Perfect

by Cecelia Ahern

  The guard gasps suddenly, perhaps seeing me, and she runs from the room.

  “Stacey!” she calls down the corridor, keeping the door open with her body so that I still can’t move.

  I quickly take a risk and wipe the rolling sweat from my brow, that single movement a danger. She returns with another guard. They’re whispering, heads close together.

  “That’s her. Celestine North.”

  “It’s not her, Linda,” Stacey says.

  They come close to me, and I try to keep staring straight ahead as if I don’t notice them.

  “She’s so young.”

  “She’s prettier in person.”

  “Probably lost weight, on the run.”

  “The fugitive diet. I could do with a bit of that.”

  One snorts and they laugh, then quickly shush themselves.

  “I knew Tina was hiding someone in that room. And the arrival of that uppity doctor. And having to read through all those rules. I wonder what they’re up to.”

  “Not our job to know or ask.”

  “Take a photo of me with her, will you?”

  “Stacey!”

  “What? Just for me. No one will know.”

  They giggle as Stacey fluffs her hair and crouches down beside me, arm across my shoulder as if we’re best friends on a night out.

  Linda holds the phone up in front of us; I can feel Stacey’s breath on my skin, can smell her sweet perfume. I try to focus on the television, but …

  “One, two, three … Goodness!” Linda says, taking a step back.

  “What?” Stacey jumps away from me as though I’m a bomb about to explode.

  “She looked at me.”

  “She can’t have,” Stacey says. “They’ve enough drugs in them to last them a week. Look at her, from the TV.” She clicks her fingers in front of Pia’s face. “Pia Wang reporting live,” she imitates. “Not so peachy perfect now, is she?” She chuckles.

  Linda isn’t quite so sure. I scared her, and I’m quite enjoying the power.

  There are voices in the corridor. Official-sounding, lots of boots on the ground. Another gang of Whistleblowers. They arrive at the door, push it open. Five of them appear. All wearing helmets. Two guard the door; three come inside.

  My time is up, they’ve noticed I’m missing.

  They file into the room and one lifts her helmet. It’s Kate. I try not to react.

  “We’re here under order of Highland Castle. I have a document for Celestine North’s custody officer.” Kate looks from one woman to the other.

  “That’s Tina,” Stacey says quickly, eager to get out of there, after their unprofessional acts with me only moments ago. “I’ll get her.”

  Linda clears her throat nervously. “I’ll come, too.”

  Kate follows them. As soon as the three have left the room, the second Whistleblower lifts his helmet and I see Carrick. My stomach leaps. Then the last Whistleblower reveals herself. Juniper.

  I gasp.

  “Rescue squad is here,” Juniper says, jumping into action. “We have to be fast. If anyone contacts the castle we’ll be in trouble. Quickly, put this uniform on.” She starts to strip off.

  Carrick looks away.

  “Juniper! What the hell are you doing?” I ask.

  “Taking your place.”

  “What? You—”

  “No time to talk,” she says urgently. “I’m doing this, no discussion. You disagree, you get us all into trouble. Stick to the plan.”

  I can’t believe it. I can’t let this happen. I can’t abandon my sister in this place, not with what they’re about to do to me in the operating room.

  “I’ll delay them. It will give you time to do what you have to do. Stand up. Take off the gown,” she says, annoyed now.

  “I can’t!” I say.

  “Of course you can!” She raises her voice.

  “Shh!” Carrick says.

  “No, I mean, I physically can’t. Crevan injected me with something. I can’t move my legs.”

  They both look at me then, and I see the fear in their eyes. The plan must be abandoned. How can we all walk out of here if I can’t walk?

  FORTY-FIVE

  “WE’LL CARRY YOU OUT,” Carrick says. “Keep going.”

  “Carrick, don’t be stupid, they’ll ask questions. It won’t work,” I argue.

  Juniper lifts the gown over my head.

  “Please don’t do this, Juniper.”

