Arcadia

by L. J. Higgins

  “Ebony and I were sent by Prophet Brent to teach you a lesson for murdering Lula.” His gun stayed trained on me as he scanned the faces of our group.

  “He's not here Seth.” Maya placed her hands on her hips.

  “What? Where is he? Where's Alice?” The determined expression left his eyes and he lowered his gun a little. Ebony's hands began to shake.

  “They stayed at the military compound. Don't even think about looking for them, the guards will shoot you on the spot if you go anywhere near them,” replied Braven.

  Seth wiped the palm of one of his hands on his pants, still holding his gun with the other. He looked back towards Ebony.

  “What now? We can't kill all of these people,” Ebony's voice trembled.

  “The prophet sent us to avenge Lula's death. Someone needs to pay for what he's lost,” said Seth.

  “We understand Brent must be upset, but none of us killed her,” said Braven.

  “Shut up!” Seth yelled, the barrel of his gun sweeping towards Braven.

  “Seth, we should just go,” said Ebony.

  “You!” He aimed his weapon back at me. “Tyler and you had something going on. He'd be upset if we killed you.”

  Fletcher stepped forward attracting his attention. “I doubt it. He was more than happy for Aurora to leave him at the compound.”

  “Argh.” Seth rubbed the back of his neck before his eyes widened. “The pendant, give me the pendant and we'll let you go.”

  “What pendant?” asked Vega.

  “Don't play dumb with me.” It was Vega's turn to stare down the barrel of his gun. “I know you have it. If I can't appease the prophet with the death of Alice then I can at least return with the pendant.”

  My mouth gaped open like a fish struggling for air but no matter what words formed in my mind I couldn't speak them allowed.

  “Why do you want it? There's nothing it can do for you or Brent,” asked Braven.

  Fletcher tried to edge closer to me but was spotted out of the corner of Seth's eye. “Stop, stay away from her.”

  I stared into his eyes trying to find something behind them, something familiar to show me the test results were true. They darted around each of my friend's faces with panic and fear.

  “Stop staring at me,” Seth snapped.

  I shook my head, bringing myself back to reality. Fletcher's eyes searched my face for a reaction. He was the only one who I'd told Seth was my brother. “Sorry, I…”

  “She's probably in shock.” Fletcher stepped forward distracting Seth from me and drawing the attention of his gun. “You show up yelling at us like a lunatic when we're fast asleep. What did you expect?”

  “Seth, we should go,” urged Ebony.

  “No. Brent sent us to avenge Lula and we can't go back empty-handed.” Seth held the gun higher, his steely gaze returning.

  “Seth,” I said. His familiar emerald eyes met mine and any doubt I'd had evaporated. Dad was right. Seth was my twin brother. “Please, put down the gun. Talk to us. We don't want to hurt either of you, we want to finish what we set out to do.”

  He thought for a moment before his lip curled up into a snarl. “This is all your fault you know. If you had stayed away from the cottage, from our camp, none of this would've happened.”

  “And Alice and Tyler would still be miserable. Is that what you want?” I asked.

  His stare relaxed for a moment but he kept his resolve. “Brent is our prophet. Tyler took someone he loved and he wants to take someone Tyler loves for retribution.”

  “Are you listening to yourself?” asked Fletcher. “You can't believe this God of yours would think the answer is murdering a six-year-old girl?”

  Ebony lowered her weapon and stepped towards Seth placing a hand on his back. “Let them go, Seth. He's right. I'm no murderer. I want to go home.”

  Seth shook her off. “You know we can't go back empty-handed. You know what my punishment will be.”

  He attempted to hide the wobble of fear in his voice as he spoke, but even if he'd been successful, Ebony's frightened gaze gave him away.

  “He'll understand. We'll just explain we weren't able to get close enough to Tyler or Alice to carry out your mission,” said Ebony clutching at his bicep.

  “And you think he'll just pat me on the back and say, 'oh well, at least you tried'?” he said.

  Her shoulders sagged. “No.”

