The Blemished (Blemished Series)

by Dalton, Sarah

  “Don’t tell me what to do. Tell me where my dad is.”

  “Fine,” he said. Matthew picked up a small manila envelope and tossed it to me. “This will explain everything.”

  I stared suspiciously at the envelope in my hands. My dad’s handwriting spelled out my name on the front cover. I ripped it open and flattened out the lined paper inside.

  Mina,

  Forgive me for what I am about to do.

  There are things that I have kept from you and for that reason I am ashamed. Now I am going to do the one thing I swore I never would, but I have no choice. I have left you and for now I cannot explain why. But I have left you security and I promise that we will see each other again.

  Oh, Mina. I am so very sorry that I have left it until now to tell you that you have other family members in Area 14. I have a younger brother, you have met him. His name is Matthew and he is your uncle. Now I leave you in his Guardianship, and I can assure you that you are in safe hands.

  You cannot stay in Area 14. It is not safe. Matthew will help you leave.

  Remember our training, Mina. You are the strongest and most powerful person I know and I am incredibly proud that you are my daughter. I will see you soon.

  With all my love,

  Your father

  I staggered backwards into one of the kitchen chairs, barely conscious of its existence. The tears in my eyes blurred the words on the page.

  “I’m sorry you had to find out like this,” Matthew said. “We were going to explain everything to you, but your Dad had a very small window in which he needed to… do what he needs to do.”

  “What’s going on?” Daniel said angrily. “Why is she crying?”

  I handed him the note. Angela took it and read it aloud, quietly.

  “So now I have no one too,” I mumbled.

  “You have an uncle,” Matthew said gently.

  “What? You?” I stood up from my seat. The kitchen table began to shake and my palms itched. Pots and pans jangled. “How do I know you really are my uncle? How do I know that my dad wasn’t forced to write that note?” I pointed to the paper. “You could have killed him. You could be evil.”

  Matthew got to his feet and approached. Before I even realised I’d moved the table, slamming it into him, creating a barrier between us.

  “Mina, stop it,” he said. He reached into his coat and I pushed the table back against him, pinning him to the wall. “Let me take this out of my jacket. I swear I won’t hurt you.”

  “How do we know that’s true,” Daniel chipped in.

  Matthew didn’t look at Daniel – instead he focussed his eyes on me. They were level and genuine. I wanted to believe him.

  “Just give me this one chance to prove it to you. I won’t come near you. Just let me show you something.” He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out something rectangular shaped – a photograph. He threw it over to me and it fluttered in the air and fell to the floor.

  I bent and lifted the photograph, turning it over to its picture side. It was old with dog-eared corners. In the photograph a woman clung on to two boys, one older than the other. I recognised the woman as my grandma. I could see that the older boy was my dad from the familiar eyes. The younger boy could be Matthew, there was some resemblance.

  “So you have a photograph,” I said. “It isn’t much evidence.”

  Matthew shook his head. “You’re named after our mother. Her middle name was Wilhelmina, after your great-grandmother. When you were born I came to visit and held you in my arms, you were so tiny, born in July, during a heat wave. Anna, your mum, was so protective of you. You should have seen the way she fussed over you. I was eighteen when you were born and you are the only baby I have ever held in my arms.”

  I let the table nudge back a bit. “Why don’t I know you? Why did you only visit once?”

  “I joined the Resistance,” he replied. “I fought in London for a few years. There was a lot of heat on me. I moved to Area 14 in hiding. Your father came here partly because of me, partly for other reasons.”

  “What other reasons? Why has he left?” I asked.

  “I can’t tell you,” he said.

  My muscles relaxed and I lost my grip on the table. The pans stopped rattling. “Why can’t you tell me?”

  Matthew sighed and moved the table away. “In case he fails, Mina. If you don’t know anything then they can’t get it out of you.”

  The realisation sunk in and my legs weakened, jellified. I sat back down on a kitchen chair and Angela moved near me to put an arm across my shoulders.

