Blemished, The by Sarah Dalton Read Free Book Online Page A

to.”
    “You know, I’m building a training room for him in your basement. He seems nice.”
    “Yeah, I thought that might be you. Small world.” I fingered with the sleeve on my tunic.
    “Maybe we’re going to save the world,” Daniel said with a laugh.
    “Like a genetic freak uprising?” I replied.
    “Stranger things have happened,” Angela added.

8
     
     
     
    I walked home as the sun set, leaving in its trail a bruised, purple-orange sky. As I followed degraded streets the sky turned to black in shadowy degrees as though God pulled a dark cloak above my head, except I knew that it was impossible because this world was Godless. It had to be. I folded my arms around my shoulders against the chill.
    The events of the evening played over in my mind like a film on loop , and part of me refused to believe it was real. Did they really just convince me that Daniel could see the future? Why would I be in that future? It was all so strange that I was frightened. I was frightened of them, of the implications, and of the fact that we’d found each other. I’d never been superstitious. I didn’t believe in fate. But even I had to admit that this was a pretty huge coincidence.
    On top of everything, despite how afraid it made me feel to think of Daniel and Angela, the way they ambushed me and the book of drawings, I was relieved. Now I knew there was someone who understood what I go through every day. Someone who had been through even worse, whose own mother had abandoned him. Perhaps we could figure things out together.
    After getting lost in my own thoughts I realised that I’d made a wrong turn. The barely distinguishable streets of the Area 14 ghettos were even more identical in the night-time, and instead of making my way to the outskirts, between the ghetto and the town road, I’d turned inwards and headed towards the neglected fields which separated the ghettos and the GEM district. Somehow, after the Fracture, the settlers in the town Areas had segregated themselves. Dad once told me that the un-Blemished rich people had bought Children of the GEM to try and get into favour with the Ministry. It worked. And now, fifteen years later, they had the world at their feet whilst the rest of us could only watch from the ghettos.
    I stared out at the fields wondering what it would be like to live on the other side , when behind me the gravel crunched.
    I froze. It wasn’t late at night but very few Blemished stay out after dark. My heart pounded against my chest while I hesitated, unsure of whether to turn around or run. Thoughts ran through my head. Where would I run? Through the fields? Or through the ghettos? It would be easier to hide in the fields, under the tall grasses and weeds, but there was no one who could help me. Maybe I wasn’t in danger. Maybe I should fight them. I ran through every martial arts move I’d ever been taught by my dad. I made my decision. I turned around.
    “Who’s there,” I said, my voice little more than a tremble in the cold air.
    The gravel crunched again as the intruder came closer. Panicked, I backed up towards the fields, looking out for something I could move – rocks or heavy wood. But the tingle in my fingers wouldn’t come. I tried to focus on something, anything, but that flash in my mind refused to appear. It was fight or run. I cursed myself for not taking Daniel up on his offer to walk me home. Now I was screwed.
    “Mina?”
    The sound of my own name made me jump. I gasped. The voice sounded familiar.
    “Sebastian?” I answered.
    He stepped forward into the moonlight, the angles of his face casting shadows over his eyes and cheeks. He wore running shoes and black shorts.
    “Thank goodness it’s you,” he said between panting breaths. “I was running and listening to my music,” he removed a tiny plug from his ear and held it up in the moonlight, “not really paying much attention to where I was going. I was in the fields you see, and I kind of blocked