Iris's head was about to melt from the high voltage of thoughts. She noticed she hadn’t answered Colton.
"Iris?" He leaned closer. "Is something wrong?"
Iris kept looking in his eyes, distracting trances clouding her thoughts, her fear of being taken any moment crashing in on her. And with Colton near her, she felt a great desire. Not just for having him. But for life. It seemed so precious and so short all of a sudden. She ended up doing something shockingly beautiful.
21
Colton didn't have enough time to register what Iris was doing. She answered him in the most unexpected way. It was faster than lightning and mind blowing, but in a beautiful way. It was nothing like he’d imagined. As he was leaning over her, making sure she was alright, Iris pulled his neck closer to her with one hand. She did it fast, a bit too aggressive, as if her life depended on it. She pulled his face in until their lips met, and she kissed him.
Colton had never been so vulnerable. Many girls had done this to him before. He knew he was an attractive guy. He even liked his looks in the mirror. But Iris was different. Never had he felt his heart race this way. He wanted this so bad, but it was a little scary she initiated it.
What a crazy girl, he thought. No wonder I make excuses to be next to her. And I’ve only known her for three days.
Colton and Iris's lips stuck together for a while. She was inhaling him, and he did the same. He thought she'd never let go of him, until they were both out of breath. And he liked it.
But then Eva's image fluttered behind his eyes, right in his mind's eye. Something didn't feel right. Slowly, he pushed Iris away from him.
"I-I'm sorry," she felt embarrassed. "I mean, I don't know why I did this. I-"
"Iris," Colton shushed her. "It's alright. I liked it."
"You did?"
"It's just, I can't right now," Colton said. "I admit, I like you a lot. But I can't open up to anyone, before I am sure I did my best to help Eva--if I even can help her. But I need to make sure I didn't just forget about her and go on with you."
"Did you love her?" Iris leaned forward. Colton knew she wanted to talk about how he came to like her so fast, but she probably was embarrassed enough not to bring it up now. He had no explanation why he liked her anyway, so it was for the best not to talk about it.
"Of course I felt something for her," Colton said. "She was my girlfriend. It's just--you wouldn't understand."
"Try me." Iris patted him gently.
"Boys like me, with my family's history, with all the money we own, and with what I am expected to be in life, we don't really choose the girls we end up with. It surely looks that way, but it isn't always true."
"How so? I thought you could have any girl you wanted. Actually, I know this for a fact. You just need to spend ten seconds in the girls’ bathroom."
Colton laughed. "You shouldn't be telling me that. Anyhow, I can get most of the girls I want, as long as they're in my league. I don't get to meet girls from other factions or classes, and choose someone I like to spend my time with, like you," he raised his head to meet hers and touched her cheeks briefly, before pulling away again, remembering Eva.
Colton watched Iris speechless and confused. She must have never thought this about him, but he understood completely. Before he could open his mouth again, his phone beeped. It was twelve o'clock.
Both of them stared at each other, then placed their hands behind their ears, making sure they hadn't missed the sound of the Horn of the Beast.
"No Call," Iris said.
"So Vera is alright," Colton noted. "And we're back to square one. There is no relation whatsoever between the girls."
Iris sighed, and Colton patted her now. She pulled his hands in hers. "Don't worry. We'll keep looking until we know what happened to Eva," she said.
"Damn," Colton fisted his other hand. "I don't think I am doing my best. I am not using my mind the right way. There is something missing here. If only one of the girls ever came back to tell us what happened to her..."
"That's practically daydreaming, Colton," Iris said. "It will never happen."
"Think, Colton, think." He pulled his hand away from her and put both on his head. "Think," he said, one more time. He could sense Iris worrying about him, not knowing what to do. "What if the uprising in the past wasn't against the government or the old Council?" he wondered.
"Then who would it have been against?" Iris said.
"The Beasts," Colton gazed back at Iris. "What if the Beasts always ruled, and the uprising was simply against them, just like the little revolution going on now?"
