pipe line rail going up until it flares into a curtain head. My brother tried to explain to me once how he got it to work, but even now it causes my head to groan when I try to think about it. Something about a marble spinning in a bunch of smoothed gears whenever you pull the string, and somehow that creates small electric sparks which travel up the small tube lighting up the end.

 My eyes dart to the pile of cushions in the back corner of the room and the individual projects scattered around them and then to the two people sitting on the obnoxious yellow and blue plaid love seat stuffed into a corner.

                Thalia and Riley sit side by side on it, both of them watching me. Riley glances down when my eyes scan his face, his dark chocolate curls covering his eyes, and his finger idly strokes the large stain of something unknown on the left arm of the couch. I glance at Thalia and she smiles at me, her brilliant teeth showing, while she tucks a strand of naturally curled hair that looks like honey when the light catches it just right behind her ear. I return her smile and look back at Riley.

                His face looks ashen and large bags are under his eyes such a dark blue they are almost indigo. Is he having family troubles again? I resist the urge to sigh; Riley’s parents aren’t the sanest of people, especially his father. A surge of heat runs through me in the form of sparking hate. If it wasn’t for Karl Alderson my brother would still be alive. Before those thoughts can fully form and take flight I stuff them back into the closet along with the rest of my grief. Seth choose his fate, Riley’s father had nothing to do with his murder.

                I want to ask him what’s wrong, and I open my mouth to ask pushing aside the residue feeling towards him that his father created. But Thalia leaping from the couch to tackle me in a hug knocks the air out of me. She bounces up and down laughing and chirping words out to fast for me to understand. Eric remains behind us his laughter rolling around the room. Nobody notices the tension between Rile and me. Deciding to brush it off as well, I smile wider and return the hug, bouncing with her until she decides it’s time to let me go.  

                She pulls back abruptly, easily looking over my head to mock glare at Eric, “it took you long enough to get her here.” Her voice doesn’t hold any malice to it and it sounds like its usual summer breeze.

                I can feel the coiling tension behind me and I can hear Eric walk up closer behind me, “Yea well we hit a few snags on our way here.” He moves over to the cushion pile plopping down ungracefully on top of it. “First off, our little Rave here wouldn’t jump out the window. Didn’t think I would catch her,” he winks at me on the last sentence, but the gesture isn’t even half hearted. “And second off, we almost got caught by Enforcers. They’re starting to run patrol again.”

                Riley stands at this, his large muscles bulging. Even though he stands only five inches taller than me, his anger fills the room making him appear larger. He opens his mouth to say something but Eric cuts him off, “And to add to that, both of the Enforcers we almost ran into want Raven for…various reasons.”

                Thalia gasps and I glare at Eric. What a nice way to start the reunion, I grumble in my head. Grabbing my chin and forcing me to look at her again, Thalia’s eyes shine bright, that rarely seen extreme intelligence shining through. Thalia’s smart, she just prefers to take her victims by surprise, so she lets them think of her as stupid. “Is that true? What’s the other ‘various reason’? It’s obvious what the first one wants.”

                Riley snorts, walking closer to us his arms flexing as he crosses them over his chest. “Enforcers are all the same, they take what they want and don’t give a damn about the ants that they crush.”

                My muscles lock to place and Thalia tenses beside me as well. Both of us have relationships with Enforcers. Or in my case, had. Her expression mirrors mine: eyes wide, eyebrows raised and mouth hanging open slightly. Where the hell did that outburst come from? So much for a warm welcoming.

                “What? Don’t look at me like that; you know I’m right deep down. I bet even Viktor has been brain washed to be an ant crusher.”

                All three of us gasp. I narrow my eyes and hiss out a string of curses that would make any Enforcer blush. That’s saying something.

                Thalia leaps in before I can start screaming at him, “You’re insane, Vik was drafted. He didn’t want to join. You know the story; the Enforcers were low on the set amount of recruits and had to do the Draft in this Region.” Her voice sounds just as hurt as I felt on the inside.

                Riley opens his mouth again to snap back, but Eric jumps in, “Come on man, I know the Government messed your dad up, but that doesn’t mean Viktor is one of the bad guys. What about Thalia’s Bradley, he got her and her mom out of Blood Ville,” Thalia and I both wince at the mention of the part of town where the crime rate is higher than the stars.

                “Ha, you think it’s because he cares?” He was glaring at Eric, but he whirls around his wild eyes focusing on Thalia who cringes back. “Tell them what you told me before they got here,” Riley demands his voice filling the whole room.

