Breaking Order: Book 1 (Breaking Order Series)

by Catherine Kopf

  The others nodded, smiling at me before we parted ways.

  I never realized I could speak like that. My voice was an amazing thing. I wasn’t called a freak for it. For once, I didn’t feel shy. I had words flowing out of my mouth just like Wes.

  As I dashed towards The Information Department, I realized I didn’t have to be shy if I believed I had my own voice unique from everyone else’s. Easier said than done.

  Wes looked back at his watch. “It’s 11:55. We need to get to the computer in five minutes.”

  “I know that. I believe we can make it!” I insisted.

  Wes smiled. “Now you’re dreaming.”

  ‘I just hope you believe you can make it, Ambert.’

  We were unsure about what the future would have in store for us, but I knew that whatever it was, it would be life-changing.

  Life changing… All those words made me think about was those six kids and the mysterious Phase Four. What did it have to do with the kids in the dark room or Project Dark Phoenix?

  I hoped that we could save those six and any others in the experiments before the world would ever find out. That, and finding Wes' sister Aurelia was at the top of my priority list.

  We opened the doors of the information center.

  Twenty-Seven:

  We snuck our way to the supercomputer. There, Ambert and Enya waited for us. Guards laid knocked out beside them and scorch marks covered the sides of the walls. Enya must’ve put her fire magic to good use.

  The light of the red computer screen tainted the dark room with an eerie red glow. The high-class computer’s wires hung everywhere, an organized chaos just like the distorted views of its creators. The keyboard lit in grey, light coming from the high-tech buttons like a brand new lightbulb.

  The computer’s existence contradicted their ‘no-dreaming’ philosophy, exposing the corruptness of our society. If dreaming was the root of all evil, the government wouldn’t have been stupid enough to harness it themselves. They would live in the stone age with everyone else; not frolicking with fancy tech.

  Enya stood with annoyance in her eyes.“You’re late.”

  Wes looked at his watch. “What time is it?”

  “12:01. Be sure to be on time next time, Paint Can,” Enya said.

  I looked at her eyes widened. “Did you just call him Paint Can?”

  Enya smirked. “Heck yes I did,” she paused, “What happened to you?”

  “Science department. They’re testing Dreamers,” Wes said, disgusted by what we saw. He leaned against a wall.

  Ambert lowered his head in pity. “Those poor people…”

  “What happened to you?” I asked.

  Ambert and Enya glanced at each other before continuing.

  “We got past security, took out a couple guards…” Ambert began.

  Enya’s eyebrows shot up and she cut in. “Excuse me? I was the one who took out the guards! You just hacked the computer!”

  “I was busy making a flash drive from scratch!” Ambert paused to calm down and took a softer tone, “I’m sorry, Enya. I didn’t mean that. We each had our load.”

  Enya nodded. “Thank you.”

  “Looks like you both had your hands full,” I said.

  “So, what are we doing to locate Aurelia?” Wes asked.

  Ambert sat at the computer.

  Enya smiled. “Shouldn’t we look up our own names? See what information The Regime has on us? You never know if spies watched you...”

  “Good idea. Who’s first?” Ambert asked.

  Wes stepped forward. “What about Aurelia? I want to know where she is.”

  “Relax! It’ll only take a few minutes to look me up,” Enya tilted her head, “Unless you want to go?”

  “Nah… I doubt they would have anything on me. I'm only here for Aurelia.” Wes shook his head.

  Ambert opened the data files and typed in Enya. “What’s your last name?”

  “Cooper.” Enya tapped her fingers anxiously on the desk.

  Ambert typed in Cooper and stared blankly at the screen. “There’s no Enya Cooper.”

  Enya rolled her eyes. “You must’ve screwed up somewhere.”

  “Let me try something different. What’s your middle name, age, and birthday?” Ambert inquired.

  Enya sighed. “Lyrica. I’m seventeen.”

  “Me too,” Ambert said.

  I laughed. “Who’s older?”

  “Isn’t it odd her middle name is Lyrica and she sings well?” Wes noticed.

  “I doubt it's fake,” I said.

  Enya chuckled. “August 16, 2201 is my birthday.”

  Ambert entered that in.

  I raised my eyebrows. “Ambert, isn’t that your birthday?”

  “We have more in common than I thought,” Ambert looked at the files, “Lyrica Enya Greer: born on August 16, 2201.”

  A smile widened across Enya’s face and she shook Ambert’s shoulder. “Open the file!”

  Sparks flew on Enya’s fingertips like miniature fireworks.

  “Careful, Enya. You might set off the fire alarms…” Ambert pushed a button on the keypad.

  “Right, and burning those guards didn’t do a thing?” Enya asked.

  My eyes scanned the computer file. “I think this was your life before the foster home.”

