Republic of Omisha

Chapter 41: Headmaster

  Liam begins the meeting. He shows then a live feed of a riots all over Omisha. He explains the damage they have caused and how he's trying to save people so he doesn't want to stop the riots with bloodshed.

"We need you to go to Sebastian and put an end to the riots. Should you fail, I will be have to use force to stop them. Do you understand?"

Eliza nods. "I will bring Clay with me and Valerie. I'm sure if you stop pumping drugs into her system she will be a great help."

"I asked you alone, Eliza to do this." He snaps.

"I'd feel more comfortable with-"

"I don't care about your comfort level. You will go alone." His temper rises.

Sebastian caused the riots. He made the broadcast. Eliza can convince him onto their side and he will end the riots. She has to go alone or else she might get ideas to rebel.

Right now she thinks that she has power. He's letting her think that so she'll comply. He's manipulating her to think that his ideas are her's and using her to control others.

"Where am I going?" Eliza spoke up, dragging Liam from his thoughts.

"Sebastian's troop is congregated at the high school."

Liam hears Eliza let out a shuddering breath. He raises his eyebrows. "Bad memories?"

Eliza tilts her head. "I wasn't exactly a stellar student."

They sit in silence staring at each other. Then Liam signals to Helena, but holds Eliza's stare. Helena wheels Valerie and escorts Clay out.

"Why me?" Eliza asks, breaking the silence.

"Care to elaborate?"

"You could have anyone do your dirty work for you. Why me?"

"We're family, Eliza."

"Yeah, a broken family. You are my murderous uncle that gave the order for my mother's execution. Your sister." She began to raise her voice. "You sent Kalea and I to my death! You, my uncle, that I didn't even know existed until days ago!"

She went on ranting with her fury bursting at the seams. "You are a conniving, sick man! You don't value any life other than your own! I despise you and unless you can guarantee that you won't turn on me I refuse to do anything for you."

Someone's getting wise, Liam thinks to himself as a grin grows on his face. He has to suppress a chuckle.

"When did I betray you?"

Eliza lets out a strained laugh. "When? Um, I don't know, maybe when you killed your own blood! And when you blew up the Morris' home!"

"What makes you thin that I am in control of those decisions? There are eight towns with boarding schools and Omisha leaders."

By the look on her face, Liam can tell that he hasn't completely convinced her of his lie.

Back to the mission at hand, Liam says. "You'll head out in the morning so I suggest you get some rest. You will be briefed more in the morning."

Eliza turns to leave, but stops with her hand on the doorframe. She turns around and says, "Tell me something about my Mother."

Liam folds his hands and places them on the desk in front of him. "What would you like to hear?"

Eliza turns to face him and asks, "were you ever close?"

He smiles. "Yes. Well, as close as sibling a decade apart can be."

Eliza takes another step toward him.

Liam continues. "I used to sing to her, every night. Our parents didn't care much about us. Our Mother was out at bars ever night, and our Father only cared about respect. He'd hit us for doing any little thing."

He looked at Eliza. She craves to hear more.

"When it was our town, Cassanova's turn for the trials, my father purposely was last in the escape room. I was fifteen and he had been coaching me so that I would win."

"Why?" Eliza interjected.

"Because your grandfather was greedy. He wanted to live in the luxuries of one of the boarding school cities. He also wanted power, but only the trial winners have a chance to become Omisha leaders so he figured that he could influence me as a leader."

Eliza's eyebrows furrow. "That's horrible."

Liam clenches his jaw. "He told me to do whatever it takes to win. What was horrible was that I listened to him. When I was in the trials, there was this one boy who was older and faster than me. I knew that he would win so when it came down to it and we were the last two... I did what I had to."

He watches her disgusted expression.

"You don't think I feel remorse? You don't think it haunts me?" He begin to raise his voice. "Seeing the life drain from that boy's face is what keeps me up at night. That's why I am what I am today, a shell of a man. I am broken and killing him with my own hands is what did it."

He disgusts himself. He understands her repulsion. He also recognizes how she has been acting. Because of her grief she mirrors him. He just hopes that she can come back from it.

He didn't and lost the only one he ever loved, Lydia. Grief changed him and his sister grew distant from him. In the end they chose different sides when it came to saving humanity and he had to make the awful decision to kill the rebels and that included their leader, Lydia.