"Impossible," the shadow says to me. The voice is so sharp, I fear it might crack my skull. I fall on to my knees, colliding with what feels like concrete.
And then they're all gone, my entire family. Gone. Concrete and steel bars rise around me. A cage.
Before I struggle to my feet, I notice another cell next to me. But it's not empty. It holds the girl. The red girl, just like me. Her body collapsed on the marble floor in a tangled mess. Her long hair a mass of waves next to her. I see blood, too. Red blood. Her blood.
I watch as her crown glitters on her head. She smirks at me on the floor, then turns and drags her dress toward the next cell. As she comes to stand in front of the girl, her eyes flutter shut. Queen Elara, she's a whisper. She's trying to rake through her thoughts, just like she did me. Pulling at her every memory, every nightmare.
Queen Elara's eyes open after just a moment. She looks at the girl and her perfect eyebrows furrow. Her eyes narrow at the red girl, then she takes a step back and gasps.
What just happened? What did she see?
Elara shakes her head slightly then comes to stand in front of me. I struggle to my feet, I use the cold bars to help me. The girl is still unconscious, why?
Elara eyes me. She doesn't look like she did before. Now she looks confused, now she looks scared.
I'm forced to watch as they drag her in. Her burnt clothes replaced with fitted black trousers, black ankle boots and a thick, baggy, long sleeved white jumper that slips off one of her shoulders. As she comes closer to the kings throne, I notice her hands are tied behind her back with a Sentinel holding her arm tightly. Her cheekbone is bruised, her lip is split, and a small gash resides above her right eye.
She's stopped by the Sentinel where I once stood. She is not told to kneel, she is thrown on her knees. She doesn't make a sound, she doesn't show any surrender. She's strong.
Her hair whips the floor as she recovers from the fall. She straightens her back and squares her shoulders. She sits on her knees and looks Tiberias dead in the eyes. The Sentinel doesn't leave, he watches over her with menacing eyes.
"You, girl," Tiberias smiles wickedly. "Are entirely different to Lady Titanos, over here." The king spears me a glance, she doesn't.
Like me, he throws a file at her. Unlike me, it only has a single piece of paper in it.
"Angelika Ed-"
"My name is Ava," she interrupts Tiberias. The Sentinel standing next to her shifts and smacks her across the face.
I gasp. She recovers quickly, the split in her lip starts to bleed again. She's angry, her eyes are like daggers.
"Angelika Edna Katerina Gatley, born October ninth, 301 of the New Era," Tiberias recites from memory, again.
"You, dear girl, were born on the war front," he announces. "Parents - unknown. Known siblings - none. Born on the war front, raised on the war front and then conscripted at the age of nine. Trained, top of your unit. Intelligent, excellent in hand to hand combat as well as with a knife. Perfect aim with a standard military weapon and you hit with precision. You are quick, you are clever. The perfect Red soldier," he says it like he's proud. "Sent to the front line at the age of fourteen," Tiberias continues. "Then medically discharged at the age of sixteen. That is where you were awarded your scars, I'm guessing."
The front line? He gestures toward her shoulder. I squint and notice a long scar run from the base of her neck and over her collarbone, it disappears under her jumper.
Tiberias laughs. "You matched seven of my Sentinels without even using a gun. Not only that, but you are a red girl with abilities. Yes, Angelika. You are entirely different to Lady Titanos. You are not only a Red soldier, but you are a Red with more then one ability. Many more."
Ava's eyes are daggers, but she still manages to smile sweetly up at the king. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Tiberias nods to Elara, then suddenly, a pair of doors to my left that I hadn't noticed, open. A girl with blonde hair and wild eyes, get's pushed through the door by a Sentinel. She can't be more then thirteen or fourteen, it worries me what they might do to her.
Once the young girl gets close enough, she see's Ava on the floor. She immediately starts shouting her name. It takes Ava a moment to recognize her face.
"Daphne?" She says quietly. The young girl starts crying as she's made to stand in front of Ava. "Daphne!" She says louder.
The Sentinel on both of their sides stop them from embracing. The Sentinel at Ava's side holds her back by her hand ties as she struggles on the floor.
This is horrifying.
Ava screams in frustration. She looks up at the entire Royal family, her face angry, not one tear in sight.
"Why don't you just kill me?!"
Tiberias laughs horridly, again. "Oh, but Angelika. I need you to save your little friend here."
It takes me a moment to realise what he's going to do.
The Sentinel standing by Ava, lifts her to her feet and begins dragging her to the back of the room. She calls back to the young girl called Daphne, hot tears streak her face.
"I will give you five seconds until my Sentinel shoots your friend." Daphne let's out a cry.
"How am I meant to save her from all the way over here?" Ava growls at the king from the far end of the hall.
"I'm sure you'll find a way," Tiberias tells her, a wicked grin on his face.
The Sentinel pushes Daphne to her knees right in front of the entire royal family. It's like they don't care if they see a young girl getting shot right in front of them. I notice Cal turn his head away slightly when the masked Sentinel next to Daphne, rises a gun to her head.
I can't watch this.
"Five." Tiberias starts the countdown.
Ava let's out a scream and melts the metal that binds her hands together.
"Four."
I hear Daphne cry as Ava runs. She's not going to make it.
"Three."
She's gone.
"Two."
Ava grips Daphne by the arm and lifts her. She pushes the Sentinel's chest and then he's suddenly thrown across the room.
"One."
What just happened?
"As I thought," Tiberias nods.
Ava and the young girl start backing away. They stop when the king laughs, Ava steps in front of Daphne.
"I don't know where you came from or how you came to be here," he gestures to the palace.
"What," Ava nearly spits. She fixes her gaze on Elara and leans in slightly. "Couldn't you read my mind?"
Elara's eyes turn to daggers, she looks as if she wants to rip Ava apart.
"You're not the only whisper here," Ava's voice is venom. What is happening?
"No," Tiberias shakes his head. "You are much to valuable to kill. The marriage of Lady Titanos to my son Prince Maxon, will help us gain support from the Reds and ensure the deterioration of The Scarlet Guard. But your abilities," he gestures toward Ava. "Will help us win the war."
"I'll never go back there. Not for you, not for anyone."
Her face isn't red, she isn't crying, she isn't angry. She doesn't look scared, she looks determined. Her eyes filled with something I can't quite place. I've never seen someone like her before.
"Oh, but you will. Don't think you can get any ideas, either. If you try and escape, I'll burn down the Red villages. The death of a few hundred Reds won't bother me, but it will you. Won't it?" Tiberias tilts his head. "You will both stay here. You," he points at Ava. "Will stay here and train. If you even think of stepping out of line, you won't like what happens to your friend."
"We'll disguise you as a child born on the war front, your father was a disgraced Silver and your mother a Red. A mistake, something new, something impossible. Your blood is Red but you were graced with abilities from your fathers side. Upon hearing this, you immediately offered to go back to war with your new found abilities and help your nation win the war."
Tiberias leans forward in his throne, he carefully places his elbows on his knees.
"Everyone has a breaking point, Angelika. It's only a matter of time before we find yours."
No one makes a noise.
Sentinels open the giant door to the hall. They file in and four surround Ava and her friend, Daphne. They walk her out of the room, she stops at the doors and I see her move her lips. No one really noticed, except for Elara. She shifts, her face contorts and becomes angrier then I've ever seen. Elara is the only one that understands what Ava said. The queen gracefully exits the room a second later. I can't help but glance at Cal. His facial features are still and emotionless but his eyes burn with sadness. With his eyes trained on Ava, he too noticed her whisper.
Lucas has to drag me from the hall, since I can't seem to move my legs.
