I'M SO SORRY I DIDN'T POST LAST WEEKEND I WAS SO BUSY AND I CAN'T POST OVER THE WEEK SO I'M SORRY.
But anyways, here's the chapter.
Kara. You have been waiting for this moment. Well, here you go.
THE DEATH OF KARA SHALL BE REVEALED.
The garden was silent and beautiful; it was as if every inch of the actual grounds were glimmering in the darkness of the evening. The only sound to be heard was the soft patter of two pairs of shoes on the cement paths. The quiet chatter was inaudible from at least a few meters away, so no one would have known what the two were talking about, especially not from the palace.
"I've asked for the cameramen to … take a break for the time being." Jackson smiled, his hands behind his back as he walked. She could see that he wasn't in his normal mood; she guessed that he decided that tonight would be a leisurely thing, and not something that would be of utmost importance to everyone. She also knew that if it ever got out that she had been asked to be the first girl who had a date with the prince, the word would spread like wildfire. Although it would not only make her different in the eyes of others mainly in the palace, many other people would question her goals.
"Well," she smiled up at the prince, tugging at her turquoise shawl as a chilling breeze flushed over her. "I'm glad," she confirmed, nodding. "I was afraid that I would have to use this shawl for more than staying warm."
"And what would that be?" Jackson turned to her, grinning with a tilt of his head.
"Hiding my face from the cameras, of course." She laughed. Jackson just chuckled softly as he watched her, her hand fling to cover her mouth. "Sorry."
"For what?" When she looked at Jackson, the look on his face told her that he was genuinely confused as to why she was apologizing.
"For my laugh…" She shrugged. "I find it quite annoying, but most people argue with me and tell me otherwise." She looked away to glance at a patch of orange flowers; they were glittering in the darkness of the evening, lit up by the illumination of the silver moon.
"May I be one to argue?" Jackson turned his head to smile at her; his green eyes looked dark and serious in the black of night, but his tone led her to understand that he was nothing close to being seriously mad about anything.
"Am I allowed to say no?" She smiled at Jackson, and that pulled a short, happy laugh from the prince himself.
The night went on in a blur of little talks and happy laughs, moments of staying at least a foot away from the prince made her shiver. She wanted to be herself around him, but she knew that no one would like her because of her true self. If she accidentally won, she would have to keep up the game of pretend for her entire life.
But she wouldn't win, and she knew that. She assumed that almost all of the girls were wishing and hoping that they would the ones Jackson would choose. She just didn't want to seem like a total threat to their stepladder to victory over the prince's heart.
"So, Lady—" Jackson began, but he was cut off instantly.
"Why do you insist on calling every single girl by Lady This and Lady That, they have real names, you know." Jackson frowned, slightly shocked at the girl's sudden outburst of opinion.
"Well, I'm not sure what else to call you by. This is sacred palace ground, not at any time should I be calling you by—"
"Calling us by our names?" She stopped walking, turning to stare at him; the smile she had before had been completely wiped off. "I'm sure some girls would appreciate if you became more lenient and relaxed when you spoke to them. Including myself. Not all of us are One's who have lived their entire life being brought up to rule a damned country."
Jackson nodded. "I see your point."
"No, I don't think you do." She frowned. "Because if you understood what I am saying, you wouldn't be standing with your hands behind your back and your posture wouldn't be as straight as a pole." At her words, Jackson rolled his shoulders and shoved his hands in his pockets.
"Better?" He shrugged.
"Much." She replied, glancing up at the night sky. "It's getting dark," she whispered soft enough so Jackson could hear her.
"And we should probably get going because you told me you didn't want the publicity of this date." Jackson gave her a knowing smile and they were off to re-enter the castle without another word. A wave and a smile was all Jackson got from her before she entered her room for the night. He returned to his own quarters and slept soundly that evening.
It was only till the sun rose over the distant horizon that he jumped out of bed.
