Arisen Read online

  “He’s good, isn’t he?” Ash said.

  Good didn’t begin to describe it. I hugged my knees to my chest, wondering how Jasper and I had been so lucky. We dodged manipulation, doubt, sabotage, deceit, and even death to escape the inescapable. We somehow managed to be the exception. We were always the exception.

  “Do you have any other family out here besides your grandfather?” I asked when the first song was over.

  “Nope.”

  Ash was silent for several beats, reminding me of when I was first getting to know Jasper. It took a while for Jasper to open up about his father. I was beginning to realize that family was a lot more complicated than what I had experienced in Oportet.

  “You had a sister, didn’t you?” Ash asked, breaking the silence.

  “I have a sister, yes. Her name is Megan,” I said. I glanced over at Ash, who was staring straight ahead. He was wearing yet another sleeveless shirt to show off his tattoo. Seeing it up close showed that it was more than just abstract art in black ink. It was almost like a collage of pictures and ideas, strung together from his forearm all the way to his neck. There were trees typical of the west coast at its base, dark limbs wrapping around his skin. Everything blended together effortlessly.

  “Like the tattoo?”

  I lifted my eyes to see that Ash was watching me. My face reddened. He smirked. I was growing tired of that self-satisfied, arrogant smile of his.

  I nodded, turning my attention back to the band. The members appeared to be having some sort of disagreement. Drea rolled her eyes while placing both hands on her hips. Liz, the bass guitarist, had her arms crossed, tapping her foot with a sour look on her face. Sam looked frightened as usual, his skinny jeans hanging too low on his hips. He glanced from Jasper to Drea then to Liz with eyes wide and lips pressed together.

  “What did I miss?” I whispered.

  “Oh, you mean when you were checking me out?” After receiving a glare, Ash continued. “Jasper told Drea that she wasn’t keeping the beat, and Drea let him know that she was actually the only one in time. The busty blond took Jasper’s side, and the scrawny kid looks like he’s had a stroke.”

  My eyes narrowed. “Her name is Liz, and his name is Sam.”

  “Ah. You seem irritable, love. Trouble at home?” Ash cocked his head.

  “Not that it’s any of your business, love. But no, Jasper and I are very happy.” I wanted to add a “thank you very much,” but I refrained. Ash was bringing out my most immature, stick-my-tongue-out attitude.

  “You and I are going to have right fun times, Luna. I can already tell.”

  I frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Instead of answering, Ash stood up. He offered me a hand, which I accepted despite my better judgment. After he pulled me to my feet, we strolled across the room

  “Jasper, mate,” Ash said, tapping on Jasper’s shoulder.

  He was in the middle of explaining something to Drea. She at least looked civil now, nodding her head attentively. Jasper turned, his agitated look dissipating when he saw me standing behind Ash.

  “Yeah, what’s up?” he asked.

  “Your girl’s hungry. We’re going to grab a bite to eat,” Ash said.

  “Okay, cool. I’ll see you back at the apartment.” Jasper walked over to me, leaning down to kiss me on the forehead. “I love you,” he whispered against my skin.

  “Love you too.” I smiled, then turned and followed Ash up the stairs.

  “Love, huh?” he said once we were out the front door. Portland was muggy today, heavy clouds rolling in to bring yet another round of rain. “Wonder what that’s like.”

  “You’ve never been in love?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. If I were being completely honest, it didn’t surprise me. Ash seemed like the kind of guy who kept people at arm’s length.

  “Does it count if someone loves you, but you don’t love them back?” Ash asked. He led me to the car he shared with Drea. Jasper and I owned a black sedan, parked two cars behind.

  I glanced over at him. Ash’s face was pensive as he opened the car door for me.

  “No,” I said. “It doesn’t.”

  “Well, then, I guess I’ve never been in love.” Ash smiled. He skirted the car and climbed in beside me. He tapped the steering wheel absentmindedly, a smile beginning to take shape. “You should get a tattoo.”

  I was thankful for the subject change. “Right now?” I scoffed.

