Another One (Book 3 of selection fanfics)

Chapter 1

2 weeks after Another Elite
Erika's POV
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The sky was a slate gray with thick sheets of clouds covering the sun. My boots crunched in the snow, hands wrapped in thin, worn gloves as I walked Duke up the hill. There was an eery sort of calm spread across the white fields as the rest of Kent still slumbered in their beds. Sleep had been difficult the past couple weeks for me. I found myself waking at the oddest hours, cheeks stiff with dried tears and throat hoarse from screaming. It was slowly getting better but nightmares still plagued my mind.

The flowers in my other hand were nearly dead, the petals brown and crusted. Unsurprising, considering it was the middle of winter, but it was better than nothing. Duke and I made our way to the top, stopping in front of a small headstone. My stomach dropped, as it always did; I still wasn't used to seeing a second grave beside my Grandmother's on this hill.

Amber's name was carved into the small gray stone, as well as the year of her birth and death; I supposed my father had used it to vent out his sadness, anger, and frustration. More tears threatened to drip down my cheeks and I quickly dropped the flowers down on the hard soil in front of each grave. I never knew what to say, or even what to think when I came up here. It was too bleak, the headstones almost the same color as the sky, and I frankly always felt too numb to do anything.

Duke snorted, dipping his head down to the ground in front of Amber's grave. He lightly pawed at it, as if he were a dog. Every time he did this, a lump would form in my throat. He knew Amber was gone, but I didn't think he understood that she was gone forever. It broke my heart even more than it already was. Before Duke could start digging through the frozen ground, I turned us back down the hill. A small light was winking in the kitchen and I knew that if I was gone any longer, my family would freak.

The barn was warm when I walked in, lamps lit in each of the horses stalls. There was always a rustle of activity whenever the doors were opened, horses moving restlessly in their stalls and chickens squawking, annoyed at being cooped up. The animals that couldn't handle the cold were all crammed in here.

I led Duke into his stall near the back, giving him an apple I'd kept in my coat pocket before I left. I walked along the snow covered path that led to the back of the house, to the door that opened directly into the kitchen. I stomped my shoes on the back step before opening the creaky door and slipping inside.

Mom stood at the counter, silently preparing a small breakfast for everyone. Dad and Kaleb were at the table, each quietly reading a section of the newspaper. Annika was still asleep when I left, so I assumed she was still in bed. Elisa was helping my mother with the food.

It was still odd having her here. When we'd left the palace, they'd sent Elisa with us; she was supposed to help me find my feet after the Selection. It had been insane the first week, reporters swarming across the front porch and the fields on our property. The media had been especially unkind, even though we'd been reassured by palace officials that Aidan's involvement in the attack wouldn't be released--clearly that had been a lie.

The magazines had entirely trashed my family and the farm's reputation, pinning the blame for the attack and Genevieve's coma on us. On this week's Report, King Maxon and Queen America had requested for the media and reporters to leave us alone, but that hadn't stopped them from publishing articles calling it the scandal of the century. Derek's eliminating me had done nothing but support the rumors. Now my family and I could barely show our faces in public.

I'd tried to ignore the news--just the mention of Derek made my heart hurt--but I'd been looking frantically for any news related to Gen. She was still in a coma as far as I was aware, but I couldn't get much farther than that. Most everything I found would bring up Derek and his eliminations after the attack.

There were only five girls remaining in the Selection. I'd been shocked to hear that Liana had been eliminated at the same time as me--what had she done to warrant an elimination?

Mom looked up as I walked in, relief in her eyes. My parents hadn't explicitly stated that we weren't allowed to leave the house, but Annika, Kaleb, and I all knew it made them nervous when we were gone for even fifteen minutes. I was sure it had been odd for them without me here the past few months, but with both Amber and Aidan gone there seemed to be a large hole in our family dynamic.

I sat down in a chair, grabbing a piece of homemade bread and spreading jam across it. Mom placed a bowl of scrambled eggs on the table, settling down in her seat next to Dad. Elisa sat beside Kaleb, a careful distance between them. It was partially for my sake--I knew they felt as if they'd be shoving their relationship down my throat, especially after how Derek and I had ended. It was also the fact that neither of them were quite sure how to move forward. Elisa, poor girl, didn't know how to approach Kaleb after what had happened with Aidan, though frankly none of us did.

Aidan's betrayal had taken a toll on all of us, but it had hit Kaleb the worst. I knew he felt guilty, mostly, that he should have seen it and that he could have prevented Amber's death. He and Aidan were identical twins; they'd shared everything since birth. The fact that Aidan had lied to all of us, to him, broke Kaleb in so many ways.

As I ate, I hated how my mother's food now tasted plain to me. I'd become used to the palace's rich, exquisite food and it was difficult to come back to our rough and unflavored breakfasts in Kent. The fact that I'd never eat palace food again hurt more than I thought it would. I was in my home, but it didn't feel like my home anymore. And I feared that it never would.
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I am sooo sorry this took so long. School started for me and it was a very stressful/awful beginning to a very stressful year (I'm a junior) so yeah. Updating will be very random, I have cross country nearly every day and I have a lot of advanced classes this year which doesn't leave a lot of time for writing.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed. Please comment and vote!

xoxo, _lovemultifandoms_