CH11.
Maria had just gotten the boys down to the basement, to bed since they had fallen asleep even though it was only three in the afternoon.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, fully serious since her sisters Olivia and Lily came back home. Lily and Olivia shared a look between each other before leading Maria to the couch. Maria raised an eyebrow before sitting down. At that moment, Angel and Katrina came into the room, eyes filled with worry and anger. Maria knew at once that whatever her sisters had to say, it was not good news. Angel and Katrina sat down in the chairs opposite Maria.
“We have reason to believe the council has found a way around their deal…” began Katrina looking at Maria. Her sister held the mask of confusion and curiosity.
“What do you mean?” asked Maria.
“When we were out hunting, Angel came back to us and told us she had gone to the beach and had seen the Court of Justice there” Olivia said to her sister.
“Why the hell would the court of Justice be down at the beach?” Maria wondered. One look at her sister Angels face, she knew.
“They found black mail, didn’t they?” Maria whispered. Her sisters nodded.
“They found two other people, a woman and a man. If I had to guess, I would say they had been living off the forest for a while.” Katrina said after a moment’s silence. Maria got up and began to pace around the room.
“How did they survive the crash?” asked Maria.
“I don’t know Maria. But the thing is, we suspect the Court of Justice will hold them until the games are over. If these people are important to the boys, they will stay behind and try to convince the council to give them back, and let them go home but you know how slick the council is.” Angel replied with disgust.
“Not to mention, if they are not important, then they will be killed publically. Do you realize how much damage that would have on the boys? Remember Marie?” Lily added to Angel’s previous talk.
Maria looked at her sisters; they had never seen her as torn up as she was at that moment. She kept pulling at her hair and looking at her hands while pacing.
“You guys do realize how much of a dangerous position we are in now right?” Maria whispered softly.
The girls nodded and began to pace as well. They were so torn up! If the boys were chosen to compete, they will fight, possibly die, and if by some miracle, they live, they would be torn up about going home without these people if they were important to them. If they lived and wanted to go home with the other two people, they would be forced to stay behind and their only chance to leave would be destroyed. Then there was the fact that if they weren’t important, they would be killed. Olivia collapsed onto the couch with her hands covering her face.
“Why the hell didn’t we check on the area after we had returned home with the boys?” she asked softly with a hint of accusation to herself. She felt so guilty about being so suspicious of the area.
“We didn’t expect there to be anyone else aboard Olivia. Not to mention, if the boys had mentioned some other people, we may have searched… but I think they thought that whoever else was on board, they were dead” Katrina said to her sister softly.
“Then what do we do now?” Angel asked, completely torn up. Her sisters looked at Maria. She couldn’t bear it, having everyone looking up to her to being the leader against this tragedy. She felt the need for Andrew stronger than ever. He made her feel like she wasn’t a leader forced into this harsh world, but a girl in love. Her duty was still with her but he seemed to make the pressure go away. She stood there shaking, looking at her sisters.
“I…I don’t know” she said, collapsing onto the floor with tears streaming down her face.
“Maria!” yelled out Angel in shock. Her older sister Olivia picked up Maria and rocked her back a forth.
“I…c-can’t h-handle it any m-more Liv! Everyone looks at m-me for guidance b-but I c-can’t do it!” she sobbed out, clutching at her sister. Olivia just continued to rock back and forth, hugging her sister.
“Maria… no one is expecting you to be the leader all the time sis, but when times get tough, we turn to you. Not because we need guidance, but we need hope. We all need hope. You just seem to know what to do honey. You are our symbol of hope. That’s why we look to you.” Katrina said to her sister. The sisters crowded around Maria, hugging her until the tears stopped flowing from her eyes. She stood up and turned to her sisters, with a new look of determination.
“Olivia, Go to grandmothers place, tell her about this and ask for her advice. Report it back to me. Angel and Lily go back and pick some more fruits, whatever you can find. I want this whole room with different foods. Katrina, you will stay here and keep an eye on the boys. Prepare also for the Deadly games. It is tomorrow night when they will draw for us. I will follow the Council to find out more. Report back in about two hours.” she told them. The sisters nodded and all of them left except for Katrina. She knew what she was going to do and the boys would not like it.
