Colors

Chapter 5

"You want me to do what? That's Ludacris!" Sienna exclaimed, her shrill voice causing the others the flinch. Sienna quickly shut her mouth and lowered her gaze to the floor, heat rising to her face.

"Keep your voice down, kid, we don't want to be discovered!" Taupe hissed, peering out the window of the treehouse with suspicious eyes. Sienna followed his gaze but only saw the tall trees swaying in the breeze. 

"Look, I know it's a lot, but we really need a spy on the inside! (HERCULES MULLIGAN OK sorry sorry) This could change our world, Sienna." Jade explained, a certain glint of apprehension in her eyes. 

"Fine, ok, can you explain it again? I stopped listening after the first few sentences." 

Out of the corner of her eye, Sienna could see the rest of the group collectively roll their eyes and even heard an exasperated sigh come from Mauve. 

"We need you to learn to find out how to turn off the test. As you know, your test is up in a few weeks and all we know is the only way to stop the test is during the process. Since our parents are on the council, they know a whole lot about the tests and how they work. There's also another task..." Jade grimaced. "We need you to get us the file on how to destroy the tests. It's heavily protected on head observers computer. The creators knew that the tests wouldn't be needed one day, and knew that when that time came, it would be ok to destroy them. Well, we believe the time has come, after 57 years of separation and a screwed up society. We need you, Sienna. This won't work without you." The entire time Jade was speaking, the color slowly drained out of Siennas face, and she lost any shred of confidence she still had. 

"We know this is going against everything you know and stand for." Bronze began, in a somber tone. "You don't have this problem because you're an exceptional, born and raised. For the lower classes though, life is hell. I...I was an adequate before, Topaz here was an admirable, Taupe was an adequate as well and Mauve was-" Bronze was abruptly cut off by Mauve. 

"No, no. My backstory is unimportant" Mauve began with a nervous laugh, his hand reaching up to scratch the back of his neck. "What matters right now is that Sienna agrees to join the Insurgance, that's what our ragtag group of renegades call ourselves, and help us fix this messed up world." Mauve finished, sadness clouding his features for a split second. The moment left as quickly as it came, and his face went back to the smirk he had been wearing the entire meeting. 

Sienna pressed her lips together in a hard line and looked at Mauve with a calculating stare. Her first impression of Mauve was that he was arrogant and a flirt. The way his eyes looked so downcast and melancholy, her opinion was changing a little.  She still was annoyed about earlier, though, and Sienna was known for being able to hold a grudge. 

 "Please, Sienna, I know we just met, but if everything Jade has said is true, you are a brave, strong, and fearsome girl who is willing to fight for what she loves. Now, I'm not one to beg, but please help us. You're the last piece of the puzzle." Topaz confessed, with her large eyes staring up at Sienna. Taupe only nodded in response, but that nod had more sincerity than most of the words Sienna had heard in her life. 

Sienna was taken aback. They wanted her to betray her parents and friends and put her life on the line to fix the society. How could they expect her to do that? Her mind was still in a whirl because of all the events that had happened in the last six hours. From the letter to finding out her sister was still living and Jades claims about the tests, the Council, and their parents. She was basically being told that most of the things she had learned and was told her whole life was a lie. And yet, these people had to have a reason for thinking these things and abandoning their social class. It would be preposterous if they just up and left and then invited Sienna here with no reason but to play a practical joke! Jade faked her own suicide for this cause, whatever it was, and Sienna trusted her sister. Her eyebrows furrowed, deep in thought as she stared at her feet. She knew, deep down, that this was the right thing to do. It was time to stop the tests. 

"You know what? I'm in." Sienna stated, her eyes crinkling at the edges as she smiled. Just as the words had been spoken, she could feel a wave of relief wash over the group. 

"But first," Sienna stated, "I want to know more about the group of misfits I'm working with."

"Alright, I guess that's fair, I'll st-" Topaz gasped and suddenly dropped to the ground with no explanation. A flash of light and the sound of carriage wheels showed the reason why as Mauve quickly shoved Sienna to the ground and dropped down next to her. Siennas lower lip quivered in fear, as the darkness overtook the treehouse. Jade had quickly blown out the candles and closed the makeshift curtains. 

"Get down! Get down!" Bronze commanded softly as the group huddled in the corners. The small room's atmosphere was filled with terror and tension as the sound of carriage wheels got quieter and the light faded away. Jade finally sighed in relief as she stood up to light the candles once more. Sienna was so confused as she felt the aura of the group go back to normal. 

"What the hell just happened? Can I have an explanation please?" Sienna inquired, her voice directed at Mauve. 

"Well, sweetheart," 

"Don't call me that" 

"Fine, Sienna, if the carriages and the snotty people inside them found out we were here and caught us, we would surely be executed or tortured to death! Now, does that sound like fun to you? Because it does not sound like fun to me." Mauve looked pointedly at Sienna with an irritated look. "Anyway," He continued "We take precautions to make sure they don't find us and that includes pushing new recruits to the ground when they could compromise our safety." Mauve ended with sarcastic jazz hands, and Sienna couldn't help but snicker. Suddenly, Taupes nervous glances and the way Jade sat on the edge of her chair made sense. 

These people were on the run. And if Sienna joined them, and succeeded in her task, she would be too. Was this a risk she was willing to take? She didn't know but would need to figure it out soon if she wanted to help the Insurgance. Really soon.