  “I’m guessing you’re the kind of person who needs everything to be planned. Everything has its proper place; nothing in your life can be messy. I bet you don’t like it if different types of food on your plate touch.” He chuckled, pulling out of the parking spot.

  “You don’t know me,” I said, letting anger seep into my voice. “I’ve done, and witnessed, a hell of a lot more in my lifetime than you could possibly imagine. Don’t think that knowing me for twenty-four hours or reading ten pages of a book I wrote means shit.” I realized I had no idea where we were going. “I’m intelligent enough to pick up on your little game, you know.”

  “And what game would that be?”

  “You try to make girls insecure so they feel like they need to prove themselves to you. Your condescension is an attempt to make me subconsciously believe I’m inferior.”

  Ash opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off. “I’m not done, love.”

  Ash laughed, making my voice rise even higher.

  “Maybe the reason you’ve never been in love is because you can’t step away from your manipulative mind tricks long enough to respect women, let alone love them, and maybe—”

  “This is refreshing,” Ash said, interrupting me. “I don’t think I’ve ever been psychoanalyzed before. How much do I owe you, doc?” My glare brought another smile out of him. “Oh, lighten up. We’re here.”

  Ash parked in front of a tattoo parlor.

  “I’m not getting a tattoo.”

  “We’re not here for that. There’s some people you should meet,” he said, pointing across the street. “We’re going there.”

  “The bookstore?” It was a small, black building nestled between an Italian restaurant and a bakery. Its sign read, “Synchronicities Bookstore and Gift Shop.”

  “I would’ve voted to meet at a pub, but alas, the hippies had the popular vote.” Ash grimaced.

  “Well, I like it,” I said. I was just happy that Ash wasn’t getting his way. “Who are these hippies I’m meeting?”

  “Local activist group. They used to be a part of a large underground network before the great fall of ’39. In the early years, when everyone was just getting used to not having a stable government, the network weakened. I guess they thought since totalitarianism had been taken care of, the hardest part was over. They have representatives in Washington D.C. right now working to reestablish a governing body,” Ash explained.

  “What does that have to do with me?” We crossed the street, the sun just starting to disappear into the horizon. And why would Ash lie to Jasper about where we were going?

  “Like I said, the network had been largely dormant, aside from the political business in D.C., but your book showed them that the revolution isn’t quite over yet.”

  “Because of Oportet?” My head was spinning. “What do they want to do about it?” What could they do about it? I had a hard time imagining a group of dreadlocked anarchists tearing down Oportet’s government.

  Ash held the door open for me, and the smell of herbs and essential oils flowed through the summer air. The store was lit with hanging lanterns and twinkle lights, and the walls were decorated with large mandala tapestries. A wall of candles was to my right, and bookshelves to my left.

  “I don’t know what you were talking about. This place is adorable,” I said, elbowing Ash when he rolled his eyes.

  A tall, slender man looked up from behind the register, large gauges in both of his ears.

  “Are you guys here for the Rise Up meeting?” he asked. He pulled out a cl
ipboard with a list of names.

  “We are,” Ash said. “I’m Ash Burnes, and—”

  I busted out laughing, interrupting Ash midsentence.

  “What on earth is so funny?” he asked, giving me a look.

  “Seriously? Ash Burnes? Who thought of that one?”

  Ash let out an exasperated breath. “Honestly, Luna.” He turned back to the man. His name tag said his name was Rhett. “I bet you never would have guessed this was the scholarly author Luna Beckham.”

  “Oh,” Rhett said, his eyes lighting up. He reached over the counter to shake my hand. “I just finished Escape from Oportet last night. It was exceptional! I always figured Oportet was just one of those societies for rich snobs, but now I know it’s far more complex than that.”

  “I’m glad you enjoyed it,” I said. I’d never get used to these kinds of encounters.

  Rhett led us to a back room. “Good luck at the meeting, Ms. Beckham,” he said, holding the door open for us.

