empire » h.s

chapter 2

E D I T E D //

Destiny's POV

"What do you mean you're sold out?" I ask while trying to catch my breath.

"Exactly what I said. People buy tickets and I sell em'. When there are no more I can't do anything about it.Tickets for train 1315 departing at 2:30 are sold out." he ranted, before harshly shutting the small window in my face.

I shook my head and scoffed before walking away. I couldn't belive it. I did all that running for nothing. I looked down at my watch and groan when I see the time. It was 2:23 and I needed to get on train 1315. I look around cautiously and watched the ticketmaster through his window. When the coast is clear I walk slowly toward the turnstile trying to blend in with a crowd of rowdy teenagers. I see them all scan their tickets and start walking into the turnstile pushing and shoving each other. I sneak next to a girl trying not to draw unnecessary attention towards myself. The girl turns to me and looks into my eyes, and then I feel her link our arms. I follow as she leads me through the turnstile with ease and we reach the other side. I try to pull away but she only gripped my arm tighter as she sat us down on a nearby black bench.

"Where are you going?" she asks before letting go of my now throbbing arm.

"Man, you didn't have to cut off my circulation." I hiss as I gently rub my bruised arm.

"Sorry, it's a habit." she shrugs her shoulders. She pulls up the sleeves of her black sweatshirt and extends her right hand.

"The names Tati and yours?" she asks while waiting for me to return the gesture.

I extend my hand and we shake hands, "My name is Destiny."

"So are you going to answer my question or not?" she pesters letting go of my hand leaving it awkwardly hanging there. I place both my hands in my hoodie pocket and let my eyes scan every direction except her face. "I just broke a law to help you and your not telling me anything." she groans before standing up and shaking her head.

"The train is here. Get ready." she states walking closer to the train tracks.

"I didn't hear the horn or see the lights change. How do you know?" I ask looking into the dark shadows of the tunnel.

She smiles and closes her eyes, "Sometimes in life you can't always see or hear things, but you can always feel. Close your eyes and feel." she whispers just loud enough for me to hear. So I close my eyes and clear my mind. I stood there waiting for someone to just laugh at me or call me crazy. But then I felt a subtle vibration underneath my feet and as I focused more on the vibration it became stronger and stronger. I open my eyes and I see Tati smiling at me and to my surprise I smile back.

"I feel it." I whisper back. Then as if right on time the train whistle blows signalling its arrival. Tati motions me in the direction towards the back of the train. We walk towards the end of the station before boarding. I slide into a seat right beside a clear window staring out at the passengers boarding.

"Since you won't tell me about yourself.I will tell you about me. Well I'm on the CAT wanted list a-."

"What is the CAT?" I ask turning my body looking into her pretty veridian eyes.

"Criminal Adolescent Teens and I'm at the top of their list. You see my mom volunteered for that scientist experiment thing and she never came back home." her voice cracks but she continues. "She left me alone to care for my little brother Ro. We both thought she was dead, because agents came to our home with what was left of her belongings." I placed my hand on her shoulder as tears fell down her cheek.

"You don't have to continue." I inform her but she shakes her head.

She wipes the tears with her hand, "No it's okay. Well it was my job to take care of Ro and myself so I went to the marketplace to steal. I remember as if it was yesterday."

"Ro stay here with Miss Blackburn okay. I will be back soon okay. What would you like me to bring back for you?" I ask kneeling down on one knee with one hand on his shoulder.

"A peach." he whispers before pulling me into a tight hug. "Don't leave me like mommy did." he sniffles. I place my hand in his hair and hold him tighter. I let go and quickly wipe a stray tear.

"I will be back with your peach I promise. I will never leave you Ro." he nods holding out his fist and we do our special handshake.

I wave and start running in the direction of the main market. It took me nearly 3 hours to get there and I remember being dehydrated. I walked through the streets ignoring the merchants shouting things at me. I needed to stay under the radar because I wasn't supposed to be in this part of the division.

"Excuse me Miss, can I see some sort of id?"

I slowly turned and was face to face with a government agent. His white uniform caused me to cover my eyes from the blinding reflection of the sun.

"Can I see some id, now."

I took off as soon as he spoke again. I ran through the large crowds looking for someplace to hide. I hear the sound of boots on my tail and this caused me to run faster. I ran down the narrow street and made an abrupt right. I hid behind a large bushel of fruits. I peeked around the bushel but quickly hid again as I heard voices.

"Where did she go?"

"She couldn't have gone far."

"Hologram, did you see a young female pass through here?"

Silence fills the air.

"You did. Where did she go."

Silence again.

"Men she went this way. Let's go."

I shut my eyes waiting to be found but to my surprise the footsteps faded away. Did a hologram just save my life? I got up from my hiding spot uneasily and nearly knocked down the bushel. I pulled down my hood and looked closely at the hologram. I shook my head profusely and backed away. The hologram put her finger over her mouth hushing me and picked up a fruit from a bushel. It was a peach.

"You okay Tati." I ask realizing she has started crying.

"No I'm fine." she states before closing her eyes and continuing.

"Mom." I whispered. The hologram nodded in response and smiles. Then her smile was replaced with a frown and she pulls me closer. She placed the peach in my hand and motioned her transparent hands. I didn't understand at first but then I heard the voices again. The men were coming back and they sounded angry.

"Mom please come with me. Come home please." I begged as tried to hold her hand but my own slid right through. She placed her hand on my face and shook her head. I felt tears leave my eyes as I looked into her once colored eyes. The voices got closer and then I ran. I ran as fast and as I could before collapsing in tears. I placed my hand over my mouth and slid down against a wall.

"So you lied to us holo."

"I didn't believe it at first. They were right, the holos are turning back."

"What are we going to do with her?"

"Take her to the counsel. Des will know what to do with her."

More sobs escaped as I got up and ran again, but this time I kept on running. I ran all the way back home.

"Wow, Tati." I rub her back softly as she cries into my shoulder.

"Now you know why I need to get to the capital. I need to find my mom." she explains wiping her eyes.

"We will find her. I will help you." I assure her before looking out the window.

I promise.

[a/n: i finally updated. sorry for the long wait. i just wanted to introduce Tati and tell her whole story and give you some background info. picture on the side is tati.]

35 comments

50 votes