The Imperfection of Perfection

4

"Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem." 

-Ronald Regan

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He holds it up, trying to figure it out, before turning to me with the darkest smirk I had ever seen on his arrogant face. "You're in deep trouble, sister." That is all he says before leaving my room, still clutching the walkie. 

Double fudging shit with shit sprinkles on top. I'm so fucking busted. 

I sit staring at the place he was standing for a whole minute, contemplating my life choices leading up to this moment....like all teenagers do...before quickly grabbing my go bag and changing, packing my notes, library book, and tools. I run downstairs to see my brother and parents around the entryway, waiting for the cops, as my brother shows them the walkie and points to me. My parents look back at me before I make a sudden choice, I barrel past my parents and stop in front of my brother. 

"You know I always thought that one day you would change back to the loving and caring brother I once knew, but now I've lost all hope for you. And I'm not sorry for doing this." I sneer in his face, losing all faith in the brother I knew. I suddenly knee him where the sun doesn't shine, ripping the walkie out of his grip before turning to my parents. 

"Sorry Mom, Dad, but I can't live in a life where I can't be myself. Goodbye." I then sprint back to where I left my bag and swing it around my shoulders, hopping over the coffee table, and running out the back door. I jump over fences, bushes, and gardens trying to get away from the bright and deathly lights of the government. I stop running after 10 minutes to catch my breath, thankful for the workouts school forces onto us for once in my life, leaning against an alleyway, which leads to an abandoned store. I was about to make my way over there, trying to not dwell on what I just did, when I heard a sound come from the left of me. Looking over my shoulder I find nothing, only to realize that it was the walkie-talkie, with someone talking through it, normally. 

"Hello? Who's there? Anyone there?" A muffled voice asks through the radio. My eyes go wide with relief, finally finding a tad bit of hope rise within me. The walkie must've been on while I was talking to my parents and I accidentally squeezed the trigger to allow the people to hear me from the other side.  

"Hi, I need help! The police are after me because of the walkie." I ask, hearing the faint sounds of hounds and sirens in the distance.

"What is wrong with perfection?" The voice responds, suddenly colder and more strict. 

"What?" I ask, starting to think this is a joke, and now questioning my sanity for risking my life for a walkie talkie. Damn, I should've listened to Beth's logic more. 

"What is wrong with perfection?" The caller repeats.

I think about it for a few seconds, hoping my answer is correct before replying, "There is no such thing as perfection."

"Correct." The voice responds, surprise evident in its tone. "Where are you?"

"The north end of the Crown lane, in the back alleyway in front of the abandoned store." My breath starts to pick up as I hear the police getting closer. I start backing my way into the shadows praying to an unknown being for help. 

The voice soon returns, "Walk towards the store and stop at the dumpster to the left. We have someone on their way to pick you up."

I quickly do as told, crouching down trying to make myself as little as possible. As the sirens come close enough for me to see the blinding blue lights and hear the squawking of a police radio, my heart rate speeds up, hands start shaking as I begin thinking that this is my end. 

As I faced away from the cops, I could see the lights shining onto the wall across from me, getting brighter by the second. Then a shadow flashed across the wall, stopping the bright lights for only a second before they returned. I shook it off as a police officer, causing me to hold my breath, trying to be as quiet as possible. 

As they get near, the howls of dogs announce their presence, I hear the police start yelling out at someone before I hear gunshots and loud thumps of bodies hitting the ground, making me tremble more and try to make myself impossibly small. Then there's silence, no gunfire, yelling, dogs barking, only the alarms of the cars to fill the nothingness.

That is until I hear footsteps, hard and slow, coming towards me. In a last act of bravery, I stand up to face my pursuer, only to find no one there and bodies of seemingly lifeless cops and dogs, the only evidence of life being their chests slowly moving up and down. I move a couple of steps closer to see that most have tasers sticking out of them, coming to the conclusion that is what took them out. And then the thought of who did this being around still crosses my mind, causing me to frantically look all around me for a clue to where this person is. I listen for movement but all I hear is the loud sirens, the huff and puffing of my breath, and the obnoxious pounding of my heart pulsing through my body. I look down at the walkie talkie still in my hand, but it's gone eerily silent, I huff and go to turn around and head back to the trash can when I suddenly feel a pinprick in the back of my neck. I move my hand to feel it and pull out a dart. My eyes widen as I feel my movements start to become sluggish and my vision start to cloud.  

"I'm very sorry about this, but it's the only way...." A muffled voice reaches my ears as I feel my arms encircle me to catch me from falling on my face. I try to speak but all that comes out is a mix of a groan and yell, still trying to fight off the drug. Then all at once, my eyesight darkens and I'm pulled into the haze of unconsciousness. 

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I wake up to the sounds of worried and concerned voices around me, but I couldn't make them out cause my senses were still muffled and my ligaments felt like boulders. Even opening my eyes takes a large amount of effort just to do so, but I finally do after a couple of minutes of trying. Once they are open and my eyesight clears up I look up to see a dimly lit room made up of stone walls and concrete. 

I groan out, trying to sit up and move my heavy muscles so I can see the rest of the room and if I'm in danger. Apparently, my groan was loud enough to alert the others in the room to my consciousness as I heard the whisperings falter and then stop, causing silence to engulf the room. 

Once I finish struggling into a sitting position, I can finally make out the room as a whole. I'm laying in a type of hospital bed, but have nothing hooked up to me, only a bottle of water next to me on a side table. On the right side is a couple of chairs and on the left is a small couch. In front of me is the door and walls all covered in blinds, obviously hiding the windows from allowing either me from looking out or maybe people looking in, probably a bit of both. 

I sigh, before taking a look at myself, seeing that I'm still, gratefully, in my clothes from my escape but my hair is down from its original ponytail. I look back out to the door to see the shadows from the suspicious whisperers, from what I can tell theirs three of them, one a female shadow, and the other two men. Then after they seem to conclude their discussion, one of the men leaves, while the other two come to open the door. 

The first one to enter is the woman, a tall, Hispanic woman, with her hair up in a pony, wearing an old army jacket with leather pants and boots. She faces me with a stern face, obviously, one that she's used on many others to assert her presence and power. But her eyes tell a different story when they meet mine, they're filled with wisdom and curiosity. She comes to a stop at the side of my bed before reaching out her hand and announcing, "Hello Anna Wetherby, I'm Juliet Gomez, and welcome to the Imperfections."

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Yay, we're finally out of 2020, let's pray that 2021 will be a happier and safe time!! One more chapter to go, thank you all for the votes, comments, and support!! 

Love ya'll

~Sparky