Hey guys! I'm actually looking for beta readers to help improve my writing and work before I fully release it. I'll bunch a couple of chapters in this chapter (hahha, confusing, yes), and hopefully you will like it. If you do and want to give me tips on how to improve, as well as help edit, please message me!
Chapter 1: Athena
I'm being chased, can't breathe, and it isn't my fault. Well, it may kind of be my fault. Of course, this is one in the morning on a warm autumn night; what you do, have done, or plan to accomplish at that time doesn't count against you at this time. Ever. Well, unless you go to jail, but that's completely different. People judge you because of jail.
I wouldn’t be able to bare those judging looks from everyone in court, or as the guardsmen would drag you back to your cell. Good thing I don't ever have to worry about that.
It's only because I was rude to the "rebels", or at least that's what they call themselves. In my opinion, it's just a fancy word for being poor, then people wouldn't judge them as much as they already do. Before you think I'm a horrible person, just know it isn't about being lower-class, per se, it's about lacking opportunities. If somebody doesn't even have enough cash on them to become adapted and start new-life on Mars, you can believe me when I say they're completely useless.
That's why I get on their nerves. Not because I don't like them, I just think they're a waste of space. Ha! Space. Get it?
The only problem is I might have to dial down the teasing, since I'm so close to fully adapting. Only three weeks until I'm done! I squeal audibly thinking about this, breaking into a breathy cough. The only downside is that it makes it really hard to breathe when running, really hard to move in general.
Today is my lucky day, though, because I come across a beautiful platinum blue Porsche with the windows completely open. I can just slide right in and stick a bobby pin in the key hole. I'll get home about an hour before I usually do and wouldn't be so out of breath. I hop in and begin fiddling with the golden pin I pulled from my hair.
"Hey! You in the blue Porsche," one of them calls out, "I hope you crash and burn!"
At first, I'm guffawing by whatever that "insult" was, still fiddling with the pin, until they begin throwing stones. The realization that I might die tonight strikes me more brutally than the rocks strike the Porsche. And, trust me, the Porsche is nearly giving in.
I step on the engine as hard as I can. I feel my shirt grip to the car seat with sweat and my hair fly back from the wind and speed. Once more I stomp on the engine with all my strength, then realize the gas is running out. With my house in sight, I barely have time to brake the car. I look in the rear-side view of the mirror, and see that, of course, I've already lost them.
I brake the car and, barely before it comes to a full halt unlock the car door and stumble out of the car, tripping on the cement along the way. Instantly, I realize my mistake. I'm not allowed home while my mom is with her business partners, but the chase was more intense than I thought it would be. Not thinking about it twice, dizzy and with a scraped knee, I founder to open the back door to my house.
I try to make no noise as I come in, but completely collapse near the hollow part of our staircase. I crawl underneath the staircase and begin to take deep breaths to try and remain uncaught.
For a moment I try to resist the temptation to eavesdrop, but quickly remember I don't really care about not listening in. Within a few seconds of pondering, I begin to pay close attention to what the scientists are saying.
"But are you positive no one would discover?" a feminine male's voice asks.
"For the last time, Dr. Caleb," a masculine, strict female's voice barks. "The plan is already in session. There is nothing we can do about it, even if there is a chance someone would discover. It's the subject's own fault for not reading the legal agreement closely enough."
Paper ruffles, and I wonder what they may be doing. "Just look! Clear as glass! Those are all of the chemicals we put into the pills and vaccines, and no one even bothered reading and looking into them."
"Mrs. Dimitri, I agree with Dr. Caleb. This is murder. My daughter's side effects are still not fatal, so I assume nobody else's are either. Isn't there anything we can do to reverse this?" a familiar, comforting female interrupts.
Papers slam down violently on the glass table, producing a soft echo. "If you care more about your daughter than the rest of the world, Mrs. Wright-" I freeze. That's my mother's last name.
I'm unable to concentrate on sounding out mumbled voices anymore, and begin to focus on my breathing. Oh, how I'll miss breathing, eating, drinking water; just being alive in general. All those wonders have simply been ripped away from me in two minutes, being chased by some poor people, hidden under a staircase, and with a scraped knee.
