Catalyst by Casey L. Bond Read Free Book Online Page B

some papers in front of him before initiating the selection process. He cleared his throat and smiled nervously. “The first choice goes to the highest bidder, which was Elect Anderson.” From his seat in the front row, a distinguished looking man in a tan suit stood and waved. The crowd responded immediately with whoops, claps, and whistles. Some ladies jumped up and down and squealed when he waved in their direction.
    The man turned to a woman beside him and whispered in her ear. She made her way to the side of the stage and climbed a rickety set of steps. The wood and rail attached to it swayed with each step she took.
    She held her skirts delicately as she moved across the floor. I could see that she was young, maybe even my age. Her dress was tight on top and poufy on the bottom accentuating her slim waist and breasts that looked like they might pop out at any minute. Hot damn…
    My breath caught when she passed. She never looked directly at me, but she didn’t have to. I didn’t recognize her at first. Her hair was curled, and she was dressed like them . But it was her. It was the girl who saved me, who at least gave me a chance to save Griffin. She was the only simple who’d ever done anything for me without expecting something in return. And she was a simple, but more than that. She was an Elite. Her father had been referred to as an Elect.
    The announcer smiled, reaching out for her hand, which she took hold of in a delicate and well-rehearsed move. He asked her to step forward to the microphone. “Which companion would you like, Seven Anderson?”
    Seven Anderson returned his smile with a self-assured smile, then at the audience and stepped forward. Her bowed lips inched toward the microphone. The entire building quieted, and I heard a few inhalations of breath. Then her voice, delicate as a songbird, shattered that silence. “I choose number ten as my companion, please.”
    She chose me.
    I waited, trying to tramp down my nerves, as the other Elites chose their companions. The entire process probably took twenty minutes, but it felt like as many hours. My palms were covered in sweat. It even beaded on my forehead. Cason was chosen last by an older couple who seemed nice enough. But looks were deceiving, and simples weren’t to be trusted. We were led off stage by a soldier and told that we would meet with our new companions in private rooms toward the back of the amphitheater before they took us home with them.
    Case’s owners met him at the bottom of the stage steps and the three headed toward the back of the dark building. I didn’t miss the worried look in his eyes. He was scared of the future and the expectations of his new owners. So was I. We all were.
    Most of the girls cried. The truth was that some outskirters made their kids apply when they couldn’t feed and care for them anymore. No parent wanted to give up their child, but they’d rather give them into the companion program than see them six feet under, shriveled up into a starved version of the vibrant kid they’d fought so hard to care for and ultimately failed. Some loved their children enough to let them go, to let them survive the only way they could.
    Careful of my steps as I descended, I paused just to the side of the stairs that led to and from the stage, as the girls who had stood alongside me on the stage filtered off it. Elect Anderson, Seven and her family were standing near their front-row seats, smiling and shaking hands with anyone who had waited to see them. They were like royalty. What had she been doing in the back of the soldier’s car that day? Why had she been dressed so plainly? I remembered her high heeled shoes. They were a piece of the puzzle that I’d often wondered about but couldn’t solve. The glittery pink heels had tottered themselves into my mind far too often since meeting her that day. Part of me hated her for it. Part of me was intrigued by it.
    Now I knew. She was one of Confidence’s Elite. Her