  “Stop, Celestine,” she snaps, annoyed. “It’s the only way.”

  “But Mom and Dad will never forgive me.”

  “It was Mom’s idea. She would have taken your place herself if she could.”

  Juniper removes her clothes and helps me dress. I can put the jacket on, as I can control my upper body, but the combat pants are awkward because I can’t lift myself. Carrick rushes over to help. I think of yesterday, when his eyes and hands were on my body. Perhaps he’s thinking the same thing because our eyes meet. Green eyes, hazel flecks. He didn’t abandon me after all. Juniper looks from him to me, then smiles happily, and I know she knows about us. They slide the red combat trousers over my legs, the boots on my feet, no time for socks.

  The pins and needles are spreading down to my knee.

  I see the F brands on Juniper’s temple and palm.

  “Mom did it,” Juniper says, out of breath, nervously as she moves. Then she looks at me softly. “All six of them.”

  She knows; it’s the first time we’ve ever discussed the six brands.

  Trust Mom and her makeup skills to pull off such authentic scars. As a famous model, Mom has been exposed to the best makeup artists, particularly for her wilder shoots. She’s managed to make Juniper’s brands look authentic, bubbling wounds newly scabbed over.

  Carrick pulls me up, but I can’t stand on my own. I’m numb from the knees down now.

  Juniper sees Gavin, Logan, Natasha, and Colleen in the front row. “Good,” she says, a hardness in her eyes.

  “Thank you,” I whisper, leaning in to kiss her.

  She wraps her arms around me tightly and hangs on. “I owed you, now go save the world, baby sister,” she says, and I see tears filling her eyes when we pull apart.

  When I returned home after my branding, I waited every day for Art to visit or contact me. He didn’t. I noticed that Juniper was disappearing from her room late at night, and one night I discovered them together, in our secret place on the summit. I jumped to the wrong conclusions. I believe now that it was entirely platonic. Neither of them had wanted to get me into any further trouble, but it took me a while to realize that. I thought they had both betrayed me. Juniper and I already made up over this, but I know she feels she needs to redeem herself. This act of love is way beyond what I thought she’d ever do. This is dangerous.

  Juniper places the helmet on my head while Carrick holds me up under the arms.

  Kate returns with Tina, who looks nervous. Stacey and Linda tag along, watching it all unfold, curiously. I hope Carrick and Juniper have a plan. I hope that Tina can protect my sister. I discreetly pass Tina her car keys and she quickly pockets them. Tina hands me a slip of paper.

  “A message for Highland Castle,” she says firmly.

  “We’re ready to move out,” Kate says, moving to the door.

  Carrick pulls me up beside him. The guards view me suspiciously.

  “Stupid bitch kicked me,” I say, disguising my voice as best I can, leaning all my weight on Carrick.

  They immediately look away from me to Juniper, in the chair, staring lifelessly at the TV. They ignore us as we exit and instead study Juniper.

  “Kicked her,” Linda says. “I told you she looked at me.”

  “Does she look different to you?” Stacey asks.

  “Famous people always look different in the flesh,” Linda replies.

  “I better get her to the bed for her operation,” Tina says. “Help me lift her into the wheelchair.” She lifts Juniper under the arms and the others hold
the wheelchair in place. Juniper does a good job of looking like a rag doll as she’s lifted.

  We march together down the corridor toward freedom, and I feel the greatest pain in my heart at leaving Juniper behind. Carrick holds me up and I attempt to move my legs to look like I’m walking. I know he’s using all his strength to keep me upright. The two Whistleblowers who were guarding the door follow us, and I try to guess who they are. Fergus and Lorcan would be too risky to bring to a place like this; perhaps it’s Mona and Lennox. One is definitely female. We all walk together out of the facility. I feel fresh air on my skin. We can’t be getting away with this, we just can’t.

  We reach a Whistleblower van and I recognize the driver: Marcus, Professor Lambert’s Whistleblower and Kate’s husband.

