CHAPTER TWO
"I'm hungry, Daddy," Lilly whined as I brushed her hair after her bath.
"You just had dinner, sweetheart," I responded, with a smile.
I knew that what she really meant was that she wanted something sweet.
Bella used to give her sweets all the time which at first horrified me. It had been a punishable act in my old life to go off our meal plan. Our bodies were to remain pure, and food was a necessity not an indulgence. It was Bella who showed me the joys that could come from indulging.
Lilly turned in her seat, making the comb snag in her hair.
"Can we go to the night market, Daddy?" she asked as she looked up at me through her lashes and with a pout on her lips.
I was barely able to stifle a wince at the mention of the night market.
They hated me there. I was the freak who had stolen their butterfly away. However, they loved Lilly, probably for the fact that she was so much like Bella. I sometimes wondered whether Charlie would love Lilly as much as he did if she'd been born looking like me.
Regardless, I didn't want to keep her from her family.
"Ok, we can go. But if you're papa is busy, we need to come back home," I said seriously as I braided her hair loosely so it wouldn't get in the way of her gas mask.
"Papa always has time for me. He told me so. He told me it was a papa's job to give his granddaughter everything she wants."
As we got our boots and coats on, Lilly asked me the question that I'd been dreading since she first began to talk.
"Where are your mommy and daddy? Do I have another Papa?"
I tried not to let my silence go on too long because I didn't want this to become an obsession for her.
"My guardians are not a part of my life anymore. They live somewhere else," I said, hoping that she would let it go.
"Like Mommy?" she asked, her lower lip quivering. "Did the bad people take your mommy and daddy too?"
"No, sweetheart," I said, pulling her into a hug. "My guardians and I agreed to be apart for a while. We used to argue a lot, so it's better for us to take a break."
"Like you and Papa?" she asked, with a scowl. "You and Papa argue, but you think I don't notice."
I was shocked. I thought Charlie and I had hidden our dislike for each other when Lilly was around.
"No," I said. "Papa and I are just very different."
"Do you mean the way you look?" she asked, pulling away from me. "Papa shouldn't be mad at you because you have different eyes. I think they're pretty, like Auntie Rose's jewelry."
"You don't have to worry about that. We both love you very much," I said, leading her out of the apartment on onto the street.
The night market was set up in the dark alleyways that existed on the edge of the city.
After dark, the crowds came out. These weren't my people. The eugenie liked to stay in their sanitized, ordered environment. Anything else was considered too tainted.
We weaved through the crowds, pushing through the dense flow of people.
I always felt like I was drowning in a sea of people in this place. It made me paranoid, so I fought to keep Lilly glued to my side when she wanted to scamper off.
The only benefit of being an outsider, an ashka, was that people parted in front of me when they eventually noticed my looks. Even though I was followed by hisses and slurs, it made it easier for me to keep track of my daughter.
Without a gas mask, the scent of the market was always a little overwhelming for me at first. The salty odour of sweat mingled with the nose tingling aroma of spices hung heavy in the air. It was also loud. Shopkeepers shouted out offers at the top of their voices to attract customers and customers shouted back, trying to bargain for the best possible prices.
The people in the market who knew my daughter always called out to her and offered some small token or treat as she skipped past them. However, they wouldn't meet my eyes when I led her towards them.
It wasn't long before we reached the stall run by Charlie and Emmett Swan. Lilly let out a squeal when she saw her Aunt Rosalie inside the stall talking to a customer.
Rosalie was a tall statuesque woman who had long honey blonde hair that she always wore loose and wild. It suited her fierce personality.
"Lilly, wait!" I called out as she ran ahead of me as fast as her legs would allow her.
Startled by the noise, Rosalie spun in our direction with barely enough time to ground herself before Lilly launched herself into her arms.
"Lilly, my little neptai What are you doing here?"
Yanking off her gas mask in the tent's conditioned air, Lilly carelessly dropped it to the ground, making me wince. I couldn't afford to buy her another one if she broke it.
