Road to Entitlement: Six

I can hear Alistair's word still echoing in my head. I am not used to bounderies, and this type of boundary is really strangling me. I know that upon entry, I know that this will change me. I know that I didn't necessarily enter without hindrance. But I didn't know that there are disturbing things that will wake me here.

It is already hard enough that I had to deal with mistreatment, but seeing how different factions are, it consumes me.

In our faction, everyone is treated fairly, and I honestly thought I was seeing the whole picture, but I guess I didn't dare enough to look around me.

"Ernilla!" I snap when I hear a voice. I didn't notice that we already arrived at the holding area. I look around, we are all in a plain room, a square gray room, without a single house item. I panic, I do not like what I see. The door behind us open. Dion didn't tell us that someone will be coming over.

I look at her as she enters the room, she is the same person on the stage, the one who told us we will not be liking to see her very often.

"Good Afternoon, this room may seem bleak to you, but we don't want you to hear everything that goes on outside, so you will be held here." Safiya walks around, staring us all at once.

"I will ask the other facilitators to bring you anything you might ever need, starting now." The door behind her opens, bringing in trays of food, after food, after that came with a bunch of matresses and a wide screen television, and if you do not want to watch tv, I saw behind them 2 guys carrying a bookshelf, with one guy following them carrying books.

"You will only be held for 2 hours, and I hope you will be patient." She says, does a little curtsy, before leaving the room, the guys who carried stuff over leaves with her.

"Ernilla!" I hear a voice again. This time I look around. "Are you sure you're okay?" Alessia ask, tapping me on my back.

"Ah, yes. I think I'm just zoning out." I reply. She immediately stand up, goes to the food tray and touches the tray, but not getting in contact with the food.

"All of these? For two hours? My brothers and sisters would exclaim if they see this." Alessa says, picks up some of the individually wrapped goods, shove them in her pocket, some of it actually falling out, and sits down with us.

"Ugh, class less, why does Amara and Marvelus has to leave, why not them." I hear a voice behind us, unsure if it is the contender from faction 3 or 4. I hold Alessia's hand to stop her from reacting, but she push it off and face them.

"Yes, that would actually make you rise to the top, because with your knowledge, that is your only chance of winning the chosen." She faces me and gives me a smile, I can't help but laugh, because she is right.

"I am brilliant!" The voice responded, I was about to turn around, Alessia stopped me and reply, "You misuse words, get that right first." She high fived me and we face Alistair. The smell of the food is calling me, so I stand up, to get some. Alistair holds my hand and shake his head. I sit again, and whispers why.

"I put on some sleeping essence on all of them, so we can all quietly leave." He says, I stare at everyone else eating except us.

Alessia pulls everything from her pocket, "Including these?" Alistair shook his head, "No, they are individually wrapped."

Alessia sighed before putting everything again in her pocket. The bell rings at the same time as everyone else falls asleep.

"How many did you put?" I whisper to Alistair, seeing how they are quick to fall asleep, he must have put plenty.

"You don't wanna know." He says, stands up, picks me up and Alessia, and started walking.

Only then I have noticed, they covered the floor with carpets, now we can't see the floor door where we threw our bags at.

We divided the place and slowly remove the carpets, Alessia found it and so we followed her, one by one we dropped at the bottom where our bags at, Alessia starts shoving the food she picked up and we start walking.

"Do we know where were heading?" She asks as soon as she put on her bag.

"I do, but it is way different down here." Alistair says as he looks around. Alessia and I follow him, according to the blueprint, it is onky around 10 to 15 minutes walking, bit if you're with Alistair, that will only be 5 to 10 minutes. He is a fast walker.

"I never liked the dark." Alessia says, trying to warm up the conversation. She pauses for a minute, before continuing her words. "It reminds me of the time my mother had to shove me on some treasure chest." She continues, it reminds of me of my own fear, although, I am uncertain if my nightmares are actual memories or not.

"It goes back when the set of the chosen, implemented a law that if a child can't be fed by the family, the chosen will take the child away, my mother shoves me in a treasure chest, every single day, 2 hours per day, for 1 year, when the collectors are there, lying and telling them that I was already taken. The collectors also belongs to our faction, but since they also need to bring food on their table, they took the job." I stare at her as she tells her story, I can only imagine, a young kid, slamming the top of a treasure chest, asking to get out.