  “The names seem like a far-off memory...” Enya pondered over the file and placed a hand on her chin.

  “Lyrica Enya Greer: born in Wellspring to Viola Harmony Greer and Clyde Elek Greer. She was born with a twin brother on August 16, both currently alive,” Ambert read.

  My eyes went round. “A twin brother?!” I pointed at Wes, “But you said Dreamer can’t have twins!”

  Wes shrugged his shoulders. “I never said it was impossible Just unheard of..”

  “Then I do have family left! Let me see!” Enya opened the file.

  Enya, Ambert, and I gasped, leaving Wes in a state of confusion. If only he could read.

  I looked back and forth at Ambert and Enya, looking for resemblances.

  My jaw dropped. “Wait a second. You and Enya are the same age, the same birthday! You both even have the same hair and eye color!”

  “What the heck?!” Enya’s eyes widened.

  “I-Impossible!” Ambert wiped his eyes to see if he was reading it correctly, “It can’t be.”

  Enya rolled her eyes. “Don't deny it, stupid. The name clearly reads Ambert Alexander Greer.”

  “Are you sure it isn’t someone else?” Ambert denied.

  “You felt a connection because you’re twins,” Wes hypothesized.

  “What connection?" Enya sighed, "Connection or not, it makes sense. There’s just too many coincidences.”

  Ambert sat up from the computer and sighed. “Um… I need a break. Enya, do you want to look up Aurelia?”

  “Don’t you want to look up your own name?” Enya asked.

  “She’s right, Ambert. Maybe we can find out why The Commander promoted you. Your file’s right here and…” I began.

  Ambert shook his head. “Finding Aurelia is more important.”

  Enya ruffled Ambert’s hair and sat at the computer. “So, we’re looking up her name the same way?”

  “Of course…” I bit my nails, “Wes, could you give her the information?”

  “Aurelia’s middle name was Blake. Her birthday was January 25th. As for her age…” Wes placed a hand on his chin, “I think she’s fifteen-ish.”

  Enya researched the name, and the computer made an ‘error’ noise.

  “Her name doesn’t have any results,” Enya scoffed.

  Wes gave Enya a blank expression. “You’re lying. We did the same search for you! There has to be something, right?”

  Ambert tapped Enya's shoulder. “Let me try.”

  Enya let out a huge sigh like she was denied a huge privilege, "Fine. Not like you can do any better."

  “Alright. Try searching again,” Wes said, nervously biting his fingernails.

&nbs
p; “There’s only two words: Base Darkguard,” Ambert read.

  “Maybe it would’ve come up with more info if Wes knew how to read.” Enya crossed her arms and glared Wes in the eye.

  Everyone fell silent, unable to answer. It was just like asking someone if they would like to take out the trash or do homework.

  “It’s not my fault. You just need to search the base! Where is it?” Wes yelled.

  “Wes, we need to figure something else out. This computer isn’t going to..." Ambert began.

  “Search again so we can find out more!” Wes commanded.

  The fire alarm beeped in the room. Instantly, the door behind us slammed open.

  Not only had we riled up, but we caused our fire-starter to start a fire. What a day this turned out to be…

  Enya’s lip quivered. “Not again. I can't go back to the slammer!”

  We could hear clapping behind us. “I never thought you’d be so stupid to do this, Ambert. Sirens going off everywhere, guards attacked... pitiful effort,” chuckled a voice from the back, one I had heard before.

  “Father…” Ambert’s lip quivered.

  My heart thumped. My dream… it couldn’t be!

  Twenty-Eight:

  Golly, what was going to happen now? My thoughts lingered with thoughts of getting killed. I was too young to die! I had so much left to do!

  “Father,” Ambert’s voice quivered again.

  Father stepped into the light coming from the screen, “Who are your two little friends, Ambert? Well, Prisoner 4-6. It’s nice to see you again. Have you come back to face your punishment?”

  “Not in your life, old man,” Enya said. Fire roared in her hands, but the smoke alarm simmered her down with a downpour of water in response.

  “Calista…” His eyebrows shot up for a second letting the moment sink in before he lowered his head, “I should’ve known you loved your brother too much to turn him in, but I never thought you’d betray me.”

  A pause entered the room. My lip quivered. I was at a point I could never come back from. Would I betray my father or my older brother? That was a question I never wanted to answer… but the time came, even if unexpectedly.

  My mind had been made up since my visit to The Science Department. With all of the bodies and dead Dreamers as well as the experiments going on, I knew The Regime was corrupt.

  I could never go back to living in the darkness.

  “What you’re doing is wrong,” I spoke up, but my voice croaked.

  Wes pulled me closer. “She’s one of us. Not one of The Regime’s lackeys like you.”

