The Revealed

by Jessica Hickam

  There isn’t time.

  Skylar goes back to twiddling his fingers. Dun, dun, dun, dun….

  “Will you cut that out?” Nero’s voice breaks the silence.

  Skylar freezes. “Sorry.” I tense next to him. He drops his hand from the wheel. No point being at nine and three if we’re in park.

  Zared makes a sharp right into a parking garage.

  Finally!

  There are only a few spaces left on the top floor. We take them and get out of our vehicles.

  “We’ll walk from here,” Zared says.

  I know this area. Capitol Building is about a mile from here.

  We have five hours until the announcement at 8:00 p.m.

  Everywhere I look, I see crimson red and sapphire blue—my father’s and Westerfield’s campaign colors. People hold signs, wear T-shirts; some even paint their faces as if this were the largest sporting event in the world.

  I stay close to Skylar’s shoulder, worried I’ll be lost in the crowd.

  “Lily,” Cara says, coming up beside me. “Your father is in the south wing of the Capitol Building in his office on the second floor. He has three levels of security, but you should be able to get past them as soon as they see your face. Do you think you can convince him? We’re counting on you to warn him.”

  I nod, knowing this was the plan all along. We all have a part to play.

  “Good girl.” Cara gives me a firm clap on the back. I reflexively grip Skylar’s wrist to balance myself. He chuckles and holds me steady. The easy smile on his face makes me recoil. This isn’t time for games.

  The entrance gates to the Capitol Building are open, but there isn’t room for everyone to get through, so the crowd has spilled out onto the streets. People are jumping up and down trying to get a better view of the stage.

  I pan the crowd. There are buildings around us, and so many people. It will be impossible to find a sniper in such a large group. The killer could be hiding anywhere. The Revealed have their guesses, but no guarantees.

  I scan the windows of the buildings, then back over my other shoulder, looking into the crowd. Such an eclectic group of people. They may all be snipers, for all I can tell.

  Suddenly, I realize there is no one familiar around me. I got distracted and lost my group in the sea of red and blue. The outfits we’d been given at the facilities matched the theme so we would blend in. My T-shirt is a fitting blue, my father’s colors. I glance through the crowd, trying to find the others.

  And then I see Kai.

  He’s standing near the stage in his military uniform, next to security. There are cameras around him, all pointed in his direction from behind the press line. People in the crowd are huddling around him, trying to get a better look, though security manages to keep them at bay. He holds himself high, like usual, but seems distracted today. He ignores anyone calling his name. He doesn’t even fake a smile. His lips are drawn in a thin line, and his green-gold eyes are narrowed.

  My heart stops.

  I have to go to him.

  “Excuse me,” I say, pushing through the crowd. I squeeze myself between people, forgetting everything around me but him. “Please, I need to get through.”

  He is so close.

  “Lily!”

  A hand reaches out and grips my shoulder.

  I glance back to see who it is. “Rory.”

  Then I turn toward Kai again. He’s so close all I want is to run into his arms. My body aches to bridge the gap. But I remember the deal I made with Julia.

  Rory follows my gaze. “This isn’t the time to get distracted.” She directs me away from Kai. “Focus.” It takes me a few minutes to regain my sense of direction. Luckily, Rory keeps hold of my wrist, weaving me through the crowd.

  “Get a little lost?” Nero smirks as I rejoin the group.

  I nod, wistfully looking over my shoulder again. All I see now are clumps of people behind me.

  I hear a reporter going live on camera off to my right: “Some people have been waiting outside the Capitol Building for days. One man in the crowd said he’d brought his tablet with him so he could vote at midnight. Electronic voting closes at five p.m. The committee on voter authentication has been preparing for this day for years, and their job is coming to a close as the afternoon wanes. We have just been told following the polls closing, the committee will complete some last-minute verifications before the results of the election are announced at eight p.m. sharp. As you can see, there is a crowd of tens of thousands lined up behind me. All of them anxiously waiting to see who the first president of the North American Sector will be.”

