Rise Against the Faultless (11 page)

The ride back to the Training
Compound was a silent one. Not sharing with Ari was something I had become
quite adept at, and besides, he didn’t even ask me about my little
“sleepwalking” episode. Things were still weird between Lo and I so she took my
silence as being offended, which I was fine with. I couldn’t be worried about
our little squabble. I had one mission in life right now. I did not care about
training, I did not care about the chasm between Ari and I, I did not care
about anything except getting Dale back. I would find him and bring him back,
no matter the personal cost. Getting to drain the life from Lars and Ann Brutus
would be a bonus if it became necessary to accomplish my goal. In the meantime,
I would act as I normally did. I would go about my days as if I hadn’t
witnessed the abduction of my brother. I will plan his rescue and I will find a
way to stop Ann. Once, and for all.

My plan was to get close to
Ann. She had no way of knowing for sure whether I knew about Dale, and I
planned to keep it that way. Our relationship was strained at best, but I would
turn that around. She must be able to sense my dislike for her, but I could
convince her that I admired her. I could make her think that her goals are my
goals. Her mindset is my mindset. I want what she has, power and prestige. Once
thoroughly convinced, I could drop hints at wanting to be part of the
Defectors. Give her little insights as to my thoughts that would run parallel
to theirs. I needed it to be her idea to let me in. If that is who is holding
Dale, I have to get on the inside, and to do that, I need Ann’s help.

The second part of my plan was
to develop a small circle of people I trusted and who trusted me. I needed them
to respect me as a person and as a leader. If I was going to take on the
Defectors, I would need help.

The last time that I saw Ann
was during my little act of defiance at the pool last week. Helping Shane
against her direct orders wasn’t going to make this easy. I couldn’t overplay
the admiration thing right away. She’d see right through it. It would have to
be gradual. First thing that morning, I met her in the Command Training room. I
had to concentrate on my breaths. In. Out. In. Out. I couldn’t let the rage
inside of me control my actions, instead I let it be my fuel to do what I
needed to do. I would be cool and aloof with her at first. I knew my immediate
reaction to seeing her face wouldn’t be one she would need to see, so I closed
my eyes before opening the door and pictured her sitting there. I let the anger
come out and then gained my composure. I let my heart rate go back to normal
and entered the room.

She was standing behind her
desk, staring at me. She had the slightest of smiles that I reminded myself
couldn’t let me go off task, for Dale. I glanced in her direction without
speaking or nodding, as I usually did with her. I gave no indication of my
knowledge. “Keep it together, Raily,” I kept repeating in my head. She was
watching for any kind of sign that I knew, waiting for me to crack. I had added
extra concealer under my eyes that morning to cover the dark, puffy circles
left behind from no sleep and relentless sobbing.

“I trust that your weekend home
was restful, Ms. Stone.” Her tone was cold and callous. Every word dripped with
hatefulness and at that moment I considered abandoning my plan and lunging for
her to rip out her throat. “Do what’s best for Dale, you’ll never get him back
if you kill her now,” the rational voice in my head chided.

“Yes, it was fine.” Cool and
aloof. Stick to the plan. I wouldn’t give her any bait. She seemed satisfied by
my answer, but dug a little deeper.

“How is your family?” The
slight smile reappeared. This comment would go unnoticed by someone who had no
knowledge of their brother’s abduction, but otherwise would surely cause a
reaction from me.

“They’re all fine. And yours?”
I wanted her to think that the only thing on my mind was our last tense
interaction. Referencing Shane would throw her off.

She just nodded. Apparently
this was proof enough for the time being that I was still in the dark about
Dale. “I’m afraid that the little stunt you pulled last week will bring about
reprimand, Ms. Stone.  You will get your punishment later on today. Now, go,
before you’re late.” She busied herself with something on her desk and did not
look at me again. I was not stupid enough to hang around any longer.  I had
survived my first meeting with my brother’s abductor, which I would view as my
first victory against Ann.

When I arrived at the
designated outdoor area for training, I immediately knew something was wrong.
On the platform stood Oren and kneeling down beside him was Glyn Steed. She was
trembling and had a hard stare fixated on the ground before her. “Leadership
girl, so happy you could make it. Let me catch you up to speed.” Oren relished
singling me out. “Upon further review, your use of Ms. Steed’s concoctions
during our little games have been deemed illegal. Ms. Steed is being punished
for not doing enough research on the subject.” This is Ann’s punishment for me.
She knew this would be worse than anything she could do to me. She’s taking it
out on Glyn. I can best her at this.