"Daddy brought me. I wanted to see you," Lilly said with a happy laugh as she wrapped her arms tightly around Rosalie's neck.
"Was that the only reason, neptai?"
"Well…" Lilly said, with an impish grin.
"Lilly, be polite," I said, knowing she was going to ask for a treat.
"But Daddy…" Lilly whined, turning her head towards me with a scowl.
"Is that my little squeaker?" came a booming voice from further inside the stall.
"Uncle Em!" Lilly shouted as she wiggled out of Rosalie's arms and made her way towards the back.
I went to follow her, but Rosalie stepped in front of me.
"Be careful," she said, with a frown. "Charlie is not in the best of moods. He might not like having to deal with an ashka, today. Your people have cleared out another of our streets. Before long, we will have no place to go."
"I'm sorry," I said, ashamed of where I came from. "If I could help, you know that I would."
Rosalie was the only one in the family that tolerated me. Instead of threatening to kill me when Bella was taken, she'd argued in my defense. She told the others that I was Bella's best chance of being rescued.
"Do not apologize. There is nothing you can do. You have only one job and that is to rescue Bella," she said. "How is that progressing?"
I couldn't tell her. There were too many possible spies in the market that would do anything to ingratiate themselves with the government. I'd learned the hard way that you couldn't trust anyone.
"I'm working on it," I said, avoiding eye contact.
Before she could press me further, Emmett came out of the stall with Lilly in his arms.
"Daddy, I brought a treat for you too!" she said, pressing a piece of chocolate into my mouth.
The creamy texture and sharp flavor always surprised me when I tasted it, just like everything in this world.
"Thanks, sweetheart," I said, taking her from Emmett's arms.
Emmett glared at me over her head, but when Lilly looked back up at him, he was quick to smother it. As much as he disliked me, he adored Lilly and defended her fiercely when others would treat her differently because of her genes. However, he took every opportunity he could to show his dislike for me.
He was an imposing person in both his size and personality. He didn't look much like Bella who took after her mother, but he had Charlie's glare down pat. He'd never approved of my relationship with Bella and had worked hard to convince her that I wasn't worth the risk. However, he'd never told Charlie about us even when he'd caught us together the first time.
"Well, it is time for you to get home, neptai," Emmett said as he ruffled Lilly's hair.
He didn't look at me when he said it, but I could feel his judgement washing over me. It was late for Lilly to be out, but she didn't have school anymore. I'd received a letter last week from the school saying that I should consider sending her to a different one because the other children were uncomfortable with her "background."
"He's right sweetheart," I said as she whined. "It's time for you to get to bed."
Lilly pouted at me, but I'd learned how to resist some of her manipulation, especially when I knew the repercussion of her staying up late. An overtired Lilly was a force to be reckoned with.
With a wave goodbye, I took Lilly home.
It took a while for me to get Lilly to settle down, so by the time she was asleep, I fell into bed exhausted.
The sound of breaking glass echoes up the stairs.
"Edward," Bella gasped. "You cannot fight them."
"Hurry," Jasper hissed, looking out the crack of the open door.
"Edorra…" Bella whispered. "You have to come with us."
"I need to give you a head start. I can distract them," I turned to her and kissed her hard. "You've got to go. You have to keep Lilly safe."
"No," she hissed. "Not without you."
"Go to your father," I said, ignoring what she'd said. "He'll keep you safe."
I manhandled her to the window and took Lilly from her.
"Climb out and then I'll pass her to you," I whispered.
With an agonized look, she whimpered, "I cannot. They will hurt you."
"They won't kill me," I said. "But they will kill you. I can't let that happen."
When the stomping grew louder, we were out of time and Bella knew it.
Without another word, she carefully climbed out the window, avoiding any sharp pieces of glass, and then reached out for Lilly. However, before I could pass her Lilly, she was yanked away from the window with a scream.
