Free The Broken Destiny by Carlyle Labuschagne Page A

Looks meant a lot to me. I was so shallow. Another starburst of anger began to erupt inside me. I had had enough of myself and this place. This place somehow created conflict inside me, something I understood and was used to, but this time I couldn’t ignore it any longer; somehow yesterday’s attack had changed me and somehow this place was changing me. I had reached boiling point and wanted to go home. Anaya took a tiny earpiece out of her jacket pocket. I noticed her clothes for the first time. She was wearing jeans and a Minoan caftan which tied in a knot above her belt, and oxblood boots laced up to her knees. I guessed that she wore the best of both worlds because she was a Council member. She got to wear our jeans, which formed part of our uniform, with her Minoan caftan.
    “Oh,” she said softly. “A flat battery. I can’t get used to this technology.”
    I pulled my earpiece out of the pocket of my jeans and handed it to her. Luckily, I had grabbed it off of Maya’s dresser before I stormed out. I didn’t want to go back into that room and face Maya after I had yelled at her like that. I followed Anaya into the kitchen.
    “Call Kim, please,” she requested handing the device back to me.
    What was unique about these earpieces, or devices, was that they were voice activated. This meant that my earpiece was perfectly synced with my voice and my voice only. All our devices were linked to satellites and a vast information network, where every person’s number on the planet who owned such a device was stored. I held the device up to my mouth.
    “Kim,” I said bluntly, and handed the device back to Anaya.
    I was trembling. Kim would be furious that I had not phoned her as soon as I had woken up. Maya called out my name and upon finding me in the kitchen, placed her right hand on my shoulder. I let her, and maybe needed her to. I looked at the ground shifting my balance from one leg to the other on hearing the beep on the other side of the device. Tears began to burn my eyes, the lump returning to my throat. I let the tears roll down my cheeks freely. I felt safe with Maya and Anaya; safe enough to reveal my fears.
    “Everything is going to be fine, I promise,” Maya said, a glint of compassion gleaming in her eyes. She pulled me into her arms and I hugged her tightly. Maya and I had never been that devoted to each other before and yet it felt strangely familiar. I swept her black locks over her shoulder, clearing my view as I stared at Anaya. Her conversation with Kim had ended. I held my breath in fear of Kim giving me over to strangers as they had done with Errol. Her shoulders sagging, Anaya placed my device down on the counter behind her. I slowly pushed Maya aside, her left hand lingering on mine before she let go.
    “Just as I thought,” Anaya said in a distant voice as she turned toward the dining table.
    She sat down and pulled out a chair as a gesture for me to take a seat. I didn’t. My frustration flared up again. Did they expect me to just be okay with everything?
    “Is someone going to tell me when I can go home? I need to know what’s going on. Why was a Minoan Council meeting held here today? Why did Kim agree to let me stay the night? What did you say to her?” My anxiety got the better of me. “The Council doesn’t want me anymore, is that it?” I could have only hoped . The words just spilled out from a place long hidden from me. For once, I didn’t care. Something had changed inside me and I liked it.
    “You were in no condition to go anywhere yesterday,” Anaya said firmly.
    “Sam…” I said softly. “I need to let her know where I am.”
    I reached into my pocket for my device, but all that was there were a few coins left over from my weekly allowance. I looked to where my device lay on the counter – not flashing.
    “I need to let Sam know where I am,” I repeated. “Why hasn’t she called yet? Why did you turn my device off? Am I a prisoner like Sage?” My voice