The Alternate State

prologue

It's almost 4 in the morning, my eyes burn from looking at a screen all night, school starts in two hours, and I haven't slept. I've been trying to study for a test I know I'll fail in a matter of hours. I just can't understand, can't retain, my brain isn't geared for this. Even though I'm the oldest, should be the best, the pride of my family, I can't do it, can't make myself remember. I'll be fifteen soon, and then they'll come for me. I have a little more time, just a little more to make this happen. I  have a "c" in almost every class despite the countless hours I've spent trying to get my grades up. I'd be surprised if i'm still here in the morning honestly, they shouldn't make a move until I'm fifteen but they've been hasty lately, they've been sloppy, there are rumors kids as young as fourteen and a half have been taken, been helped,for their betterment, their development.

I'm so good at everything else, I'm what most would call streetwise, I'm strong, athletic, I can make a fire, a shelter and find water anywhere, anytime, why is this the one thing I'm bad at? Facts. Figures. Historical accounts, who cares, who needs it in the real world. I subconsciously start going over all the possibilities as to what will happen when I leave, what kind of enrichment I'll receive.  I prepare myself for the worst, and write a note to my brother telling him what I think about Brudice Inc. and they're pet project the Altered State. What mom and dad and I whisper about when he's fast asleep. He'll be devastated once I'm taken. He has put so much time and energy into helping me make it this far, into keeping me here, keeping me home. He's a genius, bonifiable, an absolute savant, and then there's me, the academic failure. I know he's sensitive though, and my departure will affect him, and no amount of head knowledge and learning can take the sting out of that. 

I hope he only grieves a little while, moves on to better things, grows up to be a good man. I place the handwritten note atop my desk, it's short, sweet and to the point, only telling him what he needs to know, the things I've learned, the things we've suspected and a quick goodbye, then I restlessly get into bed.Just as I begin to fall asleep. I hear the front door open with a slam. They're here, it's too late. We here in Acadia have a target on our backs, having to work harder than everyone else, we are the poorest country, and we're trying to claw our way up the ranks, trying to survive. And it's so much worse for me because I'm a Rie,  we are the whistleblowers, their enemy. and they've been waiting for an opportunity like this a long time. The sun comes screaming into my room just as other shouts arise, my brother I can hear in the far corner of the house, wailing. This will be the hardest for him.i just hope he does the right thing. I slowly rise to a standing position, my enemy has found me at last.