The Fourth Ceremony: The Sacrifice Trilogy (32 page)

“
Well, ther
e’
s only one way to get on the Governmen
t’
s good side. You have to give them someone to kill. From what
I’
ve been told, my father would
n’
t tak
e‘
n
o’
for an answer. He basically walked my uncle straight into a plan that made it look like my uncle was turning him over to the government. My father was publically hanged and my uncle, after being vetted for a couple of years, was promoted to your lead guard
.
”

“
Your uncle is Marston
?”
Alessa interrupted, shocked.

“
Yes
,”
Camden answered with a laugh
,“
they all thought he would be the best man for the job. Plus, he earned the honor for losing his brother. Tha
t’
s how the SDL does things. Every loss and sacrifice has a value. The community pays the price for everyon
e’
s sorrow. I
t’
s very interconnected. There is little sympathy, but there is a lot of acknowledgement. Nothing is ignored or swept under the rug, i
t’
s all out in the open.
I’
ve missed that
.
”

He trailed off. Alessa let the silence stretch over them, allowing him to live in whatever moment his memory had transported him back to.

“
Why do
n’
t we stop for a while? We can catch some sleep and eat something
,”
Camden said.

“
Alright, that would be nice
,”
Alessa replied, wanting for him to continue his story. Once they arranged themselves under a tree and shared some water, she was rewarded.

“
So, my mother raised me, right up until she died. The SDL had an outbreak of something,
I’
m not sure what. Tha
t’
s one disadvantage that we have, no medicine. My mother always believed in healing teas. I remember as a kid she would brew me a mug of tea for everything from cuts and scrapes to colds and fevers. I guess I sort of continued in that
.”
Alessa remembered his stash of teas back at his apartment. He certainly knew a use for every one of them.

“
I was seven when she died. The sickness took out about twenty people. Most of them lived close together, I was one of the few quarantined who did
n’
t die, the only one who did
n’
t get sick. Then, I went to live with Mars and Sable, his wife
.
”

“
Marston is married
?”
Alessa interrupted again.

“
Yes, he is
,”
Camden answered with a bitter laugh
,“
the Government strips away family, Aunt Sab could have lived in the Capitol, but he still would have lived away from her at the Manor. She preferred to stay outside of the sector line. That cottage we visited, it was hers. She lived there up until I came to be on your guard detail. Then, Mars made her go back to the SDL headquarters in case anything went wrong. Another young couple from the SDL took over the safe house after that
.
”

“
So Marston is your uncle, but he was
n’
t around much because he was with me. How did you wind up in the Manor
?”
Alessa was getting bogged down in the webbed story.

“
Tha
t’
s where yo
u’
re going to get some clarification of your last few weeks in the Manor. You see, Evan was supposed to be the one to get you on board with the plan. Evan was planted a very long time ago by Mars and he was supposed to befriend you and introduce you to the plan slowly. However, Mars noticed that you and he never quite connected. You were never closer that trainer and trainee. Evan says he tried like crazy, but Evan has never been quite the people person
.
”

“
Evan was supposed to persuade me? You were never supposed to be there? But that must mean you have known Evan for a long time
,”
Alessa observed.

“
Yes,
I’
ve known Evan my whole life. H
e’
s a little older than me, but we trained together. Evan has always been the jealous type, but what he lacks in people skills he makes up for in discipline. I suppose we are opposites in that. The SDL knew that whoever had this job would have to be on the inside for a very long time all alone, except for Mars. They thought Evan could handle it.

“
But then, Mars called Evan off. It was probably about two or two and a half years ago. Mars thought that if Evan continued, he would blow it. I was always favored by the leaders of the SDL, but they never did trust me much. Mars insisted that this mission was right up my alley, and they began putting things into place for me to infiltrate
.
”

“
So Evan told on us because he was jealous that he got pulled off the mission
?”
Alessa asked incredulously. She could
n’
t believe how low he could sink.

“
I think Evan saw that I was going to be successful where he had failed. Yes, that made him exceedingly jealous. I also think his discipline failed him. This might be my fault. You have to understand, Evan has been inside for years with no one to talk to. He had to pretend that he did
n’
t know Mars, he had no real connections. When I came in, he tried to talk to me a few times, but I was focused and worried he would blow it so I refused to acknowledge him. I think he was lonely and tired
.
”

“
I do
n’
t have much sympathy for him, he almost got you killed
,”
Alessa stated plainly.

“
Oh, I do
n’
t either. We are trained to deal with mental strain as well as physical. It was almost over, he just had to hold out for a few more weeks and he would have been removed. It was completely selfish and utterly unforgivable. The SDL wo
n’
t be happy, he better hope the Government either protects him or kills him
.”
Alessa was somewhat surprised by the hardness of his voice.

