ᴛʜᴇ ᴇʟᴇᴍᴇɴᴛs (ʙᴏᴏᴋ ᴏɴᴇ)

CHAPTER SEVEN | WATER

"You got everything Lily?" My dad asked me as I walked out of the house and piled my bag into the back of the car. I gave a nod to my dad before climbing into the backseat.

"Yep!" I exclaimed while buckling uo my seatbelt. My dad gave me a smile and then closed the trunk of the car and then walked back around to the driver seat. A few moments after he climbed in the car rumbled to life and off we went to our new home.

'At least we aren't leaving The Edge,' I thought to myself while staring out the windows at the world going by us. The drive was fairly boring. After a while of staring out of the window, I turned my attention to reading my book. I was deep into chapter ten when I felt our car slow down and then pull to a stop.

"Well, we're here," my dad called out before climbing out of the car and going to the trunk to open it and get our stuff out. My eyes flicked away from my book before I placed a bookmark in my spot and stashed it back in my shoulder bag.

I peaked out the window and saw a beautiful, towering building with a tower and bay windows. My mouth dropped open and my eyes widened in shock as I took in my new home. I slowly climbed out of rhe car and stood next to it.

"We get to live here?" I asked my dad as he came to give me my suitcase. I turned to see him smiling down at me.

"Sure do Lils," he replied before turning back around to get the rest of our stuff out of the trunk.

"Come on Lily, let's go inside and explore," my stepmother said as she walked around the car to stand by me. I gave her a smile before nodding and running up to the large front double doors with my suitcase in hand. My stepmother wasn't far behind as I waited next to the doors for her to unlock them.

She stepped up next to me and pulled out a key. She inserted it into the lock and it opened with a soft click. I pushed the doors open and ran inside.

I dropped my suitcase onto the polished floors as I took in the sight in front of me. The entry had a double height ceiling and a grand staircase. It was a truly grand house. I picked up my suitcase slowly and then with a smile, dashed up the stairs to claim my own room.

I wandered through the upstairs hallways until I reached a bedroom that was a part of the tower. With three levels surrounding a circular room with a nice round bed, I placed my suitcase down and began to unpack.

There were already plenty of books on the shelves and I added my own as well.  I roamed the room until I found a giant walk in closet and on suit bathroom.

After I finished putting everything away, I decided to go explore the too floor of my room. As I climbed up the final flight of stairs, I noticed an old box with a beautiful silver swirling design on it. I picked up the box and gently opened it. Inside was a silver chain necklace with a matching heard pendant dangling from it's chain.

With a small smile, I picked up a note that was also in the box and my eyes widened as I read the letter. It was from my birth mom to me.

'How would've this gotten here?' I thought to myself as I stared at the note before turning my gaze to the pendant. I gave it another small smile before clasping the silver chain around my neck.

"Lily! We're going out shopping!" The voice of my dad echoed throughout the house. His voice snapped my thoughts away from the letter, necklace, and my mom. With one last look at the box, I turned and rushed downstairs and into the entry hall.

Both my dad and stepmother were waiting for me in the entry. With a smile at each other, we stepped out of our new house and into the yard once again.

The drive into town was okay. We listened to the news on the radio. Apparently some girl from The Capital got sent to a Camp here in The Edge. I forgot her name though. Mostly, I continued to read my book as we drove along the unfamiliar, yet pretty much boring streets of the last sector of The Edge.

"What are you reading now Lily?" I heard the soft voice of my stepmother ask me. I lifted my head from my book to blink at her and then smile.

"It's a book about The Queen, it's very good," I lied partly. It truth, it was a book about the last war between The Queen and the supposedly dangerous outside world. I knew she wouldn't have approved of what I was reading.

'I don't know why she doesn't talk about the wars, it's not like I'm defying the Queen or anything,' I thought to myself before turning my attention back on my book.

"Hey Lils, there's your new school," my dad said as we pulled up to a red light. I took a look out my window to see a tall building that was labeled "Last Sector Middle School" I gave a small smile ay the school.

"That's cool dad, I can't wait to start school," I said to him. He gave me a smile in the rear view mirror before continuing driving towards the large shopping mall ahead of us.
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We returned from shopping just before evening inspection. We all went and stood in the entry hall of our new house and waited for the inspector and guards to come.

We didn't have to wait very long, for a few minutes later a guard came barreling through the front door with the inspector a few feet behind him.

She was a young woman, around the age of twenty six or so. But, she wore the mask that all of the inspectors wear. She was completely professional at all times - this I was sure of.

She began to look each of us up and down. She passed by my dad, my stepmother, and then stopped at me. With that she gave me a scowl before motioning to a guard standing by the door.

"If you value your freedom you will relinquish that thing around your neck," she hissed out at me. My eyes widened and my hand snapped up to touch the necklace I had found. The necklace left for me by my mother. Who I will never see again.

A defiant streak came over me and I uttered the words I would never truly regret saying, even if it wasn't the right thing to say.

"No," I spat out "I'm not giving it sway to anyone," I hissed back at her. Her eyes narrowed and immediately two guards grabbed my arms and yanked towards the doors.

"W-where are you taking her?!" I heard my stepmother cry out as I was being dragged out of our brand new home.

"She'll be escorted to a Camp, if she behaves she could be back in a few years," I heard the inspector tell them. "Good night," she stated before following the guards who were restraining me out of my house and down the street to a transport van.

They shoved me inside and then chained my ankle to the floor with a sharp metal chain and cuff. Then the van rumbled and we were on our way.

With one last touch to my mother's gift to me, I closed my eyes and fell asleep, not ready to see what my future would hold.

But, I had made my choice. I had defied the law and the Queen

And I didn't have any regrets...