I have to focus, though. Perhaps this is all just a big misunderstanding, or possibly a practical joke. The more I think about it, the more it begins to make sense. I'm sure my mom loves me, otherwise she would have abandoned me a long time ago. She's the head scientist at the age of 29; imagine how much more she could have accomplished without me around.
Plus, she's never been against the idea of me joining the Mars Experience. Not to mention, I was definitely clamorous as I arrived. I kept panting and running into walls. I'm sure they heard me. I decide to listen in again, only more closely.
"Well, I agree with all of you to some degree," a croaky voice with a heavy accent speaks calmly. "Of course, there is a risk of us being caught, there is always a risk of anyone being caught; even for something one did not do," followed by a long pause and a clearing of the throat.
"And, well, it is murder. But what else can we do?" the strange male-female voice asks rhetorically, and establishes their dominance by taking yet another long, uninterrupted pause.
"Besides, what Mrs. Dimitri is saying is all true. It would take us a lot of money, money we do not have, to get everyone back to their original health. Also, by the time people would believe us and not think it is yet another rumor spread by the media, it would be too late for most of them anyway. And, finally, everyone did sign a contract and it did state, in the last page, section 75.9 'We at TTSICA and The Mars Experience Headquarters ask that you please insure that the succeeding chemicals will not impair your health.' Then, after that, the chemicals. All of the chemicals we put in, Mrs. Wright and Dr. Caleb. I see no logical reason why we shouldn't continue this procedure."
Silence floods through the room, the air thickening. My lips quake, for it's clearly settled. Heavy-accented, croaky voice-d person made a completely sound argument. There really is no reason why they shouldn't continue that procedure. In some weird way, the rebels turned out smarter than the higher-class. I feel so ashamed, not only because I have just proven to be more dim-witted than the rebels, but because this really was all my fault. I took my own life out of carelessness and curiosity. My mom, my dear, lovely mother whom I will miss so much, warned me about reading the contract very carefully. I slack to make it easier to re-envision her exact words.
"I can't stop you. I am the head scientist and it would be against company guidelines to prevent you from doing this. I can't read or explain the contract to you-" her comforting, warm voice had cracked at that moment, now I finally understand why. "Read the entire contract front and back. Carefully. Look out for any small print, and read that too."
She took a deep breath. "Use a magnifying lens if you need. This is the most important part, Athena. Look at me," I had barely looked at her, lacking interest, while she was about to burst into tears.
Looking back, I realize I am such a terrible daughter. She was so upset, and I didn't even care enough to look up from my phone when she was talking to me. "Even if it seems pointless, please, I beg of you," she turned away. "Search up any words you do not understand."
She turned back towards me and grabbed my hand. "Do you hear me? Any words, Athena. Whether it's to sign off on chemical allergies or a big, fancy word like outlandish, I want you to search it up. I can buy you as many dictionaries or search engines as you need. All I'm asking you to do is look closely at each individual word. Don't worry about the due date, I can hold off collecting for you. Please," she repeated this particular word quick a few times. "Look up words you are not 100% sure about."
My heart drops as I reminisce what I answered.
"Ok," I said, uninterested, looking back down at my phone. My mom walked off sniffling, but I just assumed she had a cold.
Maybe I deserve to be killed, the world doesn't need me. I'm just a useless guinea pig that will fall right in line whenever presented the words: revolution, experience, famous, or money.
I try to fight back my tears, but the waterworks come tumbling down.
After sobbing for I don't know how long, I notice the meeting is still going on; the perfect opportunity for me to consider my options. The best thing to do, of course, would be to notify everyone, post on the internet, and really fight the system. They'll have to fix us if we can get a revolution started.
However, thinking about it more thoroughly, their plan is well thought-out, these scientists know what they're doing. They've already weakened everyone, giving them shrill bones and no endurance, no chance of survival. Cowardice is fighting someone who's weak, but a strategy is weakening someone before a fight. Even though they're still being cowards, they're being smart cowards at that.
I nearly punch the wall in rage. I am hiding from people that, at this exact moment, are both making casual conversation about taking my life and actually taking my life at the same time. This would be the equivalent of somebody purposely choking you underneath a table, while having a sip of tea and discussing politics with their partners. It would be humiliating to have someone commit your murder so easily and flawlessly, you wouldn't even feel "special" enough.
