Expired

Chapter 28

This is Elspeth⬆️

Authors note: Okay, I've got a few things to say. First of all this is such a great chapter! However, this one isn't written by me it was written by my friend Julie. Julie, thanks so much for helping me with this chapter I was having a really bad case of writers block. This is her username she is such an amazing friend and author so please go follow her ➡️ SCOUTmalfoy.

Also please vote and comment on this story. I am trying to get it to get so many votes and comments that it will actually get noticed and I can have more views on it. So please vote comment spread the word.

One more thing, I have realized that some of my chapters have been really boring or not great in the past and I'm sorry for that I've been trying my best but I promise you now it's really getting to get good. Anyway thank you all for reading my work and it's been awesome! (This isn't the last chapter sorry if it sounds like it is) enough with the message let's get the fun started!

After a few long hours we found ourselves in a complete and utter downpour, typical of London. We ran through the city ducking under any available cover, Jade cussing under her breath the entire way.

Soon we found a flat, adjacent to a small sandwich bar, which matched the address in Danielle's journal. Ben knocked on the door and with in seconds a little girl appeared. She was no older than eleven and had the biggest brown doe eyes. The mystery girl cocked her head at us causing her long honey brown waves of hair to fall over her shoulder. Suddenly she spoke in an accent that sounded like both a southern welsh accent much like the one found in Cardiff. All she said was, " You want tea? My Mum just put the kettle on."

"Ava, dear," a voice from behind her questioned, "who is it?

"I don't know mummy but they are soaking wet and look freezing." The girl, who I guess is named Ava called over her shoulder.

The door opened wider and I got a glimpse of a woman who immediately launched out the door and wrapped her arms around Danielle. Dani hugged her back and I heard them both murmuring about how it has been too long and how they missed each other. This must be Elspeth.

Elspeth invited us in and we sat in the sitting room drinking tea while Danielle explained who Ben and I are and what we are doing.  She told the woman that I am Margaret's daughter. For a minute Elspeth is silent and then she whispered, barely speaking," Where is Margaret?"

"Margaret is dead."

I knew my mom was dead. I knew she was gone, but something about Dani's words hit me. My mom is really gone...and she is never coming back.

A silence, so thick it is tangible, blankets the room as silent tears escape my eyes. Then out off nowhere, the one-two-one-two rhythm of someone running down a flight of stairs rings out through the quiet. Then another person starts behind them, obviously smaller and lighter because the sound wasn't as loud. The source of the noise turned out to be a boy, with a girl in close pursuit.

They both ran right past, but the boy backtracked and stood in the doorway and gave Ava a look. They continued to have a silent conversation, not realizing that we were watching it like a tennis match. Elspeth cleared her throat and Mr. brown hair blue eyed turned his head.  "Mother, evening." He seems to be a gentleman, loves his mom as well, "I wasn't aware we had guests."

Elspeth looked like she was going to say something, maybe introduce us, however Ava cut her off." Yeah, you would know if you hadn't been upstairs snogging your girlfriend." Ava said with a smirk on her sweet face.

The boy shot his sister a dirty look before turning toward Elspeth and said in the most respectful voice known to man, "I am going to walk Zion home, I should be back in less than ten minutes."

Ava leaned over and clarified that the boy was her sixteen-year-old brother, Zach. I nodded and turned my head to look out the window to see Zach walking next to a pretty, tall, blond girl who was riding a skateboard down the street.  I'm willing to bet that this is his girlfriend Zion.

I heard someone start playing a violin in a very violent manner somewhere up the road. A door slammed in the distance and I watched the street as an odd man with a very unpleasant face walked up to the curb to hail a cab. Only when the cab pulled away did the harsh cords come to a stop.

The others in the room continued talking but I just sat in my plush armchair, not speaking. Elspeth got up and collected the stuff from tea and asked Danielle if she could help her in the kitchen. Ava said it was getting late and she was going to head up to bed for the night. Ben, who considers himself quite the motorcycle enthusiast, was explaining to Jade how he would go about fixing a stuck shifting mechanism on a Ducati Panigale 959. There was nothing for me out here so I made my way to the kitchen to see if Dani and Elspeth needed any help.

As I approached the kitchen I heard the two older women talking. I only heard bits of their conversation but it sounded like they were discussing the subject of why Elspeth moved to England.

"When camp broke I had been working in a minor position in the Government. I stumbled across a file on the computer, a list of dates. Every few minutes the one at the top would disappear. I took a scrap of paper and the pencil I had in my hair and I wrote down as many as I could. I have kept this list after all these years. "

"El," Danielle whispered," what does that have to do with you breaking off contact with everyone and leaving for the United Kingdom?"

"Whenever I watch the news or read the paper, I see these dates and there is always a story about how someone, not much older than Skylar, ended up in a terrible accident that killed them or at least put them in a coma." Elspeth said in a quiet, hurried voice.

"So, people die every day."

"Danielle, I read the obituaries and I have read all the stories. I can always find some kid or young adults death date on my list. I think that maybe we aren't born with our day on our arm like our leaders would like us to think. Maybe, just maybe they are the ones who put it there.  Once I realized that this could be the case, I left for another country as soon as I could. Zack was only 5 at the time and I was pregnant with Ava, abandoned by my husband for no known reason. The day Zack was born, there was an outbreak of Pneumonia and just about all of the people on duty that day had that to deal with and they missed my sweet boy. Ava was born here in Brittan but I couldn't bring myself to go to the hospital because I didn't want my baby marked." Elspeth admitted. I could tell she was close to tears even though there was a door separating us.

After hearing all of this I silently crept up to one of the guest rooms where Elspeth was letting me sleep to think about what I just heard. I would have to tell Ben, and Jade, and Alice, and Thomas, and all of the other expired. This might mean that all of the accidents are not really accidents at all and maybe the Government really does make sure you die.

There is no special gene and it doesn't matter who your parents are. To become an Expired is like a lottery, a high risk and a lot of sheer, dumb luck.

This changes everything.