Hilltop: If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere

By Kadora Daniels

Hilltop is a town with rich history, and a large boarding school that used to be a palace. It is often called the degenerate hotspot. It was the school parents who were tired of their children will place them and forget they existed. From the outside, they have everything they can ever ask for but within lies untold secrets birthed from the rich history of the place.

Kara is a girl who has no real name and has a fear of making friends for fear of them dying. Her entire life has been about her running, hiding and dealing with agents. Death compasses her and anyone she dares be friends with dies. For many years she has blames herself, now she just chooses to live withdrawn life.

   Climax a group of none humans who have taken to hiding on earth to escape a tyrant and have taken refuge. They stand out and this causes them to form their own group. This way they protect their secret and look after each other while they look over their shoulders awaiting the day, they are found out.

      Erica is a girl from a twisted home and was placed here because her father wanted a new life with his new family. At this point of her life she just wants to be a normal teenage and longs for friends.

       Daphne is a young girl who has lived in the boarding house longer than most longing to return home to her four brothers, crazy father and save her mother from the cult she is trapped in. 

       They have the own plans but sadly so does the land of Hilltop. It has many plans for each of them. It is relentless and determined for them to help it for it also longs to be free. 

     They work to set Hilltop free as their stories intertwine.

 

 

 

 

          This story as many of my other stories, this story takes place in a vanishing continent. The continent lies between the continent Africa and South America. I made up this continent, as there is not scientific prove of this but it is fun to imgine it, isnt it? ;)

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookRix
• Release date: Feb 5, 2022
• ISBN: 9783755405931

Book preview

How it all Began

HILLTOP

Where It All Began

Book 1

NEW BEGINNINGS

The morning light shone into the living room hitting the hardwood floors, the smell of dust surrounded the room while boxes lay everywhere in the kitchen. Thirty-seven year old, Sarah sorted through the mess, she tied a scarf over her head to protect her hair; it was getting harder to keep moving but she didn’t have a choice. She sighed heavily, it was just another move they had to make, she was trying to rebuild her life with her only daughter and current boyfriend. She really hoped that moving into this town would make life easier than the last time cause she already had a job unlike the last time; the only uncertainty was her daughter.

Down the steps came her seventeen year old daughter dressed in long black coat. Could her daughter be anymore invisible? Her chestnut brown skin was pretty different, it popped so much that it actually looked like it glowed making her stand out where ever she went. Though the one thing they both wanted was to hide, Kara was just better at it than her mother. Sarah did not blame her for not being excited, it was a new school and a boarding school for that matter. Kara was average height with a small frame. She was not much of an eater and it showed. She exercised only because she had to be ready in case they had to run. Red full lips though beautiful were like most things hidden by her. She either folded her lips or lifted clothes over the lower part of her face leaving her almond shaped brown eyes that looked hazel brown under light with her long full eyelashes.

‘Kara I was hoping we could talk before you left’, she spoke softly.

Kara took a big sketch pad along with her and sighed. ‘Are my things already at the school?’ she asked.

‘Yes sweetheart. I need you to know this is temporary. Its just until-’

‘Curtis’s trial is over’, she completed with her head down refusing to meet her mother’s gaze. She could not believe that of all people she was the one that brought them the trouble instead of her mother as usual.

‘The marshal will escort you’, Sarah stroked Kara’s big curly black hair. ‘It’s best if I don’t go with you, you know-’ Sarah added sadly.

‘I know dad’s people might be watching’, Kara completed.

Sarah wanted to hold her daughter and tell her all will be well but at this point it made no sense. This time her name was Sarah Carmichael, financial consultant, married to a deputy marshal James Carmichael. Last time she was Sai Hicks widow with a cat and a dog. This was their eighth alias in the current year, Sarah knew she was far beyond: everything was going to be alright.

‘Per your request, they are only to refer to you as Miss Carmichael. I know that by now you would be tired of the constant change of names’, Sarah finally spoke up.

‘I got over it when I turned seven’, Kara pulled back. The marshal walked in and announced he was ready for her.

‘Too much to ask for a hug’, Sarah asked with a weary smile. Kara did not approach or shy away so Sarah threw her arms around her daughter and swallowed the tears that burnt in her throat. ‘I love you kiddo’, she whispered and kissed Kara’s head.

