Revolutionary Love (The Revolution Series Book 1)

by Jessica Miller

  Was I hallucinating? Did I experiment with some kind of drug? As a child, I always participated in red ribbon week. Swearing I would never, and I mean never, do a drug. Then I hit high school and broke the promise that seven-year-old me made to myself. If only seven-year-old, me could see myself now. Trudging through a forest, in the dark, and tripping every few minutes like a drunk person.

  I don’t know how long I walked or how far I had gone. My legs gave out. It was pathetic really. One second I was telling myself I could do it and the next I was curled into a tiny ball hugging my knees to my chest. I began to cry. I was never really much of a crier, but this moment seemed like a good moment to have a pity party. Sobs tore through my body making the pain in my rib cage hurt even more. My head felt clogged and now my feet were killing me. I just wanted everything to be okay. I wanted to be in my crappy apartment in West Sacramento.

  Laying on the muddy floor made me feel like a failure. I couldn’t even make a small trek through the forest. Crying harder, I didn’t hear it when footsteps approached. More than one person’s footsteps.

  “And so the princess lives.” A girl’s voice cut into my pity party.

  Princess? I peeked an eye open to see black boots right in front of my face. Something told me my night was about to get worse. Maybe she would help me. Tell me where I was. Hell, maybe she could even tell me who I was since I couldn’t even seem to get that right.

  I began to push myself up, but she instantly shoved me back down with her boot. I groaned in pain. I had a feeling I was not going to be getting any help from her after that.

  “What’s wrong, hun? Daddy didn’t buy you a diamond bracelet to match your diamond necklace?” Her tone was mocking. An image of the diamond necklace on the vanity appeared in my head.

  I stayed down. I did not know this girl, but she seemed to think that she knew me. I held back from informing her that my father was dead. I had a feeling that that wouldn’t help my situation. I shut my eyes and acted as though she was not there.

  More footsteps appeared. “What is she doing all the way out here? You would think after the bombing in Louisville she would be under house arrest.” A guy inquired, stopping right next to my head.

  What have I gotten myself into now?

  The girl snorted. “Probably sneaking off into the woods to hook up with one of the soldiers.” Her tone was catty. “Don’t worry, I promise not to tell your fiancé.”

  Fiancé?

  “If that’s the case, we need to get out of their territory.” A new voice stated.

  I don’t know what overcame me, but I felt drawn to see where that voice came from. His tone was rich and smooth. Confident. He sounded like a leader. I opened my eyes and turned my head. Brown boots. Looking further up, I saw green cargo pants and a fitted white tee shirt hugging an obviously fit body. Strapped on his thigh was a gun. My eyes zoned in on the gun. He had a gun. I was alone in the middle of a forest with someone who had a gun. I looked further up to see a shotgun resting on his shoulder. Now not only did he have a gun, but he had a shotgun.

  My crystal blue eyes connected with his green eyes. His face was in a blank mask. I knew my face showed confusion and fear. Why was this happening to me? I ducked my head down again and closed my eyes. I was not going to fight. I had nothing to lose.

  Hearing the click of a gun, my body froze. Anticipation filled me. Maybe with a bullet going through my head, I will wake up in my own bed. Maybe all this is a nightmare. It was impossible for this to be real.

  “What are you doing?” The first guy questioned, moving away from my head.

  The girl gave an irritated sigh. “Finishing what we started. You think that small, amateur bomb left any kind of message? Little princess over here lived. We need to set fear in The Unit. They need to know what we are willing to do. They have no humanity. They need to be stopped.”

  “How will killing Stephan’s only child bring back the humanity? What lesson would this teach? If you kill, we kill? We need to use as little violence as possible. If you blow her brains out, you will set fear within the people, not The Unit. We need the people on our side.” The leader of this small group of three said.

  Was this the group that the dark man was talking about? The group of rebels that set off the bomb? Just three simple, young looking people? They sounded like terrorists. Did they say something about a unit? I felt like I was going back in time a hundred years. Time traveling. And who is Stephan? I wanted to let them know I was not Stephan’s daughter. I was not who they thought I was. I just happened to look similar to the girl who got blasted in the bomb, but she was not me.