“
Why do
n’
t I go try to find us something to eat
?”
Camden asked, suddenly brightening.

“
Oh, yeah I guess we do have to find food
,”
Alessa said.

“
Okay, you stay here, do
n’
t move.
I’
ll go hunt and be right back
.
”

“
Hunt
?”
Alessa asked, confused.

“
Yes hunt, for food. What else are we going to eat
?”
Camden said, clearly amused.

“
I do
n’
t know, nuts and berries
?”
Alessa answered.

“
Alessa, we are
n’
t going to survive three days of hard hiking on nuts and berries. I mean, we may can if you want to try, but w
e’
d be much better off with some meat
.”
The thought of killing and cooking an animal turned Aless
a’
s stomach, but she supposed he was right.

“
Hey
,”
Camden grabbed her attention
,“I’
ll do all the messy stuff. Yo
u’
ll just eat, okay
?
”

“
Okay
,”
Alessa smiled at him as he turned to leave.

“
Remember
,”
he said before he disappeared in the trees
,“
do
n’
t move
.
”

Alessa sat in their makeshift camp allowing herself to take in all of the information she had just received. Camden had lost both of his parents. He had also technically lost his uncle when Marston came to live with her. She could
n’
t believe Marston was his uncle. Alessa had always looked at Marston as a type of uncle-like figure to her. She never thought of his life and family outside of the Manor. She was sad for him and the wife and family he had to leave. It seemed that there was much more to the world than Alessa had ever experienced.

Alessa looked around her. She had seldom been surrounded by such quiet. Camden had quickly faded into the undergrowth and she could
n’
t hear a sound from the direction he went. The air was chilled and crisp. Momentarily, Alessa wished the ceremony was in May instead of the end of February. Alessa hoped that Camden found something quickly. She was not anxious to spend a lot of time alone in the woods.

Alessa reflected on her life. She was seldom alone. She was so often surrounded by people, she had become accustomed to constant droning and noise. Alessa allowed herself to relish the peace of the quiet around her.

Suddenly, she heard several cracks of branches and crunching, as if someone was running. She perked up and looked around. Alessa stood, but remained in the same place. Then, she heard a muffled shout. She could
n’
t understand what was being said, but she knew it could not be good if anyone had found them in the woods. Alessa strained to listen.

“
Alessa, run
!”
She heard Camde
n’
s voice ring out.

Terror gripped her. If he wanted her to take off and run by herself, he must be captured. She did
n’
t know what to do. She looked around. All of the woods looked exactly the same to her. She would get hopelessly lost if she tried to run away. Then, she looked up. The tree she was sitting beneath offered several branches and looked perfect for climbing. She could at least spot the source of trouble and try to find a viable escape route.

Alessa secured her pack on her back and began to climb. She lifted herself quickly into the tree and settled on a high branch. She looked around her and saw men running through the trees dressed in all black. She counted three of them, but could
n’
t be sure if there were more. She did
n’
t see Camden.

Alessa heard a sound under her tree. She looked down just in time to see one of the men break into the clearing they had been staying in. At first, she thought he was going to run on into the woods to continue looking, but he turned around and looked up into the trees. In an instant, he spotted her. He smiled leeringly at her. Aless
a’
s stomach turned.

They want to kill you, either way you look at it.
Camde
n’
s words replayed in her head.
This man wants me to die
she reminded herself. With a wavering breath, Alessa pulled her pack off of her back and retrieved the gun from it. She leveled it at the man. He raised his hands in front of him as if to surrender. Alessa reminded herself that he was
n’
t going to do that. She pulled the trigger.

The sound of the shot rang out throughout the woods. It echoed in so many directions that Alessa would
n’
t have known where the deafening tone came from if the gun had
n’
t been in her own hands. She looked down at the man. She had missed. And, moreover, he looked angry. He reached for his waist. Alessa had
n’
t seen a weapon on him.

They always have a hidden weapon, they are never unarmed.
Camde
n’
s lesson played out again. Alessa took a deep breath, lowered the gun so that her eyes could see his chest just above the barrel of the gun, and she shot again.

The man stumbled back and looked up at Alessa again. Absolute menace and loathing burned in his eyes. Terrified, Alessa pulled the trigger again. And again. And again. Each shot forced the man to take a step back away from the tree. Each shot lessened the anger in his eyes. Each shot added shock and fear to his expression.

Alessa thought he fell in slow motion as he pitched backwards and landed with a muffled thud on the cold ground. His eyes were fixed upwards. He no longer looked menacing, he looked afraid and hurt.

Alessa closed her eyes and leaned her head against the trunk of the tree. Although the thought of what she had done made her sick, she held fast to the gun. It had saved her life. She was
n’
t sure how many more men she might encounter like the one she had just shot, but she was sure that she was going to have to be brave enough to hold onto the gun.