Beyond Our Control

Chapter 21

 1 am.

Everyone should be sleeping by now. And they're not.

The night breeze was shivering, she could feel it even under her soft self heating jacket. The soil underneath her foot felt wet and soft, while the stars up in the sky glimmered and shined. Her untied hair was brisling against her cheeks as the slightest wind blew toward her. Everything was so clear tonight. The stars, the dark night sky, the sensation of the cold. Yet she felt doubtful about all this. Her thoughts scrambled together, trying to form an answer to things, and her heart is to be the same. Nothing was to be clear about her tonight. But this is the path that she has chosen and there is no more going back.

As she stood there in front of what was about sixteen people, their eyes all at her, waiting for something to happen, waiting for it to start. She wanted to run away at that. But she couldn't show that part of her, at least not right now. This is the part where she has to show them that they can trust her. That they can trust this. All of it.

A hand gently slipped into her hand.

"This is the day, whenever you're ready." Faye whispered near her ear.

She almost forgot that Faye was with her on this. That she wasn't alone. She kept forgetting. She had always felt like she was alone in everything, that the world just made it that way for her. She took a deep inhale of the night, it's now or never.

"Hello everyone. Sorry to disturb your night and let you guys meet us here, but we have some important news to share." Her voice was steady and she sounded more confident than she felt.

"Then why didn't you just tell us in the daytime?" A boy asked, his tone was pitched rudely. "Why isn't Ms. Edmund here?"

That was an expected question. But she still felt like lightning just struck onto her. It's been days since the planning and Faye had prepared her for this. They are both prepared, but she still felt uneasy.

"I'm afraid this news won't be in the favor of Ms. Edmund."

"Why wouldn't it be? And if it's not in the favor of Ms. Edmund, what makes you believe that this will be in our favor? I mean am I right guys?" The boy looked around and a murmur of agreement and nods went among them. But in the crowd Kenna could spot Gibson and Annika staring blankly at her instead of engaging with the crowd.

Kenna cleared her throat for everyone to quiet down.

"Ms. Edmund is an official member and she works for the government, for the City. If this news gets leaked to the government then I'm afraid we'll be in trouble."

The boy snorted, loud enough for everyone to hear. "So? Ms. Edmund is kind to everyone here, she sometimes even goes against the Officials to be in our favor. We shouldn't betray her like this. I say that this meeting is meaningless!" He raised his voice and people were once again agreeing with him.

"Yeah, that's right. Ms. Edmund has always been in our favor, then why are we betraying her like this?" Someone else cheered on.

And soon the whole crowd was starting to agree with his idea.

Had they anticipated this? She knew some people were going to go against her but she didn't expect everyone to go against her. She knew it, she couldn't do this. She was never made for this kind of stuff. And if she can't even handle this, how is she going to handle Dr. Novak?

"Shut up everyone!"

The voice was familiar, it took Kenna a moment to realize that it was Gibson. Annika stood next to him, the both of them stood confidently. The crowd quieted down.