"EDWARD!"
I bolted awake, my heart hammering in my chest at the sound of Bella's despairing scream reverberating through my head.
I sat up in bed and tried to catch my breath.
Her voice sounded so real, like she was in the room with me.
I hated that my dreams of her were nightmares. There were so many beautiful moments that we shared together, but my dreams were haunted by our final moments. The running, the hiding, Bella being ripped out of my arms while Lilly wailed in fear.
I worried that like for Lilly, Bella was going to fade in my memories, taken over by the fear and despair I felt on the day that the force took her away. Therefore, I grabbed my journal and turned to the first few pages that began the story of us.
4 years ago
I couldn't sleep. Even after taking a sleeping pill, my heart continued to race.
Things here seemed so blank and cold compared to what I'd just witnessed in the outcasts' building. Everything had been awash with color and noise. It had overwhelmed my senses, but I'd never felt so exhilarated.
I didn't know what to make of it. Why were our worlds so different?
Finally, I accepted the fact that I wasn't going to get any sleep. Instead, I reached behind the headboard of my bed and pulled out the notebook I kept hidden.
Inside of it I'd filled it with sketches and thoughts that kept me awake at night. I only took it out late in the night when no one was awake because I knew that what I was doing wasn't normal. No one else I knew wanted more from their life. We had everything we could ever need, every privilege that the government could provide us. We were supposed to elevate society because we were enhanced into being something more, but that meant there were strict guidelines on what we could think and do.
However, for me, everything seemed so monotonous and blank. I knew down to the last detail everything that would happen to me in a day, in a week, probably even a year from now. I even knew I was destined to be a doctor. It wasn't a choice for us.
Opening my notebook, I flipped through the pages that I'd already filled. Mostly, it was negative, things I hated about this world. However, I also noted down the funny things Jasper and Alice said, as well as the small beauties that I'd found in unusual places. For example, I had a multitude of drawings of the small red insect with the hard shell and black spots on its back that I'd seen in the atrium. It wasn't supposed to be there. Some insects were created for the birds to feed on, but this insect seemed to serve no purpose and in a matter of days it was gone. I obsessed over it for a while because only farmed insects and animals were left in the world. However, when I looked up the insect in the database at the museum it stated that lady bugs had ceased to exist a hundred years ago.
Now, my fascination with the beetle had been replaced with the small piece of the strange world I'd stepped into.
I wrote about the fear of being robbed, the music, the crowd, and the woman who rescued me from the crowd who would have probably killed me if they'd realized what I was.
I wrote until I became drowsy enough to hide my notebook and fall asleep.
The next day as Jasper, Alice, and I studied in the library, I asked them what they knew about the outcasts.
"I only know bits and pieces that I've overheard from my mother," Jasper said. "They're dangerous. She thinks the government should clear them out before they infect our community."
"How could they infect us?" I asked, alarmed because Bella had been in very close proximity to me.
"I don't know. Her friend said that they were bred that way. They don't care if they pass on their defective genes and choose to procreate the natural way."
"What do you mean 'the natural way'?" Alice asked before I could.
"Beats me," Jasper said with a shrug. "But my mother whispered it to her friend like it was the most scandalous thing that could happen. They say it was what led to the downfall."
I mulled that over in my head for a while.
"They speak another language. Do you know what it is?" I asked.
"I've heard it was considered the tradesman's language at one time. They used to be the middlemen between societies, brokering trade, so their language became a mix of many different ones," Alice said.
"You seem awfully interested in them," Jasper said. "Did you have an altercation with one of them? You know you're supposed to report that to Carlisle."
"No," I said too sharply, causing Jasper's eyes to widen in surprise. So, I continued more softly. "No… I was just curious."
"Edward, you seem all over the map lately. Are you feeling okay? I've never seen you have these emotions before. Maybe you should talk to Carlisle. I think you're getting sick," Alice said, her brow furrowed in concern.