  The room was dimly lit, the same lanterns hanging from the ceiling. The atmosphere went quiet when I entered, instantly tying my stomach into knots. About twenty chairs were arranged in a circle, all filled but two.

  I felt eyes boring into me as Ash and I sat. I tried to calm myself down, but I was finding it hard to breathe. I had never been good at handling attention.

  I glanced around the room. Most of the attendees were young, with a few middle-aged and older people tossed in the mix. There were a couple of kids who had to be underage, and I swallowed when I realized they were probably the same age as Megan.

  Megan was sixteen. What did she look like now? I knew she had to be beautiful. She had probably changed so much the past three years.

  Ash nudged me. I looked up to see that all eyes were on me. I tuned in to the voice coming from across the room, from a young woman with long, black curls and gorgeous dark skin.

  “My name is Rachel Tanner. I asked if you had ever heard of Rise Up, Ms. Beckham.” She spoke in a low, soothing voice.

  “Not until ten minutes ago,” I replied.

  She smiled warmly. “We’re the Portland branch of a larger organization. It was groups like ours that played an instrumental role in the fall of the tyrannical American government. Escape from Oportet caught our attention with its release, and we just had to find a way to bring you in,” Rachel said. “We want your help freeing the citizens of Oportet.”

  “I don’t mean to sound cynical, but I’m not sure what we’d be able to do about it,” I said. “They’re not just physically trapped, they’re also mentally enslaved. Most of them don’t even know they aren’t free.”

  Rachel sighed. “We understand that. In fact, we struggled with the same thing the last time around,” she said. “We think that you’re the key to helping us liberate them, Luna. There are things you need to understand about America’s past, though. Ash has graciously agreed to give you some history lessons, now that he’s back from the border.” She nodded at Ash. I could tell they’d known each other for a while.

  “I don’t understand what you think I can do. And what does history have to do with freeing Oportet?”

  Rachel pursed her lips. “History doesn’t always stay in the past, Ms. Beckham. History can show us past, present, and future.”

  5

  Megan

  There was a heartbeat under my ear when my eyes fluttered open. I groaned and pushed myself up, slipping from Liam’s arms.

  Light from the basement window sent me into a panic. It was morning. It was a school day. I was at a house that was not my own. I was so dead.

  “Where are you going?” a groggy voice called.

  I had the basement window open, ready to slip out without a word. “Where do you think? We have school today!”

  Liam laughed. “No we don’t. It’s Saturday.”

  “Oh,” I breathed. “Right.”

  “My parents are working today,” he said.

  “Is that so?” I looked out unto the dew-covered grass, the water droplets glistening in the sunlight.

  “Let me make you breakfast. It has been so long since, you know,” Liam fumbled. “Let’s make a day of it. To catch up.”

  “I think we caught up enough last night, don’t you?” I said. I fought the urge to cringe. I always told him too much. I doubted anyone in the world knew me better than Liam O’Neill.

  Liam reached for my arm, but I took a step back.

  “Why do you always do this?” he asked, his forehead creasing.

  “If you’re going to start about how I always run when things get real, or some other clichéd, superficial observation, then I’ll save you the trouble. I’m leaving because I don’t want to get my best friend in trouble with her mother.” And because Melanie broke the pact. Liam opened his mouth to speak, but I continued. “There’s nothing to read into.”

  “There’s always something to read into when it comes to you, Megs.” Liam leaned against the wall, watching my eyes.

  “Thanks for keeping me company last night,” I said.

  Liam remained silent, his jaw set.

  “And thanks for, um, listening to me.”

  He raised his eyebrows, his scowl fading into an expressionless mask.

  “I’m going to go now.”

  Liam just nodded, the tips of his mouth turning up when I let my frustration reach my eyes.

  “Asshole,” I muttered when I was making my way across the lawn. I hugged myself against the chilly morning air.

  Liam might have known me better than anyone else, but he also somehow managed to make me more annoyed and confused than anyone else could. With Liam’s hooks in my mind, any moment I spent away from him made me feel lonely and incomplete. That was another reason why I stopped seeing him last winter. I hated that he had so much power over my emotions. The only person who should be able to dictate how I feel is me.

