Aberrant

by Ruth Silver

  “Burned down? The entire town?” I asked, astonished. I knew she’d been rescued from a fire in her home, but I hadn’t realized the extent of what the government had done to the people.

  “I don’t remember much. There was an uprising. The people were fighting with the government. My adoptive parents were seamstresses. Most of the town worked in some way to create clothing for the entire population. I remember my father yelling at our neighbor one night. He’d come into our home, which was forbidden, and he was seeking asylum. I don’t know from what, I guess the government. He wanted to hide in our home. My father refused to let him. He was a rebel after all, and although my adoptive mother was a rebel sympathizer, our neighbor asked the wrong person,” Jacqueline sighed. “I was too young to understand what was going on. The government came, dragged my neighbor out in the middle of the night and shot him. The other members of Livery rebelled. They weren’t happy. They were hungry. Very few had children and felt like they should be rewarded for their hard work.”

  “Rewarded with children?” I was appalled.

  “Breeding camps are that for a reason, Olivia,” she informed me with a heavy sigh. “My mother went outside to join the fight. My father ran after her screaming obscenities. I stood by the window, crying because they'd left me behind. Someone took a torch, threw it in the house through the window. It missed me, but the house lit up in flames. I didn’t leave. I was too young to understand what was going on, and I was hysterical. I don’t remember much after that, except for waking up in Landon's arms. He rescued me, saved my life and brought me to Haven.”

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “Do you know what happened to the town of Livery?”

  Jacqueline shook her head. “There’s no way to know for certain. People still have clothes. The government is still in charge. Our town didn’t win,” she admitted as we entered the dormitory. “I guess they found a way to control the rest of the town and end the uprising as quickly as it started.”

  She led me to my door, stopping for a moment as we approached the room. “Do you think we have a fighting chance to win this war?” I asked her.

  “If what they say is true about you, then I think we do.” Jacqueline smiled at me with a mix of curiosity laced in her expression.

  I wondered what it was they said about me. Was it the fact they all assumed I could bear a child because my mother had? What if they were wrong? “Have a good night,” I offered in return, heading into my room and closing the door behind me.

  CHAPTER 8

  I had already tired of the history lessons. The words bored me as they floated off the page. I never did terribly in school, but something about Haven and the council disgusted me. Probably the fact they expected me to have a child with someone in town, and I had no choice in the matter.

  A knock at my door startled me. When I pulled it open, I was surprised to find Joshua on the other side. I didn't let him in. "What?" I crossed my arms and did my best to look tough. I didn’t want to let him see he'd hurt me. He lost the right to see that side of me when he'd betrayed me.

  "I wanted to apologize." He shifted on his feet glancing behind him down the hall. "Can I come in?"

  I shook my head no, my eyes narrowed like the points of a dagger. "What do you want?" I wasn't letting up this easily. He couldn't act like a jerk and then expect me to just to forgive and forget.

  "I know you want an explanation about the girl in my room earlier, and I think you deserve the truth." His eyes met mine and I felt my insides tighten.

  "It's fine." I held up my hand. "You don't need to explain yourself to me. We're here and obviously we can see other people. We're not married," I reminded him sharply. "You're free to date whomever you want."

  Joshua sighed, shaking his head. "She was helping me study, Olive." I couldn't read him. Was he telling me what I wanted to hear or the truth? "She doesn't matter to me. Only you do." I felt his hand pull my arms away from my chest as his fingers slid against mine. I shifted on the balls of my feet. I wanted to believe him, but something about her made me uneasy. Maybe her striking beauty simply made me feel inadequate.

  “So, you two studied?" I raised an eye wanting desperately to believe that was all that happened.

  Joshua nodded with a glimpse of hope in his eyes. "She was explaining some of the history texts, so I wouldn't have to spend the next two weeks locked in my room." He stalled for a moment, staring intently at me. "I’m tired of this nonsense between us.”