Of course, I'm not saying you should go out and get murdered by someone who will put all their attention on you in the process of taking your life. What I am saying is, that if someone were to murder you, wouldn't you be the slightest bit offended if they did it casually? It wouldn't even be an important life that would be taken, it would just be yours.
Though, I still need to figure out a plan that is more well-thought out than the eight brilliant scientists' plan, can be executed in less time than the eight brilliant scientists' plan, and done without my mom or the other seven brilliant scientists finding out.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
I spring up and hit my head on the tough wooden staircase when I realize the scientists are leaving. I pray with all my might that they will use the front door, the one that is farthest from the staircase.
I remember my mom once said that any intruders of their meetings were considered spies, and in for a trial that would almost always end in execution. Now I'm realizing their very extreme rule was probably just to cut out the middleman of getting everyone to sign the contract.
Just thinking about this makes me furious enough to bite my tongue so I don't bawl, Why not join the Mars Experience yourself, Dumb-mitri? If I stood close enough to your head, I could hear the ocean! Of course, I'd be electrocuted under rule of law if I said that, and my last insult can't be a pun. If it were, it would need to be a good pun at least.
I clear my head and hear my mom wish one last goodbye, then sigh on the couch. I first peek out to ensure I hadn't been discovered when I first came in and was about to be taken to court. I crawl out the door as sneakily as I possibly can, then barge back in to let my mom know I'm on to her.
"Hey mom, I'm home! Missed you all day," I gleefully shout, trying to contain my rage.
My mom, still tired from the meeting, is silent and guilt strikes. But instead of coming clean to me, she stands up from the couch to match my tone. "Hi, lovely! Missed you too! Now what's this all about?" Kudos to Mrs. Wright for not breaking down this early, although I can already tell her voice is seasoned with a hint of sadness and regret.
"So, mom," I say as I spin in a circle around one of our wooden living room chairs. "Can you believe that in three weeks I won't see you again for a few years? Only a few years though. I will miss you so much on Mars and won't be able to wait to come back to your loving arms and this beautiful house!" I project with false excitement.
Mrs. Wright, my mother, freezes at the spot. "You spied on the meeting, didn't you?" she asks, but I don't think she wants an answer. "Didn't you?!" this time, she shrieks the question at me with such intensity and so close to my face that my hair is gently blown back.
"You didn't tell me!" I cry without a second's hesitation, bursting into tears.
"Don't try to turn this around on me, you know you're not supposed to spy on our meetings! That almost always ends in execution!" my mom barks. I can tell she's desperately trying to change the subject. Maybe ending things in a fight will ease the pain of leaving.
"You poisoned your own daughter!" I reply, my face red and covered in briny tears. She collapses on the couch and I'm afraid I have gone too far.
"Go. Leave now."
"What... what? Are you kicking me out? Mom, please don't do this, mom, I need you, help me, help me please," I stutter. By this point, I have plummeted on the ground to my knees and am left sobbing for breath.
"I meant that if you can find a shelter," she informs while taking out a backpack of a hiding place in the kitchen counter I didn't even know existed, "a shelter on Earth, that resembles Mars in the climate, you might be able to survive. I can't make any promises, but you have to leave now, and without my help. We can't risk being seen working together."
"But-" I don't have time to argue before she is shoving the plain black backpack in between my hands. "You planned this, so long ago. Why didn't you tell me?"
"I'm sorry, and I love you," Mrs. Wright declares while stroking her hand upon my cheek. "To have any chance of survival, leave now. You need as much time as possible and you've already lost a lot. Stay as low as possible. Don't let anyone know what you're up to. I trust you will find a way. Pretend you were still doing whatever it is you did during the meetings."
I hesitate, then whisper, "Love you too, mom." I sling the backpack up on my right shoulder and look back only once, before reaching for the cold, smooth, metal doorknob and facing the fact I likely won't ever see her again.
While jogging for my life, I decide taking the stolen Porsche at three A.M. on a Sunday isn't the best way to remain inconspicuous. I choose to pace myself until I find the only place I know where no one will have any contact with the scientists, or at least most of the rich. I stop to take a deep breath and stare up at the loud, red, illuminated, rusty sign on top of a short building. "The Homeless Shelter," it reads.
