The land of the Renegades: A new generation

Chapter 4

  The next morning I stopped by the police station. There I gave a statement full of lies in which I wrote what I said the night before: that I had seen a thief through the window in the backyard of the house, that I had alerted my parents and they told me to hide.

  In order to be more credible, I gave certain details that I made up at the time, related to height, weight (the fact that he was thin), the fact that he was wearing a hood and I couldn't see his face.

  After all, what was there to tell them? That I killed them? I didn't even know how I did it. And if I told them they would immediately arrest me and take away my right to know who I am or what I am.

  Caty was waiting for me outside. When I got out of there she greeted me with a friendly smile and led me to a taxi, which took us somewhere outside our small town.

  There was an old plastics factory, out of operation for many years, after a fire incident.

  Behind this small factory, several trees had sprouted and started to grow up again, recreating the forest that was destroyed by the toxic gases emitted by the factory.

  I walked past it many times but I never thought to go in there, so it seemed like a good idea to hide something there.

  When I went in there Caty was holding my hand. I felt like a little kid, but she told me that was the only way to see what was really there.

  I was very amazed when I saw how different the inside looks, compared to how it looks from the outside. The first room was the main hall, a huge hall with state-of-the-art equipment, and to the left was another room where several people were training.

  They sat in pairs in the middle of a circle, and on the walls were buttons that, once pressed, revealed rooms full of weapons.

  To the right were some stairs leading to an upper level where, Caty said, there were many empty rooms available for members who had nowhere to stay.

  After those stairs, another larger room could be seen, where the kitchen was supposed to be.

  In the middle of the main hall was a boy in front of a computer with monitors projecting several holograms of some armor.

  I realized that he is the leader of this small group and at the moment he was working on new, stronger armor and weapons to suit each member.

  Caleb, the leader of the Brotherhood, looked like a young boy, barely past the age of majority.

  He had long, black, wavy hair, emerald green eyes, a solid build, and a tattoo on his right arm that seemed to represent an ancient battle.

  From the first moment I saw him, I had a strange feeling, I felt butterflies in my stomach, my legs went soft and I couldn't think clearly anymore.

  From what Caty had told me about her relationships, I could tell that I was beginning to fall in love. However, I had never heard her talk about love at first sight so at that moment I was a bit confused. Maybe I was just attracted to him because he was very good looking.

  Caty, still holding my hand, led me in front of him and introduced us:

  -Eva, he is Caleb, the leader of our little community. Caleb, this is Eva, the girl I told you about last night.

  - Eva? I've heard a lot about you! he said, with an angelic smile on his face. Nice to meet you! I assume you learned a lot of interesting things from Caty, she said she will tell you everything you need to know.

  -She didn't tell me much, just the fact that I'm adopted and that I'm not an ordinary person like everyone else, that I'm special.

  - That's good, for now it's good to know only these things. We will find out the rest of the details together, because we don't really know much about you either. What we do know is that you are part of our community and here we will protect you and teach you everything we know. Considering you didn't grow up in this unseen part of the world you'll need to learn a little history too. I'll have Caty teach you, and now go home, relax, because I want to get down to business tomorrow. Once you discover that you are part of this world, you are in danger and we must teach you how to defend yourself.

  Although he was obviously happy to see me, he wanted to appear cold and indifferent. It seemed somehow sexy to me. I don't know why, but it attracted me more and more. I left the Brotherhood, and on the way home neither I nor Caty spoke.

  Maybe Caleb was right, maybe I should first come to terms with these major changes in my life and then want to learn more. But what you don't know about me is that I'm a very curious person, so I couldn't go very long without asking more questions.