The Divided

Chapter Four

On 6/12/18 I changed the lengths of the chapters to be more effective in interest and reading. If you don't know what chapter you left off, message me where you were in the storyline and I will tell you what chapter to start back off at. I'm sorry for the trouble:)

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I turned back toward Hadley and knelt down to his height. "What are you doing out here by yourself?" The four-year-old didn't move a muscle. He was staring into open space directly beside my head, avoiding my eye contact. "My name is Mel," I told him, holding out my hand. His eyes move to look at my hand, but he doesn't respond. I knew he was still terrified of me. Despite me not having my gun, I was still an Ameliorate.

Getting an idea, I stood and walked twenty yards away, looking around for the action figure that James had thrown. I son found it between two rocks and took it back to Hadley, who hadn't moved an inch since I walked away. He looked at the toy in my hand and hesitantly reached out to take it from my grasp, making sure he never touched me in the process. I smiled softly at him and he finally looked me in the eye, but yet to give me any type of expression.

"I'm not going to hurt you," I spoke delicately. He hardly reacted—only glanced from me down to his superhero action figure in a split second. "Did you come over the border all by yourself?" He nodded. "Did you come through the main gate?" I asked, wondering how he managed to get this far from the main entrance. He shook his head, making me furrow my eyebrows. "Then how did you get over here?" After hesitating, he pointed to the area where there was a rip in the fencing. Someone could easily peel back the fence and cross over. "Why did you come over?" I asked. Without answering, he looked down at his plastic toy. "Do your parents know you came over here by yourself?" He shook his head. "Does Dean?" He shook his again and I exhaled a deep breath. "Come on," I said. "We better get you back home before your parents send out a search party for you." I led him to the main gateway at the border and we crossed over.

The whole way back to his house, I tried starting small talk, just trying to get him to speak to me, but he never responded. When we reached his white, two-story house sometime later, he stopped at the end of the sidewalk, looking worried. Taking a breath, I knelt down to his eye level. "I don't know why you came over the border or why you did it by yourself, but I do know how curious one can be about the opposite side," I told him. He stared into my eyes as I spoke. "Just be careful next time, okay? Curiosity can be a dangerous thing." He nodded and I stood up before leading the way up his sidewalk. I knocked thrice on the burgundy door.

Just a second later, Dean answered the door and immediately scooped Hadley up in his arms as soon as he spotted him. "You scared us all to death," Dean said, his blonde hair falling all over his face as he tightened his grip on the small boy.

I heard a mumbled "Sorry" come from Hadley.

A moment later, Dean set Hadley down and patted his head. "Go inside. Mom and dad will be happy to see that you're okay." The boy nodded before listening to his older brother. Dean looked at me, smoothly pushing his hair out of his face. "Did you find him?"

I caught myself staring into his different eyes, and noticed just how entrancing they could be. "Actually, a report came in about a little boy getting picked on right inside the border. I found a fourteen-year-old bullying him," I informed him.

His brows scrunched at my words. "He was on Ameliorate grounds?"

I nodded and immediately replied, "But don't be too hard on him. He just let his curiosity get the better of him."

Dean crossed his arms, not quite taking notes of my suggestion. "Curiosity killed the cat," he said sternly. I couldn't argue with that, so I just nodded. "Thanks for walking him home, though."