  “I’m sorry, I understand how sudden all of this must seem,” Matthew said.

  He looked awkward and fidgeted with his clothes. The more I stared at him the more I saw my dad, the square jaw, kind hazel eyes. Matthew was not as bulky as my dad but taller, and his hair was darker.

  “In the letter it says that I can’t stay in Area 14. Where am I going to go?” I asked.

  Matthew hesitated as though debating whether to tell me something. “To the Clans. In Scotland.”

  37

  “The Clans? In Scotland? I don’t understand.”

  “I’ve heard of them,” Daniel interjected with a nod. “They live outside the Ministry laws.”

  “That’s right,” Matthew said. “You must be Daniel. John mentioned you.”

  “Get back to the explanation,” I snapped. “This is my life we’re talking about.”

  Matthew chuckled. “John said you were stubborn and feisty.” He moved the table to its rightful position and pulled up a chair. Angela and Daniel took seats as well. “Scotland is independent, a little secret that the Ministry keeps from everyone. I wouldn’t be surprised if you hadn’t even heard of Scotland, I bet that bit of history failed to make it into the curriculum.” He rolled his eyes. “The people there live in Clans, a little like the Areas here except that they have their own laws. They live off the land and in small communities, some camping, some in disused army barracks. I’m going to get you there and it is in the Clans that your dad is going to join us.”

  “What about us,” Angela blurted out. “The Professor paid for our mum to go into a care home. We have no one.”

  “Well, actually,” Matthew said. “John told me to ask you both if you wanted to join us. He didn’t want to see you on your own either and thought you might prefer the life in the Clans.”

  Angela’s face brightened. “Really?”

  “But you need to be aware,” Matthew warned. “It is not going to be an easy ride getting out of here. We’ll be on the run. There may be Enforcers chasing us. Living in the Clans won’t be easy either – it might be hard to fit in. They are suspicious of strangers and you may not be welcomed with open arms.”

  “Do they have the Operation?” Angela asked.

  Matthew shook his head. “Absolutely not. And people are not arrested for having children. In fact it is encouraged.”

  “Then I want to go,” Angela said. She nodded firmly and I could tell by the way her chin was set that she meant it.

  “What about your mum?” I asked. “You’ll never be able to visit.”

  Angela flinched. “She’s safe now. I have to live my own life.”

  “That makes sense,” Matthew said. “You’re a brave young woman, I can see that.” He turned to Daniel. “What about you?”

  “I’m not leaving Mina,” he said simply.

  I rolled my eyes. “What if I don’t want you to come?”

  He looked hurt. “You don’t want me to come?”

  “Of course I do,” I admitted. “I was just being––”

  The television screen in the next room cut me off. It played a warning message. A town meeting was being called.

  *

  “We interrupt this programming for news from Area 14,” said the attractive blonde woman on our television screen. “In what can only be described as the worst terrorist attack in recent years the home of good citizen and school-teacher Margaret Murgatroyd has b
een violated.”

  I clapped a hand over my mouth. Daniel looked at me with wide eyes and we shared a moment of sheer terror.

  “You didn’t,” Angela mumbled.

  “Area 14, due to this attack, the Ministry has decided you must attend a town-meeting at 3pm. All Blemished citizens must stay within the allotted zones.”

  Matthew turned to us. “What the hell have you done?”

  We moved away from the screen and down to the basement to talk. Matthew’s face had tightened and his lips were stretched into a thin line.

  “Please tell me you didn’t have anything to do with that attack,” he said directly to me. “Because if you have we are in deep, deep trouble.”

  “It was all my fault,” Daniel blurted out. “That woman made Mina’s life hell. She bullied and humiliated her. I wanted revenge.”

  “I helped,” I said. “We both broke into her house and we spray painted the walls.” I stared down at my feet, realising just how childish it all sounded in the cold light of day. “I’m so sorry.”

  “This is an act of terrorism,” he said, pacing the basement. “If we’re lucky they’ll blame it on the Resistance and have done with it. But this woman knows you and knows that you’ve got a big fat grudge against her.”

