Avoidables Angels Read online

  Chapter Twenty Two

  The man sitting at the desk was going to decide my fate. No. That wasn’t technically correct. The sign became very clear to me. I was going to decide my fate. No one else would dictate to me. I had the last say. No matter what anyone told me, I chose to decide what I would do with my life in that very moment.

  ‘Why did you take him?’ I demanded.

  The man frowned. His shaved chin moved as he licked his plump lips. The blue of his eyes reflected the stark light from above.

  ‘That is none of your concern. Now, please, take a seat.’

  Henry sat in the seat next to him. I lowered myself onto a chair opposite them.

  An examining table was behind a curtain. Did they really check people all over? Would a slight mark make someone less than perfect?

  Everyone was imperfect. Surely they knew that? My stomach churned at the thought of the scared little boy.

  ‘Where’s the boy?’ I asked Henry.

  He shook his head, looking to his colleague.

  ‘Please, Elizabeth, will you concentrate on your own assessment. You have to prove that you’re sound of mind to be able to stay in Upper Side.’

  Clamping my mouth shut, I did as I was told. I wanted to experience the test. To know what people had to go through. I already felt violated and they hadn’t even done anything.

  ‘Please can you confirm the details we have on file for you?’ Henry handed me his clipboard.

  Taking it, I scanned the words, not taking them in. I nodded as I passed the board back to him. A made up history. Where did it come from? Had William written my story?

  ‘We know that you’re physically sound from your original test,’ the man observed.

  I glared at him, daring him to say more. His nervous glance at Henry made me smile.

  ‘Is something funny?’ Henry asked.

  My mouth opened of its own accord, letting a bark of laughter escape. I couldn’t help it. The test was surreal. It was an inspection on how good you looked. And how you responded to order.

  ‘I’m not a sheep,’ I said.

  They frowned. Henry scribbled something on a piece of paper.

  ‘That little boy should not be going to Lower Side. All you need to do is give him eye surgery or something, although, to be honest, he’s probably better off with the Avoidables. At least they don’t judge like you do.’ I bit my tongue when their eyes grew wide. Henry’s hand moved furiously. I was digging my own grave. Very wise thing to do, Elizabeth. Not.

  ‘Do you know any Avoidables?’ the other man asked.

  Clicking my tongue, I tapped my fingers against my thigh. An image of William came into my mind. I was failing him, miserably. Find a way to come and work at my side, he had said.

  ‘Yes. That little boy,’ I spat.

  Both their cheeks turned bright red. Good. They should feel some guilt for what they were doing. Judging a person by their appearance was wrong. No matter what someone looked like, there was always an element of good in them. That’s what the Perfects should be trying to cultivate.

  ‘You’re playing a game,’ Henry said.

  Shaking my head, I crossed my legs at the knee. Both their eyes followed the slow movement. Maybe they were right. Was I playing a game?

  ‘We’re all playing a game. You don’t let us be ourselves so we have to act. To pretend that we’re perfect but I know better. You sit here high and mighty but you’re worse than us.’

  Henry pulled his coat collar away from his throat as he cleared it. I’d hit a nerve. The other man sat up straighter and glared at me.

  ‘Stop. If you carry on, you’ll have to join that little boy. We’re doing our jobs. There’s nothing you can do about that.’

  ‘Then get on with it!’ I snapped.

  They both stood at the same time. I went to get to my feet.

  ‘Sit down!’ Henry shouted.

  I dropped back into my seat. ‘Henry, no need to shout.’ I rubbed a hand over my forehead.

  They were probably right about me. I was feeling a little odd. My brain couldn’t keep up with what I wanted to say and do. Every time I thought of something to try and explain, another thought overtook.

  ‘Okay, we have some questions,’ the other man said, sitting back down.

  Henry went out the other door, probably to talk to someone who was observing us through the two-way mirror. They thought I was stupid. Nothing would get past me. My intuition was too strong.

  ‘How do you feel when you see an Avoidable on the news?’

  I snorted. Really? What type of question was that? ‘I feel sorry for them.’

  A flash of doubt crossed my mind as I spoke the truth. We were there to save them. To help the Avoidables unite with the Perfects again. I should be in the Perfect government, helping to accomplish that. Instead, I was being tested. Fated to go to Lower Side.

  ‘What makes you feel sorry for them?’

  ‘They’re people. They’re human, just like us. It’s not fair that they’re discriminated against.’ I had blown it. I knew that by the expression on his face as he confirmed it. His cheeks were even brighter than they had been earlier. His teeth were clenched and his fingers gripped the pen he wrote with.

  Henry came back into the room. He was frowning. Waving another sheet of paper, he shrugged when he handed it to his colleague.

  ‘It seems we’ve got some new questions.’ The man cleared his throat. ‘Why are you behaving like you’ve lost your mind when you haven’t?’

  I watched the mirror. William must be on the other side. He was a clever man. The others wouldn’t know that I was friends with him.

  ‘Do you want the truth?’ I spoke to the mirror.

  ‘Of course,’ Henry chimed in.