                She shakes her head, dropping her chin down to her chest; I think I make out the words, “I was going to…”

                I whirl on him on Riley, my tongue loaded with daggers but he freezes me with his next words. “She’s pregnant! With his baby, he doesn’t even know about it yet. You all think he cares about her? That scum bag Enforcer just wants in her pants.”

                Thalia’s head raises and her eyes shine with tears. I look between them both, my mouth snapping open and close. Riley smirks and questions form on my tongue. That single tear rolling down her cheek stops me in my tracks, turning me around in my thought process. I step right up to him slamming my finger into his chest forcing him a step backwards.

                 “Who do you think you are Riley?” I demand poking him again, “Better yet, who the hell pissed in your cornflakes cause I know you better than this.” I take a deep breath, trying to ignore the red sparking in the corners of my eyes. “I know it sucks what the Government does to us, but that doesn’t mean you can kick your own friends after it chews on them.”

                Riley takes a shocked step back, his face looking like I just slapped him. He looks at all three of us and the expressions of shock and hurt. His hands slap to his face, and his whole body is raked with silent sobs.

                “I’m sorry, so sorry,” he croaks, his voice cracking.

                He stumbles backwards, collapsing on the couch, the thin cushions letting out a feeble poof of dust and air. The red fades from my vision just as fast as it appeared, and instead of seeing a man spewing words of venom, I see my friend collapsed and hurting. Walking over to the couch, feeling the carpet change in texture under my feet, I place my hand on his trembling shoulder. Both Thalia and Eric are silent.

                “What happened?” I ask my voice soft and soothing as I try to mimic the voice my mother used when either Seth or I had a nightmare.

                Riley looks up at me, his eyes wet and shining with a bright red nose completing the picture. “Enforcers, six of them, attacked my dad. He went out of town with a buddy of his to protest and promote his revolt. When he got back they showed up.” He takes a quivering breath and looks at Thalia now curled up in the crook of Eric’s arm on the cushion pile, “I’m sorry” is all that he says.

                She smiles at him, the twist of her lips genuine but the kicked puppy look in her eyes remains. “It’s fine,” she responds. “They were going to find out anyways, now go ahead and finish your story.”

                Riley nods, his face going sharp edges and angles, “Dad got home from the protest and the Enforcers showed up. They started to beat on him, telling him to shut his f*****g mouth or worse things will happen…and not just to him.”

                I gasp raising my free hand to my mouth. There is no such thing as an idle threat with an Enforcer, and Riley’s dad will never give up his quest for starting another Reform. “You got to be careful Riley; if your dad keeps this up they’ll hurt you next.”

                He laughs at my concern and my face darkens. “Don’t worry about me; I tried to stop them when they started the beating. Of course they didn’t like that much, but it took three of them just to stop me from bashing in their leader’s head.” A smug look flashes across his face and my eyes narrow.

                “Must it always be me to play the role of mother around here? Hard enough to keep Eric from lighting the town on fire every other day with his fireworks, but now I have to worry about you getting yourself killed by Enforcer’s” I snap looking at all three of them.

                “Ah come on Rave, you’ve been gone for about a month and never once did you hear about a fire in a news report, and don’t worry about Riley, all the damage they got to do to him was a black eye. This all happened like three weeks ago, and just a few days ago did the bruise fade one hundred percent.” A chin splitting smile appears on his face.

                “Yea, a week after Seth died,” I mutter.

                Letting go of Riley’s shoulder I walk over to the book shelf, holding my elbows in my hands. I hear Eric stand behind me, but I wave him off. My eyes scan the twenty two books we have found over the years, one title leaping out at me. I grab 1984 it off the shelf and idly flip through the pages turning back in the direction of my friends.

                Riley clears his throat, “Raven?” his voice is quiet and I find it easy to ignore. “Raven?” He asks again.

                Looking up from the book, I meet his eyes, “Yea?”

                “Do you blame dad for Seth’s death?” Riley’s voice is thick with something I don’t recognize.

                My eyes harden for a second, “Of course not.” I say this automatically. Looking back down at the book I feel a soft smile play with my lips. Viktor’s past tangents about this book about the similarities between our world and this book’s world play through my mind.

                The smile on his face is forced, “Don’t lie to me; I can see it in your eyes.”

                Both Thalia and Eric nod. Great it’s tag teamed now. Breathing in heavily through my nose, I go over to Riley and sit beside him on the couch, leaning against him when he wraps his arm around me. He tucks my head under his chin as he listens to me.

