Page 107 of The Commons

Now, when Patron De Londe knocked on his door to check on him, he immediately wiped his tears and put on a pretend persona to please Patron De Londe, lest he be killed also.

Londe soon reiterated to him the evil lie that his mother had just committed suicide. He explained it in gruesome detail to a ten-year-old child, narrating it with a delightful sly leer. “Her body jerked as her feet swayed, her torso spasmed as she screamed for air though she made no audible sound, and crack! She collapsed and came tumbling down. She killed herself because of the stress that came with being your mother, Pesh. But now, it’s all gone, and you never have to worry about her, ever, ever again,” Londe completed.

Pesh’s sun-dazed eyes were covered in complete darkness, masked in the dark clouds of Londe’s eyes. He was stunned, in utter silence. Never had a child hated a father with more perfect hatred as Pesh did.

It had started like any other day, until his mother sought to escape, to go outside of the country with ten-year-old Pesh. She had just stepped out to drop Londe a note when he demanded that she leave without their son, never to come back. When she sought to find Pesh, screaming his name, Londe took her into the room to be hung.

This crushing event of his mother’s death changed him forever. To Pesh, not only did he lose a mother that day, but he lost his father all the same. His mother was his best friend. She was the joy in his booming life, the ocean of peace in the chaos. So, while his ten-year-old face showed nothing but allegiance to Londe, he solemnly swore in the depths of his soul that he would one day ruin Londe and avenge his mother’s death. But time was of the essence—for the whole world believed Londe’s crocodile tears upon the announcement of his wife’s demise. Therefore, Pesh underwent a perfect disguise of being the perfect son to this evil mastermind. He was tortured to prove his allegiance to Londe on countless occasions—that’s how he got the snake tattoo on his wrist. It wasn’t a tattoo, as such. It was a torture wound. Pesh endured being raised as Londe’s “star” while meticulously collecting evidence of Londe’s evildoings every year, every week, every day, every minute, every second. It was only when he met me that he saw the means to act, for the first time in twelve years.

Tears stream down his face as he explains these painful events to me.

He can no longer continue the story.

Before I can say anything, Pesh begins to apologize to me, “I’m sorry for including you in my chaos, to be in my life without letting you know the magnitude of danger involved in knowing me!”

I interject, “Stop! You don’t have to do that! My love for you is stronger than the ocean. I love you too deep not to embrace every bit of your waves, even if it consumes me. I would go to the end of the world with you. I would go to the depths of the grave for you. I’m only sorry I wasn’t here for you sooner. I’m so sorry you had to experience such horror! Thank you for including me. I love you.”

His sun-dazed eyes gaze on me with warmth, and ripples of raindrops fall down his cheeks, but the clouds do not cover it. This time, the clouds do not cover it.

His eyes radiate with rays of hope. “I love you,” he says.

I hug him, and we hold each other in a comforting embrace, holding onto each other with every inch of our souls. But. We are interrupted.

We hear a loud call for help. Our smiles instantly melt into dread.

“Pesh!” the voice screams. “Shantavia!”

We look at each other, perturbed.

We sprint toward the sound, terrified on what just happened.

CHAPTER 25

The Sacrifice

Our ship has stopped moving. We can no longer hide under the sea anymore.

At 11 a.m., The Begon will self-destruct and kill us all. But we need until 1 p.m. for Swin to complete hacking The Begon. Somehow, we need to find at least two hours, so Pesh and I must go to Patron De Londe at 10 a.m. to waste over two hours. We must hold Londe hostage till a little over 1 p.m., so that Swin can complete hacking The Begon before Patron De Londe completes his identification for the self-destruct.

To complicate all this, we think we may have been compromised. Swin was panicking last night because he learned that Justice Emmanuel was arrested for an unknown crime. Justice Emmanuel gave us a password that would enable us to plug the chip into The Lawtem and broadcast it so that Patron De Londe can be arrested by the authorities. But now that Justice Emmanuel has been arrested, we think our cover might be at risk of being exposed. De Londe may or may not be onto us.

It is 8 a.m. I wake up, chin pressed on Levon, arms wrapped around her like a sandwich. Pesh and I need to leave in 30 minutes in order to make it to De Londe’s house.

I walk out to the computer room, adjusting my black and beige battle jumpsuit. The space is vacant as the Commoners have begun making their way to Doctor Val’s house from the underground path on the shore. The only person here is Swin, who is hard at work hacking The Begon while transferring the files from it onto the chip that he and Levon will turn into The Lawtem.

“Where’s Pesh?” I ask, turning to Swin who is in all black.

“Um… he left,” Swin mutters.

“What do you mean he left? I was supposed to go with him!” I rush toward him, confused.

“He said it’s too dangerous for you both to go, just in case Londe tries to kill one of you!”

“What!? That’s why I was going to come! He needs back up! I need to go to him!” I exclaim.

“Please, Shantavia! He told me to tell you to stay here. He begged me to tell you to stay here. Please!” Swin blocks my escape.

“I can’t. He’s in danger.” I walk past him.