Everyone's Time is different. For some, the timer on their wrist could mean the day they die. For others, it could be the moment they meet their soulmate. But the true meaning of that little timer on our wrists is simple. To count down the hours, mi...
We were given $250 each to buy clothes and anything else we might need. After Calixte, Delaney, Caylin and I went on a mad rant about it to Jason, he practically begged the Judge lady to let us go just so that we would stop nagging him. I didn't find out the Judges name, but if that was important they would've told us from the start, I guess.
Calixte and I were the most excited to get new clothes. Now that we weren't wearing them to school, we didn't have to worry about people throwing drinks or accidentally spilling food on them. We didn't want to waste our money since we would only have these limited amounts of clothes for however long it would take to sort out our "problem". We bought jeans and many shirts. Things we would wear when we're running from Government officials. Except Calixte of course. She bought short dresses, short pants, expensive Converse flats, and the list goes on.
Finally, when we were done, Jason took us back to the hotel/mansion place. We decided to call it The Plaza because, honestly, it was gorgeous.
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When we got back, however, we were in shock. Someone had broken into our rooms. All our things were scattered about and on the floors.
"What the hell happened?!" asked Hazel. We all stood there in awe, too shocked to reply.
"Who did this? And more importantly, why us? It's not like we have anything valuable with us." said Caylin. But I didn't agree. I knew what they were after. I ran to my bed and pulled a small plastic bag from underneath it.
"What's that?" asked Delaney. I didn't reply, hoping I would have been able to show her instead. I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw the bag was not empty.
"It's nothing. Just some pictures of my family." I lied coolly, but I could feel my heart beating unsteadily. They all glanced warily at me but quickly shook it off.
I looked down into the bag to see a small wooden chest, given to me by my grandmother. A family heirloom. I waited until my friends left to report the break-in to Jason. Once they were gone, I took the chest out of the bag and opened it slowly. Inside was a long chain connected to a gold crest-shaped pendant. Engraved on the front of the pendant was a scene of a wolf with the sun on one shoulder and the moon on the other. On the back was engraved:
Χρόνο , αγαπητέ μου , θα τρέξει πάντα έξω από εσάς . Χρησιμοποιήστε το με σύνεση .
"Time, my dear, will always run out on you. Use it wisely," I hear my mothers soothing voice echo in my mind as she hands me the pendant. I was 8 years old then. The memory comes to me in a flash and I struggle to choke back a sob. Am I ever going to see her again? Are any of us going to see our families again? Yes, we are. We are going to find out who stole our Times and we are going to set things right. And then, when this is all over, we will return to our families. But what was I going to tell them? Hey mom and dad. Sorry I was gone for an indefinite period of time and probably had you worried out of your minds. But a group of government agents tried to track me down, most likely to experiment on me, because some crazy dude snuck into my room and stole my Time.
Yeah, not happening. Glad to know you've got this all planned out, Aelin.
-
I went to catch up with the others, but somehow ended up getting lost on the way. I turned a corner and bumped into Jason.
"Whoa! Hey sorry bout that. Are you all right?" He asked.
"I'm fine, thanks. You?"
"Nah. I'm fine."
He scratched the back of his head nervously. "Are you lost?" he finally managed.
"Yeah. A little bit." I laughed.
"Here, let me help." He walked me to to my friends but on the way there we chatted excitedly. We soon became quick friends, though I was still reserved as he tried to kidnap my friends and me a couple days ago. When we passed by different rooms he told me the names and what they were for until we got to one certain room. It had large wooden doors that looked thick and extremely heavy. The doors had huge iron locks and beautifully designed carvings all over them. One carving ,however, caught my eyes. I didn't get to see what it was because Jason quickly took my arm and told me to keep walking. I looked at him and saw a flicker of worry in his eyes, but it was quickly covered up as he turned to me with his friendly demeanor once again.
Finally, we found my friends sitting in the restaurant part of the Plaza. They were, of course, eating all they could eat at the 'all you can eat' buffet. I joined them and piled my plate with delicious pastas and steaks.
After, we head back to our rooms where I tell the girls about the door with the carved designs. I tell them everything from when I bumped into Jason to when we found them at the buffet. However, I leave out the fact that I saw a familiar marking on the door.
"Well? What do you guys think?" I finished.
"I think you should keep an eye on him. He seems like a nice guy but he obviously has a secret that he doesn't want us knowing about." said Calixte.
"That's why we have to know about it!" replied Caylin.
"YEAH! Let's do something rebellious!" added Hazel.
"Um, sweetheart. In case you haven't noticed, there is NO way in HELL we can all get past those doors. And even if there was, we'd get caught and they'd throw us out. We need them for shelter and food or we're as good as dead." Delaney countered.
"Well aren't you the optimist of the year," mumbled Hazel under her breath.
"We won't get caught." I assured.
"And why is that?" asked Calixte.
"Because I have a plan."
-
"HOW THE HELL IS THIS A GOOD IDEA?!"
"IT'S AN AMAZING IDEA!"
"SHUT UP AELIN!"
"YOU SHUT UP, CALIXTE!"
"THIS IS RIDICULOUS!"
I groaned in frustration. "I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU ALL THINK!" I yelled.
"I AM HUNGRY AND I AM ORDERING PIZZA. NOT CHINESE. NOT KFC. NOT PASTA....."
I narrowed my eyes at them. "PIZZA."
Finally, we ordered the pizza.
We decided to go over the plan after eating pizza because we were hungry... again.
-
"Okay. Now that we've eaten, will you tell us this 'plan' you've devised?" asked Calixte.
"Okay, fine" I agreed.
"My plan is.... Okay well, to be honest, I don't really have much of a plan. In fact I was hoping you guys would come up with a plan." I suggested, slightly frightened that one of them would punch me.
"You're an idiot, you know that?" asked Hazel.
"Yeah but you're my best friend so you're not much better." I replied with a sly grin.
"Why don't we start working on this plan, okay?" interrupted Delaney right as Hazel was about to reply.
"Fine,"
"Fine,"
"Fine,"
Everybody turned to look at me. "Okay fine, but I want the last slice of pizza."
