That’s what haunts me most—the possibilities.
I never would have made the same choices that Robert and James had made that day. I wouldn’t have sacrificed the few for the whole. Maybe that made me selfish. I didn’t know. I just knew that they didn’t do it out of malice, or even hate of their own people; they did it because they hoped.
That didn’t make looking at my father any easier. After he managed to get Lockwood, Henry, and me back to the community’s temporary camp, I let myself get lost in the crowd of lost people. No home. No government. No place to go.
We had nothing to do but wait for the Eastern army to come for us.
Days turned into weeks. Weeks into months. Months into a year. And still, they did not come for us. Rumors floated around that word of our uprising spread to their people. Civil war erupted. Now that those in chains knew it was possible to break free, they were fighting.
Henry left when he heard these whispers. He needed a war to fight. I wondered what he would do when they found their fail-safe. How would he fill his empty life then?
I hadn’t talk to him since the day I shot him. Not once.
I spent most of my time with Louisa and Lockwood. It brought me a certain measure of peace to know they found happiness within each other. It was good to know that despite all things, happiness could still exist. We would still have to worry about her future if she ever decided to try for children. There were still answers to be found.
It’s what kept me going.
It was only three months ago that I found the map. Searching for a book in Lockwood’s tent, I came across McNair’s copy of Twelfth Night. I thought I had lost it back when Stephanie and I were taken. Lockwood explained that he found it when he came across Henry wounded in the woods.
As I flipped through the play, I became more and more engrossed in the story. It was a comedy, and I couldn’t help but wonder if James would have found the comedy of errors as amusing as I did. That was another way he continued to live for me as well. I constantly found myself wondering how he would feel about things, reminding myself that James died because he believed that by doing so I would go on feeling them.
I wouldn’t ever stop feeling again. You couldn’t feel the joy of life without the pain, and the joy was overwhelming. I heard it in the laughter of Sharon’s children. I saw it in the way Louisa and Lockwood looked at each other. I saw it in my own daughter’s eyes. The mismatched eyes she shared with her father.
I didn’t know what the future held for baby Jane. Would she possess superhuman powers like her father or would she be “natural,” like me? Only time would tell. And for once, not knowing was something beautiful. Either way, I knew she would be loved.
I had wondered if miracles still existed, and I had gotten my proof. Not in the way I begged for, but things never tended to go by plan.
When the map fell out of the book, I hardly knew what I was looking at. Scrawled across the top was a note:
Tess,
I hope that one day you are brave enough to seek out a brand new world.
~Robert
I ran to Lockwood’s tent and showed it to him immediately. “Is this real? Could this be an actual place?”
Lockwood ran a hand across his chin as he stared down at the map. “I mean, it’s one of the latest versions I’ve seen. See how the border crosses here,” he said, pointing down. “That was only after a battle that happened last year.”
“So, this place could be outside of eastern control? It could be a place to start over?” I asked, a lightness I hadn’t felt in a long time glowing inside of me.
There would be no guarantees. We could travel to this new land and there could be a whole system of people there waiting to enslave us with their strict laws and customs. It could be a barren wasteland. There was no way of knowing. All we knew was that it was a place Robert had circled. A place he dreamed of us going.
A place to start again.
As we gathered our group of explorers, a hodgepodge of men and women with a variety of skills we felt necessary for starting a new settlement, I made the arrangements the best I could. The list was extensive. We would have to find a boat. We would have to gather enough supplies to survive the voyage. Which meant that we would have to travel into occupied lands.
Only thirty people from the community agreed to go. I didn’t blame them. It was a gamble, a risk. But it was better than waiting around. The group included Sharon’s children and Lockwood and Louisa.
As we loaded the wagons and hoisted our bags over our shoulders, my father stood directly in my path. “You’re going to need a steady hand on your trip. You could find nothing but wild men where you’re going.”
“I have everything I need,” I replied.
“Let me go with you, Tess. Let me help you protect these people. Protect your girl.”
I crossed my arms on my chest. “I don’t like your way of protecting people.”
“You don’t like how, but you like that I do. Look—”
“Enough!” Everyone stopped and stared at the voice that boomed louder than anyone could ever imagine. “I have had enough of you,” Louisa continued. “You made a choice when you walked away from our family. Maybe you did it because you convinced yourself you were making the world a safer place for your children. But I don’t give a damn. You left, and there are consequences for that.”
I had never been more proud of Louisa than in that moment. I stalked past my father, not caring that I knocked my shoulder into his.
“Tess—”
I spun around. “I’m done with you,” I replied, staring up at my creator. “You want war. It’s all you know. It’s about time we try peace. I’ll fight if I have to.” I looked over the people who were following me into the unknown. “But I won’t search it out. We’re looking for a new world, and that world has no place in it for you. So, if you open your mouth one more time, I promise it will be the last time you do so.”
