The True Ruler, page 23
part #5 of Worlds Apart Series
Kara was alone when she learned her possible fate. The visitors wanted human children between the ages of twelve and fifteen. Sixteen-year-old Kyle was safe.
In two days, every child who met the age requirement was required to report to their schools. Children who were home schooled were to attend their local public school. For every child not in attendance, the city they lived in would be destroyed. The aliens had chosen isolated towns to demonstrate their power. This time, they would destroy a city regardless of its population.
She lived in a suburb of Chicago. Just one absent child would dictate the fate of the whole city and the aliens had already proven what they were capable of doing.
Kara’s stomach roiled with the news. She ran to the bathroom and threw up the lunch she had eaten an hour earlier. Her hands shook as she turned on the water to brush her teeth. The child that stared back at her from the mirror was white as a ghost.
She fell to the bathroom rug. Curled up like a baby, she cried until she had no tears left. It was hours later when her father finally found her.
Kara awoke the next morning to a deserted house. It was possibly her last day on Earth and she had been abandoned. Tired of feeling sorry for herself, Kara decided to spend the day at her favorite place.
She pulled her bicycle from the garage and peddled to the beach. Rather than taking the steep driveway down to the water, Kara parked her bike in the south parking lot and walked down to the beach. It was a cold and windy day, so she was surprised she was not the only person to seek refuge on the shores of Lake Michigan. The sand was crowded with families spending what little time they had left with their young teenagers.
A feeling of isolation engulfed Kara. She took off her shoes and walked along the shoreline. The water was frigid, but that did not hinder the feeling of peace spreading through her soul. It was why she came here. The beach always made her feel better. Kara wondered, ‘If I am one of the selected, will the distant planet have a similar place?’
She looked up, gazing at the bright sun. There was not a cloud in the sky. No large spaceship was hovering over Chicago like in Independence Day. Although she searched the heavens, there was no evidence of the alien presence everyone knew was lurking overhead.
The waves roared to shore. Even Lake Michigan echoed the turmoil of the world’s population. Kara sat just past where the water broke onto the flat sandy beach. She closed her eyes and let the sound embrace her. Kara was making a memory. Wherever fate led her, she could always return here in her mind.
“Kara?” A familiar voice broke her concentration.
She turned to see Matt Sparks standing beside her. Normally, she would have been thrilled to see the boy she had a crush on for as long as she could remember. Today, he was just a reminder of all she had to lose.
Matt lived two doors down. He was the blond haired, blue eyed boy of every girl’s dream. He was tall and lean, and not too skinny like a lot of boys his age. Kara went to the JV football games to support her neighbor, who was the team’s quarterback.
“Hi, Matt,” Kara said.
He sat beside her. Together they watched the waves rhythmically pound the sand before their feet. She wondered what was going through Matt’s mind. He was fifteen and shared her uncertain fate.
“Are you nervous about tomorrow?” Matt asked. His voice had an unusual tremor to it.
Perhaps he was seeking comfort. Kara knew his parents were going through a bitter divorce. The Sparks’ public verbal sparring matches were legendary on the block. Matt was a pawn in his parents’ legal battle. He was alone today, like she was.
The odds were she would never see him again. Why not be honest? “I am scared to death I will be chosen. I’ve been ordinary my whole life. Knowing my luck, tomorrow I will be extra-ordinary.”
Matt laughed, a glorious sound. She made another memory. He had the perfect smile and her heart skipped a beat. Matt was not hers to lose, but she felt the loss just the same.
“Special K,” Matt said, “wherever you are or whatever you do, it will be special.” She loved the name he dubbed her when she was five. “Our parents really suck!”
It was her turn to laugh and she did so until tears ran down her face. The Fates had gifted her with a perfect day after all. She leaned back on her elbows and tilted her head back, her long brown hair pooling onto the sandy beach. The sun’s warmth beat on her face, further enhancing her uplifted mood.
“A part of me wants to be selected,” Matt admitted. “The Earth is so limiting now we know space travel is possible. We will always live in fear of them returning. There has been no discussion about sharing technology. They are here to take, not give.”
Kara turned her head to look at Matt. She had not thought of the benefits of being taken, only the disadvantages. Would life on Earth for those left behind go back to normal when the aliens departed?
“I haven’t looked at it that way,” Kara said. “My thoughts were limited to being forced to leave my friends and family. They destroyed three towns and murdered thousands of people.”
“Whose side do you want to be on, Kara?” Matt asked. “How many millions have died in our wars, were victims of genocide, or died from starvation? The way I look at it, they could have shown their strength choosing to destroy Mexico City, Tokyo, or Mumbai.”
Kara sighed and fell back on the sand. The sun heated the pulverized shells, their warmth felt great against her back. This discussion was getting too serious. She wanted to laugh with Matt, not dwell on their bleak reality.
He lay next to her. How she wished he would take her hand. Their fates would be sealed tomorrow. Would she ever lie on the shores of Lake Michigan again?
About the Author
When Evelyn Lederman retired from her career as an insurance executive, she cheerfully anticipated the freedom to finally spend as much time reading as she’d always wanted. The twist in her story came when as-yet unwritten characters started cropping up in her thoughts, asking her to tell their stories. Now, she spends her days in Florida on the beach… with her laptop.
She writes adult paranormal romance The Worlds Apart and Nightshade Saga series. In addition, Evelyn also has the first of her Young Adult series, ‘Selected’, also published. It is the first book in the Zaratan Trilogy series.
Contact her at evelynlauthor@gmail.com and visit her website at www.EvelynLederman.com
Evelyn Lederman, The True Ruler
