Kismet

Twenty - Aaliyah

He didn't seem the type to 'promise' things. She didn't know if Dalton was trustworthy. He didn't really look like it. "Are you telling the truth? Do you promise that you'll take us home?" Aaliyah said with a nearly pleading sort of tone.

The sun was setting. It was nearly night-time. How long have they been walking for? Or at the very least, standing here for?

"I promise, kid. I don't want to hurt you." Dalton adjusted his free arm slightly, obtaining some more flexibility. Kory stepped back a little, leaves crunching against his dirtied shoes. Aaliyah was more reactive than a fly. She flinched at the sound of the leaves crunching underneath his shoes. She turned her head to Kory, silently asking what was wrong with a simple expression.

"Okay." She murmured, nearly forgetting to respond to Dalton. It would be rude to not respond to an adult.
He looked back at Aaliyah, and nudged his head towards Dalton. Kory was staring at a specific area of Dalton's head. His ear.

She curiously turned back to Dalton, following where Kory's gaze was laser-focused on. As her gaze examined Dalton's ear, She couldn't see the darkness leading in his ear hole. Something was blocking it, but she couldn't see it. Just something thin sticking out of his ear hole.

Wait.

The guards always wore those things to communicate with each other when a newcomer attempted to escape, or when the oldest ones tried leaving the lab together. They wore earpieces. Little pieces you prop inside your ear to covertly communicate with whoever you were trying to talk with.

He couldn't be wearing an earpiece. He promised to help the kids. He wouldn't lie, right?
"Are you lying?" She quickly accused, her small hands clenching into fists. Dalton went paler than he already was.

"What?" He tried laughing it off.
"Are you lying? You promised to take us home!" Her voice raised together with her anger.
"No," Dalton said with a forced smile. "I wouldn't lie to you. To any of you!" He again, attempted to play it off as a simple joke. The others soon started to noticed Dalton's earpiece one by one.

"Is that an earpiece?" Raymond pointed out, grabbing Konrad's shoulder and stepping him back cautiously. It wouldn't take a genius to figure out they were gonna make a run for it.

Silence cut through them all like a sharpened dagger, everyone's guard up.

Dalton's cover was blown. What else could he do other than what he was ordered to do in the first place? He put two fingers to his earpiece, speaking into it. "I got them. Do you want me to get them for you?" He asks, his voice firm. A muffled voice spoke out of the earpiece, sounding garbled from the group's distance.

"Let...the honors. Just keep... alive." The voice emitted. Dalton nodded, slight disappointment washing over his expression.

"Yes, sir." Dalton murmurs, blankly looking back at the scared group of younglings. Aaliyah's breath picked up, realization dropping her fragile heart to her stomach. Everything felt confusing. Too much. They had finally left the lab, and they were going to be sent back. Back to square one. Nothing felt real anymore. Who could she trust now? All her life, she listened to the adults because 'they knew better'. But did they? What if they had the same mindset as a helpless child scavenging the earth, desperate for a sliver of motherly affection.

Aaliyah never knew her mother. Nobody she knew actually had met their mother, or had seen a picture of her. She imagines her mother beautiful, full of grace.

Was she even alive?

Aaliyah hoped so. Or else this would have all been for nothing. One simple goal in Aaliyah's life was to meet her mother. The woman who was separated from her by birth.

Maybe she had her long, black hair. Her button nose, and her almond-shaped eyes. She wanted her mom. Not a nurse, a doctor or a security guard to rock her to sleep. No. A mother. Someone who would lull her to sleep, read her stories, and hold her hand whenever she had a nightmare. Would she ever get what she wanted?

***

"Aaliyah?" A gentle voice tugged at her mind. Zeke. He was shaking her shoulder, trying to rid her poor thoughts. "We need to go. Now." He worriedly says. She vaguely nods as Zeke drags her away from the sputtering van. Leaves crunched under everyone's shoes, but someone was on their tail. Aaliyah turned her head, seeing military officers chasing the group, getting closer with each big step. She felt the adrenaline rush to her head, quickly realizing the seriousness of the situation.

"They're catching up." She breathlessly whispered.