Amber Blue and Manvi Sharma had their rooms closest to the main entrance from the gardens, so they heard the first gunshots.
They were loud enough to make everyone in a half-kilometer radius jump out of their skins.
Although the sudden shock of the sound made Manvi and Amber, including all three of theirs maids, jump out of the beds.
Manvi was the first out of her room, still dressed in her nightgown with a robe as she banged on Amber's room door. Amber was quick to answer, and the two girls and theirs maids were all frantically wondering what to do in the time being.
"Was that a gunshot?" Manvi gasped, looking around to try and see where it could have come from. The maids stood silently but they were all mostly shaken up.
"Yeah, I heard them all the time back at home. It sounded like it hit its target, too." Amber turned to look out the window, stepping slowly towards it.
"You mean…" Manvi's eyes went wide and she wrapped her arms around herself, shaking slightly. "Someone got shot?"
"No," Amber said, her eyes still searching the garden grounds outside; she was searching for movement. "I said the bullet hit its target, but when I said target I meant wall or pillar. We would have heard commotion if the bullet had hit someone in the garden or—"
The window shattered into thousands of tiny pieces, flying every which way in a matter of a second. Amber put her arms up just in time, preventing millions of tiny glass shards to pierce her eyes, but it left her with stinging forearms as she lay on the ground.
"Amber!" Manvi shouted, having been far enough away from the window, none of the glass cut her severely like Amber, but her cheek had a single streak of blood across it from a shard of glass that had flung past her. Although she was wondering why that single shard of glass hit her because there was no glass around her feet.
The cuts all stung like hell.
"Amber, come on!" Manvi's maids had grabbed her arms and tugged her down the hallway, whilst a few guards had arrived and helped Amber to her feet. She was able to run along with them as they scrambled to move away from the window. It was bad enough to have a shattered window, but the bigger problem was that the damned window was three feet above the ground, and a few figures had already made their way into that castle hallway.
Manvi, Amber and their maids had all gotten to safety inside one of the bunker rooms. The door was sealed and they were scared; a few of the other girls in the room were freaking out because they couldn't find someone they were looking for.
Although luckily, few moments later, almost everyone had returned, including Jackson.
The door was locked and they could all hear the gunshots outside.
Jackson cleared his throat loud enough so that most of the girls could hear him. The room quieted down and he began to speak.
"Ladies," he began with a calming smile. "I am quite sure that practically every single one of you is wondering what in the world is going on at the moment." He glanced around the room, seeing girls look at each other, nodding softly. "And I am going to explain to you exactly what is happening."
Many of the girls snuggled back against the wall of stone, a few hands shaking and many eyes clenched shut. It was good that Jackson could well enough pick out the girls who would be able to stay reasonably calm in a time like this. He knew that those girls would be the girls who would make a wonderful queen.
"At the moment, as you can see, we are under attack by Rebels." A few gasps echoed in the room; as if they should be surprised, it was quite obvious. Jackson raised a hand for silence, taking a step forward. "Although I would like to tell you otherwise, it is true: we are being attacked by the Southern Rebels." Manvi shuddered. Her life had been ruined because of the Southern Rebels. She wouldn't let them ruin the Selection for her, too.
"Where's Ashleigh and Raven?" Leiana Corthian stood, frowning as she glanced around the room looking for the two girls. Jackson frowned much like Leiana, looking around the room, too.
"I…" Jackson muttered something under his breath. "I don't know, but I am sure they are safe. We are all going to be safe. These walls and that door won't even let a … bomb in." A few of the girls began muttering quietly to each other and Jackson decided to help calm down some girls or just speak to others. He began with Leiana, sitting beside her with a smile.
"Are you sure?" Leiana tilted her head, pulling her knees against her chest as she sat.
"Am I sure about … what?" Jackson gave a soft smile, trying to make sure that every girl knew he was calm and that everything was under control.