  “Exactly.” He turned his attention back to me. “But if we go back with the pendant, at least he might give me a second chance.”

  I clutched at the pendant resting against my chest. “You're not getting it without a fight.”

  “Enough!” said Richy. “There's no way we're letting you leave here with the pendant. You might have your orders from this prophet of yours but my orders are to get this group and the pendant safely to the Arcadia compound. You might have a gun but it's six against two. Even if you manage to get a shot off the rest of us will be on you before you could blink.”

  Seth rubbed the back of his neck before his eyes landed on me again. “Everything was fine before you arrived. Brent was training me to be his first in command, now because of you, he doesn't trust me. He says I have to prove my loyalty. I can't go back without something to appease him.”

  The desperation in his eyes almost made me drop my guard, almost made me feel sorry for him. Almost.

  “Your prophet is nothing more than a master manipulator and a self-serving bully. We've come too far and lost too much to simply hand over the pendant because it will make your life a bit easier when you return to that horrid camp of yours. I understand you're scared of him, but there must be a piece of you that understands what you're doing is wrong?” I said, searching his eyes for a shred of decency.

  “I'm serving my prophet.” He raised his gun to aim it at my chest. “It is because of him I'm who I am today and I'm not going back without the pendant.”

  I stepped towards him. “Don't do this. Don't be the monster Brent created you to be.”

  “I'm no monster. I'm a disciple of Prophet Brent,” he growled, gripping the gun tighter.

  “Seth. Please,” Ebony begged.

  Seth ignored her, his eyes locked on mine. Did our mother have green eyes or was it our father?

  “Before you pull the trigger there's something you need to know.” I swallowed hard, my heart thumping against my rib cage. I reached into my pocket and slipped out the grubby piece of paper, extending my hand as slow as possible. I could sense Fletcher's gaze burning into me, and the confusion from the others filled the air making it hard to breathe. I'd done the one thing to them I hated my parents for doing to me, kept secrets.

  “What's that?” he asked, snatching it from my hand and handing it to Ebony.

  Ebony unfolded the paper and read it, looking between Seth and me, putting the pieces together until her mouth fell open, and she placed her hand over her heart.

  “Seth,” she whispered. “You can't shoot her.”

  “Why not?” his voice wobbled.

  “I think she's your sister.”

  Chapter Three

  Seth snatched the piece of paper from Ebony's hands, his eyes scanning the document, widening before they landed on me. “Where'd you get this?”

  “My dad gave it to me. When we were on Eden he ordered a test without telling me,” I said.

  “Where is Benjamin? Why isn't he with you?” he questioned, looking over the rebels faces.

  “He was shot by the floating city guard and hasn't woken up. But before he blacked out he made me take the piece of paper in your hand and said your name.” I could sense the eyes of my fellow rebels burning into me. I hadn't told them, now it was me keeping secrets and having them revealed when they least expected.

  “Aurora, you've known all this time?” asked Maya.

  I gave a slight nod, finding it hard to look her in the eye.

  “Why didn't you tell us?” she asked.

  “I told Fletch. I didn't know how to process i
t. I thought I had time to make sense of it then tell you when I was ready. I didn't expect to be woken by him at gunpoint on top of a mountain.”

  A guilty expression flashed over Seth's face before he found his resolve once more. If he'd been shocked to find out I was his twin he wasn't showing it.

  “No wonder you've been off lately. You didn't have to deal with all of this on your own,” said Vega.

  “Not on her own. She had me,” said Fletcher.

  “I was going to tell you. I promise,” I said.

  “I knew he suspected we were siblings, but I didn't think I'd find out for sure,” Seth said to himself.

  Ebony rubbed his back.

  “You knew?” I asked, stepping towards him.

  “The day you visited him at his cottage and he told you about your parents. The names he said. They were my parents' names. They told me about giving up my twin sister when we were born, but after everything you've done I didn't want to believe it was you.”

