The Alliance (The Alliance #1)

Chapter 2

"I can't believe you told him your name," Tami says.

"Can you believe he told us his? Archer. Kind of a weird name." I say.

"Kind of a dangerous name." Tami says, laying on her bed. It's nine o'clock, almost time for bed, but I've never felt so awake.

I wanna go see him again.

"Wanna walk for a bit?" I ask, and Tami just smiles at me.

"I feel so old when I'm with you, Mia. I'm tired." She says, pulling the covers over her face. "You can go on ahead."

I race out of our room and go outside. I head straight for the cells. But the front door is locked. Darn it.

I just wanted to see him, or Archer, again. He didn't seem like the bad guy everyone thinks he is. Maybe I'll come early in the morning...

A faint scream echoes from the cells. My heart jumps, I haven't heard that kind of scream before.

A scream of pain.

Violence rarely happens here anymore. We are all a community. And that scream would be too low of a pitch for a female anyway...

I run to the side of the building to the window. Its open, but too high. I sprint back towards my room, and grab the ladder outside. I haul it back to the window, and climb. I peek in and almost scream myself.

Archer is out of his cell, but both of his hands are tied together. The rope is tied to one of the cell bars, way above his head. He's on his knees, his shirt off, looking at the ground and breathing hard. Evelyn is standing over him, in her usual navy blue dress. She's holding some sort of rope in her hand. Next to her, are two other women, the guards of our dome.

"You were near our dome," Evelyn says.

"I was walking the other direction," Archer says, and then I see Evelyn move her arm quickly.

That's not a rope. It's a whip.

It slaps Archer in the back, and he cries out and his body sinks a little. As he moves, the moon reflects off him, and I can see how many times he's already been whipped. Red lines of blood cover his back, the skin ripped open. I cover my mouth from gagging.

"I know where you were headed," Evelyn snarls.

"I know where you were headed too," Archer says, his voice a quiver.

"And where's that?"

"Hell."

Another whip. Archer let's out a sob this time. My eyes water at the sight of him. I feel like crying. I've never seen someone in this kind of pain before.

But where was he headed?

Evelyn leans down next to him, and grabs his chin. Archers eyes are barely open, it looks like he'll pass out at any moment. But she raises his chin towards her. She talks to him in a quiet voice, but I can still hear it.

"I don't like you, boy. And I know that you don't like me. But who has the power here? The one with the whip or the one being whipped? Tomorrow night, your time is up. And you won't get the easy way out."

"Just because you have the whip doesn't mean your the good one here," he says with a quiet raspy voice, and she whips him once again and walks out of the room. The two women untie him and forcefully throw him in his cell. He hits the wall hard and collapses. He doesn't move a muscle, only his chest moves up and down. He must've passed out.

I quickly hide behind the building while Evelyn and the two women leave. Once they are out of sight, I go back to the window.

They are going to kill him tomorrow night...

I shouldn't care, why would I? I don't know this boy, I'm not supposed to even be around them.

But I wanna save him.

Seeing him being beaten up like that made my eyes pack up with tears. How could somebody hurt someone like that? Making him go unconscious? Why would anybody do that?

I look back and forth, then crawl through the window carefully. Surprisingly, I stick my landing without a scratch. I make my way over to Archer's cell and sit. His face lays close to outside of the cell, close to me. He looks like he's sleeping peacefully, his breath steady. I lean in and stare at him more closely. His jaw line sticks out far, farther than any girls. His eyelashes are dark and long, his hair the same color. His hair is messy, but thick and somehow still looks clean. I reach out and touch his hair without thinking. I run my hand through it, not realizing that his eyes are open...

I gasp and he sits up and pushes himself against the wall, breathing hard.

"Sorry," I whisper, and he takes a deep breath.

"I thought you were.."

"Evelyn," I say before he can.

"Ah, so you were spying?" He says, and I see a little smile on his face. How can a person smile after they've been whip and unconscious?

"I was curious."

"About what? A male?"

"Maybe." I say, my face growing red. Good thing he can't see it in the dark.

"So, we aren't what you really think we are, huh?" Archer asks.

"We aren't bad either," I point out, but all he does is laugh a little. I watch as he adjusts himself, his eyes shutting tight to fight the pain. My eyes water at the sight of his pain, and he looks at me strangely.

"Are you okay?" He asks, and I feel sick. He's asking if I'm okay, when he's the one who just passed out?

"I've just...never..seen this kind of stuff before. Somebody in this much pain."

"I can take it." He slightly laughs. "She doesn't even hit that hard."

I try to smile, but it's just not right. He's trying to make me not feel bad for him. But I change the subject.

"So, where were you headed?" I ask.

He looks at me, and I daze into those bright blue eyes.

How the hell are those eyes so blue?

"Away from my same everyday life routine. To change the way we live," he says, and I almost gasp.

Same routine. Males have it too.

"So, where can you do that?"

He sits himself up and leans against the wall. It seems as though his eyes grow even brighter.

"The Alliance."

Hello friends!! CHAPTER TWO IS COMPLETE! THOUGHTS?!?! leave a comment!!! I really need your honestly and feedback! THANKS

-Grace✍