  Putting my hand on my heart, I kept my gaze on the mirror. I couldn’t see William through the glass but I knew he was there. Probably wondering what the hell I was doing.

  ‘I can’t let that little boy go to Lower Side alone. I feel sorry for him. I pity them all. Why should I stay and live a life of luxury when they’re living life so poorly?’

  Both men in the room sighed. I glanced at them, ready to shout if I needed to.

  Henry shook his head slowly. The other man picked up a stamp. Rolling it in ink, he slammed it down on the piece of paper he had been writing on.

  ‘Really?’ Henry asked him.

  He lifted his shoulders. I leant forward to see what he had stamped onto my paper. I couldn’t quite see.

  Henry snatched the paper from the table and held it up for me to see. ‘It didn’t need to be this way,’ he said.

  I glared at the big red words that went over my picture. Failed – Avoidable.

  ‘Oh, but it did, Henry.’ I looked back through the mirror. ‘That little boy needs someone to take care of him.’

  Getting to my feet, I jumped when the other door thrust open. William stepped into the room. ‘Okay, we don’t welcome Avoidable sympathisers in Upper Side. I will escort you to the transportation van.’ He held out his hand to the man that had my file.

  Henry glanced between us before picking up the next file and going over to the door of the waiting room. Would the girl with glasses be on the bus with us?

  ‘I’m sorry,’ the other man said.

  I scowled at him. ‘No you’re not.’

  William took my file and my arm at the same time. He guided me out of the room and into another white corridor. There was a door at the end of the hallway. It stood open, revealing a concrete space outside. A small minibus sat waiting. Waiting to take people to a place that was ghastly. A part of the city that no Perfect would ever dream of going.

  ‘This is so harsh,’ I whispered to William.

  His grip tightened as we passed more doors and went outside. His step was quick. He dragged me along with him. The set of his shoulders told me that he wasn’t happy.

  ‘I’m sorry, William, I-’

  ‘What are you playing at? You’re supposed to be by my side,
not in Lower Side.’ The flare of his temper left me scalded. His hand squeezed my forearm. His dark hair blended with the flushed red of his face.

  ‘I can’t…’ I stuttered, pointing at the mini bus.

  The little boy sat in one of the back seats. He was bawling his little eyes out. His fists were pushed into his face as he grieved the loss of his mother.

  ‘I know but…’ William let the air rush out of his lungs as he watched the kid.

  My heart beat faster when the child glanced up and saw me. His little face lit up just a touch. The pause in his crying didn’t last long but it was enough for me. I had done the right thing.

  ‘I’m going to be there for him, William. All of them.’ I gestured back the way we had come.

  I hoped the others got to stay a Perfect. However, if they didn’t, I would take care of them, too.

  ‘What you’re doing is admirable. I never expected this of you.’ William’s gaze went soft as he looked down at me.

  He knew me. My nature had never been to bully people. I hadn’t wanted to be a part of the government but I was called in anyway.

  ‘Maybe this was the plan all along,’ William confirmed.

  Smiling, I fought the urge to hug him. Our leader was an angel at heart. Even though he acted like a tough Perfect. He knew his goal. And my goal. There would be nothing that stopped him. In doing so, he needed to embrace everything that a Perfect was.

  The other angels were tough enough to do the same. They needed to develop thick skin. I couldn’t do it, though. I was the sensitive one. The one that wanted to save every single person. Which was fine except when trying to be something I wasn’t. My acting skills were not as good as the others.

  At least being in Lower Side, I could be true to myself. I would still have to learn to become stronger but at least I would be helping those that needed guidance and some reassurance.

  ‘I will look after him. I promised his mother.’

  William took my hands in his briefly. ‘You’ll do a great job.’

  Letting me go, he waved at the bus. I stepped away from him but paused when I heard noise behind me.

  ‘No! Please, I can’t go...no!’

  Turning, I gasped when the young girl I had been talking to was dragged to my side. She struggled against the guards as they thrust her onto the bus. Why hadn’t she got through? I hadn’t seen anything wrong with her.

  ‘Please, get on,’ one of the guards said to me.

  I followed the girl onto the bus, fighting the urge to make eye contact with William one last time. Our time together on Earth had come to an end. I would see him in the future but it would be a long time from now.

  ‘What happened?’ I cried, rushing to the girl’s side.

  She threw herself onto a seat, curled into a ball and howled. Her cocksure ways had been rudely realigned.

  The young boy still sat in his seat wailing. I went over, picked him up and took him to the seat next to the girl. Sitting with him on my lap, I cradled him to my chest. I laid a hand on the teenager’s back as she let out her grief.

  ‘Why did this happen?’ the boy asked me.

  Tears fell down my cheeks as I kissed his forehead and stroked his back. The sorrow of both children sank into my skin. Their parents were on the other side of the building, yet they would never see them again. Just because someone declared that they weren’t good enough.

  ‘Because at the moment, the world isn’t fair. But I promise you. One day, we will make sure that this never happens to anyone, ever again.’