  Heat spread through my veins, and my jaw clenched tight. “Everything I've done? You didn't want to believe it was me? Do you think I'm impressed my long-lost twin ended up being the one guy in the world I'd be happy never to see again?”

  “Aurora,” said Fletcher stepping towards me.

  “No Fletch.” I held up my hand to stop him from coming closer and stepped towards Seth pointing in his face. “This guy comes in here, threatening to kill one of us for revenge after he drugged Braven and me, and kept us in a dark hole in his ridiculous camp. Then he stalked us and almost got us killed a second time. Now he has the audacity to say I'm not who he want's as a sister. Well, here's some news sunshine, you're not exactly the sibling I'd dreamed of either.”

  “Hey, you have no idea what Seth's been through,” Ebony spoke up, shielding Seth from my onslaught.

  “Well if instead of treating someone he thought was family like crap, maybe he could've told me his suspicions and not been so damned cruel.”

  “You don't know what it's like working for Brent. If Seth doesn't go back having killed Alice so Tyler suffers like Brent has, he'll do much worse to Seth than he ever did to you.” Her words stilled my anger if only for a moment.

  Then Seth opened his mouth again and the tension in my muscles returned. “Ebony, you shouldn't speak poorly of our prophet.”

  “He's not here Seth, he can't hear me,” she replied.

  “He's the prophet. He hears and see's everything,” said Seth.

  “That's what he tells you,” she mumbled in reply.

  “Do you hear yourself? You've just found out I'm your sister and your worried about whether she called him the prophet or not? You people really have issues.” I balled my fists at my sides.

  Fletcher gripped my arms and pulled me back into his chest, taking the edge off my anger.

  “What now?” asked Vega. “We can't exactly attack Aurora's brother, can we?”

  “Why not? He didn't pay us the same courtesy,” replied Braven.

  “I can take him back to the compound,” suggested Richy. “They'll deal with him there.”

  Maya took a step towards him. “And take him to the people he wants to hurt the most?”

  “Plus, we need you to help us navigate,” I added. Fletcher released me from his arms deciding I'd calmed down enough not to punch Seth in the face.

  We all fell silent, tension stilling the air.

  “Maybe we can come with you,” suggested Ebony, breaking the silence and looking for Seth's reaction.

  He turned towards her his eyes narrowed. “You want us to side with the enemy? Abandon Prophet Brent?”

  “Seth, he abandoned us years ago. The moment he trained us to be his puppets he stopped caring. I'm sick of having to do his dirty work to stay safe. From what you told me these people are at least fighting for something.”

  Seth looked around as though checking they weren't being watched. “These people are the reason we're in this mess in the first place. You need to stop speaking poorly of the prophet Ebony. You're going to get both of us in trouble.”

  Ebony grabbed his shoulders, staring him straight in the eyes. “He can't hear or see us out here Seth.”

  “What makes you think we'd want you to come with us?” asked Vega, crossing her arms over her chest.

  Ebony waited till she received a small nod from Seth before letting her hands fall and standing beside him. “Nothing. You probably don't want us. But even if they hate each other shouldn't Seth and Aurora have the chance to get to know who their sibling is?” Ebony turned to me, her eyes searching for some kind of empathy. “The Seth you know, he's not the same Seth I know. He can be kind and caring and extremely loyal to the point he would risk his own life to save someone he cares about.”

  My thoughts and feelings played tug of war in my head and heart as I weighed up my options. I couldn't deny part of me had been curious from the moment I'd discovered he was my twin. I'd wondered if he would've been so cruel had he known. Would he have chosen his sister or Brent? But he had known, or at least suspected, and he'd chosen Brent. But from what Ebony was saying he was choosing Brent out of fear. The fear he'd lose the only family he'd known since his parents died. My birth parents.

  White dots sprinkled across my vision and my head grew light, forcing me to stumble a little. “I think I need a minute.”

  “Ebony and I need a quiet word,” added Seth. He lowered his weapon and turned towards Ebony whispering a quiet conversation.

