Chapter 16 Kali #2
“That’s not nothing special. Don’t think that.
Evil can mask itself in different clothing, but like you said, as long as your mind stays with you, you’ll be okay.
” Rising, she took our empty cups off the table.
“Come on, I’ll show you around. Gedeon is visiting another compound, and Zion is…
well, Zion, so we’ll introduce you to everyone.
” She dropped our dishes in the sink and hesitated before turning around and gripping the edge.
“Please tell me that you won’t run the moment we step outside. ”
So they would be going against Gedeon’s orders by taking me outside. What did they expect from me? That I’d sit meekly in my room and agree to whatever they’d ask of me? They should’ve known better.
“No.” I ignored her searching for a response as I headed toward the exit.
If they wanted to chase me, so be it. Good luck getting into Ilasall.
I couldn’t stay here for gods knew how long, dreaming nightmares of Alora and letting citizens in Ilasall endure their miserable lives—except those despicable worms in power—while they debated the best time to attack the city.
Sometime in the future, they’d said.
I had to fight. And if humanity ceased to exist because of my actions, because we couldn’t increase our population anymore without forceful measures, so be it. Better not to exist than to spend your life in shackles.
“Ready to go?” Ryder popped up out of nowhere, his arm outstretched across the doorway to block me from exiting.
“Ready to go where?” I dramatically gestured around the immaculate kitchen. “Home? Lead the way.”
He shook his head, and his tight caramel curls swayed around his shoulders. “That you’ll have to find yourself. Now let’s go. A bright new world awaits you.”
“What, you found a different one from ours? Show me the door.” I wanted to roll my eyes at his theatrics, but those freckles on his nose framed by a sparkling smile—one I wanted to tear off and keep for myself for bad days—made me wish his words were true.
Removing his arm from the door frame, he let me through. “The sun is shining, we have enough food on our tables, and we’re free. Do you really need anything more?”
I did. But I withheld my response, and they took me to the infirmary to check my vitals and inspect the stitches in my palm.
Eislyn convinced me to agree to take whatever meds the doc gave me.
To stay alive by avoiding infection, as he’d put it.
Like leaving this world wouldn’t be an easier option.
A more comfortable one. When I reminded them what the doc’s last anti-infection meds had done to me, he swore the pills wouldn’t knock me out.
He better be true to his promise, or I was going to dissolve them in his breakfast and then string his naked and limp body outside my bedroom window for all to see. Hopefully, he wasn’t afraid of heights.
“See you guys later!” Eislyn waved as we exited the infirmary and jogged down another hallway. How was one supposed to find their way around here? Never mind that, the better question was, why was she leaving me?
“She’s learning how to throw knives with Eli,” Ryder answered my silent question.
“I thought she worked with the doc. Lessons on weapons kind of contradict that.”
“I think it helps her to cope with everything. If you want, I can take you to the training rings to see for yourself. Maybe you’ll find something you’d like to try out.”
“You have training rings?”
“Yeah. If we hope to take over Ilasall one day, everyone needs to know how to defend themselves and wrestle with opponents. Otherwise, we’re just lambs prime for slaughter.”
When we turned a corner, my steps slowed. An open-mouthed man was leaning against the wall, holding the head of a shirtless one on his knees, sucking the first one off. A short, curvy woman rose on her tiptoes to murmur in the standing one’s ear. He threw his head back as his hips bucked forward.
Ryder didn’t bat an eye as we navigated around them like it was an ordinary occurrence.
“Why is everyone having sex everywhere I go?” I had to know.
“Safety. In Ilasall, you could shout as loud as you possibly could, and no one would come to help. Here, if you so much as raise your voice, someone nearby will pull you out immediately. So taking control of your pleasure in the open creates a sense of safety for many. It’s sort of like a safety net.
No closed doors mean plenty of escape routes.
” Ryder glanced back at the trio. “And some simply like it more like this.”
It did make some sense. Our bodies were not our own in Ilasall. Property if you were fertile or a commodity if you were not, but somehow, people here seemed to have found a way to take the ownership back. Take their power back. Gain strength. Create a life.
As we stepped through the exit I’d been seeking all this time, a happy inhale filled my lungs.
Blinding sunshine streamed into the street, the heat swiftly climbing to the highest point of the day, and the sidewalk provided a refreshing cover of shade, a way not to sweat your ass off in the humidity gluing your hair to your nape.
A crowd swarmed a street corner, their colorful clothes exposing their legs to the breeze, a stark contrast to the oversized man’s sweatpants I was boiling in.
Without a moment of hesitation, I bolted toward the mass of people.