"We don't get sick, Alice," Jasper said.
"Well, there's something wrong with him. Look at the look he's giving me right now," she said, nodding towards me.
I realized that I was scowling at her, so I relaxed my face back into impassiveness.
"Just be careful, Edward," Jasper said carefully. "Remember what happened to Matthew?"
I remembered it all too well. That's why I hid my notebook.
Matthew had been acting strangely for months, but one day in class he seemed to explode.
He started shouting that we weren't supposed to be like this and that the government was using mind control. It was all crazy. He ran around the room, grabbing and shaking us. I remembered looking directly in his eyes as he crowded into my space. There was a feverish light in them that scared me.
"Don't let them do it. There's more."
That was when security entered the room and tackled him to the ground.
When they dragged him away, he kept looking at me.
"There's more!" he shouted, and I felt like it was directed at me.
Things changed for me after that. I became obsessed with what he said. Carlisle said that there had been a defect in his genes that only made itself known as he got older, but I didn't believe it. The government didn't make a mistake like that.
However, I stopped talking about it with others because they started looking at me strangely and I knew that would lead to nothing good. I kept my thoughts for my notebook and went about my day-to-day life.
That was until last night. Now, all I could think about were the outcasts.
Who were they? Why were they considered street vermin by the Eugenie? Could they infect us?
I'd learned about the downfall in class. It was a time before Eugenie existed and it had been full of death. People had been dying by the thousands every day until the eugenics department took control. However, that was all that we were taught. We learned nothing about the outcasts, only that they were dangerous.
During study period, I searched the archive for history records that would go into more depth about it. There wasn't much. From what I could gather, as the environment became more and more polluted and resources dwindled, war and disease ravaged the world. The governments of different countries tried population control, but a segment of society refused to follow the laws that only allowed some of the population to get a license to procreate. This started a war that nearly wiped out the rebels. That was when the eugenics department came into existence and took control, which saved the human race from extinction. Instead of wiping out the rest of the rebels, they became outcasts, forbidden to have jobs, food tickets, or standard housing.
And that was it. That was the last piece of information I could find about them. Nothing about their society, how they survived without food allotments, where they lived, nothing.
I knew that I should let it go. From all the accounts in the archives, the outcasts were dangerous and had killed many people to remain free from government control. However, after seeing them in their own environment, I needed to know more.
I planned a few days in advance how best to sneak into the outcasts' territory again. I decided that I would go later in the evening when it would be easier for me to hide in the shadows. I also chose clothing that would cover most of my pale skin, and bought a gas mask that completely covered my face. Paired with a knitted hat that I could pull down over my ears, hiding my hair, I felt like I could pass unnoticed if I stayed outside.
Then, I needed an alibi for the evening. The Eugenie stayed inside at night, so I had to come up with an excuse for being away from my home. Jasper was my best option.
Pulling him aside after civics class while Alice was distracted, I asked him to back me up.
"I need you to cover for me tonight. I'm going to tell my guardians that we're staying late at the library, so if they call, just tell them I'm researching," I said, trying to make it sound like a plan and not a request.
"Why?" Jasper asked in confusion. I'd never spent time with him after school hours, so I knew it was a strange request.
"I have somewhere I need to go, but my guardians wouldn't approve," I said, looking around nervously for listeners. "Please Jasper. I'll owe you a favor."
Jasper looked at me intently for a moment and then nodded his ok.
"Fine, but I don't like the idea of you sneaking around. You know that the government is scrutinizing our every move. You don't want to be singled out as abnormal."
"I know, but I'm not doing anything criminal. I just want a little freedom," I said, evasively.
Jasper nodded, but I could tell that he was concerned.
"Just be careful," he warned.
I noticed Alice walking towards us from where she'd been chatting with some other girls.
"Could you please not tell Alice?" I asked. "I don't want her to worry unnecessarily."
Jasper frowned.
