The Luminosity Series (Book 1): Luminosity (21 page)

“Where did you get these?” he snapped.

“They were in a box on the shelf, hidden underneath a
stack of books you left for her to find. Don’t worry. I cleaned up your mess,
but I want to know what the hell this is about. Why does she have all these
records?” Kylie asked, her breathing out of control now.

“Listen… I can explain… but you need to calm down…” he
said through his teeth. Kylie winced.

“It really is her, isn’t it? That’s why you avoid your
mother. These are dated back to her birth… there’s even a copy of her
fingerprints in there. Why else would your mom have them?” Kylie asked, her
eyes wandering. Evan swallowed, unable to speak.

“Kylie—”

“I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner… Andrew Ellis
was her father… They never died in that fire… They escaped,” she trailed off,
letting out an exasperated breath as she put one hand across her face. Just
then, Evan reached out to grab her arm, pulling her inside, shutting the door
behind him.

“Keep it down, okay? Aubrey’s upstairs. I’m keeping
her here until this whole colony selection passes. You can’t let anyone know
she’s here. Especially my mother,” he pressed.

“What do you mean? She’s that man’s daughter. You have
to tell the authorities, Ev, before they find out you’re an accomplice in her
escape,” she cried. Evan lost it as he silenced her.

“Quiet, or else you’ll get us all in trouble. Swear to
me you’ll keep your mouth shut,” he lashed out. Kylie appeared frightened by
his reaction before nodding. A few moments passed before Evan spoke again.
“Their deaths were a cover-up,” he said.

“You think?” Kylie’s eyes were wide.

“What the media said was a lie, Kylie. The whole thing
was set up. Andrew worked for the Department of Defense when he found out what
was happening. They were designing a blueprint for some underground operation.
It’s what led him to the truth. He wanted to warn the public about the
discovery, but the feds went after him to keep him quiet. He staged the fire so
they could get away,” he said.

“That’s crazy talk, Evan…” She took a step back in
tears before he jerked her forward again.

“No. You’re wrong to believe those stories. I believed
them too until his name popped up on the internet by some awareness movement
revealing her father’s true cause. But people still think of him as a rebel
leader. There’s a bounty out for his entire family,” he said. Kylie shook her
head.

“But… they said the reason they kept that information
from the public was to protect us from a panic. They had a plan. Now look
what’s happened,” she said.

“A plan? No. Not for us. The colonies were a response
to public outcry. Otherwise they never would have been built, at least not for
civilian capacity,” he said. Kylie stayed silent. “If anyone had insight into
this, it was Andrew. Why would he make this up? He wouldn’t put his family’s
life on the line just to cause a panic. It’s bigger than that.”

“But—”

“He knew what was coming, Kylie. He urged our leaders
to prepare, but they wouldn’t because of the risks of getting other countries
involved. The collapse didn’t happen because of her father. It happened because
they kept their knowledge a secret.”

“But what about the rebellion? All those riots and
suffering?” she asked.

“People didn’t want to start a war, they just wanted a
fair chance. All this time, we’ve been tricked into thinking the people who
fled were our enemy,” Evan snapped.

“What about your mother? Have you told her about
this?”

“I tried, but she won’t listen. She’s too afraid to
believe any of it. After I found out she knew about Aubrey’s identity, I made
her a deal. If she ever tried to expose them, I’d escape the border and she’d
never see me again. But after seeing these files I don’t trust she’ll stay
quiet much longer,” he said.

“Oh my god…”

“You have to help me, Kylie… If they find her, it’s
over.”

“She’ll never make it out of this, Ev. Sooner or
later, they’ll find out who she is…” she said.

“Then you better do everything you can to keep her
hidden. If you don’t, you’re putting every one of our lives in danger…”

“Your mom knows the files are missing, Ev…” She
blinked.

“What? How?” His eyes were wide with fear.

“I saw her looking through the bookcase after I grabbed
these.” Kylie nodded to the papers in his hand. “She was acting weird. She even
asked me if someone had been in the house since she left this morning. I denied
it, but I don’t think she believed me,” she said with a wince. He sighed
impatiently.

“I had no idea how deeply involved she was in this
until now. So I—I burned the files. And now I have to burn these too before she
or anyone else gets to them,” he said, glancing at the records in his hand.
Kylie was shaking.

