I had to clamp my hands down to stop myself from clapping. Sandor was grinning at Hope. I never believed that they’d been great friends, but I could see that they respected each other. The room was silent for once and I was glad. The Perfects looked confused, as if they couldn’t quite get their heads around it.
‘How did she do that?’ Catherine was quiet. I looked at her and saw something in her gaze as it connected to mine. She was looking around the room and happened to look my way. A knowing was there and I swallowed hard as she cleared her face and turned back to Hope.
‘I have no idea. I was never in the room.’ Hope shrugged.
My mother ran her hand through her pixie cut and sighed. It was the first sign of stress I’d seen in the room today.
‘So you’re telling me that Sandor had Perfects in her room and the reason they never came out of the bedroom was because they were changed, so they came out a different person?’ Catherine snorted when Hope nodded. The whole of the room started to laugh. Their philosophy couldn’t even run that deep.
‘Okay, I believe you. Did Sandor kill any Perfects when she was living with you?’ Catherine said, looking at the jury and smiling.
‘I have no idea,’ Hope said, causing my mother to shake her head.
‘So everything that’s been said, is to confuse us?’
‘No, that wasn’t my intention. I’m merely saying that a Perfect went in as a normal shallow person and came out a much better person for having been in contact with Sandor and whatever she did.’
I had to smile at my woman. She’d always been a simple person, but she was baffling my mother right now.
‘And can you prove it?’ Catherine said, looking over to William. William’s face stayed calm.
‘Yes, she can!’ came the shout of a tall handsome man in the balcony. ‘I was kidnapped by Sandor once and I’m a changed man.’
Episode Three
Chapter Eight
‘I’m not marrying, Gina,’ I said to William.
‘Okay.’
The court had been adjourned so the new witness could be investigated and we were stood in the gardens waiting. No one knew anything about him so his details needed to be taken.
‘Really…? You don’t have a problem with that?’
‘You are a free man, Jason and life is about testing us and making us grow. I’ve noticed that you’ve been unsure what to do. I’ll tell you this…follow your heart at all times.’ He clasped my shoulder and then walked away slowly.
He was right. I’d been acting like a girl ever since I’d met Hope. Before I met her, I’d known exactly what I wanted and how I would get it, but now I was all over the place.
‘Jason, I need your help.’
I turned to see my father, John, running past with two other guards alongside him.
‘What is it, dad?’ I called, falling into step beside him.
‘Rebels have entered the Upper Side from the north, we need to go and get them out.’ He tried to hand me a gun.
‘No, I…’
‘Take it! Most of guards are protecting this place because of the trial. We need all the help we can get. You’re my son, you need to do this.’
I took the gun as we ran out of the building and jumped into the guard’s car. My father drove like a maniac through the streets. Some people were out shopping but most were at home, expecting the trial to restart on television, any minute now.
‘The rebels have never come in from the north before. It would take them too long to go around the city,’ my father shouted as we rounded a corner and I had to grab hold of the dashboard.
‘I can’t believe that they…’
‘I can! They’re probably going to try and rescue the prisoner.’
‘No…I’m sure they wouldn’t. They wanted this trial to happen,’ I said, glancing at my dad. He frowned as he stared at the road ahead.
‘They’re all criminals, Jason, when will you realise that?’
‘That’s not true.’
We rounded a corner and my father slammed his foot on the break, coming to an abrupt stop. In front of us stood about twenty Avoidables, a mix of men and women. They all had weapons and were aiming them directly at us. Some guards were already there, but they stood by their cars. They had their own weapons raised towards the enemy.
‘See, your friends are here to hurt us.’
‘They’re not my friends, dad. I’ve never seen any of them. In fact, that’s a completely different rebel group,’ I said, jumping out of the car and walking over to them.
‘Jason, wait! How do you know?’
I didn’t answer him, but I knew because they were all wearing a uniform of black jump suits and all the men had their heads shaved.