  “What do we do?” I said in a small voice.

  “The priority here is that you do not get found out.”

  Daniel nodded in agreement.

  “What if me handing myself in could save lives?” I said.

  “Absolutely not.” Matthew turned to face me. He looked furious and I wished for the ground to swallow me whole. “I promised your dad that I would get you to Scotland in safety and that is what I will do.”

  Angela pushed her hand into mine. “Everything is going to be okay.”

  Somehow I didn’t feel as though that were true.

  “I’m not sure I can get us to the Clans this quickly,” Matthew said pacing the floor. “I had it set up for days from now. We need somewhere to hide.”

  “I know somewhere,” I said.

  I thought of Sebastian’s promise to me, that if I was ever in trouble he would help. I just hoped that he wouldn’t turn away my family.

  “Is it safe?” he asked.

  “I think so. There is a farmhouse hidden by woods a few miles out of the town. It’s hidden by a forest and there is no electricity used in the property so the Ministry don’t know that it exists. The people there will help us.”

  “How do you know all this?” Daniel asked. “Who lives there?”

  I gulped. “Sebastian’s family.”

  Daniel looked at me incredulously. “You’re going to trust a GEM?”

  “Yes,” I said firmly. “I am.”

  “I think we should trust him,” Angela said. “He thinks a lot of Mina and from what she’s told me his family will help.”

  Matthew stared at each one of us in turn. He looked like a young man who had just bitten off far more than he could chew and I didn’t blame him. Two of us were fugitives and all of us orphans, at least for the foreseeable future. I couldn’t quite believe that we’d come to this in just a matter of days.

  “All right,” he said eventually. “We take clothes and food and make our way there during the town meeting. Now go and pack a bag each. Daniel, you will have to take John’s clothes. All of you take a nap for one hour; you look like you’ve not slept a wink. We meet in the kitchen at 2:50pm.” He sighed. “Let’s just hope this plan works.” He looked straight at me. “What a way to be introduced into the family. Talk about a baptism of fire.”

  I failed to meet his eyes as we passed. On my way upstairs I tried not to think of my dad, instead I thought of the future, of starting a new life in a place where I could make my own choices. Angela and Daniel helped me pack and when we were done I curled up with Angela on my bed. Daniel went to sleep in my dad’s room.

  “I’m so glad you’re coming with me,” I said to my best friend.

  “Thank you for wanting me to come,” she said sleepily. “I don’t want to stay here anyway.” She paused. “Your dad will come back you know.”

  “You really think so?”

  “He’s not the kind of man who abandons his daughter.”

  I drifted into sleep thinking the exact opposite. I awoke to the sound of the door being broken down.

  “Mina!” Matthew shouted.

  I jumped out of bed, woke Angela and then ran into Dad’s room where Daniel was collecting his things and running out. We all tumbled down the stairs with our backpacks ready. Matthew had barricaded the door with the kitchen table.

  “The Enforcers are here to arrest you,” he said, straining against the weight of the table. “Get more things to barricade the door and then down to the basement.”

  With shaking hands I helped drag the fridge, all of the kitchen chairs and a cabinet to block the door. It wasn’t enough but it gave us time. My heart pounded. Matthew’s expression remained grim. We left the kitchen for the basement. It wouldn’t hold for long. I doubted if we would make it out alive.

  38

  We fled the kitchen. Enforcers continued to bang on the door. Blood thudded in my ears. In our rush Angela tripped on an upturned chair and fell heavily to the floor.

  “Who’s in there?” shouted an Enforcer. “Open the door or we will break it down.”

  I grabbed Angela’s hand and pulled her up. My ankle still throbbed from the dog bite but I ignored it and ran through to the lounge, with Matthew and Daniel just ahead.

  “Hurry,” Matthew shouted.