I ran through the growing crowd
up to the platform and jumped on. I stood, eye to eye with Oren placing myself
between him and Glyn, “I’ll take her punishment.” At that moment, you could
have heard a pin drop. Oren let an evil grin spread across his face. If I
hadn’t known Oren, I would consider him to be handsome, with his piercing blue
eyes and perfect bone structure, but all I saw in him was an empty ugliness in
this moment.

“Fine by me.” Before he even
finished the sentence he had brought his knee up to my gut and I was kneeling
down beside Glyn, gasping for breath.

“You don’t have to do this. “
She said to me. I pushed her away so she would leave the platform. By the way
she hobbled off grasping her middle, I guessed that he had brought her to her
knees in the same manner.

“Cheating will not get you very
far here, sweetie.” Oren said the words as if he were teasing a child. They
resented that I used her against them. They resented that she had value in
society. They hated her for being smarter than they were. They had to find a
way to bring her down while hurting me, to try to discredit her for making them
look bad. Heat came rushing to the surface of my skin. I was just angry now,
and when Oren’s boot came across the right side of my face I didn’t make a
sound. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of crying out as blood started to
trickle from the gash it left high on my cheekbone. I picked myself back up and
stood, looking him in his cold eyes again. His smile started to fade.  

“She didn’t cheat and you know
it,” I snarled at him. The urge to block his next blow was almost too strong,
but I knew it would only bring more. It was harder to get back up this time,
but as I pulled my body back upright, I heard someone yell out my name. Oren
whipped around to find them, but only turned back to me, angrier. Hit after
devastating hit, I kept getting back up, silently, but each time with more
determination.

I heard ringing in my ears, but
above it were the voices of the crowd. There were just a few at first, then one
by one, they all raised up their voices. “Raily, Raily, Raily!” Their chants
lifted me back to my feet. I pushed the pain away, I ignored the burning in my
cut and the relentless sharp pain running down my back. It didn’t matter what
he did to me, Oren couldn’t break me. Ann would not break me.

The crowd’s support had the
opposite effect on Oren, he only became filled with rage and with the back of
his hand he knocked me down again. Only this time, my leg caught the edge of
the platform at an unnatural angle and sent me tumbling the rest of the five
feet down to the ground. “Get up now, sweetie,” he teased. Dirt stuck to the
blood on my face and was caught in my eyes. When I moved my left leg, I knew it
was probably broken. I winced in pain as I tried to pull myself up. The crowd
had stopped their chanting and now just looked at me. My eyes went black and I
fell back to the earth. “I said get up!” He yelled angrily. I wanted to lay
there. I wanted them to just send me home, where I could find Dale playing in
the back yard. We could look for fireflies together at dusk and tell each other
scary stories and laugh until it was time to go to bed. That was no longer an
option. Oren didn’t expect me to climb that stage, which is why I had to.

With each painstaking movement,
I lifted my body back up off of the ground. I could only put weight on my leg
temporarily, so I quickly mapped out the shortest route back up those stairs. I
saw the pitying look in my peers’ eyes. I couldn’t let them see any weakness in
me. They can’t pity me. They have to look to me for strength. I slowly inched
my way back up the stairs, pushing back tears as the pain and swelling in my
leg only worsened with each movement. Oren cursed and yelled hoping to dissuade
me, but each bit of filth escaping his lips only strengthened my resolve. I
stopped within inches of him and lifted my eyes to his. He stared at me hard
for a few seconds. “You won’t get back up from this one,” he growled, only loud
enough for me to hear.

I braced myself as he lifted
his hand again, which must be aching pretty badly by now, only to hear another
voice, “That’s enough, Oren.” I recognized Terra’s smooth, measured voice. I
don’t know where she came from, but I was glad she was here now. “What good
will she be to anyone if she’s full of broken bones?” I didn’t let my eyes
leave Oren’s face. He broke our stare, only to acknowledge Terra and then
silently left the training area.

Terra came to stand beside me
and I thought I recognized respect in her face when she looked over my bruised
body. “Get to the nurse’s station, Ms. Stone.” She didn’t have to ask for
volunteers, a boy and girl immediately jumped on the platform and whisked me
away as the entire outdoor area burst into applause and wild yelling.

I was surprised to see when I
looked up to my left that Dione was the one my arm was wrapped around helping
me walk, “Nice job, Grime lover,” he didn’t say it with disdain this time, but
with respect. It was almost like the first time my team won a simulation, but
this was different, they respected me now.  They knew what lengths I would go
to for those that were on my side. I could hear them well after I had been
inside the building, and I would keep that sound in my ears for as long as I
could.

