Trapped | The Trapped Trilogy Book 1

Fifteen (Part 2)

Fifteen (Part 2)

"Change your appearance, your insides, your outsides... your DNA."

I look down at my hands.

"How...? Why?"

"I don't know."

"How can we fix it?" Peter shouts.

"You can't," My mom says.

I smash my hands down onto the table, the loud smack echoing off the walls as I walk out. I'm done with all of this—I'm done. I'm leaving. I'm going home.

Peter runs after me, and I hear my mother pick up her tablet and start to call someone on it, probably to report us, to stop us, to keep me from leaving and to keep me in this place containing her insanity.

"We don't have much time. Get me out of this place. Now," I say through gritted teeth.

He doesn't protest and starts weaving in and out of the halls. We reach the door of the room I almost drowned in when we first entered this wretched place. Peter opens the door, and presses a button. I hear the door seal itself, and the large one on the other side starts to slowly open, letting water in by the gallon.

"Don't let go," Peter tells me.

"Wouldn't dream of it."

The water reaches the roof, and he drags me out of the large door. We swim up for a long time, and, suddenly, there is air.

I breathe it in and grab on to Peter's arm with both hands. He wraps his arm around me to help me swim. I wipe my face off, moving the sopping wet hair from my face, and he starts to swim again. I look up at him and his face glows in the moon, tan and strong. The memory of us as children surfaces in my brain as we start to walk through the water, not touching any more.

"I remember you," I say over the rushing of the river.

"What?"

"You wanted to be a Cooker. I never said sorry to you."

He looks at me and smiles.

"It's okay. I forgave you long ago."

I give him a slight smile.

Footsteps.

I freeze where I stand.

Who is out here? Did Murkas find me? Find us? The Rebellion? Is that him, coming to take us away, to take me home? If he found out about all of this, I doubt he would spare me, the victim. But am I really the victim?

My blood runs cold at the thought.

"Hey! Hey, Hemmings! Hemmings! Over here!"

Ken.

I breathe a sigh of relief, letting it wash over me like the water rushing over my bare ankles and feet.

Peter laughs and runs up to Ken, giving him a high-five. I step out of the water and the wind raises goose bumps all over my body. Ken rushes over and hugs me. I laugh, and pat him on the back with one hand. The other stays around my stomach, trying to help me warm up.

"I was starting to worry. Y'all were gone a while."

"Yeah, well we're okay now," Peter says forcefully.

I look at him. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing. We just gotta go. They'll be looking soon. We gotta get you home."

Home.

What is my home anymore?

I look up at the sky, the stars twinkling. My mom always told me to make a wish when a shooting star would pass by. Her parents did it, and their parents and so on... And as one passes overhead, I feel almost at ease, the tail bright behind it.

I wish I could go home, I think, closing my eyes as I let the wish fill my heart, my body.

I open my eyes again. The bright full moon stares down at me, so big, so full...

It flickers.

I stop. Stare at it for a few more seconds.

Nothing. Not even a glimmer.

"Eenie," Ken says to me, holding out his hand to help me out of the water. I brush past it, staring at the moon. It can't be a...

"Hold on," I say, going one step deeper into the water. I keep my eyes on the moon, just waiting for something to happen, something to tell me I'm wrong, that I'm just insane. But my brain won't settle for that. What I saw just a moment ago drills into my brain, and I feel my heart rate speed up. Has anyone checked the limits past the river?

I let my eyes fall to the trees on the other side.

I have to know.

Peter takes a few steps closer to me.

"What are you doing?"

"I have to see something."

He laughs at me in confusion, probably waiting for an explanation. One he won't get until I know for sure, until I get there and see for myself.

I keep moving forward. The water reaches my hips, my neck. I'm on my tiptoes when I feel the current start to pull me.

"Eenie, come back!" Peter shouts, but I can hardly hear him.

I can do it. I just have to kick. Keep kicking, and I can make it across.

I hope.

I take one more step, and my head goes under water. I fight my way to the surface, drifting down stream further and further. I kick, trying to get to the other side, but the current is too strong to let me swim straight.

"Don't panic," I tell myself through mouthfuls of water as my heart picks up. "Stay above water."

There's a splash behind me.

I turn to see Peter swimming my way.

I kick away from him and propel myself along with the current. He catches up with me and grabs my arm.

"Let go!" I spit out water as the words do the same.

"Are you crazy?" He shouts.

"I have to do this! Let go!"

I rip my arm away, and he starts drifting away from me, despite his kicking. We drift down two different paths in the river bend, mine thin and calm while his moves fast. He pulls himself to shore with little trouble, and I turn to see where I'm headed. The water seems to go on forever and ever—

And that's when I hit the wall.

I knew it.

I study the wall in front of me, the water pressing against my back. It's smooth, unlike the walls of the domes. The panels are smaller, the size of the panels on the tablecloths at the Matching Ceremony.

The water pushes my legs past where the wall. There's a hole in the wall. Where could it lead?

I push myself under the water, feeling for the bottom of the wall, and pull myself below it. The water helps push me forward a littler more, and I kick my way up to the surface.

Air.

I hear shouting as my ears break the surface. By the time I wipe my eyes and look around, everyone is gone. I crawl out of the water and step onto the grass. The air seems thinner out here, and I start to breathe shallowly. My vision starts to blur, spots popping up. I'm not getting enough oxygen to my brain.