It’s the only explanation that fits. The dates don’t match what they told us. How could they have all of our details if we were taken at random? How could they have so many personal details when they didn’t know we existed yet?
“Bella…Come look at this.”
I pull out her file with mine, and suddenly my knees go weak. I slump down against the file cabinet, Bella joining me as we open the files. There’s a photo of both of us. Both of us the same age, three years old. I’m smiling with pigtails and a pink knitted sweater on. It’s a photo I’ve never seen of myself before.
All of my information is there, clear as day.
NAME: Darlia Roslyn Monroe
DOB: 03/11/2040
WEIGHT: 36lbs
LIVING FAMILY: Yes
STATUS: Unclear
SELECTION: Selected for round one of trials
My hands tremble uncontrollably. For a moment, everything goes quiet. I watch the world I know crumble around me.
Everything I know is a lie.
Every person I killed, every time I spent time training, everything I worked for was a lie.
I read my name over and over, trying to make sense of it all, but I can’t deny what’s right in front of me. Tears fall down my cheeks, and for once, I don’t stop them. This was never a rescue mission. They never saved me, they never cared. Everything they had told us was a lie, they didn’t save me, they stole me.
They stole my life from me.
“Cayden,” I call out. My voice trembles with the weight of what I know and he hurries in, running through the door and to my side. I need him, I need Cayden.
“Cayden…it…it was planned…wasn’t it?” Sobs rack through me as I look up at him, my voice trembling. His silence is answer enough. Cayden sits down beside me, pulling me into his lap, my head pressed into his chest. Cayden tries to calm me down, his voice a soothing murmur I cling to.
“I’m here, love. I’m here.”
It breaks something inside me, something I’ve kept locked and guarded. A fresh round of sobs breaks free. I bury my face into Cayden’s chest, soaking his hoodie with my tears. His hands glide through my hair, and I know he’s saying something, but I don’t comprehend it.
My entire life, everything I have killed for, is a lie.
I don’t notice Marcus has done the same for Bella until I look up to check on her, too. She’s in Marcus’s arms, but she’s not sobbing like I am. Bella just stares blankly ahead, letting Marcus rock her back and forth, whispering something I can’t hear to her.
“Why us? What did we do? Why did we deserve this?”
“I don’t know, baby. I don’t know.”
Cayden pulls me in closer, his fingers still threading through my hair, gently playing with the strands as my sobs fill the quiet room. This is what Cayden has been trying to tell me the entire time. The Academy was never on our side, they never cared about saving us. They stole us.
They stole me.
“What…what does your selection say?” I manage to choke out to Bella, who manages a whispered, “Round four,” and suddenly all the details begin to fall into place.
I was one of the first to arrive, Bella was one of the last. They planned that. Every single detail, everything we thought was random is here, on paper.
NAME: Lauren Amelia Jackson
DOB: 21/03/2040
WEIGHT: 34lbs