Kara wanted to ask if that was her real name, Kiddo or it was just a saying. She pulled back and walked out. She stopped and gave her mother one more look. It served her right for letting someone in and daring to fall in love. Whatever her mother’s real surname was, they don’t fall in love or at least they are not allowed to. She got into a black Cheveri jeep and sat in the back thinking about her life. She heard them talking and the marshal promising to be with her.

Kara felt bad for him. He was the fourteenth they were appointed this year alone. Guarding them turned out to be a dangerous job. How did it get to be? Well her mother fell for her father and a night of passionate love making resulted in her. Nope, that was the story her mother told her family. It seemed better than the alternative, she was young stupid and a heavy drinker. She went to a party of a man she met through a friend’s cousin’s brother’s uncle’s roommate. She drank only one glass of margarita and ended up butt naked in bed with him without a memory of it. A month later she is pregnant and thus Kara or whatever her name is born. Her life was not a mystery it was a basket case of sorry.

She was so fed up of new schools, new aliases and new faces. The first thing she told herself was not to get attached to anyone. She could only achieve this if no one knew her name so she decided she wanted to be referred to solely her fake surname not that she had a real one.

The ride was long and silent which she was thankful for. The new marshals did not try to make small talk anymore. The last one that dared was running for his own life courtesy of her father. Brian was his name and he stayed the longest. There was an actual love story between him and her mother. He played the role of father very well, but due to part experiences never she called him dad and proving her right it did not last long. Soon her father found him and he became the focus of her father’s rage. It did not help that the first day her father tracked them down was when Sarah and Brian were in bed together.

The car came to a stop and she looked out of the window to the school. It was a huge castle like building with age written all over it. The walls were covered with crawling plants and the places that weren’t, were covered in ash. The gates were tall with iron bars and HILLTOP HIGHSCHOOL written on it. The marshal got the door for her.

‘I cannot drive in’, he announced and she lifted her brow quizzically. ‘They have strange rules in here’, he explained handing her bag and pad over to her. ‘Your things have been put in and your classes picked. ‘You are into art’, he said and looked down at her pad. ‘Clearly, we wanted you to still have an identity and art is the one thing you seemed to cling to over the years. Don’t worry I made sure you were exempted from all extra curriculum activities’. He pulled out a map and placed it in her hand. ‘I scouted the area and marked out all the hidden spots that are within walking distance where you can hide and paint your heart out. I also got you some art supplies in your room and made sure four beds were cleared just for you. I know how much you love your privacy’. He said and she smiled.

‘Thank you’, she said trying not to learn his name.

He tilted his head to the side, ‘anytime kiddo. Hold your head up high, this will be over one day’, he placed his hand on her shoulder and she nodded. She saw a look in his eyes that had died from hers. The look of hope, she wished she would be seeing him soon. She could not have yet another die because he acted fatherly toward her.

‘I’ll see you’, she walked past him and pushed the gate open. How long would people die because of her father? She did not look back, his people could be there and her looking back would be the end of him. She was five, how was she to know that looking back at Gus meant she cared. She could not erase the image of her father slitting his throat from ear to ear just to show her that no one would take his place in her life.

She was met by the principle, school was to open in a week but she was a special case so she started earlier. The principle Mr Brown was both charming and insightful. He did not push her or tell her they wanted her to give her best. He just welcomed her and told her to think of the school like a school. It was not her home, so she was not forced to get comfortable and if she felt pressured in any way she could always pull back and give herself a break. She was not forced to attend classes if she did not feel like it. He explained to her that though she was a special case she was also to go according to the rules and regulations of the school which meant no loitering around while classes were going on. She could find a quiet place to sit and relax.

After getting her accustomed to the school she was led to her room which was a big room with ten bunkbeds arranged in rows facing each other. At the very back with a huge window she was given two bunkbeds and the two small closets for the beds. She arranged everything and got settled. She knew how to pass the week, she drew and painted. She was told of the campus store where they could buy anything because they were not allowed to go out. The campus was huge, huge being the understatement of the century and it had so much history. Too bad she was in no mood to learn about it. In her drawings she expressed everything she felt about the place and knew it only get worse, but here was to hoping.

Fresher-s and stale-rs

The week went by fast and soon the place was crawling with students. The good thing was Kara stayed very invisible to people and that was a good thing, she hoped. She heard and saw everything but no one saw or heard her. Not that she talked much or stayed somewhere they could see her. She hid in the back in her long coats and hoodies, it was easy to blend in the back at a school where the sun never shorn.