  The girl scoffed. “We do not need the people on our side to win the war. Adam, don’t you see! The people could care less!” Now she sounded pissed off.

  “Be quiet.” Adam hushed the group.

  I strained my ears, attempting to hear what they were hearing, but I heard nothing. I could not even hear them breathing. My mind felt fuzzy. I was getting confused and disoriented again. Opening my eye, I saw that everything was black. They turned off the flashlight. I couldn’t even see my hands in front of my face.

  “Her tracks lead this way.” A voice called out in the distance.

  Oh no, they were coming. Fear gripped my gut. I got to my feet and lifted my hands out for guidance. Those three people were gone. Did I dream this? Was nobody really here? I staggered further into the trees, trying to escape. Failure was not an option. I shivered from the cold night air and tried not to focus on the discomfort of my wet clothes.

  Slamming into something solid, I plopped on my butt and groaned. Pressing my right hand into my ribs, I looked up. I could not see anything. Just never-ending blackness. A bright yellow light flashed down on my face, blinding me instantly.

  I was caught.

  “No!” I screamed, throwing chunks of dirt and twigs at the individual standing in front of me. I knew my effort to get away was useless, but I did it anyways. I was acting like a child throwing a tantrum.

  Hands gripped my arms to prevent me from throwing things. I screamed to the top of my lungs, only stopping when I needed to gasp for air. My legs thrashed out, clipping the person in their knee cap. Hearing a groan of pain, satisfaction took away some of my fear. I kicked the person again in the same spot, but this time harder. Pain echoed up my own injured legs.

  The man seethed. “Do. Not. Make. Me. Hurt. You.” He lifted himself up easily, although I knew his kneecap had to be hurting.

  I paused. The flashlight was on the ground, so I couldn’t see who it was. Before my mind processed what I was doing, I chucked the flashlight at his face. It made a loud smack against his flesh and a few choice words left his lips.

  I scooted back and rolled over getting ready to shove myself to my feet. Lanky fingers wrapped around my ankles and tugged. I flipped over, landing on my back. Tears of pain filled my eyes. A gave a small scream of pain.

  “Evelyn, play nice.”

  I looked at him. He was a soldier, that I knew the moment I saw his uniform. The badge on his camouflage uniform said The Unit. What kind of military branch was that? His name tag read Sanchez. Sanchez looked furious. Brown eyes flared in anger. His teeth were bared. In his right hand he was holding a baton, arm up and ready to hit me. I put my hands above my face, waiting for impact. Nothing struck me. Peeking through my fingers, I saw a young man holding onto Sanchez’s raised arm.

  Sanchez instantly lowered his arm, backed up a step, and stood with a rigid spine. He saluted the young man. Fear was written all over his face. I glanced at the young man, new fear awakening in me. If Sanchez had something to fear, then so did I.

  The young man was in the same uniform as Sanchez. I could barely make out his name in the dark. The flashlight was facing towards the right. I squinted. Seth. His name was Seth.

  Seth ignored Sanchez as if he did not exist and peered down at me. He was frowning. His eyes were dark, almost as black as the night around us. Copper brown hair hung around his face. He had
a strong jawline and stubble covered his face. Reaching a hand forward, he waited.

  I knew what he wanted. I was supposed to take his hand. It was a sign of trust. I did not trust him. I stared back at him, waiting for his next move. He did not make one. A few minutes passed by with him holding his hand out to me, palm up. He did not seem like he wanted to harm me, but in a place this foreign, I knew I could not trust anyone. I decided to give him the satisfaction of thinking I trusted him. Hesitantly, I laid my hands into his warm palm.

  He wrapped his fingers around me and pulled me up with ease. I stumbled into him and promptly shoved him backwards. So much for the trust factor. Amusement danced across his face. I gave him a dirty look in return. Nothing going on right now was amusing.

  He lifted his hand, ignoring it when I flinched, and rubbed his thumb across my cheek. His body language showed adoration, but Seth had empty eyes. “I have missed you, Evelyn. It is a miracle that you lived.”

  “My name is Brianna.” I finally spoke the truth and it felt refreshing to hear my real name.