  “Your friends are just weaklings. No matter, your weaknesses will all be over once I get rid of them…” Father tightened the grip on his gun, “Then you can come back to me. I won’t lose you, Sweetheart, not like her...”

  “Are you really going to get rid of me?” Ambert asked.

  Father laughed. “Of course. You’re just a worthless piece of junk.”

  “I know the truth now. Enya’s my twin sister. You wanted me to watch you kill her, didn’t you? I’m not even your real son,” Ambert explained.

  Father clenched his teeth. “Twins? No. That’s not possible! No Dreamer has ever had twins before...”

  “Guess The Head Executioner doesn’t know all of The Commander’s secrets after all.” Enya put a hand on Ambert’s shoulder.

  Ambert crossed his arms. “It’s the reason I’m alive, isn’t it? Still, it’s cruel to separate families like that.”

  “You know nothing of cruelty!" Father laughed, "Even if you’re valuable, I'll make sure I break every bone in your body. The Commander will deal with you himself.”

  “If that’s what you want…” Ambert began.

  Enya rolled her eyes and punched Father in the face. “Shut the negotiation crap.”

  Ambert accidentally bumped up against the alarm button on the master computer and Wes sent Father to the ground. Buzzing and beeping could be heard all around us. A flashing red light penetrated our vision. We had to get out. Now.

  Enya grabbed Ambert by his shirt. “You idiot... We’ve got to move! Hurry up!”

  The four of us rushed out of the room.

  Twenty-Nine:

  “Come back here, brats!” Father yelled.

  He got up and held a gun in his hand. Father would never see me the same way again. Even so, I continued to run, attempting not to look back at him as he screamed orders into the distance.

  Guards surrounded us, leaving us with only a window and armed guards at all sides.

  “Kill the blonde boy and the chubby one. I need Ambert and my daughter alive,” Father ordered.

  “Yes, Head Executioner,” the guards replied with monotone voices.

  “Now what?” Ambert looked to Wes like a cat in front of a moving car.

  “We fight.” Enya summoned a ball of fire in her hands. When she threw it, she burned the floor below us. “Crap…”

  “Nowhere to run, kids,” Father chuckled, amused by Enya’s attempt of escape.

  My heartbeat escalated in my chest. We were trapped… cornered. A few seconds decided whether Wes and Enya would live or die. Who knew what would happen to Ambert and me?

  A puff of smoke appeared next to Father. The boy in the mask shimmered in and he gazed at Father for direction.

  Father smiled. “Glad to see you made it. Restrain Calista for me.”

  The boy in the mask stepped towards me. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

  I backed towards Ambert and took a look at my surroundings. Enya held another fireball in her hands, though I doubted she could aim it properly. Wes’ eyes showed nothing but fear. I couldn’t let him down now.

  My dreams needed to be answered. The mysterious woman, Project Dark Phoenix, and the figure with the vio-something needed to be solved. That figure… he cracked reality and I couldn’t explain how. My reality shattered. Shattering… that phrase:

  “Shattering suns, shattering displays… confidence comes in many ways...”

  A light hung over us. The bulb dangled down like a sun. Would a distraction help? Yes, the window! If we distracted the guards long enough, we could jump through the window. It wasn’t a far drop. I looked at Enya’s lit hand and smiled.

  “Get ready,” I ordered.

  Enya tilted her head. I moved my eyes to the light above us. Wes and Enya backed up with me. It was like they read my mind.

  The boy in the mask drew a gun. “Any time now, Ms. Knight.”

  Ambert stepped in front of me. “Cal… I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”

  I aimed Enya’s hand towards the light and she shot her fireball.

  BAM! SMASH!

  Glass shattered on the hardwood floor below, leaving a trail of sparks to hit the masked boy and the guards closing in. Wes burst through the window, smashing the frame. He rolled onto the snow below him.

  I looked back to the boy and Father as Enya jumped through the open window.

  Father showed a face full of anger and hate. It was as if betrayal had made him completely snap. All the goodness in him faded with that.

  As for the boy, a piece of his mask cracked open, revealing a burned section of his face. A familiar amber eye glanced back at me, but I couldn’t recognize the partial face-reveal of its owner— probably because his soul had corroded like the craters on his face.

  “Cal, now! We have to go.” Ambert grabbed my hand and flung us out the window.

  Ambert landed on the side of his leg, but he shook it off and kept going. Running was our only option for survival.

  My heart pounded. Part of my dream happened, but some of it wasn’t right. Pieces of it didn’t fit together quite yet. We didn’t have Aurelia, we didn’t lose Wes and Ambert, but we were almost caught. More importantly, that phrase had meaning.

  If that wasn’t a sign I was an oracle, nothing was.

  We ran in the courtyard of The Information Department, gasping for air as our bodies tired. A million thoughts swayed
in my head and I didn’t know what to do. I just kept following the others.