Artifice of Love

Chapter 8

Celine's hand shook, and the paper slipped out of her fingers, falling silently to the floor. Elliot bent down and picked it up, his eyes quickly scanning over the contents.

"This isn't normal," Elliot said after a moment. "It feels ominous."

Celine was lost in a whirlwind of thoughts. Had Jeffrey been right? Was this place too much for her to handle? But if that was true, then she wouldn't be able to trust Ashton. And Celine wanted to trust Ashton. She wanted to have someone she could lean on.

The girl with blond hair dashed into the house, her face red with impatience. "What's taking you so long? It's time to go."

Elliot held the piece of paper up in the air. "Explain this first."

She stopped in her tracks. "Oh, that." She paused before reaching out and plucking the paper out of his fingers. "You don't need to worry about it."

"I'm already worrying about it," said Elliot. "And we're not leaving this house until you tell us what it's about."

The girl forced a smile. "It originates from the word 'targe' which means shiel, meaning that you should be a shield to the community. You're also the 67th new family we've welcomed here."

"Sixty-seven is a lot," Elliot said. "But the town looks so small. Where are the other families?"

"Some of them moved away," the blond haired girl said, her face void of expression. "This community isn't the easiest place to live." She smiled, teeth glinting brightly. "And you won't be living here much longer if you don't hurry up."
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Celine and Elliot sat in the back of the black van contemplating their options but there was little they could do except wait for what would happen next. The longer they stayed, the easier it would be to decide whether their suspicions were correct. Celine stared out the window at the house, wishing that she could go back inside. Only a naive person would believe the blond-girl's lame excuse. Something else was going on. Something that made a ball of fear grow in her stomach like the beginnings of a tumor.

Elliot threw her knowing glance but Celine looked away. She took a deep breath. There was no other place they could go. And what was the worst that could happen?  She controlled her thoughts in an attempt to calm her nerves.

Before Celine could have more second thoughts, the girl with braces pulled the car out of the driveway and they were soon speeding along the road. Identical looking houses stretched out into the distance as if they had been cloned, making the town look monotonous and long-winding. The few other cars on the road where going in the same direction as them.

Celine gripped the sides of her seat, her fingernails digging into the fake leather. She wanted to go home. But she didn't know where home was. Was it the little house they had just moved into or her old apartment? She wasn't sure and she could feel her heart pounding with frantic anxiety.

"I forgot to ask," Celine said after a while, "But what are your names?"

There was a short silence. The van flew past an orchard of apple trees and a shimmery blue lake.

"We can't tell you our names," said the girl with braces. "Not until you are initiated into the community. It's against the rules."

Celine frowned. That was strange. Maybe it had something to do with keeping the town safe?

"Then what do I call you guys?"

"You won't need to call us," the blond haired girl chimed in. "We'll come to you if we sense that you need anything."