"That Ashleigh and Raven are safe? Their rooms are the furthest and they wouldn't have had time to get anywhere safe—"
Jackson took Leiana's hands in his, sighing deeply. "I am slightly worried about them, too." He looked around the room, his eyes catching a medical guard helping Amber Blue with her injuries and inspecting Manvi Sharma's. "But I am quite certain that they have made it to safety. The maid's quarters are near their rooms, and there is a maids bunker in the Maids quarters."
"Oh," Leiana looked down, feeling a little bit more relieved now that she knew that there was no possibility of death. Jackson talked to her a little more, being able to pry a laugh from her, even in the dark moment of the early morning.
He moved on to the next girl beside Leiana, not before kissing the girl's hand and bidding her a sweet goodbye. "Cecilia," Jackson said quietly, smiling and sitting next to Cecilia Grace. (I am terribly sorry to the person who owns Cecilia, for I have been writing her as Celia this entire time. I truly apologize!) The girl looked up at him, her smile bright and calm, but there was a tinge or absolute horror and worry in her eyes. "What's wrong, my dear?"
"Well," Cecilia glanced down at her shaking hands. "When the guards helped me find … here." She looked around, gesturing to the general room. "Cecelia … the other one," she said, smiling. Her smile instantly melted away. "Wasn't with me, and I couldn't find her in her room."
"Oh," Jackson said, his tone concerned as he looked around the room. It was confirmed that in fact, the other Cecelia was not there. "Well, I am absolutely certain that she is fine, and the guards that hopefully found her will see to it that no harm comes to her."
"Hopefully?" Cecilia looked up at Jackson with her large, round, brown eyes, the look on her face pushing Jackson to once again take the girl's hands and nods.
"Definitely." He sighed, kissing the top of her hand and smiling at her before moving up and over to the next girl beside Cecilia. "Arianna." Jackson sat himself down beside Arianna Romanov, smiling with a raise of his eyebrows. "Is it just me or are you stunningly calm right now."
Arianna smiled at him, turning her head to face away so he was facing her cheek. "It's just you."
"So, may I presume, you are freaking out under this calm attitude you have going?" Arianna nodded to his statement in response, turning to smile at him.
"Truthfully, I am just worried that the Rebels will harm someone." She was hoping for Jackson to answer with words that would tell her no one would be harmed, but the result she got was unexpected.
"Well, I can't promise you that." Jackson spoke softly, his voice hushed so that he wouldn't spook any of the other girls. He tilted his head and smiled at the gawking Arianna. "Truthfully, there is normally at least one death every time the Southern Rebels attack. So I can't go on telling you that no one will die."
"Alright…" Arianna looked away for a moment, finding a subject to speak of instead. She smiled and turned back to Jackson. "Did you know that there is a possibility that I am also of Royal blood? But, not from Illea, from Russia."
Jackson smiled. "Russia? You mean… Russia, Russia?"
"Yes, silly." Arianna rolled her eyes. "Russia, Russia."
"Your Majesty," Jackson said with a wink, standing and bowing deeply. A few of the girls stared at the sudden situation, but Arianna just giggled. "I must go, I'll see you later?" Arianna nodded, and sighed as Jackson turned to the next girl.
Kylie Eastwood and Elizabeth Hope were both having trouble calming the other one down. Kylie was in shock at the sudden attack, and Elizabeth had tears on her rosy cheeks. Jackson knelt before them and they both stopped what they were doing and looked at him.
His smile was sweet as he whispered quietly to them, holding both of their hands and sitting carelessly on the ground. He was wearing nothing but a ruffled white shit from his date and some more casual pants than usual. The shirt was only buttoned up to the third last button to his neck, exposing part of his collarbone when he moved.
"Kylie, Elizabeth, there's nothing to worry about. Everything is under complete control. My parents have been dealing with this for over thirty years." Jackson was attempting to calm both girls down, and it had been working so far.
