happened to her family. I figured the mood couldn’t get any worse. After all, he’d had no trouble telling me the truth so far. I bit my lip and tried not to think how hard it would be for her to find us. When we were in the van, I kept expecting to hear a car speed up behind us with her smiling face in the driver’s seat. The more time went by without that happening, the more I doubted that I would see her again. “Cain? Can I ask you something?”
“Always.”
“Why did they take Jordyn’s brothers? I don’t understand. Natalie and Joe seemed super normal.”
He put his arm around me and pulled me away from Dylan’s funeral pyre. He gently led me to the two biggest rocks we could find. I sat down, and the sharp, flat stone made me wish I hadn’t. Then again, the uncomfortable seat seemed fitting for the question I had asked.
Cain leaned forward and stared straight into my eyes. Most people would have looked away from the sharp, penetrating blue. I didn’t…but I couldn’t be sure I didn’t blush just a little. “Jordyn…she wasn’t exactly the most obedient kid. She got into a lot of trouble growing up. Her parents were always home. They paid attention to her. They loved her unconditionally. Still do. But Jordyn…she wasn’t built for the country-folk, white-picket-fence lifestyle. So she left her parents’ house to do what she thought would be seeing the world. She was young, sure, but she was smart. She thought everything would be fine. Tons of young people were making it on their own, and she figured she could too.”
Cain rested his elbows on his knees and sat his chin on his hands. “Are you sure you want to know this? It’s not a happy ending. And…”
“And what?”
“I know this has to be hard on you. Figuring out that what your mother started got turned upside down. I just don’t want you to…”
“Cain, tell me please.”
“I just don’t want you to start being angry at your mom.”
I sighed. The thought of being angry at my mom had never even occurred to me. “She’s my mom. I will never be angry at her. Ever.”
Cain paused for just a second more but gave in. “Okay.” He took a deep breath. “Jordyn figured out fairly quickly that the world didn’t support smart teenage runaways as well as she’d imagined from her sheltered upstate farmhouse. She didn’t end up being the worldly explorer she’d set out to be…she ended up starving. So she ended up having to do what she does now…to stay alive. At first, it was out of necessity, but she developed a taste for it.”
I listened as he inhaled, and the air entered his lungs with a soft rattle. “We had already set up the compound and had made a couple trips there when she heard about her brothers. She had been gone, out of her parents’ care for years, but it was enough for the Taskforce. Article Seventeen of the Morality Code states that if one child commits a crime as a minor in a multi-child household, then the parental responsibility of the mother and father is called into question and the younger children are removed from the home.”
I gasped, fighting back my urge to retch out whatever was still inside me from the sandwich plate Natalie gave us. “But she just made one mistake. That’s not fair.”
“The Taskforce didn’t see it that way. After the boarding schools were set up, Natalie and Joe got a knock on the door and the Taskforce carried Matthew and Xander away. They never saw them after that. Jordyn was never the same.”
Little white dots danced in my eyes and I thought I might faint. “What do you mean?”
“She couldn’t face going home to her parents until she became a Guide. Something that would make them proud. She told me once that being a Guide makes her feel like she’s taking some of the power back. But she’s still haunted.”
My chin quivered, but I held in the urge to cry. It was a little bit ironic that I had to keep deceiving Cain so he would keep telling me the truth
“Always.”
“Why did they take Jordyn’s brothers? I don’t understand. Natalie and Joe seemed super normal.”
He put his arm around me and pulled me away from Dylan’s funeral pyre. He gently led me to the two biggest rocks we could find. I sat down, and the sharp, flat stone made me wish I hadn’t. Then again, the uncomfortable seat seemed fitting for the question I had asked.
Cain leaned forward and stared straight into my eyes. Most people would have looked away from the sharp, penetrating blue. I didn’t…but I couldn’t be sure I didn’t blush just a little. “Jordyn…she wasn’t exactly the most obedient kid. She got into a lot of trouble growing up. Her parents were always home. They paid attention to her. They loved her unconditionally. Still do. But Jordyn…she wasn’t built for the country-folk, white-picket-fence lifestyle. So she left her parents’ house to do what she thought would be seeing the world. She was young, sure, but she was smart. She thought everything would be fine. Tons of young people were making it on their own, and she figured she could too.”
Cain rested his elbows on his knees and sat his chin on his hands. “Are you sure you want to know this? It’s not a happy ending. And…”
“And what?”
“I know this has to be hard on you. Figuring out that what your mother started got turned upside down. I just don’t want you to…”
“Cain, tell me please.”
“I just don’t want you to start being angry at your mom.”
I sighed. The thought of being angry at my mom had never even occurred to me. “She’s my mom. I will never be angry at her. Ever.”
Cain paused for just a second more but gave in. “Okay.” He took a deep breath. “Jordyn figured out fairly quickly that the world didn’t support smart teenage runaways as well as she’d imagined from her sheltered upstate farmhouse. She didn’t end up being the worldly explorer she’d set out to be…she ended up starving. So she ended up having to do what she does now…to stay alive. At first, it was out of necessity, but she developed a taste for it.”
I listened as he inhaled, and the air entered his lungs with a soft rattle. “We had already set up the compound and had made a couple trips there when she heard about her brothers. She had been gone, out of her parents’ care for years, but it was enough for the Taskforce. Article Seventeen of the Morality Code states that if one child commits a crime as a minor in a multi-child household, then the parental responsibility of the mother and father is called into question and the younger children are removed from the home.”
I gasped, fighting back my urge to retch out whatever was still inside me from the sandwich plate Natalie gave us. “But she just made one mistake. That’s not fair.”
“The Taskforce didn’t see it that way. After the boarding schools were set up, Natalie and Joe got a knock on the door and the Taskforce carried Matthew and Xander away. They never saw them after that. Jordyn was never the same.”
Little white dots danced in my eyes and I thought I might faint. “What do you mean?”
“She couldn’t face going home to her parents until she became a Guide. Something that would make them proud. She told me once that being a Guide makes her feel like she’s taking some of the power back. But she’s still haunted.”
My chin quivered, but I held in the urge to cry. It was a little bit ironic that I had to keep deceiving Cain so he would keep telling me the truth
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