"That's one heck of a thought." Iris didn't look keen about it. "Are you saying the Beasts ruled the Earth since whenever?"
"Since it began," Colton suggested. "What if they created the Earth? What if it’s only a playground, and they are watching us up there?” Colton stood up and talked to the gray skies. "You see us. Don't you? You're laughing at us. This is only some kind of a TV show for you. Right?"
"Calm down, Colton," Iris stood up, clinging to his arm.
"The uprising could have just been people like you and me, people that felt that this world doesn't make any sense." Colton told Iris. "The Beasts could be some kind of ugly, horrendous species that have great powers, but no looks at all. Something like that.” He paused for a moment. “Maybe they created this place and made fun of the people here. Others like us may have discovered this and rose up against them in the past, so the Beasts punished them and destroyed Earth."
"If so, then why did they create us?" Iris didn't look convinced in the least.
"Maybe we're only a better version of who lived here before," Colton said. "Like a version 2.0 of your favorite software or phone. We are their product, and they are enhancing us."
"Please calm down, Colton," Iris's eyes were moistening. "You're just feeling guilty about Eva. If the Beasts could create beautiful people like us, why didn't they fix themselves? Are you even listening to yourself?"
Colton took a deep breath. Iris made more sense than whatever his mind came up with. She was right. He was only maddened that he had no clue what happened to Eva. And now that Vera wasn't taken, there weren't enough leads to follow. He felt lost.
"Maybe we should just let it go." Iris said. Colton knew she didn't mean it. She'd just said it to calm him down. "Maybe we should just accept it like everyone else, or we'll go mad. Believe me, I've lost it many times thinking about this."
"But..." Colton said, holding her in his arms. The mere presumption that she was about to cry now, broke his heart. He knew by now that he didn't want this to happen to her. That he wanted to protect her.
"But what?" she leaned into his big chest.
"What if you're next?" Colton squeezed tighter. The thought of losing her too drove him crazy.
"I don't know, Colton," she said. "I don't know. I don't want to even think about it."
For the first time, Colton realized that as strong and stubborn as Iris pretended to be, she was just as afraid as any other seventeen-year-old girl in The Second. Something told him that he'd soon have to fight the Beasts for her.
22
Colton drove Iris home in his metallic car. Frankly, Iris felt like choking in it. Spending too much time in the Ruins, she'd started hating everything shining in silver, everything that felt inhuman to her. The Ruins weren't that bad, she'd been thinking along the way. Yes, they were grayed out and damaged, but there was some kind of unreasonable but beautiful, hope there. Iris imagined herself fixing the Ruins; planting seeds, building new houses, and bettering the soil. All the things she couldn't do here in The Second, because the Beasts decided on behalf on everyone. Hell, the red roses grew in the Ruins, through all that mess. They never made it in The Second, where roses were plastic, almost metallic.
Colton had been silent all the way back. She thought she'd pushed it too far, kissing him. Seriously, what girl did that? What was she thinking? She just couldn't help it. And although it looked like she were bold,
pulling him closer to her lips, she was as vulnerable as newborn birds, waiting for their mother to come back and feed them in the nest.
But Colton proved to be a smart boy again. He drove with one hand, while he stretched his other to hold Iris's hand. It was like he was telling her he wanted her, wanted to be with her. But she had to respect the time he had to give to Eva.
Iris understood that. In all truth, she'd crossed the line so many times when it came to Eva. People don't just get over girlfriends so easy, even when they were the likes of Eva and Vera.
"We've arrived," Colton stopped the car in front of her house and faced her. Iris said nothing. This was supposed to be the moment of the goodnight kiss. But it wasn't going to happen. Things were escalating so fast and she worried that maybe they were only hanging out together out of fear, not love. "I'll see you tomorrow?" Colton said. He sounded as if he were unsure he would.
"Tomorrow it is," Iris said, and pulled her hand gently away. "No goodbye kiss, huh?" she couldn't help it. She'd never acted like that before.
