The Traitor

Chapter Seventeen: One Last Chance

I followed the straight tracks, which were the only transportation between the two Sides, until I recognized where I was. This was the place the train, holding all of the kids switching to the Daine Side, had been bombed. I surprised myself with how well I remembered that day, considering everything that's happened since. The day I arrived had slipped my mind until that moment, where I walked right by where we took cover under the roadside shelter. That was when I met Jasper. And Savannah. It hadn't occurred to me till then that Savannah and Jasper might have been together, but why would Jasper have kissed me then if he was with Savannah? He wouldn't; they were just friends.

I continued down the track, scanning the opposite side for where the Wens had missed the train and accidentally bombed the side of the track.

Then I saw it. A large pit roughly fifteen by fifteen feet, with a depth that had to be around twenty to thirty feet. I was amazed. The hole wasn't too far from the tracks and I remembered back to what Mr. Thomas had said about the Wens purposefully missing, in order to make it look like an accident. His voice rang inside my head, creating a creepy mood like I was in a horror film, and something was about to jump out and get me. 'The Wens never miss.' This whole thing was making less and less sense the more I thought about it, but I realized if I ever wanted to make it to the Wen Side in order to rescue Jasper and return back to the Daine Side before morning, then I didn't have time to stop and think. I needed to keep moving.

I pressed on, not exactly sure how much further I needed to go before I made it, but knowing it was still a bit of ways away. I was walking along side the track, about twenty feet passed the explosion site, when I stumbled over something small and thin. Curious, I reached down and picked it up, examining the small object, and to my horror, finding it to be a small metal drill. My mind flashed back to an image of the disk that was found at the site of the explosion, which had my name messily carved into it. What if this was the object they used to carve my name into it? It looked like the perfect size and thickness to be able to carve what they did, and it wasn't very far from where the disk had been found. I jumped back in horror, dropping the tool. At that moment, I knew for sure: this had to be a set up. There was no way that disk actually belonged to me and I had just forgotten about it. Someone on the Wen Side is trying to get me arrested for treason. But why? None of it made sense and I racked my brain to think of a reason. What was going on? This wasn't happening to me because I was betraying the Wens for the Daines, otherwise, Connor and Sophia would've had it happen to them as well, right? So why me?

Before I could think of a solution, an old car with dim headlights began slowly approaching where I was standing from behind me. I quickly stepped back into the tall brush and hid in the bushes, hoping they wouldn't see me. What were they doing anyway? It looked like they were leaving the Daine Side and driving toward Wen territory, but they were only going about 30 miles per hour. Before I could second guess myself, I leaped onto the back of the car as it passed by me, gripping the top luggage carrier and holding on for dear life. I wasn't sure if whoever was in the car had heard or seen me, but I adjusted myself so I was crouched down on the back, out of sight through the back window. The car sped quickly down the side of the tracks, which I was pretty sure wasn't legal, but hey, it was getting me there faster, right?

It wasn't long before we reached Wen territory and I ducked even lower as the car crossed the border in order to go unseen by any guards or officials that may be passing by. It felt weird to be back- almost like I hadn't even left, and at that moment, I wished I hadn't. I missed my family and realized, with tears in my eyes, that had I stayed and listened to my parents, none of this would have happened. I held back the tears that tried to escape, trying to pull myself back together. I had to get all of this out of my head. What was done, was done- no turning back.