"I know," Elizabeth sniffled. "It's just that I haven't really gone through something like this before and it's a bit…"
"Shocking." Kylie finished for Elizabeth, placing a hand on her back.
Jackson sighed. "You two stick together, you're good for each other." He nodded to them, stood and then walked away as Kylie whispered little things to Elizabeth.
Aletheia Sutton sat with Halia Kawai, nodding softly as she spoke to the girl. "It's alright, I'm sure everything is going to be absolutely fine." She held Halia's hand as she smiled, Halia's chest moving up and down heavily as she attempted to slow her breathing.
"Halia." Jackson greeted her with another sweet smile; similar to the one he had given each and every other girl. "How are you holding up?" He turned to Aletheia for a moment, smiling at her and giving her a soft nod.
Halia calmed down a little more at the presence of the prince. "Better," she managed. "And you? What about your family?" Jackson frowned.
"My parents and siblings have doors right outside their rooms that lead to a very hidden safety bunker. They are definitely fine. And there are entrances to all of the safety rooms around the castle in every hallway, so everyone is safe. The guards will be fighting off the Southern Rebels so they are the only people I can't promise will be safe."
"Oh," Halia and Aletheia both spoke in unison, looking at each other and giggling.
"Now, Aletheia, I would love it if you could do exactly what you have been doing with dear Halia here to Elizabeth and Kylie, I'm not sure that she will recover with my help." Jackson smiled, glancing over at Kylie and Elizabeth.
"Of course." Aletheia stood, smiling down at Halia before turning to the prince. "Maybe I will need to teach you about how to calm a girl down this evening?"
Jackson smiled. "Why this evening? So soon," he said. "How about tomorrow?"
Aletheia's smile drifted away and she glanced around the room. "Um," she began. "I don't think that would work out?" She smiled at the prince and turned to go to Elizabeth and Kylie.
"Thank you," Halia said to the prince.
"For what?" Jackson smiled; standing up, ready to move on to the next girl…girls.
"For everything you have done for all of us. I truly appreciate it." Halia nodded. Jackson was shocked at the thanks, but nonetheless flattered.
"You're welcome." He bent down and kissed Halia's hand before moving on the group of girls who seemed to be mostly calm.
"Prince Jackson," Zoey Sinders sat alongside Artemis Teller, Suki Silverman and Erika Spade. All four girls seemed partially calm, but Suki's glazed look made Jackson seem a bit uncomfortable. He knelt down befor the four girls and smiled. "What brings you here?" Zoey smiled at him.
Jackson grinned back at her, chuckling softly. "Well, I suppose it is, by instinct, my job to make sure everyone is alright."
"Is it, now?" Erika said with a raise of her eyebrows. "I always assumed your job was to make sure the floors were shiny." She gasped sarcastically, prying a deep laugh from Jackson. The three girls laughed along with him.
"Well, I guess I do that sometimes." He grinned with a shrug, glancing at Suki. "Suki, are you alright, my dear?"
Suki raised her gaze to look at him, and he saw that, every time the sound of bullets could be heard, Suki would jump or shudder. He sighed, taking her hands in his.
"She's been a bit spooked because a guard had to pry her from the grasp of a Southerner." Artemis sighed, placing a hand on Suki's shoulder.
Suddenly, the sound of a distant clicking could be heard. All eyes turned t look at the locked and sealed door of the safety bunker.
Jackson stood, listening for a certain pattern of knocking.
Five bangs and a three second pause followed by another four bangs.
That was the pattern every staff member in the castle knew to say that the Rebels were gone. The door would then be opened by the people on the inside, and solely by the people on the inside. There was a code that only the guards, royals and the maids knew to get out, and it had to be done perfectly or else the door would lock for ten extra minutes each time it was entered wrong.
But as Jackson listened, he froze.
He heard five bangs. Check.
A fairly accurate three-second pause. Check.
Another single bang. Wrong.
