The Roman Project: The Wronged

Chapter 27

Jeen walked down the stairs, the muffled sound of news coming from the living room. Most everyone were already dressed and ready for the day.

The day that would be the same as every other.

She passed by the living room, walking into the kitchen, hoping they would ignore her as they usually did. She opened the refrigerator, staring inside until she realized she had no appetite.

"Hey Jeen." Roman said from the living room.

"What?"

"Com'here." He mumbled.

She closed the fridge with a sigh, walking to the living room. Stopping behind the white couch, she looked at Roman expectantly.

"What?"

He looked back at her, motioning towards the viewer with a nod of the head.

She frowned, it wasn't from the news, but something different. The screen was black, the words white and fuzzy. A deep and electronic voice played over it, skipping out over every other word like a glitch.

"What is this?" She asked after a minute, frowning.
"Something Shane set up. Just read it." He said.
The Romans are gone without a trace. Send search parties and surveillance to the border of Pleruk. The Romans are a dangerous risk to society and my citizens right of safety. catching them is your number one priority. For now restrict citizens traveling surfaces except cargo transport. Double the number of wardens in each sector.

Jeen bit her lip to stop her chin from trembling, covering her face with her hand. She couldn't continue reading.

Roman, Shane, Wen, and Londen.

They were looking for them everywhere. Even on the borders of Pleruk. The Pler people's land.

Their house was on the border.

She glanced over at Shane, the thought that had been nagging her all day on the tip of her tongue.

Looking down at her feet, she took a deep breath.

"Shane, I-I can do it."
She couldn't believe the words coming out of her mouth. Shane turned to her, silent as he waited for her to continue.

"I can find my Dad if you promise that I can come back as soon as I find him. That there won't be any delays." She said, moving in her seat on the couch.
"I can't promise that, but I can try." He stated.
She took another deep breath, suddenly finding it hard to breath as everyone in the room stared at her, waiting for her to make a final decision.

"You've given me two days to figure out if I should do this, what if I can't?" She began, her voice raising.

"I've given you two days because you've been in an emotionally unstable position for a month, but now we're running out of time."

"Running out of time? For what?" Jeen said, throwing her hands in the air, her cheeks warming as her temper rose.
"Running out of time before you're stuck here like us. Lionel isn't looking for you, he's looking for us, the Romans. Laws are becoming stricter. Travel and communication with other countries and colonies are soon going to be gone. There's nothing we can do about it, but there's a possibility - a possibility - that could change. Don't get angry, you just said you would."

Jeen gave him a disgusted look, knowing he was right but refusing to tell him.

Jeen bit her nails nervously as she paced the empty dining room, deep in thought. She was caught between staying and leaving, no decision seeming better than the other. The lights from the glass chandelier flickered above.

She looked up, light catching the cobwebs that hung in the air. She breathed in deeply, realization filling her brain. She turned, her footsteps breaking the silence of the room.

Jeen entered the living room, the viewer still on but nobody watching. She walked to the door, pulling it open and rushing out. The sky was silver, waves crashing against the shore, salt wafting into the air. She glanced down the porch, Shane sitting in an armchair, holding an ovi-form, reading something on the screen. She ambled across the porch, biting her lip as when she stopped.

"When should I leave."

He looked up, shutting his ovi-form off.

"What changed your mind." He asked, his tone unsurprised.

"Nothing really, it's just - I can't stay here forever. I can't stay stuck like this - like-like floating along, do you know what I mean?" She said, trying to keep her voice strong.

"I know what you mean. Like you're stuck in sand, but trying to ignore that you are."
Jeen frowned, almost finding his words humorous.

"That's a strange way to put it, but yeah." She said.

Shane nodded. "I could've thought of a different scenario, I admit."

Jeen nearly smiled, but her thoughts went back to her plan.

"Can you promise that Roman will be safe, and that you guy won't get caught until I come back."

"I'm glad you can still find a way to joke." Shane said.

"I was serious." Jeen said with a small smile.

"I can't promise that, I can't promise a lot of things, but I can give you my word that I'll do my best."

"Thank you Shane." Jeen said, feeling as if a weight was lifted from her shoulders.

She turned, looking down at the figure walking down the beach.

"I haven't been there for him." Her voice wavered as she spoke.

Silence settled in the thick air, the distant sounds of the ocean in her ears.

"You can be there for him now." Shane said, standing to his feet.

"Yeah, except now I'm leaving." She sighed.

"I can fix that."
Jeen frowned. "How?"
He pulled a device out of pocket, Holding out a squared palm sized devise.

"What's this?" She asked as she picked it up, examining it in her hands.

"It's for video messages."

"You serious? Did you make it?" Jeen asked, smiling.

He nodded. "Yes, but one downside is that the closer you are to Nomad, the will begin to be delayed."
"Delayed?" Jeen asked.

"The time it will take for or messages will reach you." He elaborated.

"How long though?" She continued.

"Hard to say exactly how long, but I'm guessing one weeks delay by the end of your journey." He explained.
"What about when I'm on Nomad, will it still work?"

"Yes, but it will take up to two weeks to receive anything." Shane said.

Jeen was silent for a while, looking down at the beach.

"When do I leave?" She asked, squinting as light shined through the clouds.

"Two days."
Jeen's head whipped over to Shane.

"Two days?" She said in disbelief, her voice rising. "That's too soon."

"I'm sorry, but there's no other way." Shane answered with a shrug.

Jeen sighed, trying to relax the rising tension inside herself. She wanted to talk to Roman, she really did.

Though there was something stopping her. Like a wall between her and him. It didn't feel the same, she wished it wasn't that way, but it was. She had to accept it. 

(only 1 or 2 more chapters and I'm finished with this story! I've been writing it since 2016, and most of the chapters i upload (save the recent few) i wrote a while ago. When i finish writing the end I'm gonna go into some serious editing. And then onto book 2! Thank you for reading and give it a vote if you liked it!)