‘Stop right there!’ shouted a tall man. He was thin but wiry. His shaved head showed stubble of mid brown, which was a similar hair colour to mine. From a distance he looked quite normal. I stopped walking and held up my hands.
‘Jason, will you get back here,’ my dad called. We were in a shopping street. The shops were closed, but there were still Perfects inside. They were watching through the windows with their hands held over their mouths. The Avoidables were standing in a group but each one was set slightly apart.
‘What do you want?’ I called.
The one that had spoken looked around the group and waved me forward. I glanced back at my father. He’d seen and ushered me to go. It was funny how he was happy for me to risk my life. That was the problem with the Perfects; it was each man for himself. Looking at the Avoidables, it was obvious they were a team. My heart was banging against my chest as I neared them. Their weapons were crude guns and knives. I’d never seen any of the rebels in the south with guns. It was practically impossible to get hold of them.
‘Who are you?’ the tall man called when I got closer.
‘My name is Jason.’
The man stepped forward and stood in front of me, offering his hand. I glanced down at it and then reached out to him.
‘Be careful, Jason, they’ve got their weapons aimed at you,’ my dad shouted.
‘It’ okay, dad, they come in peace, I’m sure,’ I shouted back.
The Avoidables started to laugh as the leader grasped hold of my hand. ‘Thank you for making this so easy, we really thought we’d have to put up a fight. We’ve heard that the Perfects in this city were ruthless, but maybe that was wrong.’ The man was smiling but something didn’t feel right. I was about to pull my hand away but his grip tightened.
‘Don’t do this…’ I started, but it was too late. He brought his knee up and it connected with my groin. I doubled over and felt myself being lifted. Not just in someone’s arms, but into the air.
‘Shoot!’ my dad shouted. An explosion of bullets sounded below, but they didn’t come anywhere near us. I glanced up through the pain to see that the Avoidables had risen as a team. None of them had wings, but they all had cat’s eyes. We were really high in the sky, so the bullets were missing us.
‘Put me down!’ I yelled out into the eerie silence. I’d never seen this type of Avoidable. They all seemed to be the same type. A cat breed maybe? Although that wouldn’t explain how they were now floating across the sky towards the forest at the north of the city.
‘Sorry, Jason, but we can’t do that,’ the leader replied as they lowered into the forest.
‘What the hell are you?’ I asked as he let me go and they stood in a circle around me. Their weapons were lowered, but they were ready to use them. It was their eyes that crept me out the most. They were just like a cat’s, not that there were many cat’s left in this city. I felt goose bumps come up on my skin as they all started to grin. These were not nice Avoidables; these were the criminals my father was talking about.
‘We’re just Avoidables, Jason,’ he sneered.
‘But this isn’t your territory.’
They looked at each other with raised eyebrows.
‘And how would a gorgeous Perfect like you know anything about that?’ the leader s
aid, stepping towards me. The warmth coming from his eyes had me swallowing. I stepped back, but bumped into a woman behind me. I felt my own skin warm and sweat started to line my forehead. Those eyes were almost eating me up.
‘I’m friends with the Lower Side rebels,’ I replied, licking my lips. His gaze followed the movement and I realised that I was in danger. These Avoidables were like wild lions waiting to pounce on their food.
‘Friends…? With Avoidables…?’ He cocked his head to the side and opened his mouth. A burst of laughter escaped him and the others joined in. An image of Hope flashed into my mind then. I saw her standing in a meadow, calling my name. It was gone in an instant, but something inside me clicked. I wasn’t going to survive this if I didn’t do something. Anything. I remembered reading about other Avoidable tribes from different parts of the world. They tended to stay in their territory. If they travelled into other rebels’ land, wars would break out.
‘You really are quite curious, Perfect,’ he hissed into my face. The gun my father had given me was tucked into the front of my jeans, under my shirt.