Jackson backed up from the door and stood silently, whispering into the quiet air of the room. "Rebels." He said softly. Jackson and the rest of the girls could all hear voices outside the door. The voices were muffled and Jackson could have sworn he heard one of the head guard's voices.
The knocks came once more.
Five bangs. Check.
A perfect three-second pause. Check.
Four additional bangs.
Check.
Jackson paused for a moment, not sure what to do. He didn't want to risk the lives of the girls in the room by opening the door and there being Rebels. Although there were six guards in the safety room, and they each had three different guns. If Jackson opened the door, eh would be able to arm himself and eleven other girls incase it was actually Rebels. So that was exactly what he did.
The knocks came perfectly three more times as Jackson briefly taught Zoey, Marisol, Aurora, Artemis, Amber, Aletheia, Arianna, Alannah, Cecelia, Leiana, Jane and Willow with small guns. It wasn't safe. He knew that, but he was doing what was right for the safety of all of the girls. He made sure that none of the girls were ahead of any of the other girls, just incase someone missed. Although he definitely risked himself by standing in front of the girls to open the door.
A guard insisted that he opened the door instead of Jackson, just incase.
Jackson was scared.
Although he would never admit it…ever.
He was frightened.
Frightened for his family.
For the girls in the bunker.
For the girls he could not promise definite safety to.
For the guards protecting the castle.
For the maids shivering below the ground of the castle.
For himself.
The door opened and the guard who opened the door shouted.
"Ah, ah, ah." The man at the door had graying hair and his eyes were a pale blue. "I don't think you should be pointing that gun at me." He grinned and stepped into the room, every one of the guards in the room instantly running towards Jackson to protect him as he put his gun down. None of the guards dropped their weapons except for the one guard standing right before the old man with the blue eyes. Although, it seemed he had no choice as the weapon clattered to the ground.
A few of the girls gasped as the guard made a slight gurgling sound and crumbled to the side. There was a dagger protruding from his stomach, and his throat was gashed open, his blood spilling onto the floor. Many girls began to break down crying, mostly the girls who had been afraid before.
"My, my, Jackson, it seems you've got quite the bunch here. What a pack of absolute—" The man's eyes had drifted over the girls, but had stopped as he looked at Aurora. His brow furrowed, and Aurora flinched, keeping her ready stance with the gun still pointed at the man's head. "What in the world are you doing, girl?" the man said.
"Jonathan," a voice called to him from behind him. He raised a hand and smirked at Aurora. "More guards are—"
"Not now, Teswick." The man raised a hand and the voice hushed. Aurora could see the man behind Jonathan, whom she now knew was Teswick. Or Mr. Teswick. She knew that name. She knew it but she didn't want to. She knew it for reasons that made her eyes water. "I'm dealing with a damned brave Selected young lady." He marched towards Jackson and pulled out a gun, pointing it at the guards. The rest of the men behind Jonathan raised their weapons, ready to attack if those guards made one shot. When Jonathan looked at Jackson, he smiled. "If anyone tries to shoot anyone, I'll shoot the young lady, yeah?" Jackson flinched and looked at Aurora, her pleading eyes glaring at him. His heart plunged and he suddenly felt the urge to do something.
But he couldn't do much, other than stand there like a coward. He needed to help Aurora, but he couldn't.
The girls around Aurora scooted away from her and huddled with each other as far away as they could get. Marisol was glaring at the man, feeling badly sorry for himif he were to do something to Aurora. She would kill him.
No doubt.
"So, you're name?" Jonathan pointed the gun at Aurora's head, so that both guns were pointed at both of their heads. If one were to shoot, the other would, on death, tense up and pull the trigger, killing the other. Aurora only flinched, glaring into the man's eyes as he stared at her.
"Aurora Chance," she said. The man shook his head and Aurora glanced over to see Jackson frown in genuine confusion. She rolled her eyes. "Aurora Chancellor."
"There ya go!" the man exclaimed, but he instantly returned his gaze to her and fixed his grip on the gun. "Don't think I don't know everything about every single one of you. I have eyes everywhere around these grounds, and you will never find out where or how."