After learning that my leg was
indeed broken, but it was a clean break and I was told I would be off of it for
two weeks. Besides the gash on my face, my hobble was the only other sign of my
injuries. The rest of the hits were mostly taken in my body. Thankfully, I had
avoided any cracked ribs, but I was quite sore. My kidneys had taken a good
beating and the first time I urinated I saw a bit of blood. They monitored me
for a while, though, and all was well. I would continue with training as long
as there was no sparring or running involved. I would lift weights and practice
with the weapons. The next two weeks didn’t have any simulations planned, so I
would not miss out on any of them.

My moral victory over Oren sure
wouldn’t gain me any points in winning Ann over, but I could tell that my
broken body would suffice in satisfying her thirst for revenge for now. Her
face was smug when I saw her the next day and it was then that I knew she had
expected me to take Glyn’s place. Ann was smart, and I would have to keep in
mind not to underestimate her cunning.

I did my best to hide any pain
that I felt as I came in on my crutches. I wanted to act as if I had just
stubbed a toe. “What happened to you!” Shane’s voice was not its usual calm and
cool tone, but more of an angry panic. I hadn’t realized until this moment that
I hadn’t laid eyes on him since my return to the Compound. I hadn’t factored
him into my plan at all. I wasn’t sure how to handle him right now or in the
future. Surely, he had been in on this. It made me angry to think that I had
fallen for his act for one second. Giving into him like I had. I felt foolish,
but let the feeling pass over me and brought myself back to the moment. I would
figure out how to deal with him later. “Raily, I said what happened?” Nice act.
I pride myself on being able to tell a liar, but he really has gotten one over
on me. Of course he knew what happened, he and Mommy Dearest probably laughed
about it over dinner last night.

“It’s nothing, just training
stuff, they said I’d heal quickly. What’s on the agenda for today?” He really
looked concerned, his forehead in wrinkles and his lips were creased at the
corners. What a cool character he was. I wish I had those kind of acting
skills, I wouldn’t be worried about fooling Ann into believing I cared what she
thought. He leaned into me and whispered where Ann couldn’t hear, “I’m not
dropping this.” 

“Yes, Ms. Stone, you look worse
for wear. Are you alright?” Ann purred the words out with the slightest of
smiles. She really did enjoy seeing me this way. I had to let her believe she
had bested me this round, so I kept my eyes down, like a beaten dog.

“Fine.” I mumbled. If Ann was
trying to break me, I would play along. I would let her think she was molding
me into another one of her pawns.

“Good to know,” I could hear
the satisfaction in her voice. “Well, you two can run along then.”

Cyril was waiting for me just
outside the Command Training room and when she saw me her jaw hit the floor.
“Raily, what happened? They reassign me for one day and you come back half
dead?”   I hadn’t noticed that Cyril was also missing from my side yesterday.
Despite the recent blow my ego took from being wrong about Shane, I still had
confidence in my instincts with Cyril. I felt like she was someone I could
trust. “Shane, what happened, where were you?” I was a bit shocked that she was
talking to him like that, she normally wouldn’t address Shane in such a blatant
manner, but I could tell she was worried.

“I was also reassigned all day
yesterday, I’m just as confused as you are. Did this happen at home, Raily?”

“I told you, just normal
training stuff. Oren took it a little too far, but I’m fine.”

“Oren! I should’ve known,”
Shane punched the wall beside him, making Cyril jump. “Nice touch,” I thought.
He really wants me to think he cares about me.

Just then, I caught a look in
Cyril’s distressed face, and it hit me. Something in my brain just clicked. The
feeling of déjà vu was so strong that I couldn’t ignore it any longer. It was
something I had been working out in my dreams all along and I recalled the
dream I was having that was interrupted by Dale’s cries the night he was taken.
I had seen Cyril instead of the girl in my dream that night, but there was a
reason for it. Cyril’s familiarity to me this entire time wasn’t a coincidence.
I thought she looked familiar because the girl that I witnessed being murdered
was Cyril’s sister. She had to be. The likeness was too great and I would never
forget the girl’s face. The hair, the fair skin, the same sad look in their
eyes.

Cyril believed that her sister
had died in an accident a long time ago, but she was taken by the Defectors and
had only been murdered a short time before. Murdered by the same boy who took
Dale just two nights ago. That must have been Lars initiation into the fold:
murdering Cyril’s sister in a fight to the death. I had to tell Cyril the
truth. I had to tell everyone the truth. But who would believe me? And who’s to
say that as soon as I uttered the words that they wouldn’t kill me just as
quickly, along with everyone I ever cared about?

No. I had to focus on the plan.
With part of my plan being that I needed to form a loyal circle, I knew now
that I wanted Cyril to be part of it. I would tell her the truth in time, but
only when she’s ready. That kind of motivation would spurn whatever I needed
from her as an ally, but I had to make sure she trusted me as much as I trusted
her. I tried to imagine what Cyril’s parents were like. Were they like mine?
Had they crossed the Defectors in a way that made them want revenge,
effectively killing one daughter and sentencing the other to a life of Service
to the very people that they hated?