People in her class consisted of the Climax, yes, climax and don’t get excited. Climax, she called a colourful cult but they called themselves special. It consisted of Odaphaire Yaw, Emilia Zong, Cronus Allion, Darth Byre, Salaya C’lavin and Ridge Dodgy. They were the exclusive group of vampires that had shared similar backgrounds and history. They all had shinning yellow, almost bronze skin with dark hair as night and dark eyes. Tattoos on both arms but each’s tattoo differed based on their personalities and strength.

There was Victoria Hash, a young lady desperate for a friend that she instantly latched to a new student Erica Wince who seemed lost in her own world. Victoria showed her around and soon they were walking together but Vicky was so scared of being alone that she threw tantrums whenever anyone came close to Erica and threatened their friendship. Erica was Vicky’s ticket to cool town because Darth took an interest in her. It was like every vampire movie or TV series ever, Erica was the new girl that did not know anything yet somehow attracted this dark brooding hot guy that every girl in school is in love with yet keeps to him-self. Just like those movies there is someone in his group that doesn’t like her and that person is Emilia.

There was the popular clique, which were just like every other high school and nothing special. They were desperate to be part of climax. She did not know their names because their conversations were so dumb they gave her a head ache. Then there were the goths which she found pathetic. They talked about death and sorrow and from the way talked they, she knew none of them had ever seen death but were just rebelling. The smarts that everyone called dorks, whatever that meant. They were pretty antisocial not that anything was wrong with that but she would not hang with them. A group of three that were never pleased with anything or anyone, she called them the glum. They were a big bummer to everyone else but their truth refreshing to her.

Finally there was the invisible girl that sat beside her. Rumour has it that she was ignore until she became completely invisible. Kara called her Daphne Michael because she could see her and she was not invisible. In fact she was the only person Kara spoke to and that knew her name. They met in the bathroom while Daphne was crying and they instantly became friends. As not to be weird Kara did not speak to Daphne in public and Daphne was okay with it.

Erica sat in the second row besides Vicky. She packed her black wavy hair in a ponytail. Her green oval eyes were sparkled with intrigue as Vicky told tales of Climax. If Darth was into her, Vicky found it to be in her place to tell her about him. Why wouldn’t he be? Her honey brown skin made her green eyes noticeable and unique coupled with a long, full lashes. She was average height but appeared shorter due to the baggy, tomboy clothes she often wore. Underneath all those clothes was a noticeable round peach butt. Her makeup was always beautiful with a preference for darker shades. Her lipstick was a dark shade of red enhancing her heart shaped lips. While she talked in hushed tones the class was rowdy and Kara lost in a drawing.

Matthew their History teacher stepped in and hushed the class. No one paid much attention to him and amongst those people was Odaphaire who had her nose stuck in a book. She was a woman with a short fuse so people avoided her. Everyone except Matt their History teacher who found her fascinating, putting aside just how creepy it real was, he was interested in her and did not do much to hide it. It was hard not to be attracted to her. Odaphaire was tall with long legs that she showed off in pantyhose or leggings but never did she open her legs. She was busty with an ample bosom that showed cleavage whether she wanted to or not and was amplified by her tiny waist and narrow hips. Her top buttons could never close up and no camisole was ever enough to cover her up completely.

Facially she had a strong jaw line with cheek bones. Her forehead was covered in a fringe that covered her eyes yet never hid her cold cruel expressions. Like the other members her arms were covered in intricate pink tattoos that appeared to be moving some times. Not one to look for trouble, nor was she one to shy away from trouble, Phaire was a force to recon with and no one wanted to.

‘I have told everyone to put away their items’, Matt spoke in a scowl. Kara lifted her head hearing his tone and saw his eyes were fixed on Phaire. It did not take a soothsayer to know that this was going to end badly. Phaire closed the book and pulled out her textbook without looking up. Kara shrugged and went back to her sketch, she heard muttering coming from Darth direction. She looked up and saw he was talking to Ridge probably about Erica.

He was sitting behind Phaire, she turned around and said something to him in a sneer. He just laughed and licked his lower lip. His eyes met Erica’s and he winked at her, she blushed and looked away while Vicky let out a small shriek on her behalf. Kara looked at Daphne who groaned and Kara smiled. Matt who was teaching stopped and turned around.

‘That’s it Phaire you have detention and I will be personally handling it’, he announced and Daphne rolled her eyes because they all saw it coming.

‘Why?’ Phaire retorted in a hiss.

‘Because you were talking during class’, Matt clapped back.

‘So was every other person why am I getting punished?’ Phaire challenged.