  Inside the van we all sit tight as we approach the security gates. I realize that we’re at Creed Barracks, the Whistleblower training college that is the national center for Whistleblower training and education. Set on ten acres and named after the town in which it’s located, Crevan has created his own facility away from the main headquarters, to hide the people who threaten him. He won’t be able to keep this up for too long—my sister is in there, people who tried to help me are all in there. My heart pounds as we slow at the gates, as Marcus lowers the window.

  He holds out his arm and waves confidently to the guard in the security hut.

  Everybody is silent. A collective intake of breath.

  The guard leaves the security hut and makes his way to Marcus.

  “Can you open up the van? I just need to take a look. New rules.” He looks at Marcus like he appreciates these rules as much as a hole in the head.

  “Sure.” Marcus unlocks the doors. “What are you looking for?”

  “Extra bodies.”

  “Not a bad idea. We need them. It’s getting wild out there,” Marcus says.

  “Tell me about it.” The guard slides open the door and takes us all in, like he’s doing more than just counting us. I feel like I’m going to vomit.

  Kate lifts her helmet off. “Hi, Ryan,” she says casually.

  He nods at her. “Hey. Okay. Thanks.” He slides the door shut, gives it two bangs with his hand.

  The gates open. I will Marcus to drive away at top speed, but he can’t raise suspicion. He takes his time.

  Far enough away from Creed Barracks, the two mystery Whistleblowers remove their helmets and Mona and Lennox grin at me.

  “Thanks, guys.” I hug them, and Mona squeezes me tightly.

  “Did everyone from Vigor make it to Professor Lambert’s safely?” I ask.

  “Everyone except Bahee,” Lennox explains. “We decided to take a detour and abandoned him on a road somewhere in town.”

  “We left him exactly where he dumped Lizzie,” Mona explains, fire in her eyes, payback for her friend Lizzie. “We asked around for her, but it wasn’t the safest area in the world. We had to get out of there fast.”

  I can tell she feels guilty for not searching for her friend sooner, for not realizing that her disappearance was sinister.

  “We’ll find her,” I say encouragingly.

  “Even after all he’s done, Bahee actually thought we were going to bring him to Professor Lambert’s with us,” she says angrily. “I give him one week max on his own before the Whistleblowers find him. He’s got no idea how to survive out there.”

  “What if he talks to the Guild?” I ask.

  Carrick shrugs, nonplussed. “I doubt he’ll tell anybody about Alpha and Professor Lambert. They’ve been his only lifeline all this time. He hasn’t a clue of any of our plans anyway.”

  “And what a house the Lamberts have,” Lennox wades in. “Good call, Celestine.” He holds his hand up for a high five, and I laugh as our hands meet in the air.

  “You were right, Celestine, they’re good people,” Carrick says, and I hear the apology in his tone.

  Everyone apart from Kate and Marcus starts taking off their uniforms in the van as Marcus speeds away, no time for discretion.

  “Anyone stops us now, we’re taking you guys in, okay?” Kate warns, and we all agree.

  Carrick hands me a bag of clothes. Juniper must have brought them. I’m gaining feeling in my legs but nowhere near enough to take off the trousers. Carrick doesn’t say a word and starts untying my bootlaces. The simple act brings tears to my eyes.

  “Thank you, everybody,” I say again.

  “We can get you out of a whole lot of little messes as long as you get us out of the big one,” Lennox says, and I get it. I finally get it. We’re in this together; it’s not all on me. Every person here is taking a massive risk, too.

  “How did you find me here?”

  “Carrick followed you,” Mona says.

  I look at Carrick, but his eyes are down, taking off my boots.

  “How did you get in touch with Juniper?”

  “Last number dialed on Raphael Angelo’s phone,” Carrick says, with an unimpressed raise of his eyebrow. Not one of my smartest moves. Always pulling other people into my trouble.

  That thought leads to another, horrible one. “What’s going to happen to Juniper?” I suddenly panic. “They’re planning on doing a skin graft.”