  Angela picked up the pace and we clambered down the stairs into the basement. There was one narrow window we could escape from but there was still a chance that the Enforcers had the building covered. Wood smashed in the kitchen upstairs. We didn’t have much time. I ran to the window and forced it open, the rusted hinges complaining.

  “Angela first,” I said, pulling her over to the window.

  I bent to help when Matthew came over to me.

  “This is very important, Mina.” He put a folded piece of paper into my hand. “You must follow the directions on that map at the exact time and place for your pick up to get to the Clans. No matter what happens, you go there and you get out.”

  “You’ll be with us,” I said, confused.

  Matthew ignored me and turned to Daniel. “If anything happens to me you make sure that Mina gets to the place on the map.”

  Daniel nodded earnestly. “I’d die before anything happens to her.”

  “No one is going to die,” I said shakily.

  We were in real danger and it hit me full on for the first time. I gave myself a second to get over it and then hoisted Angela up to the window. Daniel helped lift me next. I scrambled through the narrow space. The Enforcers were not around the back as I’d worried, but I heard approaching footsteps. Daniel and Matthew climbed out and we ran.

  “I see them,” I heard one of the Enforcers shout behind me. “They are getting away. Stop! Enforcer!”

  I jumped over the loose stones and weeds on the pavements of the ghettos. Around us people crowded, on their way to the town meeting. They stared as the Enforcers chased us down the street.

  An Enforcer shouted, “Fire!” and a crack split the air.

  Something whizzed past my ear. People screamed and scattered. Matthew ducked to the left, behind a hedge and into the backyard of a house. Daniel grabbed me and I turned to follow. Behind me Angela yelped as she tripped on the curb and I bent low to grab her wrist, just stopping her from falling. She regained her balance and we carried on, just as another bullet pelted into the hedge.

  We jumped the fence into the next garden. It was an end terrace. We slipped through the neighbouring alleyway. My ankle throbbed. The footsteps were close behind. I kept my head down and followed Daniel, running hard. Matthew ducked down another street. He added in as many twists and turns as he could to throw the Enforcers off course. But they anticipated our route and up ahead another group of Enforcers ma
de their way on foot towards us. One of them crouched to line up their gun.

  “This way,” Matthew shouted urgently.

  He ran through the gate of another house where an elderly woman stood. We followed Matthew as he barged through the open door of the house with the woman staring at us, completely flabbergasted. I whispered an apology as we passed her and ran through the narrow corridor through the back of the house and out into the streets. Matthew took us into another alley way and then through three more turnings before we finally hid in a quiet street behind a hedge. We huddled close to each other, Angela on my left and Daniel and Matthew on my right. Next to me I could hear Angela’s raspy breath as she tried to catch her breath.

  Matthew looked at his watch. “It’s nearly time for the town meeting,” he said. “They will need as many Enforcers as possible for the crowds. It might be our only chance to get away. Is anyone hurt?” He looked at us in turn and laughed. “They must be a crappy shot.”

  I peeked under the edge of the dressing for my ankle. Heat radiated from the bite and I saw fresh blood.

  “You’re hurt,” Matthew said. “What happened?”

  “Murgatroyd’s guard dog bit me,” I said between gritted teeth.

  He took hold of my leg. “Why didn’t you say anything? Can you run okay?”

  “I didn’t get a chance,” I replied. “And I can but it hurts. How long can we stay here?”

  Matthew shook his head. “Not long. We can carry you.” He looked sideways at Daniel.

  “You’re not carrying me,” I said firmly. “I will be fine. Don’t worry about me, just set the pace and I’ll––”

  “Shhh!” Matthew cut me off. He cocked his head to the right listening out for something.

  Angela huddled closer to me and I took her hand, trying to squeeze some reassurance into it. The loose gravel on the pavements crunched underfoot as heavy boots approached. I held my breath. Angela squeezed harder and I was glad for it. Daniel swallowed. His body trembled next to me. The boots moved again, closer to us. His feet shuffled and I imagined him facing us on the other side of the hedge. Daniel manoeuvred himself silently to cover me and Angela.