After Shane’s outburst, we were
all silent on the way to Training that morning. He walked eyes forward, not
casually talking with Cyril or trying to hit on me, but as if he were on a
mission.  We arrived outside, the weather was actually quite pleasant, a good
thing because today was weapons training. It may as well have been a torrential
downpour. That’s how I felt, like a constant dark cloud was over me and
wouldn’t relent until I rescued Dale.

When we got there, Shane didn’t
stay with us, he left and walked straight to the front of the crowd where Oren
was standing, talking with another trainer. He didn’t say a word and as he
reached the two men talking, Oren barely had time to register the punch that
was coming his way. He tried to block it, but Shane caught him on the underside
of his chin, knocking him clear to the ground. The other man that was talking
to Oren stood in stunned silence. Oren cursed as he spit out blood and dirt. “I
thought you might have learned your lesson from last time, Brutus,” Oren
sneered up at Shane, obviously holding a kept secret over his head.

Shane ignored his comment and
dropped a knee into Oren’s side while holding his neck with his forearm. “You
don’t have anything on me, Oren. No amount of connections can keep you safe. You’re
nothing but a spineless rat.”

“Oh I’m the one with
connections?” He wheezed the words out, barely able to keep oxygen in his
lungs.

Shane let Oren up, before
making an even bigger scene, and stormed off.  The stunned trainer tried to
help Oren off the ground, but Oren angrily brushed him away and picked himself
up, while wiping dust off of his clothes.

  Cyril leaned into me and
whispered, “Looks like that kiss meant something to him.” If only Cyril knew
this was all an act. Although, what Shane said about Oren being a rat and
Oren’s comment about this not being their first run in was confusing me. I
couldn’t trust him. He was Ann’s son. I had to keep him at arm’s length. I
couldn’t spook him either, though. I needed to come up with a game plan for how
to handle Shane.

It looked like I wouldn’t have
to even worry about it for the rest of the day. Shane never came back to
training. I wasn’t sure if it was of his own accord or if a higher up got wind
of it and was detaining him. I didn’t have to worry about Oren that day either.
He didn’t so much as give me a sideways glance. I knew it was temporary, but I
welcomed the reprieve in my current, pathetic state. Even sitting down to eat
lunch was painful and awkward, in more than one way. I decided putting off
telling Adrian about the moment that Shane and I had shared before this
weekend. It was not crucial to the plan, and the last thing I needed was for
someone close to me to have a chip on their shoulder. I needed Adrian on my
side right now and I couldn’t risk losing our friendship at this point. Nothing
else mattered right now but getting Dale back.

I hadn’t seen him or Lo since
arriving back, since I spent the rest of yesterday being cared for by nurses.
When I first saw him, I just acted like nothing had changed. He and Lo had
already heard about what had happened yesterday with Oren. Word travels fast.
He gave me a quick hug and a reassuring smile, “Training’s really taking it out
of you, huh? Want me to hit him?” I cracked a smile at the thought of it.  I
smiled back and joked, “Nah, I’m sure I’ll take care of it at some point.”
Well, he thought it was a joke, anyway.  I used my injuries as an excuse for
not being my normal self.  That excuse would only last me for a few days, so
I’ll have to get back on my feet, figuratively in the next week or so, so my
friends won’t suspect anything.

Even when I do decide to tell
them what happened, how can I? We’re monitored everywhere we go on video and
that video transmits to databases somewhere in the universe. Adrian had tried
to explain the technical aspects of it to me once, but stopped midway through
his explanation when he saw my eyes glaze over. Now that I know everything we
say is also probably being recorded by our PID and transmitted to these databases,
I would have to be very careful about how to address this issue.

After training, I decided to go
on another private tour of the compound, alone. I needed to clear my head and
just get away, like I used to do in the woods before my life started to spiral
out of control. I rode the shuttle to the far east side of the compound, and
decided to take to the outdoors. It wasn’t easy navigating the ground with my
crutches, but it felt OK outside today and being confined in a building just
made me feel even more helpless.

There was a movement that
caught my eye in the far right side of my peripheral vision. It was the tall,
elegant wind turbines that I had noticed that first day after arriving at the
compound. There were hundreds of them. I started hobbling my way towards them
and the closer I got, the more I realized how noisy they were. I would have to
be yelling to have a conversation with another person out here.

Then it hit me. I could come
here to talk to Cyril! It would be perfect. There is no way that anyone would
be able to detect our voices over the PID transmissions out here. At least I
had to hope not, it was my only chance.