The Uprisen

Chapter 19

November, One month later

She wakes up to a clashing sound of metal-on-metal outside, and her sister getting dressed in the bed next to hers. Willow, who goes by Mallory to everyone else in The Group, feels no motivation to get up and get dressed. She lies in bed for a few minutes, staring at the ceiling thinking about how the day will go.

It's been about a month since she combined identities with her sister, and in that month The Group has faced a series of attacks, losses, recruits, new battle strategies, and a lot of anger and hopelessness. The kids have been holding it together, but Willow has a strong suspicion that everyone is slowly falling apart behind the scenes. Especially her. She has yet to get a full night's sleep without nightmares of losing Lacy, Zach, or Nathan. Most of the time, she'd only fall asleep because she hadn't slept in days and the exhaustion finally caught up with her.

"Hey, you awake?" Waverly asks.

"No," Willow lies.

"More nightmares?"

Willow squeezes her eyes shut. "No, not this time," she says tiredly.

Waverly walks over and sits on her sister's bed. "Anything you want to talk about?"

She shakes her head. "Just thinking about everything: how we got here, the war, what's next. The usual stuff."

"Well all of that stuff we can talk about with the others today. We've still got that Caleb kid in the basement for more interrogation, but I guess Jake found something this morning that he needs to tell us."

Willow yawns and sits upright. She looks at her sister, and it's like seeing a reflection. Her eyes are dark brown, her hair is dark auburn and shoulder length, and her ring is on a long necklace that she tucks under, her shirt so people can't identify which twin she is. They haven't looked so similar since their biological mother would dress them up in the same clothes for preschool.

"Anything on James' future attacks?"

Waverly shakes her head. "He didn't say. Probably something minor, but it sounded important."

"It always sounds important," Willow adds sarcastically.

"Yeah, well right now what's important is you getting ready. I'll see you downstairs in five."

Willow nods and watches her sister leave the room. Since no one can know which twin is which, they have to share the same room and wear similar clothes. Today Waverly decided to wear a T-shirt and jeans, so Willow follows her example. When she's dressed, she puts on her dark brown contacts and stares at herself for a minute in the mirror.

A month ago, before James was a part of her life again, Willow would look into the mirror to make sure she looked nice enough for school. Now, she looks in the mirror and she's an exhausted seventeen year-old who has a few cuts and bruises on her arms and legs from training and spying. She has to double and triple check herself to make sure that her necklace is tucked into her shirt, both contacts are in, and she at least looks moderately happy. However, the more and more she stares into the mirror, the more and more she sees a stranger. Someone hardened by past events who's having a difficult time putting a brave face on for the rest of The Group. Someone who once had everything she could ever hope for right in front of her-a future, a family-who now only has her sister and a constant worry if there will be a tomorrow.

She presses her hands against her face, takes a deep breath, and go through the mansion to find her sister. As she walks downstairs, a few kids greet her with a "Goodmorning" or "Hey Mallory", but no one seems as upbeat as they used to be.