Lies & Harmony Trilogy

Chapter Nineteen: The Harsh Truth

I wouldn’t recognize him if not for his voice. The shadows surround him, like a hint of mystery that he clings desperately on to.

     I don’t react at first. Instead, I go limp, making it harder for the person to drag me along. The shadow lets out a noise of discomfort at my sudden heaviness.

     I can’t see most of him in this darkness—only the silhouette. He could be anyone in this darkness, but I know who it is the moment he lets out a noise.

     The name tears free from my throat, surprisingly quiet for something that has been screaming at me ever since I’ve gotten here with Tabitha.

     “Rush?” I ask him.

     Of course the execution I witnessed was just a mere dream, but the thought of it still sends shudders through me. I grip onto Rush with my hands. “You’re back.” My tone holds a note of incredulity.

     I don’t know where we are, except that we are escaping the safe-house, which I find very ironic. There are no windows in my room so I assume that he found one somewhere else and carried me there.

     “I’m back,” he says, his tone self-assured and taunting. I frown, wondering what had caused that bite in his tone to come back like that. He has been docile the last days. Now he is back to his usual snappy self. I don’t know if it is a good sign or a bad one. He pushes me through the window, and I go willingly, letting the cool night air wrap itself around me.

     “What are you doing?” I ask him, frowning. He pulls himself from the window and hops down beside me, lifting me up again. He lets out a small grunt at the exertion but otherwise lifts me without problem. For someone so scrawny, he is quite strong. “I can walk.”

     “That’s not the problem,” he says, grinning. Something about that grin makes me feel uneasy. He begins to head quickly away from the safe-house. I stare at him, wondering why the pit of my stomach is squirming in unease.

     “You were captured,” I finally say. What I mean to say is, ‘How did you get away? You have an execution date in order.’ Those words don’t come out.

     “Yes, I was ‘captured’,” he says, his mouth quirking up a bit. I’m not sure if I like his demeanour at all. Something tells me to start screaming for Tabitha, but I don’t. Instead, I stare at him, wondering what kind of game he is playing at. “But I wasn’t, really.”

     The inner alarm is ringing louder now. I try to push him away and get on the ground, but his grip tightens until I can no longer move. My heartbeat is going faster now; I am panicking. I voice my thoughts. “Something is not right.”

     Rush snickers. “What do you mean by ‘not right’? I’d say that everything you do is ‘not right’. This is the one chance for redemption, little Harmony.” Something about the sneering way he says my name makes my skin crawl. What happened to the Rush on the train? What happened to the Rush that kissed me on the cheek? Where is he and who is the one in his place?

     I try to move my hands, but his arms clamp them tightly against my own body. “Who are you?” I demand, looking at his face. His light hair is the same, though it is more than a little darker now. His green eyes are the same too. What is different about him? There are next to no changes on the outside.

     But it is the inside that I worry about.

     He laughs. “I’m Rush Chaisty,” he tells me. We are moving further and further away from the safe-house at the moment. I should cry out for help, but I find myself lost at words. “Who do you think I am?” Rush prompts mockingly.

     “You’re not Rush,” I say slowly, understand beginning to dawn me. “You’re not him. What have you done to him? You’re an imposter!” I cry, hoping that someone can hear me. “Help! Help!” To my dismay, nobody runs from the safe-house calling after me. Rush knows this and laughs. It’s not a kind laugh that invites me to join in. It’s a mocking one directed at me.

     “Oh, I knew you were too dim-witted to figure things out early, which is why I had you awake the entire time,” he says. I feel a twinge of hurt at his words, but I refuse to give in to them. “The truth is I am Rush, but he was never a real person to begin with.”

     My heart thuds loudly. “I don’t understand.”

     “Of course you don’t, you daft thing. You always thought things either came in black or white. I suppose I should just tell you the entire story now, but I must say I was really surprised at how willingly you all swallowed up my story.” He laughs again, and I can’t believe that being in love with him even crossed my mind. I am disgusted—and afraid.

     His tone speaks of sophistication. I don’t understand any of it, but I listen. That’s what Seven does best.

     “I was a spy,” he says simply to my shock. “I was sent from Vainglory under a name that was never given, and a story that was never true or lived through. All of it was false. I was sent to retrieve someone: you. So tell me, Seven, did you really think that Rush Chaisty was a kind little boy fighting for the Rebel Children’s hopeless cause?”

     He knows who I am. My throat closes up, and I can’t speak. He’s working for the government. I never expected any of it. I can’t believe it.

     “That’s right, I know exactly who you are,” Rush—or not-Rush sneers. His words are getting uglier by the moment. “You escaped from Greenhaven Sanatorium. We can’t simply have you doing that. Don’t you understand? I was the reason everyone was caught. They were tracking me—and still are. When we were waiting for the train to show up with Tabitha, I went off to contact men to fake my capture. It wasn’t too hard, really.” He laughs like this is just a funny joke. “Do you know how they tracked me—and you?” He doesn’t pause for my answer. “The ring and your wrist band did an excellent job.”

     My stomach drops. The ring was a tracking device. Maybe it was never the prince’s ring in the first place.

     “Where are you taking me?” I whisper. Maybe I’ll finally get my original wish and end back in the hospital. This wish isn’t mine anymore, and it isn’t appealing either.

     “We can’t have you back at the Sanatorium,” Rush says cheerfully. “No, you’ll just come with us to Vainglory.” In the distance, I see two pinpricks of lights. We head towards them. I turn around, hoping to see someone running after us.

     No one is there. I have realized this treachery too late. Everything feels too numb. Rush is not a traitor. He’s not.

     Rush isn’t even real. He’s just a facade that this man wore. I believed it so wholeheartedly.

     Then who is this man?

     “Who are you?” I ask him quietly. Asking questions makes me feel most normal now.

     He smiles at me. It is an evil smile, I think. How I could ever think him good is beyond me.

     “I’m Brendan Sanders,” he tells me smugly. “I am the prince of Seraphin.”

One last [mini] chapter left of Harmony! :D