‘I’m going to kill every single person in this city. Then I’m going to kill every Avoidable too.’ He raised his hand and stroked my cheek.
It was at that moment the fear left. It had taken residence in me the day I’d met Hope. I’d brought out the beauty in her and she’d brought out the fear in me. For my whole life I’d lived an unconscious ugly existence, thinking that I was better than most because I was the son of a high-ranking government official. When I’d met Hope, I’d started to actually feel something and it had scared me. I shivered at the leader’s touch but swallowed it down. He grinned and I got a glimpse of his sharp teeth. But I didn’t care. I was no longer afraid.
‘You won’t succeed,’ I said, smiling back at him.
I’d not acted like much of a man when my father had threatened my woman. I’d not been my true self when I’d been told to marry someone I didn’t love. I’d been a coward all along, but no more. Fear would be there, but I was going to punch it in the face and walk over it. I glanced at the group around me. They were all preoccupied with eyeing me up. I couldn’t tell if they wanted to eat me or sleep with me. Either way, I wasn’t going to let them touch me.
‘Yes, we will,’ he said with that funny laugh again.
I slowly put my hand under my shirt. All eyes were on the leader as he started to lower his head to mine. I flipped my gun out, raised it to his chest and pulled the trigger. He flew back from me and landed on another Avoidable. I spun and shot. I’d never trained with a gun, so I just kept shooting and praying that I hit them before they hit me. I started to run as soon as I’d cleared a path in front of me. They weren’t shooting at me, which was odd. I knew I’d shocked them, but surely they would’ve shot me by now? I was running away at full speed and I sneaked a glance back.
What the…? They’d all collapsed, every single one of them was grasping their chests. They were trying to get up, but were in too much pain. What was going on?
I carried on running but heard them shouting behind me. Maybe they were regaining some strength. One of them landed right in front of me. Instinct made me lift my arm and hit him over the head with the gun. He slumped to the floor unconscious. A scream came from those I’d left behind. They must be so connected that they felt each other’s pain.
It was really weird.
I glanced round again and saw a beautiful woman running after me. I swung my arm and shot her directly in the head. The angels must have been helping me somehow because I’d never had to shoot anyone. How had I just hit my target perfectly? I felt my chest thumping. My legs were pumping under me, but I couldn’t feel the muscles moving. I had to get out of there in case they were still after me. I’d killed someone. I’d killed two people, one of them a woman. But I didn’t care; it was in self-defence. The world didn’t need people like that in it. A flash entered my mind and I saw the group ravaging a city. They were eating people, killing them and then having sex with them. I had no idea where the image had come from, but I shuddered as my legs carried me out of the forest and onto a street in the city.
There ahead of me, was my father. He was just getting back into his car after seeing his son kidnapped and I watched as he drove away and abandoned me.
Chapter Nine
‘He was taken by the rebels. It was the group that the enforcers of the other cities have warned us about.’ I heard my dad tell my mum.
‘Did you not go after him?’ Catherine replied.
‘I couldn’t. I hardly had any back up and I had no idea where they took him.’
I stood in the hallway of our home. On the other side of the kitchen door, my parents were making dinner. I could hear boiling water and the brisk cutting of vegetables. It was all so mundane.
After walking through the city, thinking about what had happened, I’d come home and sneaked in. My head still couldn’t compute what had gone on. My father had left me to it. He’d not even gone to the government compound to report that I was missing. My own father. I felt a sting of tears but I blinked them away.
‘I know he was useless, John, but he was our son,’ I heard my mother say. I shook my head and was about to walk away when I heard a sniffle. It wasn’t my parents showing emotion. That would never happen.
‘I have a confession to make,’ Gina’s voice came into the conversation. It was her that was crying. I paused, tempted to go into the kitchen and make everyone feel less guilty. They weren’t worried about me and although it should have made me sad, it didn’t deep down. I’d always felt disconnected from my family.