"You want me to keep secrets from Alice, too? The three of us have always been honest with each other. This is wrong, Edward," he said, quietly as Alice got closer and closer.
"I'll only do this once," he finally said when he saw that I was going to continue with my plan.
I nodded in acceptance. I was only going to do this once anyway. I just needed to get a closer look at the outcasts to satisfy my curiosity
I stayed on the other side of the street, just watching them.
Through the window, I could see Bella as she made her way through the crowd with easy smiles for people who called out to her. The market was crowded, but she wove her way through until she met up with her friends.
She was greeted with bright smiles and people wrapping their arms around her. They seemed to be a tactile people. My people didn't touch very much. We certainly didn't wrap our arms around each other.
I recognized the singer from the night I spied on them as one of the four who greeted Bella. Out of the females in the group, she was the one that was the most different from my people.
Most of the Standard A XX and Standard B XX were small like Alice. Even the Standard C XX and D XX who were taller didn't have the physique that this woman had.
None of my people were designed like the people that surrounded Bella. There were four standards that my people belonged to. My design was meant to be Standard C XY, which was supposed to be like my father, tall, dark brown hair, blue eyes, created to fill a position in the scientific field. However, there was a mutation in my genetic sequencing. The eugenics department wanted to discard me, but Carlisle fought to keep me viable. He said that he would monitor me closely to see if I showed any traits that may be useful to form a new standard.
When I was born, it was immediately clear that I was different. My eye color was a shade of amber and my reddish brown hair didn't fit with the standard C XY. Therefore, the doctors said that I was defective and wanted to terminate me. However, Carlisle used his position to insist that I be allowed to grow.
Throughout my childhood, I was forced to endure test after test, each with the risk of me being terminated. However, once I learned to talk, they realized that I posessed certain traits that could be extremely useful. I had enhanced hearing and vision, and Carlisle believed that I might be telepathic. These traits had never been seen in the Eugenie before. They tried using my stems cells to recreate it but as of yet had not been successful.
Standing outside the restaurant, I knew that I didn't belong there, I was an intruder. However, the more I watched them, the more I wanted—no… needed to know more about them.
I was annoyed by the cacophony of noise and chaos inside because even with my enhanced hearing I couldn't hear their conversation clearly, besides the sound of their boisterous laughter.
Even when I moved closer, I could only hear snippets of their conversation, nothing tangible that could help me understand them more.
I watched them late into the night until Bella chose to leave at around 1:00 in the morning. Following her through the maze of back alleys, I stayed far enough behind to remain undetected. However, I lost her in one of the twists and turns of the winding streets.
I looked everywHere, but I couldn't find her.
Disappointed, I gave up and started to make my way to Jasper's residence.
I didn't notice her behind me, until I heard a soft thump. When I tried to look, I only caught a glimpse of the small brunette before I was slammed up against the wall face first with surprising force for such a small woman.
"Oh shit," I hissed, trying to look back at the angry woman.
"What do you want?" she demanded, shoving me against the wall again. "Are you trying to rob me? Many men have tried and have received a knife wound for their troubles."
With my gas mask and hat, she couldn't tell who I was.
"Answer me or I will call my brother, Emmett Swan. You should know the name," she growled.
When I still couldn't make a sound, she grabbed my gas mask, trying to rip it off my face.
"No wait, please," I grunted, but it was too late.
She'd pulled it off, my hat coming with it, and then fell silent.
"For god's sake," she snapped, grabbing my arm and dragging me further into a dark alleyway.
This time she slammed me up against the wall, facing her.
"What do you want, patao?" Bella snarled, her eyes flashing in anger.
I stared at her in stunned amazement for a few seconds, studying her from her head down to her feet. I had not had the chance to see her this closely the other night. But when I felt the knife press more firmly against my throat, I quickly began to explain.
"I just wanted to see you. I want to know more about you," I said, but my words only seemed to make her angrier.
"I am not a poutin! I may dance for money, but that does not mean I will play the whore for you," she snarled.