  “Is everything okay?” Skylar asks.

  “Mm-hmm.”

  “Good.” Zared steps forward. “Because we don’t have time to waste. Lily, you should head around the side of the building. Get past security and find your parents. Skylar will go with you and wait outside.”

  “Got it,” I say, nodding.

  “The rest of us will patrol around the crowd and try our best to locate the sniper. We’ll split up into groups of two and canvas the area. We’ll meet back here in two hours when the polls close to report, got it? That’s five p.m. people. Be here.”

  “Right.”

  Skylar and I begin sprinting toward the building, dodging people as best we can. “Excuse me,” I shout, moving around people. “Can I please get through?” My voice falls on deaf ears.

  “Bring them home! Bring them home!” Demonstrators march around us in a cluster. They wave signs pleading for the return of the Taken Eighteen.

  My gaze meets Skylar’s, and I finally give up trying to be polite. I push through the crowd and don’t look back. I plow through clumps of people with my face down, hidden by my hair. The last thing I need is someone to recognize me. Especially because I’m supposed to be one of the Taken Eighteen—I am a Taken Eighteen. Anyone who recognizes me would probably freak out.

  People glare as I shove past them. “Hey!” a few say, but most are in an accommodating mood, relieved and excited this day has finally come. Eventually, Skylar and I make it around to the side entrance.

  Security forms a wall before the doors, blocking people from getting within twenty feet of the entrance. They’re all armed. I’m also very aware that there will be Secret Service stationed inside the adjacent buildings as well, with weapons trained toward the crowd as an added precaution. Westerfield will have his own protection, though his snipers won’t be for his own physical safety.

  “Hang back,” I tell Skylar, stopping and extending my hand. “If they realize I’m with The Revealed, they’ll either have you arrested or they’ll shoot you.”

  Skylar backs up a few steps. “I’ll definitely stay here then.”

  “Be back soon.”

  I scan down the security line, not quite sure how to approach. But the decision is made for me. “Ms. Atwood?” Evan steps forward, his brows pulled together. “Ms. Atwood?” he asks again, more certain this time.

  There isn’t time for me to feel afraid. “I need to see my father,” I tell him directly.

  “But you—”

  “This is an emergency!” I say again, glancing over my shoulder at the crowds.

  Evan fumbles to pull his headpiece mic to his mouth. “Lily Atwood is outside.”

  “Stop playing around, Evan,” a voice on the other end shoots back.

  “Sir, Ms. Atwood is here to see her parents.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “She’s at the entrance.”

  “You’re seeing things, Evan,” the voice on the other end repeats. “Lily Atwood is part of the Taken Eighteen now. She wouldn’t be—”

  I grab the mic from the security guard and hold it to my lips. “Darren?” I ask. Darren was Jeremy’s second-in-command, which means he’s probably in charge now, and probably the voice I’m hearing.

  “Who is this?” the man asks.

  “Darren, this is Lily Atwood. Either you authorize my entrance or my parents find out about your neglige
nce. Your call. All I have to do is find a phone, and I can make the call directly to my father.”

  If Darren has just been promoted, he won’t take even the slightest chance at risking his new, coveted authority. There is a pause. Then Darren answers, “I’ll be right down.”

  Smugly, I hand the microphone back to Evan. His expression is a nervous grimace. He’s resisting the urge to slink away from me, unsure how to take my sudden emergence.

  A burly man in a black suit bursts through the door only a minute later. It’s Darren. He takes one look at me and his mouth falls open. He scrubs a hand down his face. But I don’t have time for their gawking. “This is an emergency, so if you don’t mind.” I push around Darren and the others before they can object, and run inside.

  “Wait! Ms. Atwood!” I can hear Darren running behind me, but I don’t stop. I know exactly where my father will be. I could find his office with my eyes closed.

  I sprint down the hallway and throw open the door. Security immediately turns on me, ready to deal with a threat, but pauses.