                “No, well…I guess I kind of do. He is the one who started Seth down that path. Both of them wanted a revolt and to fix the world.” Something unfurls in my chest. I realize that the words I spoke are the truth; I just needed to say them. “It breaks my heart to say this, but his murder was his own fault and if your dad isn’t careful it will be his fate to.” Something shifts then, the anger I felt, the darkness swirling in my chest, it all starts to change. I feel the beginning of healing in my bones and it sends small hum through me that has me wanting to curl my toes.

                Riley nuzzles his nose into my hair. We both know his dad won’t back down, and he is lucky to have lasted as long as he has. The Government is extremely through with getting rid of protesters. They have a whole special branch of Securities to search for Threats, and when they find them they send in the grunts to do the heavy lifting.

                Silence wraps around us, the crickets and frogs croaking in a nearby lake are the only break in it. I hear Thalia shift and clear her throat. Everybody looks at her, even Riley who was staring off into space turns and looks at her. We meet each other’s eyes and I raise my eyebrows. She smiles at me, the expression coy.

                “I’m pregnant,” she bursts out, the small smile blooming wider.

                We all burst out laughing. I see Eric’s arms tighten around her, rubbing her arm. “It’s a bit late for that” he roars, his words swallowed by the laughter. “Riley here beat you to it.”

                I feel Riley stiffen behind me, and I turn to face him. His eyes are hooded and his mouth is a grim line. “What’s wrong?” I whisper, letting the two behind us laugh and chat away.

                “I didn’t mean to say those things,” he whispers back. “I have to blame somebody you know that right?”

                I nod, “Of course I get that. But Thalia seems to be fairly happy about the baby, so let’s support her.” I smile at him and he returns it.

                Thalia is still smiling from ear to ear when our eyes meet again. “So you’re really pregnant?”

                She bounces her head, “Yup, I went to that free clinic place the other day and had them test me.”  She leans forward, up and over the arm of the couch, cupping her mouth with her hand. I lean forward too until my ear touches her hand. “My monthly was late and I was starting to crave that strawberry chocolate chunk ice cream they have down at that really expensive store down town.”

                We both pull back and laugh. Eric stands up, pulling Thalia up with him. She looks puzzled until he starts throwing the cushions into the middle of the room, creating a lumpy bed type thing. We all smile and pile onto it like when we were younger, kicking off all our shoes, and become a giant pile of arms and legs twisting into comfortable positions.

                Eric ends up beside me with his left arm over my waist, holding me in a loose grip and his right arm ending up as both of our pillow. I feel Riley’s head plop down on my stomach and he smirks up at me when I let out a fake grunt of pain. Thalia lays down on her side, Riley’s stomach in turn her resting spot, and curls her legs up underneath her.

                “So what are you going to do then?” I ask Thalia, my fingers trailing through Riley’s hair.

                Thalia chews her lower lip, smoke practically bellowing from her ears as she thinks about her future. Riley mutters something about she should keep it and twists suddenly, grabbing a book on the floor a little ways from the edge of the bed. It amazes me that he did all this without jostling Thalia. I watch him read for a while but I never catch the title of the book, and it doesn’t look familiar, probably just one of the new ones. 

                “I think I want to keep it,” Thalia says at last. “Besides, it’s not like I would kill it.” Her voice wobbles on the last words and I reach over with a single hand and pat her arm awkwardly. Not easy to do with a one hundred and eighty some pound man on my lap. “It’s my baby after all.”

                I smile, “And you’ll have me to help you out.”

                “And me,” Eric and Riley say at the same time.

                “Thanks guys,” Thalia’s voice is soft, the edge of worry no longer in it. I glance out the window watching the leaves of the trees sway in the white moonlight. She twists her head to the side and lets out a huff of air, her hands trailing almost on instinct over her stomach until she meets Riley’s head and her fingers start to mimic mine with his dark strands.

                Something settles in my stomach. It’s tangible warmth that hasn’t been felt for too long. It feels nice to not have to listen to screaming, and to not worry about if Enforcers will force their way into the apartment, my thoughts purr. Then again, that’s the beauty of the Shack. It’s a sanctuary.

                With a quick snap Riley shuts his book and tosses it to the side. The sound of paper on paper fills the shack. He sits up and Thalia does to with no other choice, though she’s none too happy about it by the looks she throws at him. Stretching her legs out for balance, she twists at the waist to barrel Riley flat with a final stare that holds many questions. I roll onto my side and look at Riley too, his back the only thing I can see.

