Jeanine was quiet, suspiciously quiet, the whole time Caleb and I stared out the window in shock and a little bit of awe too. There were such tall buildings, but some were broken and chunks were missing from them. This reminded me of one of my dystopian books, this setting. The whole color coded people theme, where each of them seemed to know their place in this society.
"What is this place?" Caleb asked, breaking the silence.
"Welcome to Chicago you two," Jeanine said without turning around.
I'd never been to Chicago, but I was pretty sure that it didn't look like this.
"This is not Chicago," Caleb replied, voicing my thoughts.
"Correction. It is not the Chicago you are used to, but I assure you it is Chicago all the same."
Jeanine's voice was annoying. Not the tone, but how she said everything in a superior manner that almost screamed 'I'm smarter than you!'
I decided to break my silent streak. "If this isn't our Chicago, then whose is it? What was that blue circle back there? Why did you kidnap us? What is this?" I took a deep breath after all the questions and waited for her answers.
She sighed like I was an irritation. "This Chicago is mine, and all of the people you see here. The 'blue circle,' as you call it, is a vortex. It allows us to travel from this world to yours, a parallel universe to this one with just one event difference. That one event made a lot of difference between our worlds as you can see. I do not want to use such an ugly word like kidnap, but if you insist, I kidnapped you because you are Divergent Aurelia. I kidnapped you, Caleb, because you are Aurelia's friend. If she decides to be uncooperative you will provide incentive."
She took a breath and continued undaunted. "This is your lives now. You may as well get used to it."
Welcome to Chicago indeed. Caleb and I were stuck here with no way home with this mentally unstable woman who seemed convinced I was different and that being different was a bad thing. I would like nothing better than to have her spend a day in my world. She'd benefit from going to an equality or diversity club meeting.
My dream came rushing back to me as I stared at the broken city of Chicago.
"Everything will change," I whispered in horror.
I looked up quickly at Jeanine and Caleb, but neither seemed to have heard me.
If this nightmare was what change meant, I didn't want everything to change. I was happy with my old life and now my life was in the hands of a psychopath who already harbored something against me.
Great. Just great.
Welcome to Chicago Ari. Get used to it. Figure out how it works. Escape with Caleb, I thought. I can do anything and this? This was just a small hurdle in the grand scheme of things...
Right?
YOU ARE READING
Lost Truths
Hayran KurguI felt like I was falling. Falling into a deep, dark place in which there was no escape. This was my reality now, but I didn't know if I could live with it. Ari goes to a normal school, has (somewhat) normal friends, and is an overall normal teenage...