  My father is hunched over a desk with a few other people, making last-minute adjustments to the speeches. He has two speeches—one, a concession speech, the other, the first speech he’ll give as president of the North American Sector.

  He stops and glances up from his work at the commotion. His expression drops, then pulls together in confusion. “Lily?”

  My mother moves around security at the sound of my name. “Oh my God!” She races toward me and throws her arms around me, pinning me into a hug that has no intention of ever ending. “Oh my God.” She runs her hands over my hair. Moisture smears my neck. She’s crying.

  “Leave,” my father says, motioning around the room. Despite their curiosity, people begin filing out. Security takes their position right outside the door.

  My father is by my side in seconds and reaches out to hold my face in his strong yet gentle hands. “Are you hurt?” he asks. “How did you escape?”

  “I didn’t.” I shake my head, shrugging out of his grip.

  My mother pulls back and looks at me. Being her usual self, she starts tucking stray strands of my hair back behind my ears. “It’s a miracle,” she says.

  My father reaches out to me too, “We thought—”

  “You thought right.” I snap my fingers and a flame appears.

  My mother covers her mouth with her hand, horrified. The tears are already drying in streaks across her face.

  “What did they do to you?” my father asks.

  “It’s a surgery, Dad. It improves your mind.”

  “What?” My mother touches my hand as though she expects it to be hot. It isn’t. Nero wasn’t joking when he said everyone thinks that at first.

  My father is furious. “Where are they?”

  “I don’t have a lot of time,” I say. “This isn’t about me right now, okay? I’m fine. They didn’t hurt me. None of it is what you thought, Dad. I’m here to help you. Westerfield’s planning on having you assassinated if you go up on that stage. Just before a winner is announced. He wants to blame it on the Eastern European Sector so he has an excuse to start another war and take over their territory.” I hand him the folder with some of the evidence The Revealed have collected. He takes it and scans through the pile of papers.

  “Where did you get this?” He stares down at the files.

  “The Revealed have been collecting it for the past few months.”

  My father sets the folder down on the table.

  “Dad, don’t go on that stage. I know you think I’m a still child, but you have to listen to me. The Revealed aren’t who we thought they were. They’ve been helping us this whole time. Westerfield has a sniper positioned somewhere out there. There’s a slim chance we can find him. Even if we take one out, there will probably be another there to take his place. You have to leave.”

  “No, I have to go on that stage.” My father’s resolve is firm. “The winner of the first North American Sector presidential race is about to be announced. This is not the time for the country to question the courage of its leadership.”

  “The Revealed can’t protect you up there!” I argue.

  “The Revealed have never done me any favors before. I’m prepared to take all risks for the sake of this new nation.”

  “You aren’t listening to me!” In my passion, a wind picks up around me. I need to focus like Julia taught me. I take a deep breath.

  All my mother can do is stare, her jaw slack in mute horror. Somehow her shock still manages to look graceful, and for the first time, she doesn’t add her two cents.

  “You can’t go up there. He’s planning on putting a bullet in your head! Both of you! You can’t risk this, Dad. For our family and for this nation. We need you.”

  “Yes. They need me. I have to go out there.” My father lays a hand on my shoulder, “They need me now to step up as a leader, not run and hide in the shadows. I understand what you’re saying Lily, and you probably mean what you’re saying. But the country needs me to stand tall right now. They could have chosen to elect me as their president. Now is not the time to run and hide. I have to go out there.”

  My voice breaks. “Dad….”

  I look back and forth at my parents.

  Jet knocks on the door, then opens it. “The reporters are just about ready for you. Again, if you can stress to people to get out and vote if they haven’t already, there’s still an hour and a half left.” He doesn’t even notice me. Typical Jet.

  “I’m coming,” my father says, nodding. He straightens out his jacket. “And please tell security to double their efforts in the crowds and surrounding buildings.”

  At least he’s sort of listening to what I said.

  “Will do, sir.” Jet steps back, and I can hear him mumbling the order into his headpiece.