“She must suspect who took them. Once she realized
they were missing, she ran back out to her car. She didn’t say where she was
going… but she seemed paranoid,” she said.

“Did you see which way she went?” he asked. My eyes
widened. And in that second, worry over my mother’s safety flooded my brain.

“No. I got here as soon as I could because I knew
something was weird about all of this.”

“Shit…”

“Evan… before you burn these, think about what you’re
doing. You’d have a life. You could carry on our family’s name and be a part of
history. She’s one girl. Don’t you remember what she did? She left you behind,”
she said. My face tightened with disgust.

“She means more than that. The only thing anyone else
has ever done for me was keep me from the truth, including my mother. Aubrey’s
made mistakes but she doesn’t deserve this. She’s the only person who’s been on
the right side of all of this,” he said.

“This isn’t about what side we’re on, or what’s true.
This is about survival. Without leverage, you won’t survive this. Remember,
they’re the ones who choose whether to keep you alive. So you either save her,
or yourself. You can’t have it both ways,” she said.

“Then I choose her. Because I’d rather die with
dignity than survive knowing I got another innocent person killed,” Evan
snapped, tearing the remaining evidence into pieces before lighting another
fire.

I pretended to be asleep as Evan left for the fields
that morning. At the hospital, I couldn’t count how many times I glanced at the
clock that day. Sonya disappeared after my scene with Charlie, and even though
I was glad not to have seen her again, I often wondered what happened to her, but
I presumed I’d never find out.

The fifth floor, once full of crying infants, was now
dull and vacant, the black lining on the windows giving way through a vicious
cycle of cracking and peeling. Tiny beams of sunlight seeped through them,
making eerie, haunting patterns on the walls. The hollow silence rung in my
ears as I delved into the empty hallways, chasing for a trace of new life. But
as the dead air continued, the roars of protesters bordering the parking lot interrupted. 

Power to the city failed that day, forcing our more
privileged citizens and authorities to run on the backup generators. My
paranoia remained at an all-time high as I crossed through the barriers of
Cedar Ridge—the obnoxious blare of the buzzer ringing as the red light converted
to a cool green. The fence opened in a jingle-like chime, authorizing me to
pass, but it was only a temporary reprieve. Each time I pushed through those
gates I dodged a bullet—a shot that would one day hit me.

With most of our military patrolling downtown, I
turned through the barren streets leading to Evan’s. The entire neighborhood
was a shadow now, with only the gentle glow of the auroras overhead to escort
me through the streets. Fear arose in me within the emptiness. It was common to
see guard trucks lined up on the streets during blackouts, even in places that
had been long isolated by this crisis. But that night, as I inched forward, they
remained absent.

In front of me, a set of black tread marks burned the
pavement, like someone had taken off in a hurry. My heart plunged as I pulled
over beside Evan’s house, which from a distance appeared as if it had been
looted. I took a sharp breath getting out of the car. After a moment of
hesitation, I strolled into the street, his home coming closer into view as I adjusted
my wavering vision. But to my disappointment, my intuition hadn’t deceived me.
Jagged glass outlined the window, the front door partially open, just how
Janelle and I found it the day he confronted Jake. But this time, over-sized,
muddy footsteps tainted the doorstep in a detailed outline. Combat boots.
Military.

Without thinking, I flung forward. The door slammed
against the wall as I put a hand over my mouth. Flames faded in the fireplace,
the shadows of overturned furniture looming against the walls of the house.
Light from the auroras gleamed through the windows. And as I put one foot
forward, I froze. Evan’s belongings had been mangled and shred, pictures once hanging
in gracious alignment now shattered. Floorboards were torn up in certain areas
of the living room, and every cabinet in the kitchen gaped open, revealing
broken dishes and glasses. The pantry, once stocked with a plentiful supply of
food, was empty, leaving just a few soup cans that had crashed carelessly to
the floor.

“Evan?” I whipped my head around in each direction
before rushing up the stairs. Panicked by the silence, I called his name again,
but there was no answer.

After bursting through the door to the guest bedroom,
I found him sitting against the wall. His arms were bound behind him, his mouth
taped. Adjusting to the darkness, his face glowed a pale blue through the
moon’s beam penetrating the patio doors. A scratch ran along his jaw, blood
smeared across the darkened bruises on his cheekbone.