                “What’s up?” Eric asks, shifting so he can prop himself up on his elbow and see over me.

                Riley turns to look at Eric, his face an impenetrable marble made up of sharp lines. His eyes flicker to mine and I feel a shudder race down my spine. His eyes hold no emotion in them besides a slight darkness swirling in his irises. Combine that, plus the shadow casted along his face, his eyes look like they are made entirely up of his pupils.

                “I don’t know why,” Riley draws out, his words just one slur into the next. Before speaking again he makes sure to look each of us in the eye. The darkness in his expression spreads from his eyes to affect the rest of his features. I c**k my eyebrow at him when he meets my gaze and he stares into my eyes for what feels like eternity. My lips part to ask him what he is trying to say, but something tells me not to break the silence.

                Then with the abruptness it came, the marble shield over his face cracks, all the hardness leaving to be replaced with a devious smile across his lips. “I don’t know why,” he repeats, speaking faster this time, “but the people in the past seem to think that the people in the future need to dress weird.”

                The coil winding its way through my stomach snaps and I burst out laughing. Eric chuckles too, and Riley throws his head back roaring with laughter. The only one not laughing is Thalia. She sits, still twisted at the waist, with her brows furrowed and lips twisted.

                Riley slumps forward and wipes at the tears starting to form in his eyes with the back of his hand. “You guys should’ve seen your face. It was priceless, so serious.” He stutters, random bursts of chuckles distorting his words.

                Thalia opens her mouth and we all look at her, trying to subdue our chuckles. “Well it’s not like we don’t do the same thing. Mom still has a picture I drew in the Care Center stuck to the fridge.” My mind leaps to the picture she just mentioned of a wobbly stick figure in an obnoxious neon orange and pink dress with the words ‘year 2212’ scrawled across the top.

                “To be honest it’s not like jeans and converse will go out of style.” I say plucking at the edge of my cutoffs. “Though, do you remember that fashion show we watched at your house one time?”

                “Yes,” she twists all the way around and lies on her stomach, “and there was this one lady with a dress made up of feathers.”

                “That’s not even the one I am talking about.” I say rolling so I am flat on my back, and make crossing motions across down my body. “What about the one with that gauzy ribbon thing that wrapped around her body and the only thing that kept her from being naked was the overwhelming amount of sequins attached to it?”

                We both burst out laughing, and Riley shakes his head, “girls…”

                “Oh come on now, you can’t say girls at this situation. You’re the one who brought up fashion in the first place.” Eric says grinning.

                “Well, they always think they need to take rhetorical questions and turn it into an actual debate.” Riley shakes his head again and turns and winks at me.

                “It’s not like we’re that into fashion,” I fire back, reaching up to swat the back of Riley’s head.

                He feigns a pained look, and laughs. “Sure you’re not,” is all that he says.

                “We’re not!” Thalia says, watching Riley lay back down, resting his head on my stomach. She rolls again and is curled up by his side. His arm snakes around her and she rests her head on his shoulder.

                Our thoughts guide our words, leading us to a debate about the weirdest outfit we have seen. After what was probably fifteen minutes of relentless debate, Thalia and I agree on the dress made up entirely of peacock feathers. The slender tips circling her body and flaring out in a airy skirt made up of the colorful plumage.

                Riley’s soft snores startle me and I look down to see his eyes closed, dark lashes splayed across his pale cheeks, and his face void of any expression. A smile blooms across my face and I gesture for Eric to turn off the lamp. He gets up and I lift my head waiting for him to slide back into place. The lamp dims as the marble slows to a stop, plunging the room in darkness.

 Thalia’s voice grows soft and sleepy, the edge of worry no longer in it, and soon she joins Riley in the land of the sleeping. I glance out the window watching the leaves of the trees sway in the white moonlight. She twists her head to the side and lets out a huff of air.

                My eyes flutter shut, but I snap them open. I roll my head and look at Eric, his features washed white in the moonlight pouring in. “I should probably go home, mom and dad will wonder...” My words stumble over the other and lose their lucidity.

                 Eric smirks, “Nah, don’t worry about it. You heard them screaming,” His arm not serving as our pillow wraps around, “they won’t notice you’re gone until tomorrow.”

                “But I…” the last word doesn’t even leave my mouth, and darkness swoops in around me in the form of sleep.