My father raised his eyebrows. Disbelief and amusement flickered in his eyes.
With a snap of my fingers, ten guns pointed directly toward him.
That was the last time I ever saw my father.
…
I don’t know what happens next. I don’t know that I’m making the right choice. I just know that the thing that made the last year of my life nearly unbearable is the thing that drives me now:
Possibility.
…
Did you love this Entangled teen novel? Check out more of our titles here!
Acknowledgments It’s hard to sum up an entire journey in a few, sparse words, but I will give it a try. Of course, I must thank the entire Entangled family. It has been my pleasure to take this first voyage into writing with each and every one of you. I can only hope that one day our journey will continue. Special thanks to the lovely Stacy for being such a great captain!
To my students…you threatened my life if I did certain things in my book. While I now live in fear, I am continuously grateful for the excitement you show for reading.
To the readers…read on! Thank you for allowing me into your world and venturing into mine.
About the Author
Tiffany Truitt received her MA in literature from Old Dominion University. Her debut series, the Lost Souls trilogy, is a searing look at what it means to be other and how we define humanity. Visit her online at www.tiffanytruitt.wordpress.com
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Also by Tiffany Truitt
/> Chosen Ones
a Lost Souls novel
Life is bleak but uncomplicated for Tess, living in a not-too-distant future where the government, faced with humanity’s extinction, created the Chosen Ones, artificial beings who are extraordinarily beautiful, unbelievably strong, and unabashedly deadly.
When Tess begins work at Templeton, a Chosen Ones training facility, she meets James, and the attraction is immediate in its intensity, overwhelming in its danger. But there is more to Templeton than Tess ever knew. Can she stand against her oppressors, even if it means giving up the only happiness in her life?
Naturals
a Lost Souls novel
Ripped away from those she loves most, Tess is heartbroken as her small band of travelers reaches the Isolationist camp in the mysterious and barren Middlelands. Desperate to be reunited with James, the forbidden chosen one who stole her heart, she wants nothing to do with the rough Isolationists, who are without allegiance in the war between the Westerners and Easterners. But having their protection, especially for someone as powerful as Tess, may come at a cost.
When James returns, Tess’s world once again feels complete—until she discovers her sister, Louisa, is in danger, held captive by the rogue chosen one George. Tess will do anything to protect her loved ones—but will the price be more than she can give?
Tiffany Truitt’s Lost Souls series is a thought-provoking, thrilling story that asks who the true enemy really is—the chosen ones who are different, or the naturals…who are just like us.
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Never was there a tale of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo…
But true love never dies. Though they’re parted by the veil between the world of mortals and the land of the dead, Romeo believes he can restore Juliet to life, but he’ll have to travel to the underworld with a thoroughly infuriating guide.
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, may not have inherited his father’s crown, but the murdered king left his son a much more important responsibility—a portal to the Afterjord, where the souls of the dead reside. When the determined Romeo asks for help traversing the treacherous Afterjord, Hamlet sees an opportunity for adventure and the chance to avenge his father’s death.
In an underworld filled with leviathan monsters, ghoulish shades, fire giants, and fierce Valkyrie warriors, Hamlet and Romeo must battle their way through jealousy, despair, and their darkest fears to rescue the fair damsel. Yet finding Juliet is only the beginning, and the Afterjord doesn’t surrender souls without a price…
Donna of the Dead
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Donna Pierce might hear voices, but that doesn’t mean she’s crazy. Probably.
The voices do serve their purpose, though—whenever Donna hears them, she knows she’s in danger. So when they start yelling at the top of their proverbial lungs, it’s no surprise she and her best friend, Deke, end up narrowly escaping a zombie horde. Alone without their families, they take refuge at their high school with the super-helpful nerds, the bossy head cheerleader, and—best of all?—Liam, hottie extraordinaire and Donna’s long-time crush. When Liam is around, it’s easy to forget about the moaning zombies, her dad’s plight to reach them, and how weird Deke is suddenly acting toward her.
But as the teens’ numbers dwindle and their escape plans fall apart, Donna has to listen to the secrets those voices in her head have been hiding. It seems not all the zombies are shuffling idiots, and the half-undead aren’t really down with kids like Donna…
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Seventeen-year-old Zayn has special powers she cannot control—powers that others fear and covet. Powers that cause the Templar Knights to burn Zayn’s mother at the stake for witchcraft.
When a mysterious stranger tempts Zayn to become the first female member of the heretical Assassins, the chance to seek her revenge lures her in. She trains to harness her supernatural strength and agility, and then enters the King of Jerusalem’s court in disguise with the assignment to assassinate Guy de Molay, her mother’s condemner.
But once there, she discovers Earic Goodwin, the childhood friend who still holds her heart, among the knights—and his ocean-blue eyes don’t miss a thing. Will vengeance be worth the life of the one love she has left?
Creators (Entangled Teen) Page 23