  “Nonsense?” I repeated slowly. I stepped aside, letting him inside my room and closed the door behind us. “You’re referring to what your mother said about us not being married?” I knew we needed to talk about it at some point. "For starters," I began, watching as he took a seat at the edge of my bed. "I'm not looking to marry anyone, but I guess those in Haven don't care about what I want."

  Joshua frowned. "What are you talking about?"

  I paced the length of the room. "They're giving me three years to find someone to have a child with. And they don't care who," I paused, stopping to stand in front of him. "As long as it's not you." I let the words hang in the air as I gauged his expression. He seemed more than slightly taken aback by the news. "They think if I chose you it would only help the government's cause, because the government chose the match."

  "You're not going through with it, are you?" He stood up, his gaze refused to waver.

  "How can I not?" I threw my arms up in the air, frustrated. To the best of my knowledge, I had nowhere else to go. "I have three years to decide. Three years to come up with another solution or leave," my voice faltered. "This place could actually be my home," I told him seriously. "I like it here. Everyone seems nice enough."

  Joshua sighed. "How can you say that when they're demanding you have a child with one of them!" He nearly wore a hole in the rug, growing more irritated with each passing second. His hands were balled in fists at his sides as he tried to hold the raging anger inside.

  I sat down on the side of the mattress, my feet dangled over the edge, grazing the floor. "Well, they're giving me time to choose. In a few weeks they'll make arrangements for me to meet some men, get to know them." I glanced towards the window. This conversation went beyond awkward. I knew Joshua didn't want to hear any of it. "This wasn't my idea, Josh. What other choice do I have? Maybe I can make a difference. Maybe it's time I grow up," unsure I could even convince myself in saying it.

  "What happens if you don't choose someone in three years?" He stopped walking and stared at me again, the slightest bit of hope forming in his eyes.

  "They'll choose for me." I sighed, glancing down at my hands in my lap. "They made it perfectly clear. It's better I do this. Follow their rules. Maybe it won't be so bad." It felt terrible.

  Joshua shook his head, repulsed. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" he demanded.

  I shot him a glare. "I came by your room to tell you, but you had company. After that it didn't really seem important."

  Joshua looked sheepish. "Her name’s Rane, and I swear to you, she doesn't mean anything to me." He paused thinking it over. "I wonder if that's why she insisted on helping me study. Do you think the council put her up to it?" He waited for my answer.

  I nodded faintly. "It's possible." Perhaps she'd been sent to distract him from any thoughts he had of me. Or maybe they foresaw an argument with the intention of tearing us apart.

  "Mind if I–" He didn't finish the sentence as he came to sit down beside me on the mattress. His eyes landed on the book I left open when he came by my room. "Have you been reading the history texts?"

  "I read about the history of Cabal. Also a little about the Red Plague." I studied his face and could see dark circles beneath his eyes. I wanted to reach out and touch him, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Not after he hurt me.

  He fingered through the book on my bed – the one I'd barely touched. It took him only a minute to find the page he was searching for. His shoulders hunched forward, the muscles straining against his metal g
ray shirt. I realized he was dressed in a t-shirt, black jeans and barefoot. He looked comfortable, like he fitted into Haven even with the mess we'd found ourselves in. I couldn't remember seeing him outside of a school uniform, except recently at our marriage ceremony. Now though, something else about the way he looked held my stare. I couldn't take my eyes off him and couldn’t pinpoint what it was. He didn’t seem to notice.

  "I read about the Red Plague, too," he explained. "I'm beginning to think there's more than just a history lesson in that book." I gave him a look, urging him to elaborate, and he continued. "If the vaccine truly caused infertility, then how is it then – even in a lab – the government can create a child?"

  "I don't know." I frowned. "Maybe they bypass something that's broken inside?" I was never very good at science. It didn't help that our science lessons always seemed to leave something out, just like our history lessons had done.

  "I think the government has been lying to us, and I'm not sure the council is any more forthcoming with information either," Joshua remarked. "Have you visited the technology center?"