"You don't know anything!" Aurora yelled at him, her quick thinking and amazing skill of reflex allowed her to lift her foot up just in time to kick the gun out of Jonathan's hand. The gun exploded into a crack, the bullet dinging off of the wall and creating a divit then proceeding to hit one of the Rebels with such a dull force that it only went through his skull so that the end of it was protruding. The Rebel fell and, to put him out of his misery, another one of the rebels shot him in the head.
By the time everyone looked back at Aurora and Jonathan, Aurora was standing up and had her foot on Jonathan's back. She had his arms pinned to his shoulder blades and his face was pressed firmly up against the gravel, cement ground. She leaned down and said something to him.
"You wouldn't dare, you don't have to guts to do it!" Jonathan mumbled. He was right, she wouldn't kill him, but she could do something worse. Jonathan's wife, the woman who aided Jonathan in killing Aurora's most recent love interest, was standing by the door, a gun in her hand. But the gun had been lowered the second she saw Aurora. Aurora raised her gun and aimed it at the woman, mouthing something to her before she pulled the trigger. "No!" Jonathan shuddered under Aurora's foot, and he pushed himself up, grabbing Aurora's ankle and yanking her to the ground.
Aurora screamed as her head hit the cement ground with a loud THUD! Everyone watched in horror as Jonathan sat on top of Aurora and pointed his gun to her forehead, pinning her down to the cold ground.
"You will regret that," he growled, pushing the mouth of the gun harder against her forehead. Aurora groaned again, this time louder.
Before Jonathan could pull the trigger, everyone turned at the sound of footsteps and yells coming from the rebels. The sound of shattering glass signified that the rebels had fled the castle out the window.
The guards had come.
Aspen ran in, his gun in hand as he had it pointed at Jonathan. Aurora screamed at Aspen as she rose from her most uncomfortable position on the ground. She jumped in front of Jonathan.
"No!" she yelled. "Don't!" Aspen looked horridly confused as to what she was doing. Jackson stood by Aspen's side, their expressions mimicking each other's.
"But he tried to kill you," Aspen countered, raising the gun once more and placing a finger on the trigger. "Now move."
"No, don't kill him." She winced, and Jackson had to hold back the urge to run to her and help her. "I killed his wife, and he will live with that pain. He wants to die right now, and if you kill him, he will be rejoiced with his wife, but if you don't he will have to find a way to kill himself without committing suicide. Suicide is against the rules of the rebels."
Jackson raised his eyebrows and sucked in a breath as Jonathan ran past him. A few of the girls continued to weep in fear, but Jackson and Aspen both ran to Aurora, catching her before she fainted and fell to the ground.
"Help!" The sound of screams were coming from outside Ashleigh Marie-Evan's room, and, for visual purposes, she ducked behind her bed. She was shocked about the sudden weapon-like sounds that seemed to be exploding doorways outside hers. She was still in her pale blue nightgown and her hair was frizzy as she attempted to tuck it up into a high ponytail.
She wasn't scared. This had happened to her before. She was used to rebels. Hiding from them, that is. And for reasons she couldn't explain, her mind was pounding the second she heard Raven Hale scream across the hall.
"No!" Raven screamed the second the Rebels barged into her room. She didn't know why they assumed anything valuable was in her room, but she assumed that they just wanted to kill everyone because of…Rebellion?
"Damn it!" A woman with graying brown hair yelled as the door to Raven's room fell into splintering pieces to the floor. She had spotted Raven, and cursed the second she had. She turned to the three Rebels that stood behind her. "Search the room for anything valuable. Or at least anything to show that she's dead." Raven gasped as the old woman pointed back at her. The three Rebels ran around the room, pulling out drawers and ripping apart dresses. Raven was too shocked to cry. She was too alerted of the current situation.
