Taken

Chapter 13

Sorry about the HUGE delay. I've had the worst case of writer's block known to man. In fact, I still have it. I'm hoping to somehow wing it and figure out what I'm going to write in this chapter. On a completely unrelated topic, if you like electro/rock music and a kick-ass bass beat, you should probably check out MuteMath. Just saying. :)

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Nolan---------------------------------------------------------------------

I was sitting on my brown wingback leather chair in my library when the door slid open.

"GTFO."

"Come on, man."

It was Nathan.

"No. Leave. I've had enough of people today. Just leave me the fuck alone so I can read my book." I resettled myself back into the cushion of the chair and grabbed the book on the side table next to me. I opened the book and began to read Fahrenheit 451. I read to page 6 until I noticed out of the corner of my eye that he was still standing in the doorway. I sighed and sat my book down on the table.

"What do you want from me? You've been standing here, bothering me, for over five minutes."

"What do I want? What does everyone on this ship want? An explanation, Nolan. Aimée and I want a explanation for why you've been acting like a moody bitch lately. The people being kept in our cells want an explanation as to why they are here, and not back down on the planet. The real question is Nolan, do you have an answer?"

I sat there staring at him contemptuously, while thinking hard about what I was going to say in my defense. From what I had been told, a secret operative-supposedly on the side of the gifted aristocrats-had assassinated my father. I had every right to be mad at them, didn't I? It didn't matter that I was fighting for their side, because, as they say, blood runs thicker than water. Right? My previous argument made me start to think about who I should really be mad at, and this stand-off with Nathan concreted the doubt in my mind. For all I knew, I could have been given false information. War is a confusing, muddy ordeal, no one knows what they or the other person is doing half the time. As for the prisoners, I didn't know what part they played in the war, if any. They could have been gang members hoping to mug us; or worse. However, it didn't explain their odd behavior in the cells. Nothing added up, and I told Nathan that.

"I don't know. Nothing adds up. Why don't you find answers for yourself instead of having to ask other people for them?"

"Because if anyone knows what's going on, you do, Nolan. You are, for all intents and purposes, captain of this ship. It's kind of your job to know what goes on around here."

"That's ridiculous!" I countered, "not one person knows everything, and you know that! Now just please leave me alone. Like I said before, I've had enough."

"What happened to you, Nolan? You used to be the most calm person I know. Can what I suppose is gossip really get you this upset, or is it something else?" he said, while staring at me pointedly. I sighed, waved my hand at him impatiently to leave, and picked up my book again. I began to try and read again, and pressently heard the soft woosh of the doors closing. But he made sense. What was really causing me to act so strangely? Truthfully, when I heard the news that my father had been killed, I wasn't so upset about it. We were never close. He always wanted me to take lessons to become a "gentleman" and he took me with him to parliament so he could show me how he wanted me to run things. He made me do all these things that I had no interest in at all; gambling, dancing, where the forks go... it was all meaningless, really. Just because someone can arrange forks doesn't mean they're a good leader. The only classes I enjoyed were technology and civics, because they were actually worth something. And I signed myself up for them.

So there really wasn't any love lost between my late father and I. So that wasn't my problem. I then realized that I was an orphan, both my parents had died. However, as I turned fifteen the past month, it was no longer necessary for me to find foster parents or relatives to live with. By law, I could continue living in my house, with the same law only requiring someone to check in on me every week or so. But I digress. I thought about what my situation would be like once I was home, and came to the conclusion that my problem was the fact that my nuclear family has decayed (no pun intended). I was alone in the universe, until I turned 17, when we chose our partners. But even then it wouldn't be the same. Then I thought about Aimée. With no one knowing where here parents were (or even if they were still alive), she was virtually an orphan as well. It was weird; I was relieved that I wasn't the only one, but then I felt guilty about feeling relieved. I was never good with emotion, so I got up and paced across the room, trying to clear my head. But the scene in the cell block fifteen minutes ago kept replaying in my head. I realized I was acting irrationally; there's no logical way it could have been her fault. I cringed at all the things I said, and walked over to get a glass of water. After drinking most of it in one gulp, I walked over back to my chair to start reading again. But mainly, I thought about how I could mke this right. 

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So...yeah. Thanks for reading, and please comment and vote if you enjoyed it. :) Fanning wouldn't be so bad either. ;D Hopefully I'll write more soon, as my grandmother, mom and I are taking a vacation to Branson and (because I am a modern city-slicker) I'll have plenty of time when I'm bored to write. Or do summer reading for English. XP Oh well.

-Fleur