  He tilted his head to the side and took a step backwards. “I heard that your memory got jarred from the bombing, but nobody said anything about you being confused about your identity.”

  Although his face gave nothing away, I had a feeling he was irritated. I went to copy his movements, stepping backwards, but my legs gave out. I had put my body through too much. He could have caught me. I knew he could have caught me, but he let me fall back into the hard, wet ground.

  “Carry her.” He spoke to Sanchez but kept his focus on me.

  I began to protest. Before I could even open my mouth to speak, arms lifted me into the air and carried me bridal style.

  I was seething. The man who was about to hit me with a baton was touching me. “Put me down. I can walk!”

  They both ignored me and marched back to the house. I wanted to fight back, bite him, and force him to put me down. I had to think with strategy, though. I was in no shape or form to escape. I needed to get better. Get my strength back. I glanced at my flimsy arms. I needed my muscle. Once I was in better condition, there would be no stopping me.

  Chapter Three

  Bed rest. Dr. Lynn put me on four weeks of bed rest. He said I needed to let my emotional and physical injuries heal. I was in a bombing and that is a very traumatic experience. I felt like waking up in someone else’s body who looked just like me was a little more traumatic, but I refrained myself from informing the intelligent doctor of that.

  After Sanchez dropped me off in my bedroom, the doctor showed up immediately. He tisked at me and told me what I did was very dangerous. Apparently, I don’t understand the dangers outside these four walls. Stephan, my ‘father’ (the dark man), left for business. I wouldn’t be seeing him again for a week. I sighed in relief when Dr. Lynn told me news he felt was unfortunate.

  I rolled onto my side, relieving pressure from the burns on my back. Light filtered through the navy blue curtains making me squint. On my down time, when nobody was coming in here and checking on me, I tried to think of plans. For the past couple days since I ran out into the forest, I would sit at the window and watch the soldiers. Their routine changed daily. Miles out into the forest there were four towers. They were all connected by brick walls. I didn’t have to see soldiers to know that they stood post on the towers.

  I did not understand why there were so many soldiers guarding this basic two story house. Who was Stephan? Why did he have The Unit surrounding us? None of my questions ever got answered. My so called fiancé (who I found out was my fiancé by Dr. Lynn) never came to visit me. The only human contact I have had was with Dr. Lynn and maids. I was not allowed to leave my bedroom.

  Walking to the window, I peered at the giant tower. Were they trapping people inside or were they keeping people out? I bit my lip. How did those three ‘rebel’ people even get in here? Security seemed way too high. Every few minutes, there were soldiers marching through the field.

  I needed a plan, but I could not think of one. Nothing came to mind. What was I supposed to do? Go running blindly through the forest again? Irritation flashed across my face. What if I was missing? Maybe all I needed to do was find my way home and I would be back to my regular life. I glanced down at the missing tattoos on my lower arms.

  I needed answers before I could make decisions. Opening the bedroom door, I hesitantly stepped into the silent hallway. Looking both ways, I decided to go right. My bare feet sunk into the plush, white carpet as I slowly made my way down the hall. I tugged on my pink summer dress feeling self-conscious. I was unused to wearing dresses and skirts, but that seemed to be the only thing in the closet.

  “What the hell,” I muttered, stopping at a picture.

  There was a picture of me on the wall. A painted picture. My bright blue eyes looked cold and ruthless. The corners of my mouth were turned up in a fake smile. Seth was in the picture with me. He wore a suit and tie to match my silky, red ball gown. Whoever painted the picture was an artist. They captured the dark shadows on Seth’s eyes. He did not bother to fake a smile. He looked even more ruthless than I did… except that wasn’t me in the picture.

  I never knew Seth before I woke up. I compared the body to my body and frowned. My body was her body. This was not my body, but it was my body. I shook my head back and forth, stepping away from the picture.

  “That was a lovely evening.”

  I jumped and turned around. Seth was standing right behind me. My anger was quick to come.

  I shoved his shoulder. “What is wrong with you? You almost gave me a heart attack!” I could feel my cheeks flushing with anger. I felt defensive, like what I was doing was wrong.