He winced, keeping his focus forward as I kneeled down
beside him, ripping off the tape in a raging grimace. My eyes stung, my pupils dilating
before darting to every angle of the room, searching for something to free him
with. After pulling a sharp piece from the broken vanity mirror, I kneeled
down, slicing through the rope, releasing him from its constricted grip. He
moved his hands forward, his wrists marked up from the loss of circulation.
Then, he let out a groan, his eyes filling with dread.

“Did you see anyone?” he asked. I shook my head
repeatedly.

“Who did this?” I asked. He clenched his fists, as if
to squeeze away his temper.

“They had guns,” he said, blinking in exhaustion.

“They?” I gave him a look of confusion.

“I think they were rebels. They weren’t with the
military, Aubrey. The guy… he—he had longer hair and a tattoo on his arm. A
girl and two other guys were with him.” He coughed.

“What were they looking for?”

“You.” Evan scowled in confusion. My eyes widened at
the memory of my father’s compass. I reached in my pocket, grasping ahold of it
for reassurance.

“What?” I asked, giving him a staggering look. His
breathing raced as I helped him to his feet, his focus dancing around the floor
in contemplation.

“They told me they’d be coming back for you. I don’t
know how they knew who you were,” he said, giving me a worried glance.

“Shit…” I sighed.

“They took every fucking thing I had. But they won’t
take you, you hear me?” he snapped, looking away.

“What are we going to do?” I panicked.

“We have to get rid of them. We can’t hide from them,
that’s for sure. These people seemed highly trained. They must’ve outsmarted
our military and created a diversion in town just so they could get to us.” He
drew back his glance in defeat. My eyelids fluttered in fear at the thought of
my mother.

“How will we get rid of them? Look what they did to
you. We have to tell the guards. We can warn them rebels are getting across the
wall. They’ll increase protection at the border. They’ll have to!” I panicked.
He sighed in frustration.

“And double the risk of you being found out? No. If
our military captures them and one of them speaks, your secret will be out. We
can’t do that and they know it. The only way to avoid having your cover blown
is to kill them,” he said. I looked at him, frantic and petrified.

“We have to warn my mother before they get to her,” I
said.

“We can’t.”

“But we can’t just—”

“It’s after curfew, Aubs. It’ll be even more risky for
you if we try to drive out there now. We’ll have to wait until morning,” he
said, swallowing. I drew back my glance.

“Fine,” I agreed, knowing he was right.

After washing the blood from his face, we relaxed by
the fire. His head rested on my lap as I ran my fingers through his coarse hair,
the sweat from his forehead shining amidst the flames. It was hard to look at
him like this, so fragile and unprepared. Catching me in an instant of regret,
his shame became evident.

“I had to tell Kylie who you were,” he said with his
head forward, his eyes dead set on the fire. I stayed quiet as a tear dribbled
down my cheek, nodding in guilt.

“It’s fine…”

“I had no choice after she saw me take those
documents. Damn it. I should’ve been more careful,” he said.

“Don’t worry about that now, okay?” I whispered, my
voice quavering.

“Aubrey… I swear I wanted to tell you I knew. I did. I
just didn’t want to see you so upset again,” he sighed. I continued to hold
back tears as I examined his swollen eye and bruised cheekbone.

“We’ll never be safe, will we?” My lips trembled as I
shifted my focus into the fire.

“We never were,” Evan said, shaking his head as I
closed my eyes.

♦  ♦  ♦

As we drove down the hill the next morning, many of
the condemned houses in town had been raided. Doors were blocked with wooden
boards, windows sealed with black tarp, the siding still marked with a red X. I
glanced at Evan’s battered face, my eyelids fluttering as he took one arm off
the steering wheel to grab my hand. But it never gave me much comfort.

It wasn’t until that week our food supply began to
diminish. Shelves at the food bank stayed empty, longer, even though fewer
people were getting the proper quantity to support their hunger. Now frightened
by the food crisis hitting our territory, rioting escalated. Fights over
politics, rumors of rebels along our borders, and the threat of war over
precious resources also became a daily predicament. Religion spread across the
entire town like a plague, desperate citizens praying in the streets and city
parks, growing more reliant on their dwindling faith. Now, a new wave of protesters
held up cardboard signs reading
“We all deserve a chance”
and
“The
colonies won’t save us from corruption.”
The territories were failing, just
as Evan predicted.

