I shook my head, the poor boy was confused.
It was stupid, but I knew he had his reasons to stay away from Meyah. Whether it was doing anything but creating a rift between them, I had no idea. I just knew when he did realize what he was doing, he was going to have a hard fight on his hands to get her to come back to him.
I just hoped he wasn’t going to do anything in the meantime to ruin it altogether.
I knocked on Deacon’s door, bouncing on my toes, eager to see Emerald. It wasn’t until she got here that I realized just how much I missed my little sister. She and I had been the closest out of all of my siblings. Our older brothers were so far up our father’s ass, desperate to please him and make him happy, that they never had any time for us. And because Emerald and I were the eldest girls, we were always expected to do the chores, look after the younger ones, and help portray the image of the perfect little family.
The both of us had a love for learning, but since the Colony only believed in schooling children until they were ten, Emerald and I would spend any free time we had exploring the Colony, chasing small animals or bugs, or conducting our own experiments using as little as water and mud if we had to.
I’d be lying if I said there weren’t times early on where I’d thought about going back to the Colony and begging for forgiveness simply because I missed my younger brothers and sisters, and had fears that my father would take out his anger toward me, on them.
The door pulled open and Deacon smiled, a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, the dark circles under them telling me he was absolutely exhausted.
My face instantly dropped. “How is she?” I asked as I stepped inside.
He moved back to allow me to enter, shutting the door softly behind me before he answered. He took a deep breath, brushing his fingers through his hair before scratching at his bristled jaw. It looked like he hadn’t shaved for a few days, the rugged look making him seem edgier and less professional. That, coupled with the fact that I was still getting used to seeing him out of his police uniform.
“She’s fine,” he replied with a shrug, but guilt quickly began to settle in my stomach.
“You don’t have to—”
“Skylar,” he said sharply, cutting me off. “You have a life that you’re trying to figure out. For the couple of months, or at least until we know that no one is coming looking for her, I’m quite happy to guide her and help introduce her slowly to life outside.”
I pursed my lips and crinkled my nose. “She’s my sister, I should be—”
“You should be focusing on school and happy she’s here and looked after and that I’ll be the first to know if the status of her safety changes,” Deacon explained, his face stern and serious and not to be argued with. I took a deep breath, deciding to be thankful for having Deacon take Emerald on, rather than curse myself for not being able to do more.
We stepped inside the living room, and my mouth turned up into a smile as Deacon excused himself.
Emerald looked up at me from the sofa. “Sister, come! I am doing a puzzle,” she said with a beaming grin as she beckoned me closer.
I rushed over, dropping in beside her. She was dressed in a long-sleeved shirt and a dress that touched the floor. Even outside the compound, she was still being very conservative, but I understood that. It had taken me at least a few weeks to build up enough courage to wear a pair of pants, something that was so normal for so many people, but just the idea of putting them on my legs gave me almost crippling anxiety.
I had to remember, even though I had run away from the Colony, not sharing their beliefs, there were still certain things which were engrained into our brains and the thought of changing them, whether we believed in what they stood for or not, was still a huge step.
“Are you enjoying yourself?” I asked my sister, wrapping my arm around her shoulders and squeezing her tightly.
She froze for a minute, staring down at the puzzle piece in her hands, then cleared her throat. Pulling back to look me in the eye. “I am,” she whispered in realization before her gaze moved back to the puzzle, and then to the television that was playing silently across the room. Maybe it had only just dawned on her that she was getting pleasure from a world we had always been taught was a bad place. “Deacon is a very nice man,” she said quietly, leaning into me.
“He is,” I agreed with a smile.
Emerald cleared her throat. “He told me about his job and the things he does to keep people safe and look after them. It is very admirable.” I could hear the fondness in her voice, mixed with wonder and maybe a little surprise. “I did not realize the real work that police officers did. Did you know they search for missing persons and so many other things I just cannot even begin to list them.”
It was sad how little knowledge of the real world people had from the Colony. Maybe if they knew, more of them would venture outside, and take the risk in order to have a better life for themselves and their families.
That wasn’t what the elders wanted, though. It had taken me a long time to understand that. They chose instead to deceive their people, make them fear freedom with threats of not being taken to heaven and living in hell for the rest of eternity.
“I have to go away for a few days,” I finally found the courage to say, feeling my sister tense up beside me. “You’ll be safe here, and I’ll call Deacon at night to speak with you.”
She shook her head, her eyes beginning to water. “No, you must not leave.” There was still a lot of fear inside Emerald. While she was slowly growing more comfortable and trusting, I was still her safety net.
I took her hand, holding it in mine and patting the top. “You’ll be fine, Emerald. Nothing will hurt you.”
“And what about you?”
I smiled at her worried tone. “I will be fine. It’s not something I can get out of, the club requires me to be there.”
Emerald huffed like a spoiled child and looked away. “They demand a lot of you,” she said harshly. “You say things are different, yet you follow their rules and orders just like they are prophets.” She glared across the room, refusing to look at me.