‘I am setting an example’, Matt smirked gleefully that he had gotten her.

‘There’s no way on this green earth that I would be stuck in a room alone with your creepy ass. Should you force it, I will kill you’, Phaire spat and class became rowdy as people began to laugh and mutter.

‘That’s it two hours’ Matt said firmly to assert his authority

‘No’, she retorted, ‘if we all get I get it, it’s only fair, set an example’, she said and they all knew he wouldn’t so no one protested.

He approached her placed his hand on her table and leaned over. ‘This is boarding school, you are stuck with me Phaire’, he muttered in a low tone that was supposed to be threatening. She pulled out a pair of scissors from her boot and stab the table next to his hand. Everyone in the class pulled back in shock because no one saw this coming.

She rose to her feet squaring off, ‘don’t get it twisted, this is boarding school and you are stuck with me. My name is Odaphaire you insipid mortal!’ she growled and her voice echoed. ‘I did not come to this bloody place for you to test your cheesy pickup lines on me. So, your love life sucks, take a pill and wank off and but back off!’ Her voice changed and Matt coward at her. He nodded and stepped back slowly, Kara watched as Phaire who looked like she was about to explode met the eyes of Cronus and relaxed instantly.

She sat down and returned the scissor into her boot, there was sickening dead silence in the room that brought a smile on Kara’s face. The silence did not last, as Matthew taught, the popular kids talked in front of Phaire.

‘So he is into her, she doesn’t have to be a freak about it’, one said

‘Yes what a freak’, the other cried.

‘They are going to be bald’, Daphne said and pulled out a twenty for Kara to bet.

‘Too easy, she’s already vexed’, Kara muttered.

Odaphaire took out her pair of scissor and cut the middle of the first one’s hair. There was a loud cry then followed by the other that Odaphaire cut. Everyone could see their scalp, Matthew stared for a while and went back to teaching while the class burst out laughing.

‘Ah look at least we can be freaks together’, Phaire threw their hair on them and sat back returning the scissors. ‘I swear next time, you’ll eat each other’s hair’, she smiled brightly.

Kara took a walk down the halls with Daphne beside her. Her bag swung over her shoulder and her sketch pad in her hands held to her chest. The halls were filled with students talking about what Odaphaire did History class. It was not a surprise that all three of them were in the counsellor’s disciplinary room being addressed by the vice counsellor. Daphne notched at Kara with her elbow and drew her attention to Darth who had drawn Erica aside.

‘Why must he disappoint us so?’ Emilia asked Salaya as they both took notice of Darth’s dalliance with Erica.

‘I don’t get it, he’s just having a little fun. Why do you have to be such a prude?’ Salaya replied counting her words like a dullard. She was not very bright and she never tried to be anything else. She was exceptionally beautiful, she had flowing red hair that matched her purple and orange tattoos. She chose to dye her hair red to stand out and it worked. Her eyes sparkled like the sea but were as dark as night. Her lips were red and plum with a heart shaped face, slim pointed nose and high cheek bones with slim body features. It was clear to see why most people referred to her as the most beautiful of the group. She dainty, vain and very girly. Her most prominent feature being her slim frame and she wore the right outfit to show her unattainable body.

‘She is probably thinking this is stupid vampire fad or poorly produced movie where the new girl gets drafted into the outcast crew’. Emilia barked. Now Emilia was more on the plus side, Sal often called her their plum friend. She wasn’t fat or chubby but she was not as slim as the other girls. Her jet black hair was cut short to frame her face, her round face and big eyes were her best feature to her. She had more a rectangular shaped body with a healthy appetite so she easily added weight and did not like to work it out. She knew what worked for her body type though and wore more gowns and skirts than trousers. She was a great earth lover and did all to promote it. It was probably her green and brown tattoos that caused but she loved the earth.

‘Or she thinks Darth is hot like every other person’, Salaya lifted her compact powder and looked in the mirror as she spoke. Emilia snatched the compact from her and shut it, ‘hey’, Sal protested. ‘I was using that, I have a small pimple on my neck close to my Eve’s cherry’.

Emilia tried to follow but got lost, ‘your what?’ she asked confused.

‘You know, Adam’s apple, Eve’s cherry’, Sal replied stroking her neck slowly.

‘Sal, it’s not called-’ Emilia started when she saw the dumbfounded look on Sal’s face she gave up. ‘Never mind’, she handed the compact to her and Sal turned to the mirror. ‘What are we going to do about the new leech?’ she asked.