We approached the familiar gravel road leading up to
my mother’s house, the dust from underneath the tires obscuring the morning
rays of sunlight that peeked above the hills. My mother’s car sat in the
driveway, the back doors and trunk wide open as if she were attempting a
getaway. Terror stabbed through me like a knife as I jumped out of Evan’s jeep,
jogging to the door. He appeared beside me seconds later, and as we stood
breathless in the open doorway, my mother stumbled down the stairs in a hysterical
snuffle.

“Mom? What are you doing? Where are you going?” I
asked, looking up at her.

When she turned to expose her face away from her
blackish curls, I put a hand to my mouth in surprise. Burn marks trailed down
the side of her jaw, and she had the same distinct bruising underneath her eye
as Evan did. Trembling under the weight of the bag in her left arm, she crashed
forward.

“Mom!” I hurried to the steps to grab her.

As she collapsed into my arms, Evan rushed to help
ease her weight on me. Step by step, we pulled her into the kitchen. I slid out
a chair while he helped guide her to the table. After grabbing a glass of water
for her, we both surrounded her, a sudden, dreadful curiosity banging in our
hearts as we observed her injuries.

“Mom… what happened? You need to tell us.” Seconds
later, she spoke.

“Tracy came over here last night, right before
curfew,” my mother said to Evan, giving him a painful eye. “She was looking for
information on Andrew. She blamed me for stealing something from her, and
threatened to burn our house down all over again,” she explained, blinking in distress.
Evan conveyed a ferocious glance as he towered over the table, clenching his
fists.

“What’d she do to you? What happened to your face?” he
asked.

“We had a fight. She used a lighter to threaten me.
When I got control of the situation, I tried to run, but she pinned me down and
demanded I get in the car with her. Then we heard yelling coming from the
trees, so she ran off. I had just enough time to get into the cellar before…
before I realized what was happening.”

“Yelling?” I asked.

“People were looking for us, Aubrey. Tracy was—she was
held at gunpoint. They wanted to kill her, but instead they released her. She
must’ve told them something. And I’m guessing that’s how they knew where to find
you,” my mother said, her glare meeting Evan in a wince.

“Who were they?” he asked, giving her a direct eye. My
mother’s focus drifted downward.

“I have no idea,” she replied, spaced out at the
table.

“That better be the truth,” he said with a tight jaw.
I squinted at him while he walked away, tears of resentment flooding his eyes.
My mother stayed silent.

“Mom, we can’t let them find us. We have to go
somewhere where it’s safe, where they won’t be able to get to us,” I said. She
shook her head in a sob.

“We’re no safer anywhere else than we are out here,”
she said.

“We have to do something,” I slammed my fists onto the
table, fuming from her dismissal. She jumped. Evan turned around.

“It’s not that simple. Our situation is so much more
precarious than I thought. People haven’t forgotten us… and that’s bad enough,”
she said in a ghostly gaze, staring at the wall. I glimpsed at Evan, thinking
of Kylie. His eyes darted as he sat there, the shock and fear hitting him all
at once before peeking at her car outside.

“Then where were you planning to go?” he asked.
Suddenly, it dawned on me. I slid out from the table and stood up.

“You were going to run, weren’t you?” I huffed,
looking around at the house now in shambles—torn apart like the day I left.
“You were going to leave us here and run,” I repeated in a tearful shriek,
covering my mouth.

“No.” My mother’s eyes beamed at me as if they could
hold me in place. “Aubrey, it isn’t what it looks like.”

“She was going to bail, Evan,” I said again, shaking
in disbelief before rushing outside to avoid her lies again.

Seconds later, I heard him calling my name from behind
me. I caught myself against his old jeep, belting out air as I squinted at the
bright sky. Moments after, as I recovered my breath in the morning sun, he
grabbed my shoulder.

“You need to listen to what she has to say. It’s about
your sister,” he said. And in that second, I spun back around in shock.

My mother cried at the table when we returned inside
the house. Resting beside her was a piece of paper, creased and crumbled, as if
it had been read over a thousand times.