Chapter 2: Donna
I'm playing cards with Bree and Hugo when slime in form of a person comes crashing through the door. Since it's so late, we're the only ones in the main lobby but we couldn't sleep after the awful chase that awful girl started. Just like every other night. We all stand up simultaneously to face the girl and I nearly laugh, because I'm sure the dark room, our pack formation, and not being flown in from a private jet made of solid gold really made her anxious. Hugo proceeded forward.
"Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in," he said, walking forward and trying his best to be intimidating.
"Hugo!" I whisper-shout, smacking his stomach. I can't believe he said that. "So, upstate girl. What do you want? If you want money, we don't have any. If you want food, we're not gonna give it to you. And my favorite... if you want friendship, why don't you run off with those rich boys, Blondie?" I enunciate to intimidate her and call her blondie for an insult, even though she's clearly closer to a brunette.
She gently tugs her hair in front of her face to look at its color, but then she shakes her head as if just now realizing that that's beside the point. "Well, I mean... I think I recognize... some of you. My... my name's Athena and..."
"You know what? Just stop," I snap. "We don't want to hear it. You always start those awful fights with us and now that you have a little bit of trouble look who you come crawling to? Well, guess what, Blondie. We have much bigger problems than you could ever even wish to have. So why don't we just help set up your red carpet so you can hop all along back to your mansion?"
"Wait, let's hear her out," Bree rationalizes way too calmly. Athena shoots Brianna a grateful look, and she mouths, no problem. I scowl back at her. How dare she come into my house and start gawking at my little sister?
"Ok. So," she takes a deep breath and I roll my eyes. This time, she sends me an ungrateful look. "My mom is the head scientist of TTSICA, right? Well that also means she is in charge of hosting meetings for things like The Mars Experience, which I signed up for. And... why don't I show you?"
She pulls up the sleeve of a cotton gray jacket to reveal, where the blue of her veins should be, a black so deep one could see it glimmer from underneath her skin.
"It was supposed to help me survive on Mars. It just makes me allergic to the oxygen we breathe now, and weak. Really, really weak."
Shyly sliding her hands back into her jacket, she takes a look around the room. Smiling awkwardly while our jaws droop low, this is the moment where she realizes how insane everything sounds. Her story's completely unbelievable.
"And why exactly should we help you?" I ask menacingly.
"Fine. I don't have any reason other than this, but I need help. If you don't help me, I will literally die. You will be responsible for a human life taken."
We all glance at each other using our peripheral vision while our bodies still faced Athena. Blondie's right, if she died and we did nothing to help, it would be our fault. I almost curse at how manipulative she is. Stricken from words, I'm lucky that Hugo helps to verbalize what I can't say.
"But, you've been awful to us," he responds quite empathetically. "They couldn't have forced you to join. Didn't they have some sort of contract?" As I watch the color slowly bleach away from Athena's face, I realize Hugo asked the perfect question. Her lips chap, her skin pales, and her eyes redden. "Well?" he demands within five seconds of her hesitation.
She gently places her tongue over her hideously chapped lips before looking down and replying, "Yes, yes they did." We all stare at her head hung low with pity, and it is over a minute before she reveals a ghost white visage with her chin grabbing on to a single teardrop. "Please," she whispers.
Hugo hesitates. "Do you want to spend the night with us?" Her face lights up and she nods.
Guessing what I'm going to say, Bree quickly rises to Hugo's defense. "She... she obviously doesn't have anywhere else to stay and it might give us a chance to figure out if she's being honest or if this is just a joke." Once again, I'm furious about how hard it is to argue with those taking the high road.
"Blondie," I give in, she stiffens, and Hugo sends me a small, pleading snarl to warn me to cool it.
"Athena," I bark. "Your room's upstairs. You're sleeping on the floor with me." Her eyes widen and I almost go haywire. She is so full of herself that she thinks she can come into my house, gawk at my sister, and think she is worthy of sleeping on my bed and making me sleep on the floor.
I clear my throat. "Anyway, this is my little sister, Brianna." I grab her by a tight hold on her shoulder. Unfortunately, she doesn't squirm at all. "And this is my friend, Hugo." Instead of grabbing onto him I just tilt my head his direction.