Colton laughed with closed lips. It was as if he was afraid if he opened them, she'd pull him closer again. "No," he shook his head playfully. "You have a best friend to call and gossip to about your adventures today. I know how this works in the girl world."
"I don't think so," she said. "It's late, and Zoe hasn't called me. I guess things are going well between her and Cody."
"Oh. So my younger bro scored big time tonight," he fisted his hand in the air and bit his lip.
"You're bad," Iris laughed. "Don't say that about my best friend."
"Is she really your best friend?" Colton said, his eyes scanning Iris's face in a gentle way. No one had ever looked at her that way, with all this care and eagerness. In fact, Colton's look was as good as a kiss for the night.
"I'd die for her," Iris said. "You have no idea how many times she's saved my ass."
"This ass?" he pointed at it.
"Come on," Iris said and got out. "You're really bad."
"Iris," he held the door before she shut it.
"Yes?" she tilted her head down.
"Next time we kiss, let me make the first move," he joked. "Please?"
Iris nodded, her face fluffy and red, like pink cotton candy. She shut the door and walked to her house.
Inside, Charles was sitting on the couch, watching the news. Rarely had Iris seen him watch the news, unless there was something of great importance happening in The Second.
"Hey dad," she said.
He replied by raising the volume. He was watching the news and looked worried.
"Is something wrong?" she wondered, and sat next to him.
"The Council is arresting any family that is still mourning their Bride," he said. "Any family that still has memories, pictures, evidence, or hasn't emptied the daughter's room after being Called by the Beasts."
"That's strange," Iris said. "I always imagined the Beasts knew about the few families not fully complying with the rules. I thought they just didn't bother that much. It's inhuman to think that every family can just pretend they've forgotten their daughter."
"The Beasts are inhuman, Iris." Charles said, still watching the news. "Your assumption is pointless."
"You're right, dad. But, why now?"
"I don't know why now, but I know they are arresting any family keeping a red rose somewhere in the house."
"What?" Iris's heart sank to her feet. "Our red rose?"
Charles nodded. "There are no red roses in this world but those you found in the Ruins. Red roses are evidence of breaking the rules now. It's considered to be the weapon used in a crime."
"Do they know about us?" Iris touched her father's face and pulled it slightly in her direction.
"Yes," Charles said. "They know there is a girl who gives a red rose to the families of the Brides. A girl they are looking for now." He had tears in his eyes. "I shouldn't have agreed to do this. I'm afraid they are going to hurt you now."
"But they don't know who I am," Iris said. "I never showed my face to the parents and I always used gloves."
"Do you think the Beasts can't get you if they wanted to? They already know it's a girl who sent the roses. How do you think they knew?" Charles said.
"Well, I run away after I ring the bell every time. Maybe someone saw me and recognized me as a girl. My hair could have fluttered from under the hood."
"I won't let them hurt you. You understand?" He held her face in his hands. Charles had rough hands. Hands that had been scratching, nailing, and digging into paintings for years. Hands of a carpenter, a painter, and a protective father. "I'll say it was me."
"Don't worry, dad," Iris patted his hand on her face. "I don't think they'll catch me." She looked over his shoulder at the TV. The news people were announcing that the possession of such a red rose had been declared prohibited. Illegal. They claimed it was a sign of an unjust uprising, and that the Council was going to stand up to it with no mercy. "This is ridiculous," Iris said. "Can't people of The Second see how beautiful the roses are? Don't they question where they really came from? What happened to these people?"
23
Iris finally retired to her bed after what she'd thought of as a day full of surprises. She thought she'd take some time, counting the stars outside her window, thinking of Colton. Wasn't this supposed to be one of the best parts of being in love--at least, on the verge of falling in love, she hoped?
But Iris was wrong. Going to bed didn't mean the day had ended. Her phone beeped, and for some reason she winced in her bed.
It was a message from Zoe. It was short and to the point. And most shocking: “Help me!”