  He did not like me. I could feel distaste radiating from his body in waves. If he did not like me, or Evelyn, why was he engaged to her… or me? The question sat on the tip of my tongue while we stood there in silence.

  He finally spoke. “I was coming to check on you.”

  “Oh, my.” I brought my hands to my heart and gave him a cheery look. “You are such a gentleman!”

  Seth’s lips quirked at my sarcasm. “I believe you are on bedrest.”

  I decided to press the boundaries with my 'fiancé' and test out what kind of relationship he and Evelyn truly had. “Is this the part where I invite you to my bed?” I shot him a flirtatious look.

  His nose crinkled with disgust then shock overrode it. He was surprised at my words. Has he never shared a bed with Evelyn? I shot a quick look at the painting of her. She seemed mean. If I were a guy, I wouldn’t want to share a bed with her too.

  He didn’t say anything, but took me by the elbow and led me back to Evelyn’s bedroom. Opening the door, he roughly shoved me inside. Now anger was written all over his face.

  “Are you trying to get us killed?”

  Killed? A laugh almost left my mouth. Seth sure was dramatic. I crossed my arms over my chest and plopped my butt down on the bed. He looked down on me, just like he did that night in the forest.

  “What? My bed is big enough for two.” I flopped backwards and stretched my arms out on the smooth surface. I was pressing his buttons. I don’t know why I was doing it. It was just a scratch that I wanted to itch.

  In a flash, he was standing over me. He gripped my jaw and forced me to face him. Rage filled those dark eyes of his.

  “I know you currently have loss of memory, but do us both a favor and study the law.”

  I attempted to get his hard grip off of my jaw. “Let go,” I demanded.

  “Sexual intercourse is only allowed between a man and a woman who is married. If anyone were to suspect that you, Stephan’s only claimed child, were sexually active with me we would be assassinated. Do not play with words that your small mind cannot fully comprehend.” In a moment’s notice, his rough hands were off of my jaw and he was marching out of the room.

  I sat up, massaging the ache on my jaw. I finally know what is going on. I time traveled to the past. I was all the way back to th
e days where woman had to save their virginity for their husbands otherwise they were branded with a big, red letter A.

  Leaving the bedroom crossed my mind, but I decided that that was enough excitement for my day. I dropped my head into my palm. What was I doing? I looked around the bedroom. I always dreamed of working hard and living in luxury. Here I was living my dream, but fighting it at the same time. This was all Evelyn’s. Not mine. Where was she? Is she alone? Scared? Lost? What if she is stuck underneath all that debrief from the bombing? What if I was injured too and they grabbed the wrong girl?

  I was being ludicrous. This entire situation was extremely crazy. I groaned.

  The door clicked open. “Are you in pain? I heard you groaning from outside your bedroom door.” Dr. Lynn stepped into my bedroom and gave me a faint smile.

  I shook my head but kept my face down.

  “Sorry, I should have knocked. I don’t know where my manners are going. You have been different ever since you woke up and it makes me feel more relaxed around you.”

  “What do you mean?” I inquired, peaking at him through my brown hair.

  A flush spread up his cheeks. “Before you were verbally aggressive and now you are much calmer and friendly.”

  I could not remember a time where I was friendly to him, but I kept that to myself.

  He came closer into the bedroom. “Have you been able to remember anything?”

  I gave a half shrug.

  “Don’t be worried. Your mind is only blocking a traumatic experience to protect itself.” His voice was soft and calm. He talked as if he were speaking to a child.

  I gave another half shrug.

  “When you are feeling a little better maybe I can give you a tour of the property. We can see if that jogs any of your memories.”

  The only memory I had right now was of my small twin mattress laying on my bedroom floor. I could not afford anything more than that, yet here I was sleeping on the most comfortable bed I have ever seen. I could not afford three meals a day, yet here I was splurging on wonderful food I would have never thought I would get the chance to eat. I was paying my way through school, so money was very tight. At one point, I had attempted to work two jobs and go to school full time. I laughed to myself. I soon realized that that was impossible if I actually wanted to pass my classes. I wondered if anyone even realized I was missing.