Secrets I Keep (Book 2. of A Beautiful Distraction)

7) Turn It Off

"This is going to be rough, isn't it?"Frypan sighed as we stared at the crowd of people. More accurately it was a mob of angry people, protesting, yelling, and holding signs. Just great.

"It's not like this was ever going to be easy,"Newt responded. That was more than true. Life hadn't exactly been very kind to us. Then again neither have people in general.

"Let's go then, and stick together. The last thing we need is someone getting lost,"Jorge spoke up. I looked at the crowd then back at my friends. With a deep breath I shoved past everyone, rushing to stay next to them. It was proving to be more difficult than I thought as people stepped closer. I kept my head low as I made my way to the front.

Something about being outside these walls felt familiar. That's when it hit me.

"No, no, no, no. Not now. Please not now,"I pleaded, not sure to who. Myself? Fate? A God who was currently screwing me over?

My vision started bluring as the ache behind my eyes came back. That's what the Flare was supposed to do to us. It would give us every memory that had been stolen. We didn't have a choice in when. You freeze without realizing, and your mind takes you to your history.

"Not now. I have to get in,"I repeated to myself, rushing forward faster. It almost seemed useless as the pain spread down my neck. Was this truly it for me? Was this already the end?

"Y/N!"Someone yelled, though I didn't know who. In fact, I didn't know anything at all. Just that I felt myself falling forward, that I was scared, and that I didn't want to die a failure.

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I was sitting in my basement as people outside started screaming. I kept my eyes shut before burying my head in my sister's chest. Despite me being seven minutes older she acted like she had seven years more life experience. She was the strong one, fearless, and ready to see the worst in you. I was the opposite: soft spoken, forgiving, easily tricked, and always looking for the best in people.

Not now though. Just above us WICKED workers were demanding Mom and Dad revealed our location. They wouldn't do that though. They would never let us go to WICKED. They had plenty of bliss. They were safe. Maybe they acted weird when they had to take it and reckless, but they were safe. We all were. My sister had ages until her turn.

"It's going to be alright. We're a family, and family sticks together,"My sister repeated.

"They're going to hurt them,"I whispered, wanting to wake up. This couldn't be real.

"No. The negative thinking is my job. You, my special star, need to keep shining bright. Keep thinking positively,"She whispered, kissing my forehead. Sometimes, she was the only thing keeping me going.

There was more screaming. By now I couldn't hear the words clearly, but I heard terror. I heard rage, and pain, and agony.

"We're not letting you torture our kids!"Mom yelled.

"We don't torture them. We're giving them a life you can't. Tell us where they are,"A male voice demanded.

"You're not taking them. They're not even teenagers. How could you do this?"Dad asked.

"You know what? If you're not going to tell us we'll find them ourselves, but first we need to get rid of the people who aren't any use,"Someone said, her voice calm and emotionaless.

"Cover your ears,"My sister whispered. I did as she said.

A second later a gunshot was heard. Then, something thudded to the floor. After that it repeated. From above us red blood dripped through the cracks in the floor. I shut my eyes and tried to pretend it wasn't real.

"Here! We found a door!"Someone yelled, pulling at the handle to the basement. Before we could react several people in black broke in. I cowered in fear.

"Come on. We have to go,"A woman demanded.

"You-you killed our parents,"I uttered.

"Let's go before we make you,"She threatened.

"You killed our parents, and you want us to go with you? Why would we want to get tortured by you?"I spat, feeling fury bubble in the pit of my stomach.

"I don't know what you heard, but it's wrong. Now up,"A man said firmer.

"You'll kill me before you take us,"I scowled. My sister held me closer, trembling. The roles had switched.

"There's no time for this childish nonsense. We can't kill you anyway. It's not allowed,"A man absentmindedly admitted. From next to him the woman jammed her gun into his ribcage.

"Don't tell them that you idiot,"She hissed. Then, she turned to us.

They took closer steps to us, stopping us from being able to properly run. I couldn't give up though. I pulled on my sister's hand and started dragging her through them.

As you could imagine they got us almost instantly and snatched us apart. I looked at her for help. We did our best to stay together, firmly holding hands.

It was pointless as they carried us outside and put us in separate cars. Hers went the direction of Crank Palace. Mine was leaving the city the other way, to WICKED.

In a few minutes I had lost everything. I was completely and utterly alone. As this thought clouded my mind I knew I should start crying, but I didn't know how. I just wanted to turn everything off. I was done feeling anything.

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"There's something suspicious about her."

"There's nothing suspicious about her at all. I've already told you she gets memories. Stop accusing her of things."

"That isn't what people normally look when they faint kid. Her eyes shouldn't be wide open."

"Shut up, and stop judging her. Weird things happen sometimes, okay?"

As the voices blurred together I realized my eyes were watering. It felt like they had been forced open for hours. I blinked and sat up to look around.

I was in a new place surrounded by new people. There was some of my usual group, but a bunch of people in suits, some of them in gas masks, had joined us.

A boy with a buzzed head walked over and kneeled next to me.

"You alright there? That was a hell of a fall,"He remarked.

"Who are you? What happened?"I asked, my mind still a mess.

"To answer your first question my name's Gally. To answer your second one we don't really know. Hopefully, you'll remember,"He shrugged.

"Not to me. What happened to my friends? Where's everyone else?"I asked, only spotting Aris and Newt's faces.

"They're fine, and so are you. Everything's okay now,"Aris reassured me. I looked at him before spotting a bandage with fresh blood on it.

"It's nothing serious,"He said, following my gaze.

I wanted to ask if he was lying, but I wasn't exactly in any position to do that. So I just accepted his answer. That's when I had one other question.

"Where are we?"