‘Let Ridge have a go at her, he is so un-hot and socially awkward that she would never come close to us again’, Sal replied. Emilia turned to face her slowly, maybe she was not as dumb as she looked or sounded. ‘Gosh my pimple is having a seizure, it’s so uncool’, these next words reminded Emilia that she was right about Sal.

‘Come on’, she took Sal by the hand and pulled her away.

Daphne turned to Kara as they heard everything and they both giggled. Erica burst out of the corner and ran off in tears while Darth hung his head in disappointment.

‘What do you think that was about?’ Daphne asked as they headed to the Memorial field. It used to be filled with statues but now it was filled with big boulder and remains of statues.

Kara took a seat on a foot of a statue. ‘You are the invisible lady you tell me’. Daphne took off her bag and threw it on the floor by the foot of a big boulder where she sat.

‘I am invisible not a ghost, I cannot divide myself into places’, Daphne pulled out an old codex and pulled in her left foot.

‘Wouldn’t that be great though’, Kara asked as she took out her pencil case and opened her sketch pad. ‘Why would you be reading something that old? And how can you read something that old?’

‘My grandfather taught me, he was pretty cool guy’.

‘I wish I met my grandfather’.

‘You know you never told me how many siblings you have’, Daphne ran her fingers over the codex and mouthed the words.

‘None and that is creepy’, Kara replied and went back to her drawing.

‘You know grandpa always said if you open your mind you can feel the spiritual energy around you and anything can be accomplished’.

‘So opening up to spiritual energies around would give me A’s?’ Kara mocked jokingly. Daphne’s shoulders slumped and she smacked her lips. ‘I’m sorry, I think it is great that you have a good relationship with your grandfather not your mother, or father’.

‘Why would I? Dad loves money he cheated my four brothers from their payment during the first signing of their football contracts. Mother likes being liked which was why all the four different football club’s managers knew her on a personal level. Grandpa read because he loved to learn, dad read because he was looking for a new scheme to get money by cheating people’. Daphne spoke in a solemn tone and did not meet Kara’s eyes.

‘I’m sorry, I was just messing around’, Kara stopped and watched Daphne who wiped the tear that escaped her eye.

‘It’s okay’, she replied with a shrug. ‘At least I am not the one kissing Darth’, she smiled and Kara laughed. ‘Or Ridge’, she added and they shuddered in disgust.

‘It could be worse, you could end up with one of the goths or worse the emo geeks’, Daphne cringed at the thought then they laughed before Kara went back to her drawing.

Erica sat by the fountain staring into the shallow muddy water. When Vicky joined her with a slow moan she sat next to her. Erica blamed herself for starting and instantly falling for Darth. It was just the first week of school and she had already been used. She could still see the look in his eyes when his phone buzzed and she looked at the message. It read I get it I’m jealous, you were right any girl would open her legs for you. I hate seeing with the whore, come over. He tried explaining it but she was not in the mood.

‘Hey, want to talk?’ Vicky asked and Erica shook her head. ‘I’m sorry Darth turned out to be such a pig’, she placed her hand Erica’s knee with a soft consoling smile on her face.

‘I just want to know about this school and everyone in it. No more Darth, or Climate’. She thought he was different, physically he was different from them. His skin was golden like them and he had tattoos as well, his were blue and metallic gold in colour. Heart shaped head with deep set of silver eyes and white long hair parted to the side. He was as tall as them but it never showed because he could bring himself down to everyone’s level. His physical build was hidden underneath big clothes and he was never caught working out with the others. He was the most approachable of the guys, constantly smiling showing off his pearl white teeth and hearty disposition.

‘Climax’, Vicky corrected

‘That’s even worse’, Erica retorted and Vicky laughed. ‘I want to know this place and have my hanging spots where I will make my memories with my best friend’. She said and Vicky was pleased to be a best friend so she smiled. ‘Time to rock Hilltop high for as long as I can or I’m allowed to’, she added.

Darth matched up the steps of the library, he climbed up to the third and top floor of the library. The library was the place Climax met since it was always empty. The school had a cybercafé which was where everyone was most of the time because of the Wi-Fi. He met Odaphaire explaining things to Cronus and he was trying to calm her down.

‘What is wrong with you’, Darth asked her. She turned around and looked at it with a raised brow. He could not be speaking to her, not this way. ‘We broke up, remember, I do not want any part of you’.

‘Feeling is mutual, now sod off’, she retorted and turned to Cronus.

‘Damaging my relationship would not endear me to you’.