  I sigh and turn to look out the window at the crowds below, running my hand through my hair.

  Then I freeze.

  “Darren,” my father calls to Darren, who’s waiting just outside the door, “please confiscate Lily’s belongings. Have them delivered directly to the Department of Security for review. This may be our key to bringing down The Revealed.”

  “Wait!” I turn on him. I grab for the papers on the desk. Luckily, the one I need is right on top of the pile. I read Marg’s words again for the hundredth time in the last day.

  Please be advised that when it comes to reaching the spiret of justice for the people, I believe we can best accomplish this through what lies with the compromise of independance.

  I pull the email correspondence in front of my face. Spiret of liberty. Independance. The misspelled words begin to piece together in my mind.

  I whirl around again and look out the window.

  Spirit of Justice Park!

  The realization knocks the wind out of me.

  She’s talking about Spirit of Justice Park! Independence is the road right in front of the park. It’s Independence Avenue, which is why it’s misspelled. These are instructions!

  I stare back down at the email, my eyes flicking over the information.

  “Dad!” I say hurriedly.

  He ignores me. “And see that Lily arrives home safely to her room and stays there until after the election announcement.”

  “Dad, I’m not going with them.”

  My father turns from me.

  “Dad!” He has to pay attention. “Dad!”

  “This is for your own good, Lily. They’ve messed with your mind.”

  “Dad! I just need to make a call. Just one call!” I scream.

  Security moves around me.

  “You don’t get it!” I say in a panic. “The Revealed are helping you! Look at this email!” The paper is ripped from my hand. “They’re at the park. There’s someone at the park! Dad!”

  “I’ll see you at home,” my father says. “We’ll discuss everything after the announcement this evening. We’ll figure all of this out, get you the help you need, and find the people
that did this to you. The important thing is that you’re home now.”

  They’re forcing me from the room.

  “No!” I’m hysterical. “Mom!” She won’t look at me anymore; she’s crying again. “Mom, Marg Lancing is in on it!”

  Hands clasp my shoulders. I shove the paper into my pocket and grab for whatever I can reach, catching a wrist and making my touch burn.

  “Listen to me!” I bite my lip and the taste of blood shoots through my mouth. “Stop!”

  Evan pulls away cursing, but bringing down one guard isn’t enough. There are more where he came from. Security grabs my wrists this time, making sure I can’t touch anybody, and escorts me outside.

  “This is a mistake!” I yell at my father as I’m dragged into the hallway.

  A wind kicks up, lifting my hair and blowing papers to the floor. But it doesn’t have enough power to make them let go of my shoulders. I’m not strong enough yet.

  I walk with them down to the first floor. No one says a word. Just before they put me in the car I try to break free, yanking my arms toward the center of my body to get them to drop their grip. Their hands release my wrists, and I turn on my heels, sprinting back toward the front of the building.

  My eyes connect with Skylar’s through the crowd. He’s waiting at the back door of the Capitol Building.

  “The park!” I scream.

  His brows furrow because he can’t hear me.

  “They’re at the park!” I gesture wildly. His eyes go wide as hands clamp around me and pull me back to the awaiting vehicle.

  “They’re at the park!” I scream one last, hopeless time.

  I can hear the cheers of the crowd and the chants of protesters just on the other side of these walls. The noise blurs into a steady hum of energy radiating from the people. Hurry Skylar. You’re my only hope.

  Evan secures plastic cuffs over my hands, binding my palms so they press against each other. Darren puts his hand on my head and eases me into the backseat. There’s no reasoning with security. They’re under strict orders, and they’re trained to follow those orders at all costs.

  I’m not giving up. I can’t afford to give up. If I don’t find a way out of this it won’t just mean my parents’ deaths. It will mean Westerfield will take over as leader of the North American Sector, make it his mission to hunt and kill The Revealed, and throw the world back into war. He’ll become a dictator who will concentrate power in even fewer hands, mainly his own.