  "Jacqueline pointed it out to me," I admitted. "But there's no way to get inside. You need a badge to enter.” Was Joshua suggesting we check the place out? I didn't think I felt comfortable breaking in. If we got caught, we had too much at stake. I’d spent one day in a prison in Genesis. I didn’t want to find myself in a prison ever again, no matter where I lived.

  Joshua sighed glancing down at the text, "I tried to walk in there. Being new and all I thought I could at least get away with wandering into a place I didn't belong." He paused for a long while.

  "What happened?" I asked, my eyes widening and heart leaping. “Did you get inside?”

  "I didn't get far. In fact, Landon spotted me and whisked me right off the premises. He threatened to send me back to Genesis if I ever tried that stunt again." Joshua rolled his eyes with a sigh. “They’re hiding something in there.”

  Unsure what to think or feel, I said, "You're right, they probably are. We’re not going to find out what’s inside without the council coming right out and showing us."

  “You’re not suggesting what I think?” His eyes widened in horror.

  "They made it sound like I'd be more involved in the council after I adjusted to the news. I’m hoping, after the first two weeks they'll involve me a little more with the town. Once I agree to have a child, and do as they've asked, there's no reason they shouldn't trust me."

  "You don't have to do that, Olive." Worry lines etched his forehead.

  I nodded and sighed. "I do, Joshua." I felt this to be my least dangerous option. "This is the only way."

  "You'll take me with you." It wasn't a question. Joshua stared at me, and I took his hand.

  "If that's what you want. Of course," I couldn't believe he'd choose the unknown all over again. He at least still had his mother in Haven, and his sister, too, even if he hadn't reconnected with her.

  I felt his other hand find the small of my back, and I shifted on the mattress to look at him. “We should study together.”

  "Study?" I repeated. Was it the same studying he'd done with Rane? I couldn't bring myself to ask him. I sighed and changed the subject, "My real question, the one I can’t wrap my mind around is how did your mother get here before we did?" It was an honest and simple question.

  "I've been wondering the same thing," he admitted, "but I haven't been able to come up with how it's possible. Maybe by vehicle," he suggested. "But I'm fairly confident that the guards at the border wouldn't just let her go and come back. There's more to it," he admitted. “But I can’t figure it out, either.”

  He shut the book on his lap and stood up, putting it back on the shelf. "I am sorry, Olive, for how I've been acting. I think it's nice you're trying to meet people and settle into this new life," he reasoned. "But I miss you."

  "I miss you, too," I confessed. "But if I remember correctly you were the one who appeared to be moving on." I stared at him with a slight smile, unable to voice her name. "Just because I'm trying to follow the rules the council set doesn't mean I care any less for you." It was the truth. "I promise, my feelings for you haven't changed."

  "Okay," he replied, taking my words in. "Can we still hang out? I mean I did come to Haven to be with you," he reminded me. I knew he’d risked everything to help me escape from Genesis and was glad he hadn’t stayed behind.

  "Of course." I wrapped my arm around his shoulder. "We're friends, and that will never change. I promise you, Joshua, no one can take my best friend's place." I wouldn’t allow it. I owed him that much after all he’d done for me.

  CHAPTER 9

  A little over a week had passed since we first arrived in Haven. I still had a few days until the council meeting and hoped I could further delay dating other men. Joshua was all I could think about.

  "Find anything interesting?" he asked, sitting down with me as I curled up on the bed and perused the texts.

  "In the books or the town?" I glanced up at him. He looked tired and worn. I wondered what was going on with him. I reached out, brushing my thumb across the slight stubble on his jaw line. I smiled when he lazily kissed my palm.

  "Either?" His eyes watched mine as I studied his lips. I shook my head, trying to push those thoughts aside. It was the one rule neither of us could afford to break.

  "No." I couldn't remember seeing anything that had been important. "What'd you come across?" If he was asking, he must have found something.