  Fletcher stepped forward for me to lean on him and lead me away from the group.

  “We'll watch these two,” said Richy, his gun now in his firm grasp helping me relax if only a little.

  “Do you want a drink? Something to eat? You've gone pale again,” Fletcher lowered me to sit on the grass against a tree not too far from the group.

  “Stop fussing, I'm fine. It's a lot to take in.” I looked up into his concerned eyes. “What am I supposed to do Fletch?”

  He sat beside me letting me lean my head against his shoulder and I closed my eyes. “I wish I had the answers Rora, but I don't have a clue. This is way out of my advice league.”

  “Thanks for the help,” I opened my eyes and hit him half-heartedly on the chest. “I can't believe I'm related to that, that, monster.”

  “You've been raised by completely different people, you can't expect him to be like you,” replied Fletcher.

  “But I can expect him to at least be a good person. If he's capable of drugging Braven and me, and hunting down Alice what sort of person is he?” I waved my arms in the air as I spoke. “I admit, since I discovered the truth about my birth parents, about having a twin brother, I've been curious, even a little sad I'd never get the chance to meet them, find out who they were. But this, I don't want him to be my brother. I wish my father had never run the test.”

  “I understand why you're angry at him. You have every right to be. And I know he's not exactly the brother you would've wished for, but this might be the chance to have what you've always wanted. A real family.”

  I sat up, my shoulders slumping. “What's a real family? From what I've seen all families have some sort of dysfunction in them.”

  “Do you want to find out about your birth parents?” he asked.

  “Yes. At least, I think so.”

  “The one person who can give you those answers is Seth. I'm not saying I trust the guy, but I'm afraid if you send him away you'll always wonder, 'what if?' If you give him a chance, you might get the answers you want. If he keeps being a douche we'll let Braven stun him.”

  A smirk spread across my face. Fletcher always knew how to cheer me up. “I don't know. Maybe you're right.”

  “Say it again? I didn't quite hear you,” he said.

  “You're right. Now don't make me say it again.” I glared at him.

  He raised his hands in defence before standing and helping me to my feet.

  “Do you think the others are angry I didn't tell them about Seth being my brother?” I asked.


  “Shocked, worried, but no, not angry,” he replied.

  My stomach clenched tight as we approached the group again. My fellow rebels were packing up their bedrolls while Seth kicked at the grass at his feet with a sneer, Ebony biting her nails beside him.

  When Seth caught sight of me he stepped forward. “Ebony's convinced we need to go with you, that I need to get to know you because of what you are.”

  “Your sister,” said Vega.

  Seth glared at her before continuing. “I don't know you or trust you. Prophet Brent and the Freedom Camp will always be my real family, but we'll go with you. At least for now.”

  “I can assure you the feelings mutual,” I replied. “What's the catch?”

  “Catch?” he asked.

  “Why would you want to join a group of people you were sent to murder on a quest you know nothing about? Don't feed me any crap about wanting to get to know me because I'm your sister. You knew at the Freedom Camp and made no attempt at getting to know me then,” I said.

  “He thinks if he hangs around long enough he can get his hands on your pendant and run back to Brent,” said Braven.

  Ebony stepped forward to answer. “Although the pendant appears to be important to you, I can't see how it would be of any use to Prophet Brent. Seth may not be perfect, but he is Aurora's brother.” She turned her stare to me. “Give him a chance to show you he's not a monster. He's a survivor.”

  Seth gritted his teeth at her words his body rigid as though he was going against everything his mind and body were telling him to do. Ebony meant something to him. He was prepared to face Brent's wrath if it meant making Ebony happy. I would have to keep a close eye on her. Any wrong move on Seth's part and I'd be more than happy to cast both of them aside. Was I really going to do this? Let the enemy sleep beside my friends. Fletcher's words rang through my head. If you give him a chance, you might get the answers you want.

  “You can come with us.” I began, keeping my voice stern. “On two conditions. First is, you hand over your weapons. We don't want to have to sleep with one eye open more than we already do.”