She woke in a start,blonde hair tangled. She heard a knock at the door.
"Nova, wake up. We're going to be late...again."
Her brother's words sounded irritated. For the last week Nova had been waking up ten minutes before they had to leave for school. The nightmares had kept her up all night. They took her sleep and brain with them. She couldn't forget what happened to her sister.
"I'll be there in a second Matthew!! "
Nova got out of bed and went to work on being presentable for the day. She wore her blue camisole, Mudd jeans, and boots. She threw her head into the bathtub so she could wash her hair. It seemed like time didn't favor her. Nova ran out of her bedroom and down the stairs. Her brother was waiting for her with a look of disapproval written on his face.
"You're lucky that you got down here right on time. I was about to come up and get you."
Why was he complaining? She should've been the one complaining. Her hair wasn't brushed through and she had yet to put her makeup on. She'd have to do them on the way to school. Ugh, the life of a girl. Matt was always a pain to Nova. He constantly pressured her about her grades, worried where she was on a school night, and teased her when she was around other guys.
"If you tried to come up and get me, I would have kicked you down the stairs."
Her brother's face grimaced. As if imagining Nova forcing her foot into his chest before he tumbled away. He didn't say anything back to Nova's comment. He knew it would only upset her more. The two siblings piled into a beat up 2014 Ford Focus. The sat in silence until Nova spoke to her brother.
"I had another nightmare...about sis. Each night the nightmares get worse. They're closing in on me again Matt. I can't help but feel as though it was my fault that she's gone," she put her head in her hands and cried, "She was my responsibility."
Matt couldn't help but stare at his sister. After six months, she still believes it was her fault. Sudden anger flared inside of him.
"She was your responsibility?! Nova, she was ours! Mom and Dad wanted us to protect her! But we couldn't...we couldn't do anything about the plague that struck our lives. It just sort of happened. I was lucky that you survived."
His facial expressions softened as he realize that he had just blew up on his sister. He rarely got mad at her, and he never yelled at her; until now. Nova had a waterfall streaming down her face.Her face then became like stone.
"Matt! You don't realize that I was the first one in our family to contract the disease. I brought the plague inside these doors. I'm the one that is responsible for our parent's death and our little sister's disappearence! Now, if you'd excuse me, I'm leaving."
She got out of the car, opened the garage door, and stormed out into the rain. One foot in front of the other, she made her way towards the bus stop. As much as she hated the bus, she hated her brother more. Nova needed away from him, and she needed to let her mind clear. A black SUV rolled up to the curve next to her. A older man inside spoke to her,
"Hey, you wouldn't happen to know a Nova Cabot would you?"
This man was speaking to her about finding her. She didn't even know him, and her parents had always warned her about strangers, but she replied anyways. She was going to be a full on rebel, if she was going to be treated like that from her brother.
"Yes, I know who she is. Why do you want her?"
Sometimes Nova couldn't refuse the curiosity inside her.
"We wanted to talk to her about Casa Cabot, her sister."
This man was speaking of her sister. Her missing sister. What did he know? When the last time Casa was seen? Where she was? Again, curiosity over took her.
"I'm Nova Cabot. What did you want to tell me about my sister?"
A devilish grin fell across his face.
"Nothing, absolutely nothing."
Men dressed in complete black sprang from the vehicle and laced their hands over her mouth and body. They dragged her back in the SUV, her screams barely hearable. All of this happened while her brother tailed her in the Ford Focus. His green eyes were wide in terror.
His sister had just been kidnapped, the same way that Casa had been.
YOU ARE READING
The Husbandry Project
Science Fiction"I guess when you have to choose between life and death, you choose the one that benefits yourself the most. No matter what the cost is, you just want to survive..." Nova Cabot was an escaped plague victim. She was the only victim who survived the p...
