"Just know that without any of them, there is no me and there is no key."
ADALINE HAS REACHED LIBERTAS, but it isn't the freedom she had imagined. A war is brewing between the gifted and the non-gifted, a line of separation that is slowly crumbling...
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CHAPTER 1
Forty-one, forty-two, forty-three.
My eyes trace the last tile on the floor and I fight the urge to count them all again. Don't fall back into old habits.I rip my eyes up from the floor.
The bare mattress chills my legs through my black pants. I lean back against the cinder block wall and stare across the naked room. The backpack and sword I carried here are tossed to the side. There's a small desk in the right corner of the room with drawers I haven't had the energy to investigate. In the far left corner, a tall skinny mirror hangs, and I'm actually terrified to step in front of it.
Cold white tiles stretch across the room, making it seem awfully bright. The wall across from me is made up of three large panes of glass with a half circle window above them. Outside, the sun has reached what I would say is about noon, maybe a little before. The blue ocean ripples in the distance, just beyond the wall that encloses all of Libertas. My room has a gorgeous view, but on this island, I have a hard time believing there is a bad view.
My hair is dried and full of saltwater. I haven't been motivated to change out of my clothes, even though I was presented with clean ones days ago. I don't want to accept this. I don't want this new world or this new life. It was hard enough the first time my life changed paths when I was thrown in prison, and then it changed a second time when I escaped the prison. I don't need this third life change. I don't want the life that has been prepared for me here in Libertas.
We've been on this island for about three days now, but I haven't left my room. I just sit here and try to deny this world where my father lives and my mother is forgotten and left behind on Dather. A few people come to check on me and bring me food throughout the day. They even bring by some bedding and offer to prep it for me every night, but I refuse to move or to talk to them. They've mentioned my father has requested to see me multiple times, but Linda has told him to give me space.
"Come on Adaline, open the door." Alexander's voice finally breaks through the barricades I had on my mind from the world outside these walls. "Adaline."
Alexander stops by my room multiple times during the day to see if I'll let him in. Reluctantly, this time, I get up and approach the metal door. We all get temporary rooms that share the same long hall here in the castle until they prepare our living quarters. Surprisingly, we ended up being a little ahead of schedule. Lucky us.