"Pleasure to meet you all," she politely asserts with a slight head bow, her voice still sore from all the crying. "And your name?" she asks, clearly a bit afraid of me.
I hesitate, moving forward to ease Bree out of my grip. "Donatella."
Athena reaches out to shake my hand but I tuck both of them in my back jeans pocket. She awkwardly puts her hands in her pockets too. "I'll show you to where you'll be sleeping." I say with a straight face, walking away without looking back. Athena follows, and Hugo and Bree trail behind her.
Chapter 3: Hugo
Donna and Athena go into their rooms, Brianna following but lagging behind. When the door closes behind the two, Brianna remains frozen as the door. Pretty much anyone can feel the air thicken.
She grimaces, feeling the door handle. We have different rooms so we don't usually sleep together but, quickly, I invite her to spend the night with me, Conner, and Jedrek. Way too much has happened for it to not be discussed. Not to mention leaving anyone alone with angry Donna and insufferable Athena is basically wishing death on them.
We tiptoe in to find Conner asleep on his back, snuffling. Meanwhile, Jedrek's up, sitting near a single dim light, moving a rock in between his hands.
He puts the rock down. "Hey, where have you been?" Jedrek directs his speech towards both of us, but his gaze stays focused on me. I'm not able to distinguish whether he's concerned or angry.
I wouldn't say Jedrek intimidates me, but he's a big guy. A stocky guy who's usually awake with a large rock when I'm in a deep sleep. Just in case he's angry, I hold my breath and hope Brianna speaks first, before I break into a stutter.
"Dude, you won't believe what happened," she says enthusiastically, completely blanking the fact we arrived late. I shoot her a glance of appreciation and, when she sends back a quick wink, I know she did it on purpose. She proceeds to whisper the entire story as we know it, and about halfway through, Conner is disturbed in his sleep.
"Huh?" He asks, startled, rubbing his eyes vigorously.
"Bree?" He questions, blinking rapidly with his eyes bulging out in between. "Hey, are you okay?" he questions once again, jumping off the top bunk to kneel down beside Brianna, examining her closely. She shakes him off.
I flip both our light switches up, revealing two bright LED ceiling lamps, along with Jedrek's incandescent lamp burning a soft yellow. Simultaneous groans as everyone but me dramatically shield their eyes away from the light.
"Hey, remember when I wasn't blind?" Brianna mocks. "Good times."
"Turn that off," Jedrek groans.
"Fine," I mutter, flipping them back down.
"Hey, hey, come on, guys," Conner reasons, since that's all he ever does. It seems as if, as soon as he starts talking, the room goes silent just to listen to what he has to say. "If Hugo wants the light to be turned on, it can't hurt. He's our friend. It's just light. We're all up anyway."
He doesn't even wait for an answer before turning a single light switch on. "Ok," he sighs, sitting on Jedrek's mattress across from Brianna.
He pulls up his checkered, blue pajama pants to reveal his ankles while he sits, and scrunches up the sleeves of his gray, long-sleeved shirt. "Why are you in our dorm? Did something happen at yours?"
"Conner. I'm fine, just," then she begins to rant on the full story from the beginning.
It's already six A.M. after she's finished telling the story two times through and we've talked about everything; like what we should and shouldn't do. Boy, was there stuff to discuss. At some point we basically got into hushed screaming arguments about whether to help the girl or not, and while we were sleep-drowsy we managed to break into a conversation about ethics and the concept of death. I'm relatively sure the conversation we had while my head spun from exhaustion is how ingesting a mild poison would feel. Since breakfast is served from seven to ten, we collectively decide it would be best to wake up the rest and get ready.
Chapter 4: Donna
I am woken up to the sound of Hugo obnoxiously knocking on our door. I open it with a frown, Athena still sound asleep. Peeking my head out the room, I notice Hugo's "brother", Finn, being dragged out the room while shielding his eyes from the morning sun that shone in through the cracked blinds.
"What?" I growl. I know my hair's a rat's nest even though I don't have a mirror to confirm it. Like a sane person, I am able to put that aside because of the fact I was woken up at six when I could've gotten up at nine. Athena is scared awake then just collapses back to the floor, mumbling something.
To be continued.