Tested

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Three

I woke up to screams and the sounds of glass smashing in the distance.

“What’s going on?” somebody murmured.

“It’s here,” Gerard announced, standing at the door with a torch in his hand. “The streets are a wash with blood. Guardians are turning on each other. There are looters and who knows what else. God help us all.”

“We need to do something,” I blurted before Dad could stop me.

Gerard grinned. “I look forward to it. Anyone who wants to go out there and protect this neighbourhood can come with me right now. I have some weapons, but we’ll make do with whatever we find. Good luck.”

Dad grabbed my arm. “Jess, what do you think you’re doing?”

I shrugged him off. “It’s my life, Dad. I’m helping. Parker risked himself to save us, and we’ve done nothing but cower in the dark. These people helped us, too. They deserve a little something in return.”

“I’m not letting you go out there alone.”

“Then come with me!”

“No! You’re staying here. Haven’t you made enough mistakes to realise you can’t make decisions for yourself?”

“That’s because you never let me have any real experiences! If I had had some sort of normal life then maybe I wouldn’t have been dazzled by that idiot, Dace. Maybe if you let me experience things for myself then I would know what to do! You’ve kept me locked away in hotel rooms my entire life while you dealt with everything. It ends now.” I held his gaze. “You can’t stop me anymore, Dad. It’s time I grew up.”

Most of the room emptied out, and I followed. Dad came, too, but he refused to look at me. We had been in a freefall for a long time now, with life growing progressively worse. Maybe if we had stood our ground, maybe if we had held our heads high and faced what was coming, maybe if we hadn’t run and hidden then our problems would have been dealt with already, once and for all.

“We take our chance and run,” Dad insisted once we were outside.

“No,” I said firmly. “I already told you I’m not running anymore. Things get worse when you run away, Dad. Surely you see that. You can’t keep burying your head in the sand and hoping it’ll all go away. This is happening now. This is the world. Running won’t change that. If we stand up for ourselves then maybe we won’t have to run anymore.”

“How am I supposed to protect you when you’re so careless with your life?”

I stopped walking and faced him. “This isn’t a life. Hiding in the dark. Running. Looking over our shoulders. This isn’t living, and I’ve had more than enough of it.”

A man slapped me on the back. “That’s the one. Die free or live in captivity. The little one wants to break free, and fair play to her. That’s what we’re all here for. All of us have spent too long running away from this. It’s time to end it for good.

“You don’t understand,” Dad said. “None of you understand.”

“Come on,” the man said. “Let’s go protect this neighbourhood for a start. After that, we’ll think bigger.”

I got caught up on the fire in his words and behind his eyes. The excitement flooded through everyone as we spread across the street.

There were already people there, armed and ready to defend their homes and businesses. They had been waiting for this night to come. I had listened to people talking, and I knew that these attacks were a nightly thing, that something out there was either trying to cause chaos or consume power. And I knew I couldn't get dragged along with the tide anymore.