"Nessa!" Raven cried. One of Raven's maids was dragged out of the bathroom by one of the Rebels. She was dropped to the ground and a gun was pointed to her head.
"Kill the witnesses. No one is to know who we are. There are people in this castle who could identify us in a heart beat." The woman turned to Raven as the Rebels with the gun put his finger on the trigger.
"No!" Raven screamed and lurched forwards, towards the Rebel that was about to shoot her maid. The gunshot went off and the Rebel woman grabbed Raven. The woman's piercing blue eyes stared at Raven as she tossed her to the ground. Raven blinked away the black spots at the edges of her eyes as her head hit the corner of a pulled out drawer. She heard the woman's laugh as a hand clamped around her wrist, flipping her onto her stomach. Cold metal touched the back of her neck and she flinched.
Her vision was blurry so she couldn't make out who exactly came into the room and shot the old woman. All she knew was that that certain someone dragged her out of the room and into the hallway, where the guards took her down the hallway and to the maid's safety bunker.
Ashleigh was breathing roughly, hiding behind the door of her room as the guards dragged her friend away. More Rebels had come down the hallway and were raiding Raven's room. Raven would not be able to sleep in there any longer, let alone retrieve any of her things. But the second the rebels came into her room, Ashleigh sucked in her breath and held it, hiding swiftly.
"There's some letters in this drawer," one of the Rebels said. Ashleigh, who had a gun in her hand, rushed out and shot the Rebel in the back of the head. Her hands were shaking as she turned around and pointed the gun at the other Rebel.
Kara, one of Ashleigh's maids, and her favourite she might add, had a gun to her throat as the Rebel held her. Her glasses shifted and her blue eyes were urgent. Her dirty blonde hair reminded Ashleigh of someone from her past, although she didn't know who or from when or where.
"Ashleigh—" Kara winced.
"Shut up." The Rebel pulled the trigger and Kara fell to the ground with a thump. Ashleigh let out a small sound, unidentified by the Rebel. "Ashleigh." The Rebel smirked and stepped towards her, a smirk set on her lips. The Rebel girl was Ashleigh's age, but the second she took a step towards her, Ashleigh pulled the trigger and the girl fell next to Kara.
Ashleigh knelt down beside Kara's body as Kara writhed softly on the ground. The bullet didn't hit anything major, but it had gone straight through her neck and sliced open an artery. Kara was grabbing at Ashleigh's arm for help, but Ashleigh knew what to do.
She winced as she put the gun to Kara's head and pulled the trigger.
By that afternoon, they had gotten rid of the Rebels. Most had fled or most had been killed, and the Selected had been let out of the safety rooms.
Jackson found his family, who were completely safe, and sat with Estelle for the next hour to explain to her the situation. She didn't understand why those girls had to go, but all Jackson could say to her was this: "They aren't strong enough to rule Illea."
By that evening, seven of the girls were gone. Six of them, Jackson had sent away because he didn't believe that they had the heart to stay calm in the time of a rebel attack. That rebel attack was the Southerners, and that was them being lenient and kind. One of the girls had personally asked to go, and even as Jackson had asked why, she just told him that she didn't think she could do it. With a kiss on the cheek and a longing hug, Aletheia Sutton left with tears in her eyes. Jackson watched her leave, wishing her luck in her new Caste.
Suki Silverman.
Halia Kawai.
Manvi Sharma.
Kylie Eastwood.
Elizabeth Hope.
Cecilia Grace.
Those girls were gone. And the rest were left in shock after the attack.
So, that's that.
It's done.
BOOM.
The Selection is getting INTENSE.
I'm sorry to all of the girls who I have let go. I believe that every single one of you guys entered one of the most amazing characters I have ever seen in any SYOC. They were beautifully done and with intricate detail that I loved. I thank you for letting me use them in my story, because it was absolutely amazing to be able to write with them. I am truly sorry to have to let them go once again.
Thank you, and I hope you liked this chapter.