"I have no idea what any of that means, but I want to," I said with a grin.
She stared at me incredulously for a moment.
"Are you an idiot or are you crazy?" she hissed. "I told you not to come back."
"I know, but I couldn't stay away," I said, not able to rationalize my choices myself. "I'm aware that it's dangerous, but I just couldn't stay away."
She huffed in annoyance.
"Well, your curiosity could get you killed, so you will have to live with not knowing."
She pulled the knife away from my neck and stepped back, but still held it tightly in her hand.
I raised my hand to the stinging sensation on my neck and pressed against it.
"It is only a scratch, patao. It will stop bleeding in a moment," she said, with a scowl.
I pulled my hand away and looked at the few flecks of blood on my fingertips. In the dark, it looked almost black, so unlike the look of it in petri dishes.
"What are you staring at? What is wrong with you?" Bella asked, stepping back into my space and grabbing my arm. "Go home!"
When I didn't respond, she grabbed me by the arm and began dragging me in the direction of my part of the city. I knew that my time to convince her to talk to me was running out.
"If you don't talk to me, I'm just going to keep coming back, you know," I said, casually, hoping that she would give in.
Bella dropped my arm and turned to me.
"Why? Why are you willing to put your life in danger? Are you a spy? My father and brother are doing nothing wrong. They are just trying to keep my people alive. It is your people who are the aggressors."
"I'm not a spy. I'd actually be in big trouble if anyone knew that I was here," I said, unable to resist reaching out and picking up a strand of her hair. Her hair was full of a multitude of colors that shone beautifully in the half light of the alley.
With a tsk of frustration, Bella flicked my hand away.
"Fine, I will give you twenty minutes," she said, dragging me away with her.
We walked for a few blocks before she pulled me into what seemed like just a pile of rubble. However, once inside, I realized it was the shell of what used to be a store and in the back of it there was a space that had been set up like a living area.
"Is this where you live?" I asked, looking around the barren space curiously.
"No," she said, firmly. "I will not show you where I live."
"Why not?" I asked, feeling slightly hurt.
She looked at me quizzically.
"Why would I? You are an ashka. Your people are our enemies," she explained.
"I'm not your enemy. I find you fascinating. How do you survive? Where do you get your food? Who monitors you?"
She sat down on a chair that was placed in front of a table and beckoned for me to sit down at a chair on the opposite side.
"I will answer your questions if you answer mine," she said, a look in her eyes that I couldn't quite identify. Her face was so expressive, but I didn't recognize most of the emotions that flitted across it.
"Okay," I said, relieved that she was willing to share.
"Where do your people live?" I asked. "Your people aren't allowed to own property."
She scowled at me.
"There are plenty of spaces for people to live in the areas where your people think are beneath them."
"Like this?" I gestured, looking around the place skeptically. How could anyone live here?
"What choice do we have? Your people consider us vermin," she hissed.
I flinched at the description because that is how Demitri described them.
However, before I could say anything, she asked a question of her own.
Sitting forward, she rested her elbows on the table as looked at me intently.
"Where do your people store your food supply?"
"I don't know," I said confused. "Why would I ever need to know that?"
"Do you not know where your food comes from?" she asked.
"Our food is prepared daily and delivered to our homes," I responded.
She opened her mouth to ask me another question, but I butted in first.
"Who takes care of all of you?" I asked.
When she looked at me in confusion, I explained further.
"Who monitors your people? Who are your guardians?"
"We are not pets. We are free people. No one monitors us," she said in disgust.
"I don't understand. How do you survive without regular check-ins?"
"We take care of ourselves," she said, her confusion turning to pity. "Are you not in charge of your own lives?"
"We're the Eugenie. Of course not. We're the saviors. We must always be in prime condition to preserve the human race."
"I have no idea what that even means…" she said, looking at me in curiosity now instead of suspicion.
I shrugged, pleased that she was more interested in questioning me now than killing me.