  I made the trek back to the house, sneaking around to our bedroom window. I made a mental note to put “climbing in and out of windows” on my future résumé. Melanie had her arms crossed when my feet hit the floor, her nostrils flaring.

  “Hey, my favorite person in the entire world,” I tried. “Did you have to cover for me?”

  “I said you went for an early morning jog,” she said through clenched teeth.

  “You were the one who left me with that irresponsible, entitled, rich pretty-boy,” I accused. “You broke the pact.”

  “I did not break the pact.”

  “Yes you did! I told you to never let me be alone with him. Ever!”

  “Yeah okay, so I did break the pact, but I just thought that he could do a better job being there for you than I could. I felt like I was failing,” Melanie said, biting her lip. “Wait a minute, how did you just weasel your way out of that one? We were talking about your slipups, not mine.”

  I looked away.

  “You spent the night with him?” Melanie squealed. “Dammit, Megan. It really only takes five minutes alone with this guy, doesn’t it?”

  “Ugh. Now you see why we made the pact,” I said. “I mean, nothing too crazy happened, just the weird soul-sucking thing he always does.”

  “What in the world have you been smoking? Soul-sucking?” Melanie gave me her classic your-crazy-is-showing look.

  “That’s what it always feels like to me. When little fragments of myself break off, he’s always there to steal them away.” I can’t lose myself. Not again.

  Melanie was still staring at me. “It must be a scary place up there,” she said, tapping on my forehead.

  I cleared my throat. “What are we doing today?” I asked.

  “Well, first you need to get yourself together. I really hope no one saw you walking down the street like that,” Melanie said. She gestured to my frizzy red mess of hair.

  I smoothed it down with my hands, then quickly moved to the bathroom to let a hot shower scorch away the mistake that was last night.

  Melanie’s mother looked like an older version of Mela
nie. She had smooth blonde hair, and brown freckles dotted her nose and cheeks. Unlike her daughter, however, she believed strongly in Oportet and all that it stood for. She brought her daughter to the society as soon as she heard about it, travelling all the way from a place called Texas.

  It was Monday morning. We were sitting around a small round table next to the kitchen, eating the usual gourmet breakfast Ms. Wilson had prepared for us. She was a chef, and a great one at that.

  “I expect to hear about everything you learned in school today,” she said before heading out to the restaurant.

  I grimaced. So not looking forward to that.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Melanie said. Her head was hung slightly.

  When Ms. Wilson was gone, color seemed to return to Melanie’s cheeks. In some ways, Melanie’s mother was more overbearing than mine had been, which was saying a lot. My parents once drugged my sister with spiked tea and erased her memories, after all.

  “Aren’t we carrying out the mission tonight?” Melanie asked. For someone who shied away from anything I didn’t drag her into, she sure got excited about meetings and missions. No doubt she would be close to a panic attack tonight when we were actually committing the act.

  “Yes. Do you think Liam would buy it if I told him the mission had been rescheduled?” I was still angry he insisted on volunteering.

  Melanie raised her eyebrows. “It’s Liam. What do you think?”

  I moved my French toast around my plate with a fork, almost too zoned out to hear Melanie telling me it was time to go. I sighed, swinging my backpack over my shoulder and following her out.

  “How many days left until summer break?” I asked.

  “Too many,” Melanie said. “But hey, we’ll be seniors next year. Then we’ll go on our gap year.”

  Senior year: the year of memories Luna lost, the year she met Jasper Williams and the year she made plans to leave Oportet without saying goodbye. Gap year: the year Luna started remembering, the year she said goodbye, and the year she escaped Oportet.

  Luna cast a shadow that I would never be able to step out of. I could still see the pain in her eyes when I told her I wouldn’t go with her. I said it was okay to leave me behind, and I believed it, too. I thought that my time would come and I’d find a way out like she did, but now I knew that Luna had offered the only chance I would get. I’d blown it.