Every Missing Piece

Chapter Fourteen

I get up quietly from my mat on the ground. Since the fire, everyone in my building has been shuffled to the side, confined to temporary housing assignments in units that had extra space. Aside from my parents and Taryn, there are half a dozen other people sleeping on the floor of a total stranger's living room, our bodies pressed too close together like matchsticks in a box.

Even though it's morning, I hold my breath as I leave this new unit, terrified that the slightest noise will wake my neighbors. Above all, I don't want anyone to intercept me on my way to the Assembly. I don't want to answer unnecessary questions; I don't want to explain to anyone, even my family, where I'm going.

I don't want anyone to change my mind.

I try to keep my mind as empty as possible on the walk to the Assembly headquarters. As I walk, I find myself counting steps, one after another, each footstep feeling like it's the end of something precious. Maybe it is the end of everything, but there is no other way.

I won't let the Assembly threaten my family again. I will take control of my own fate.

The Assembly headquarters feel just as big as they did on the day of my meeting, but today, the building itself seems stronger from the moment I walk up the steps to the entrance. The building waits as if it's a prison warden watching for its long-lost escapee to make a fatal mistake and be locked inside once more. From above, rows of tall windows glare down at me, the rooms behind the glass still dark in these quiet hours. I take a deep breath and continue forward.

The marble floors of the atrium echo beneath my feet as I walk through the building. There are doorways on all sides, but each one of them is shut tight and likely locked as well. No Assemblymen or attendants wander through the building to ask me what I'm doing here. I'm not sure what I'd tell someone if they did ask. I suppose I could always say that I'm making the worst mistake of my life.

The sheer enormity of the headquarters is almost enough to bring me to my knees. The vaulted ceiling soars over my head, but that's not all. Somewhere, deep within this maze of a building, the Assembly waits to gloat at my defeat and bend me to their will. Every step brings me closer to the inevitable.

Someone clears their throat from behind me.

I freeze and then turn around to see Mason, slouching against the wall of the atrium in a chair he must have dragged out from a conference room. He meets my eyes and raises his eyebrows, cocking his head toward the entrance. "I had a feeling you'd show up eventually," he says.

"And you're obviously very pleased with yourself about it. Now, if you don't mind, I don't have time to talk."

"Don't be stupid, Carra."

His voice fills the otherwise empty atrium, booming so loudly that it slightly echoes. The ringing of his words lingers to taunt me. Don't be stupid, don't be stupid, don't be stupid.

I know I should ignore him, but I wait for whatever else Mason might have to say. He stands up from his chair and runs his fingers through his hair, all the while shaking his head.

"You think going to the Assembly will end this?" he asks. "This is just the beginning. They're not going to stop threatening you if you join them. They'll never run out of reasons to blackmail you into doing what they want. If you go in there, you'll just be telling them you can be bought and exactly what price they have to pay."

"So what?" I reply. "Do you really expect me to just wait around with my fingers crossed and hope for the best? After everything that happened? That's not me."

When Mason doesn't reply, all of my frustrations rise to the surface and if I stay silent, I'll explode, I really will. "Why do you even care, anyway?" I ask. "So you want to defy the Assembly? You can do that without me. Just let me make my own decisions."