‘I really don’t care’, she replied again and was about to speak with Cronus when Darth continued.

‘I was not trying to get you jealous. I don’t appreciate the text and love notes from you. I dumbed you, move on, I am not into you and right now I don’t know what I saw in you. You are petty, constantly grumpy and prone to short outburst’, his words ticked her off.

‘Excuse me’, she said to Cronus, turned around and punched him in the eye. He fell to the floor. ‘Before I give you a beat down you will never forget, I would give you one chance to explain your childish outburst’. With one hand over his bleeding eye, he took out his phone and showed her the message. She snatched the phone from his hand and looked at it. Her eyes went straight to the time the message was sent. ‘I couldn’t have sent this message, I was in the counsellor’s office and our phones are not allowed. I don’t know who the whore is and I also don’t care. I threw you out the window because you were acting jealous when you saw me with-’

‘Cronus’, he cried out rising to his feet. ‘You brought out the worse in me if I recall. I hated the way you always made me feel jealous and angry’, he cried out.

‘Says the guy with the overly done black tattoo on his arms. Cronus has silver and blood red intertwining tattoos and in constant motion. It’s cool’. She spat to hurt him.

‘That only proves he is complicated and a danger to our people that was why he left to begin with’.

‘If I’m a danger, why did you follow me here?’ Cronus deep voice interjected taking her side. ‘You should ask Emilia she seemed ticked by your growing relationship with the human’.

‘At least she cannot throw someone through a glass window’, Darth murmured and Phaire laughed.

‘Yes you would finally be stronger than someone’, she remarked. ‘Call me petty and grumpy again your face would be petty and grumpy when I’m done with it’, he snatched his phone from her hand and stomped off.

Ridge and Sal were climbing up while Darth was going down.

‘What is his problem, again?’ Ridge asked.

‘He found out Emilia sent a message with Odaphaire’s phone to his. She wants the human to break up with him so you could date her’, Sal announced and took her seat. She looked at Cronus and licked her lips. ‘You have hot calves and I love how you never wear leather or skinny jeans like a pretentious cool guy’, she turned to Ridge who wore skinny jeans. ‘You also don’t hide in black or white, you are not a one colour kind of man and, it’s cool how you can mix them up. Darth is constantly in white and Ridge in black, talk about boring’.

Ridge threw his arms up protesting but she was right about their colour codes of dressing. Cronus dressed smart like a man not a boy yet not like a studious man.

‘Some girls find this outfit really hot’, Ridge replied in his nasal voice.

‘The outfit is not the problem, your face is’, Sal replied and rolled her eyes at him while the others controlled themselves from laughing.

He cleared his throat, ‘where is Emilia?’ he asked changing the subject.

‘She’s not coming, she doesn’t want Odaphaire to end her like she ended the hairs of the bald chicks’, Sal spoke and sniffed in the room. ‘This place smells like old book farts, I need new book farts or like computer farts’. Cronus massaged the temple of his head with his fingertips trying not to scream at her.

‘Ridge why did you call for this meeting?’ he asked. He needed to hear something intelligent before he lost his mind.

‘We need to discuss Odaphaire’, Ridge stated and slowly Odaphaire faced him with look that warned him to tread lightly. ‘You snipped off those girl’s hairs and gave a bunch of seventeen year olds bald spots. You stabbed a pair of scissor next to a teacher’s hand’. He recalled earlier events shaking his head in a disapproving way. ‘This isn’t Gilad; you cannot do as you please, here’.

‘And who are you to tell me what I can and cannot do?’ she folded her arms raising her head in a confrontational way.

‘The voice of reasoning-’

‘Ridge I left Gilad because of what you are doing. I deserve the right to be whom and how I want to be. In this place, once you reach puberty they begin to give you freedom. You are responsible for your actions and you decide which way you want your life to go’. She spun around with her arms spread open. ‘I love it here, it’s freeing. No rulers or monarchy or tyrant rule. I have a right to speak and breath. We were given a choice leave Gilad forever or dwell there forever. I chose to leave and I chose here. No one asked you to follow-’

‘I thought it would be best if we stayed together, you know strength in numbers’.

‘Good you made your choice, don’t try and play ruler over me. You keep to yourself and I would pretend that the reason why you chose here was because you were scared of being alone in the world’.

‘And you? Everyone knows you followed Cronus here’.

‘I got sent here by their courts because here, I’m not yet an adult and education is important’.

‘She did not follow me here. We got