Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2:

The guy let go of me and I turned around to see Desmond standing there, laughing quietly. His shaggy brown hair had gotten so long that it was nearly covering his eyes, which were green and shining. Desmond was truly gorgeous, his lips full, his features sharp. Even though Desmond was Identified as a Rebel, he liked working, and his body was well-defined. He was dressed similarly to me: skinny jeans, black tank top and a leather jacket. 

"You should have seen the look on your face," Desmond said, still quietly laughing. 

I swatted away his hand that was poking me in the side. "Shut up," I said. "I volunteered for my sisters," I told him seriously. "I'll be leaving tomorrow, and I wanted to see you one last time."

Desmond cocked one brown eyebrow. "Addy, stop being so gloomy. I volunteered, too. Probably not for the same reasons, though."

"You did? Why?"

"Well, you volunteered for your family, which is noble. I volunteered to be with you, which is selfish."

"To be with me? C'mon. I know you did it for Ashton." Ashton was Desmond's twin brother. Des always said how much he hated Ashton―Ashton and Des were total opposites: where Des was a Rebel, Ashton was an Engineer. Where Des was hated and discriminated against, Ashton was loved and looked up to.

"No, Addy. You're the noble one, I'm the selfish one. That's the way it is. That's why our friendship works so well; we even one another out." Desmond winked at me. I could barely see it in the darkness, but I just knew he'd done it. I knew him too well. 

The next morning, the Artisan showed up at our house bright and early to retrieve me. I hugged my mother, my father and my sisters, telling them not to worry. Then, I followed the Artisan out into the bright sunlight. Deranu had two suns and four moons. Our bodies could change temperature, adapting to whatever climate we were in. There were six groups of children and teens alike, standing in the street outside my house. The Artisan told me what I'd already assumed: we were separated into Identities. 

I walked over to where I saw my fellow Rebels standing. There was a group of children under the age of ten, too young to be Marked or Identified. My heart clenched in sadness. It was hard to see such young children going on a life-threatening mission. They either had no siblings to volunteer for them, or their siblings just wouldn't volunteer for them. I thought of my sisters, Ava and Aria. How I would never see them again. Desmond came up beside me and took my hand; I squeezed his thankfully.

The Empire was here, ready to lead us to the ship. We followed them quietly through the Parcel, until we reached Beta231, the ship we would be taking to the planet, Earth. 

Beta231 wasn't as big as I had imagined. Basically, it was just a big, gray spaceship. There were windows running horizontally on the left side. Inside, there was a row of seats on the left side, near the windows. On the right side was food and water. The trip to Earth wasn't expected to be long, only a day or two. The fifty of us were to sit in our groups, aside from the two captains, and the back-up captain, who was to sit in the front.

Twelve and a half hours later, nearly everyone was asleep, except Desmond and I. We were sitting side by side, having a staring contest. Desmond kept making funny faces, which was why I kept losing. I burst out laughing, earning me some annoyed groans. I rolled my eyes and smiled at Desmond. 

Finally, we were told that we were getting ready to enter Earth's atmosphere. When the ship started shaking and alarms started to go off, the captains told us that it was normal. But Des and I knew better; we knew this was what had happened to the other three ships. I told Des I loved him and took his hand as we plummeted toward Earth.

Reviews

[NoelHC]

I assume they have some sort of very advanced technology to arrive at earth so quickly! And also assuming it is this Earth they are coming to visit.
My attention has been caught, and I look forward to more chapters.
Keep it up.