Refracted

- - 38 - -

Oh, you have got to be kidding me.

"What are you doing here?!" I spluttered.

"I'm leading the rebel group. Verity, I know what it looks like-"

"Do you know who she really is?" I shouted, expanding my voice so that everyone here could listen. "Do you know what she did? She is working for the government! If you really want to rebel, you should get away from this traitor as fast as you can. I trusted her too once and she betrayed me. Our goals are the same, we both want the government to be brought to its knees. But with her, our goal will never be achieved. I'm begging you, leave her."

"Verity, please, I-"

"Save it," I ordered. "Lucas is waiting outside with a team of VISORs. He'll be wondering what I'm doing soon."

I was glad that Lucas hadn't put a microphone on me. If he heard what I had said, I would be sent straight back to the facility. After hearing what he had done to Elyse and Amir, I had chosen my side. The rebel side was most definitely the losing one but I could never agree with someone who had that much blood on his hands. The pain and suffering he caused people was unimaginable and the worst thing was that he didn't even see anything wrong with it, to Lucas this all was just for the greater good.

I needed to escape the facility though; if I wanted to bring my brother down then I had to get out. Out here I could influence more people while remaining covert. I could access official information; I could access more civilians.

Yet there had been awful consequences too. Prices to pay.

I had to kill Elyse. In the moment, I had deemed my actions honourable, justified by ending the pain that Elyse had suffered. Now, I was doubting myself though. Wasn't that what Rachel had done? Hadn't she turned us in so that we wouldn't be met with a worse fate when our flawed plan let us down?

No.

She was getting in my head.

I stared down her falsely innocent eyes and waited for her next move, her reaction to my threat of which I had every intention of fulfilling.

"Okay Verity. I'm sorry to here of your predicament but we're going. I am sorry though, for everything I put you through. Please, give me a chance to explain. Meet me back here tomorrow at midnight and I'll answer anything you ask. We need you on our side."

I didn't say anything. I didn't know how. Her words were sincere but I just couldn't trust her. She betrayed me. So I didn't move.

Rachel took that as my permission to leave and she nodded to the group. Slowly, they backed away from me and turned down a corridor. One by one, they filed out through the narrow corridor. Each person followed Rachel. It was like they hadn't even heard my warning. I wondered how many of them trusted her as much as I once did. I wondered if anyone had loved her like I once had.

I heard the shattering of glass and heavy footfalls... then silence. They were gone.

I resented Rachel for putting me though that, for making me choose again between her and my safety. But my curiosity burned inside of me and I had to know. What was the worst that could happen? If she was telling the truth then I had the opportunity to get some answers and if she was lying then I could just say to Lucas that I was investigating a potential threat. It would be a poor excuse but a passable one, I hoped.

My heart rate slowed down and I convinced myself that it had only sped up because of the shock at seeing her. I had change since I last saw her. Since I was captured. I couldn't forget why I was captured either. I couldn't let myself forgive her that easily. She was a witch.

Once I was sure that they had gained enough distance to not be caught, I looked around for my own escape. The stairs from which I had come up were most certainly not an option.

Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be any options. And I wasn't stupid enough to jump out of the window like the others had.

Dodgy stairs it was then.

I took up a run up along the ledge and leapt at the last moment. Suddenly, I was flying across the gaping hole until I came crashing down on the other side. My foot slipped and I missed the landing. Tumbling down step after step, I curled up into the foetal position to protect my head until I final came to rest at the bottom of the staircase. Ouch.

I yelped in pain upon trying to stand up and realised that my ankle was probably sprained at the very least. Lucas came rushing in and saw me in a heap on the floor.

"Verity! What happened?"

I should have told him the truth, about the rebels and Rachel. But I couldn't do it. If it was a test then I had failed miserably but if there was a chance, even a tiny one, that Rachel was telling the truth... I had to know.

"I walked up the staircase to meet the rebels but the top step broke," I gestured to the hole. "The rebels saw me hanging on and asking for help at which point they left through a window at the top. I managed to pull myself up but slipped again and fell down the stairs. Which leaves me here."

Lucas frowned at me and I was certain he was going to call me out on my terrible lie. But then he started to smirk and a smirk turned into a smile which transformed into a laugh and grew to become a guffaw. He was howling at me and I scowled at him as I picked myself up.

Trying to keep what little was left of my dignity, I started to make my exit but winced at my ankle. I really hoped it wasn't broken. Lucas stopped laughing and without hesitation, he came and picked me up himself. His chest was warm and I buried myself into it, attempting to get out of the cold. I hadn't even noticed the goosebumps on my arms before. We left the building with me in his arms and if I didn't know his awful past and nature then I might have called him a gentleman.

Might have.

In a different life, he could have been an amazing. We could have been friends and our family might still have been whole. But there was no other life and in this one, he was the enemy.

Lucas propped me up in the hover car - ensuring I was comfortable - and got in his own side before the engine started up again. We left for our next destination without another word and me wondering why on Terra I didn't tell him about Rachel.

I was such a sucker for love.