‘I don’t love Jason and I think he knows it,’ Gina cried.
‘So…?’ My mother replied in a tight voice. I could just picture her shrugging and turning back to whatever she was cooking. ‘Lots of marriages are loveless.’
‘Except ours of course,’ my father added.
They both laughed and a deep feeling of pity wrapped around my shoulders. These people hated each other. There was no love between them and it reflected onto their only son. The reason I’d been struggling with Hope was because I’d never known love. I had no absolutely idea what it was all about. How could I show something that I’d never experienced?
‘Do you think they will ransom him?’ Gina asked, the wobble still evident in her voice.
‘No, Gina, they would’ve probably killed him by now.’
‘Catherine, don’t…’ my father said as Gina’s crying got worse. It was all fake, all pretence. Gina didn’t care that I was gone. In fact, they were probably tears of joy. I wiped my own eyes and shook my head again. This was one family I knew I had to leave behind. Hopefully, in the future, when the world was a better place, I’d be able to meet them on a different level.
‘What’s for dinner?’ my father asked my mother. I left them then as they started to chat about the day. The sobbing stopped and the laughing started as they spoke about the trial and how ugly Avoidables were. I walked up the stairs silently. I packed a few things that I would need and then crept out of my childhood home.
‘You okay?’ the taxi driver asked me as he drove me to the compound.
‘Have you ever loved someone so much it hurt?’ I asked him randomly.
‘No, I can’t say I have. I’m a bit of a reader, which I know is unusual for us Perfects, so I’ve read about love and romance. I’d like to experience it but I’m sure it’s impossible.’
‘What makes you say that?’ I replied, intrigued that this man seemed to have more than just a shallow outlook.
‘I don’t know one Perfect that has ever really and truly been in love. We’re all too focused on the materialistic stuff. Shame if you ask me, but then, I’m just a taxi driver.’ He looked at me in his rear view mirror as he spoke. I saw a sadness surrounding him and realised that he was yearning for more. Like me, he had a feeling deep inside that there was more to life then how good you looked.
‘It’s possible. I promise you it’s possi
ble and I’m going to prove it,’ I said, thanking him as we pulled up to the front of the compound and I got out. Leaning back in to the passenger window I looked him directly in the eye.
‘Don’t give up on your dream of finding it. I have it and soon enough, the whole of the Perfect race will see what it’s like to love someone.’
The taxi driver grinned. He nodded and I noticed a sheen of water come over his eyes. Believe it or not, I’d never seen another male Perfect show emotion.
‘Yes! Go get her, son!’ he called after me as I grabbed my bag and ran into the compound.
‘Jason, your father was just on the phone, he said…’ William called as I ran through the gardens. I stopped when I heard him. He was on the bench in the garden and he held a tissue in his hand. I approached him and noticed that his eyes were red and swollen. William was mourning me? My chest squeezed and another emotion that I’d never felt ran over my skin and I shuddered. I dropped to my knees in front of him and laid my head on his lap. I let the emotion that had been playing with my mind and body for months overtake me. I sobbed like a little boy, leaning on his father, just like in the books I’d read. My father had never shown me emotion. He was a tough guard and was always strong.
‘I killed two of them,’ I said, pulling away eventually. William had put his hand on my shoulder gently and let me cry. When I looked up, William was looking at something over my head. I turned to see Hope standing nearby. She had tears streaming down her face and her one arm was shaking uncontrollably. She was staring at me.
‘Jason, whatever happened, it doesn’t matter. You need to trust your own instinct. Sometimes there’s danger and we have to face it. Avoidables face it every day, but this is all new to you. Go to her…’ William said, getting up and leaving us.
Hope didn’t move as I rose. She didn’t move when I walked towards her. She didn’t even flinch when I reached out my hand and wrapped it around her hair. I pulled her hair back, rough but gentle, and started to kiss her trembling neck.
‘William said you were dead,’ she breathed as her hand came up my back.
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