  "You sure you're ready for it?" His face lit up. I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen him so happy.

  "Go on," I encouraged, eager to hear about his discovery.

  "A museum," he emphasized, and I raised an eyebrow. "There are all sorts of old artifacts from before the Third and Fourth World War, even photographs from present time dating back to the early nineteen hundreds."

  “I know. I was at the museum a week ago.” I remembered Jacqueline showing me the old artifacts and cameras from generations before our time. I couldn't help but laugh. “Well what then? What’d you find that I didn’t?” I knew he was ready to brag. That bright smile on his face was telling me he’d struck gold.

  "I found a series of maps behind glass."

  "So did I," I didn't see what the big reveal was. I gave him a curious look. It wasn't a secret there were maps of Cabal in the museum.

  "No," he stared at me seriously. "I found a map hidden in the museum. Okay, so I might have been snooping. Did you know the cases aren't locked?"

  "What?" My eyes widened as I sat up in bed. "You're not serious?"

  Joshua laughed, watching me grow restless. "I guess they trust everyone here."

  I couldn't believe it. "You stole a map?" I didn't want to think about the repercussions if anyone had caught him. In Genesis he'd have been banished for theft. I didn't know the punishment in Haven and didn’t want to find out.

  "Borrowed is the precise term," he corrected me. "They won't notice it was gone because it was hidden behind the giant map with the rebel cities. The map on display is a forgery."

  I didn’t buy it. "Come on, Josh. Why would they put a fake map in a museum?" It sounded ridiculous.

  "Technically, the real map was there, just behind it. The map on display is a larger replica, but they removed a city from it." He frowned at a loss for why Haven would have done something like that.

  "I never took you for a thief." I still couldn't believe he had the nerve to steal from the museum.

  "Are you kidding me?" Joshua laughed. "You'd have done the same thing. You can't tell me you're not curious about a town no one knows about."

  I shrugged, not wanting to reveal too much. Of course I was curious! Why had they wanted to hide it? What secret did it possess? "Maybe it's a ghost town?" I laughed, lying back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. "Do you think they'll notice it's missing?"

  "I doubt it," Joshua was confident in his decision. "Unless they start looking behind maps for smaller duplicates, no one wil
l be the wiser. I bet most people don't even know it exists."

  "Well, someone does," I reminded him. "Someone put it in the case, and someone had the forethought to create a duplicate."

  "Then I guess they should have locked the glass case." He showed no remorse for his actions, and I didn't exactly blame him. They’d put us in a tough situation, and the map could be our key to our survival.

  I sat up. "Let me see it," I practically begged and felt him shift against the mattress, his grin growing. The thought of a map with a city not tied to Haven sounded promising. Perhaps Joshua and I could one day travel there and make a home for ourselves.

  Joshua grinned and stood. "It's in my room. You have to come over if you want to see it. I can't risk taking it out and getting caught."

  I agreed, "Smart thinking." I got up and followed Joshua out of the room, when I glanced down the stretch of hall as Landon swiftly approached. Already I'd shut the door behind me, and I had nowhere to hide. I swallowed the lump in my throat as the gentleman approached us.

  "Olivia. Joshua. I take it you both remember the rules of Haven? Staying here, you must abide by all our rules or you will be asked to leave," Landon reminded us.

  I opened my mouth first to speak. "We were just talking," I quickly explained.

  Joshua nodded. “We thought it would be a good idea to study our text books together.”

  "If you wish to study together, the best place to do that would be the library," Landon answered forcefully. "You are not to enter each other's rooms. Is that understood?"

  I felt like a child being scolded for jumping on the bed. I hadn't realized the rule had been that strict, but I nodded once. "Yes, sir." He looked to Joshua and Josh nodded, as well.

  "The council will be requesting your presence in the morning. Olivia, I require that you come with me." Joshua gave me an apologetic look. I frowned and wondered where Landon was taking me. I didn't object and followed him down the stairs.