24
"She's going to be alright," Cody stood before Iris and Colton. He was blocking them from entering Zoe’s room in the Downtown Hospital. He had called Colton to tell him about the horrible incident.
"What happened? I don't understand." Iris panted.
"It was Vera and her friends," Cody said, ashamed that he couldn't save Zoe. "They hurt Zoe."
"What about them?" Colton said in his usual calmness.
"Look, I'm sorry," Cody said to Iris. "I should have helped her. But the boys, Vera's friends, locked me in the room."
"You're making this worse, Cody," Iris said. "Tell me what happened to Zoe."
"Vera and her friends pulled a prank on her," Cody said. "A horrible one. I told Zoe that I had a bad feeling about it, but she didn't listen to me."
"Okay," Colton held his younger brother by the shoulder. "Take a deep breath and tell us what happened."
"Zoe and I were going to leave the party after the clock struck twelve," Cody said. "We were planning on going out on our own. We kinda... you know... things kinda clicked between us," Cody said in a faint voice.
"That's good to hear, Cody. What happened next?" Colton took care of the situation.
"Vera suddenly seemed overly nice to Zoe, and asked her to cut the birthday cake for her," Cody said. "As I said, I didn't like it, but Zoe thought she finally was blending in. Even though we'd been talking all night about us not fitting in at the party. If she just had stopped being so naïve and optimistic. Also, she and I were having fun, so she was kinda vulnerable, and let her guard down."
"Okay?" Iris said, her heart still racing, wanting to see Zoe right away.
"Once Zoe walked to the cake and held the knife in her hand to cut it, Vera turned all the lights off. The switches didn't even work anymore. I tried them. It was all planned. I heard Zoe trip, but that wasn't the worst part. All of Vera's friends had bought those night-vision glasses so they could see in the dark and they must have started scaring Zoe and poking her."
Iris and Colton flushed with anger, but they were speechless. It was hard imagining someone would do that to Zoe.
"The boys pulled me in a dark room and locked me in," Cody said. "I had no night-vision with me, so I started screaming. I didn't know where I was exactly. All I could hear was Zoe screaming and calling my name. I couldn't do
anything about it. I felt so ashamed." Cody didn't cry, but he was shivering. "Then I heard one of Vera's girls scream, and from there on, everything turned into a circus. Someone unlocked the door for me a little later. When I got out, Zoe had scratches and bruises all over her body, and the police had arrived."
"That's a good thing." Colton said. "Who called the police?"
"Probably Vera." Cody said.
"Why would she do that?" Iris asked.
"Because one of Vera's friends was lying on the floor with a cut on her arm. A deep one. My guess is that Zoe was scared, defending herself in the dark, and wounded the girl with the knife that was supposed to cut the cake. It was self-defense, but when the police arrived, Zoe was standing next to the birthday cake with a knife in her hand, spattered with blood, and there was a wounded girl on the floor. You could imagine how it looked in the eyes of the police."
"Unbelievable," Colton shook his head.
"Unbelievable?" Iris snapped at him. "That's all you have to say? Those are your friends who did this. Your league. Your kind."
"But--" Colton tried to speak.
"I'm going to kill Vera," Iris said. "I swear, I am going to hurt her so bad." Iris pushed the door open and entered the room. Zoe was sleeping, sedated with all kinds of tubes connected to her. It didn't look like a critical medical situation, but Iris couldn't imagine what kind of trauma her friend had had to live through. She ran to Zoe and hugged her, crying by her bed.
Cody and Colton followed, standing by the door. "I haven't told Zoe’s parents yet," Cody said.
"I'll tell them. Don't worry," said Colton. "You did the right thing, bro. How did the police let you go so easily? Didn't they consider her a suspect?"
"Vera dropped any charges," Cody said. "The whole thing was just to get away with hurting Zoe. They are not interested in putting her in jail. They already have many wounded friends to take care of. Zoe, although blinded by darkness, gave ‘em hell."
Pentimento: a dystopian Beauty and the Beast Page 9