  “A skin graft!” Mona says, confused. “For what?”

  She doesn’t know about the sixth brand.

  I look at Carrick, worried.

  “Don’t worry. There’s a plan in action. Your mom is going to charge in there, with a solicitor and a police officer, as soon as we give her the word, and she’s going to accuse them of taking the wrong daughter.”

  My mouth falls open. “Do you think it will work?”

  “It will work,” Whistleblower Kate says confidently, and I wonder at what point she changed sides and why, or if she was always against the Guild and just found a better way of fighting them, from within. I’d love to talk to her more, but now isn’t the time.

  “Maybe my mom should charge in there with Bob Tinder, too,” I add.

  “Bob Tinder?” Carrick’s brow furrows, looking up at me as he slides a boot off my foot. “He’s the new editor of The Voice.”

  “He used to be head of Crevan Media’s newspaper,” I explain. “He’s my neighbor. His wife, Angelina, was branded. Before us. Something to do with a disagreement between Crevan and Bob, it was Crevan’s way of punishing Bob. His daughter, Colleen, is in there. She’s one of the missing students.”

  “Are all the students in there?” Kate asks suddenly, leaning forward.

  I nod.

  “Logan Trilby?” she asks, and I cringe at the sound of his name. Just thinking of what he put me through still hurts, and he was the worst, the most malicious of them all.

  “Then perhaps the famous married Trilby priests should storm in there and find their son, too,” Kate says thoughtfully.

  I shake my head. “His parents would go straight to the Guild with that kind of information. They’re the Guild’s biggest supporters; they blame me for everything. They’d never believe you.” I recall their interview on Flawed TV when they blamed me for Logan’s disappearance.

  “They’d listen to anything if it meant finding their precious son,” Kate says, sharing a knowing look with Marcus, an unspoken plan brewing between them.

  “An idolized model, a respected religious duo, an angry newspaper editor. They’ve annoyed the wrong parents.” Mona smiles, almost gleefully. “What about the other kids’ parents?”

  “Natasha and Gavin,” I say quietly, remembering how they stripped me in the shed and examined my body’s scars. Then I picture them from only moments ago, eyes glazed, practically drooling on their red hospital gowns. I’m so conflicted. I hate them and I pity them. I’m relieved they’ve been punished, and feel guilty at the same time.

  “I say leave them in there,” Carrick says angrily. I can’t meet his eyes. He must know what happened to me; Pia Wang as Lisa Life documented the entire event in its awful detail.

  While Marcus and Kate excitedly discuss thei
r plans, inside I tremor, because I know exactly the place my mother will be entering and the kinds of people she will be accusing.

  It won’t be easy. When it comes to the Guild, nobody is untouchable.

  FORTY-SIX

  MARCUS DRIVES KATE, Mona, and Lennox back to Professor Lambert and Alpha’s mansion, where they are all hiding. I have visions of Evelyn in a pink bedroom of her own, brushing a doll’s hair, and even if it’s not true, I want her to be somewhere where she feels free. I know Alpha will give her the best life she can. But Carrick and I aren’t safe yet. The van stops in what seems to be the middle of nowhere, at a row of shops. It’s late and they’re all shut, apart from a Chinese takeout.

  “Just me and you,” Carrick says, sliding the van door open, checking left and right before hopping out.

  I would quite happily go back to Alpha’s house, have a bath, eat, sleep, and pretend none of this has happened, but it’s gone too far for that. Juniper has taken my place. The clock is ticking. I have to do as much as I can before they realize she’s not me.

  “Good luck,” Kate says, before sliding the door shut.

  And as quickly as that, Carrick and I are on our own again. Creed Barracks was out of the city; Marcus and Kate brought us to the outskirts, the suburbs. Carrick is holding me up again. I look around for someplace to hide, not that it matters much at the moment, as we’re on a relatively quiet backstreet and the sun is down. It is easier to hide under the cover of darkness, but harder after curfew, when checkpoints are raised, and curfew is not far off.