"But I am thankful that our members are loyal to our faction. Because even though they knew my mom was lying, and they clearly hear my cries and screams, I wasn't taken away, I still hug my mom at night tightly, because I needed it for tomorrow, I cry less if I told myself that the tight treasure chest was my mom's hugs, but it is different when I grow a few inches." She ends her story with a laugh.

"That was the time that the lower factions are getting poorer and poorer, and the upper factions are getting richer, but us are suffering from starvation. The salary of the actual families are computed and if proven insufficient to provide, the kids are taken away." Alistair clarifies, as if the story brought in some memories.

As we continue to walk, I contemplate whether I should be telling them my nightmares, because the only thing that reminds me of that time where kids are being taken away, is my mom's reassuring words that I will not be taken away, at the same time we changed from one house to a bigger house.

"I have nightmares when I sleep in the dark." I say, as we reach a turning point in this tunnels beneath. "I will fall asleep into a chanting voice of a female, then wake up to sound of guns firing towards the place." Alistair and Alessia stops walking, making my feet slip on the floor due to sudden stop of motion. I managed to hold myself.

"That is your dream when Treyton—" Alistair paused and looks at Alessia. It is not his information to tell so she stares at me. I nod.

"You have that dream? I think that dream is familiar, I don't know where I have heard it, but I know I heard it." Alessia says, Alistair is dead silent. We reach some area with sounds above, but is incomprehensible.

"I think we have reached the quad." Alistair says before looking up. Alessia and I did the same.

"I think they are now declaring the departure of Amara and Marvelus." Alessia says, also staring at the ceiling above us.

"I don't know why we are not allowed to see the ceremony." Alistair says and then continue walking.

"Maybe they didn't want us to know everything that goes on outside." Alessia says.

"Now you know how I felt when all my life I have set that other faction is no different than ours, but then you guys will rattle me like some bottle."

Alistair leans in forward to me. "I am sorry," he says, goes infront of me. "I never really did say sorry to you, I just started acting nice, and I think that is wrong, so I am sorry. It may be late, but it's true."

I reply with a smile, before facing Alessia.

"Why are you looking at me? I didn't wrong you." Alessia says before letting go a laugh. We finally reach the end point, Alistair climbs first, opening the door with his elbow, he groans in pain before picking up something in his bag, tries to open the door with it, he climbed up, then me and Alessia.

I saw a long tunnel, not a regular tunnel that has road over and below, somekind of metal tunnel that leads to somewhere. We walk towards it, Alistair finally slowing his speed to keep down with Alessia and I, as I see a light towards the tunnel, approaching nearer revealed a shadow of a boy.

I use all my energy to run, good thing I only took a small bag.

"Dion!" I say, giving Dion the tightest hug I know, He picks me up and spins me around before letting me go.

"Looks like Ernilla has a boyfriend." Alessia says as she approach.

"Alessia, Dion, Dion, Alessia." I say, as I introduce them to each other.

"This is my bestfriend, Dion, and this is Alessia, and that the person approaching is Alistair, he came from faction 5, and Alessia came from Faction 9." I say, pointing Dion, he approaches us and stops for a while to stare at Dion.

"It is nice to see you in person." Dion says and holds his hand out in the air, Alessia shake it, Alistair didn't. Alessia elbowed him, he didn't budge.

"It is okay, now we will use my Dad's chopper waiting upfront, walk with me." Dion says and we follow him.

We reached the chopper waiting for us, Dion first goes in, then I followed, Alistair and Alessia.

"Woah woah woah, you didn't tell us you were going to drive us there." Alistair says, putting his hand on Dion's shoulder before Dion could even put the headpiece on.

"I am a license pilot since I was 15, but I am only allowed to travel limited distance, since Faction 9 is near, I can." Dion continues, puts the headpiece on.

"I got this chopper for my 19th birthday, finally I got it turned over to me." Dions says as he prepares to take off.

"You got this chopper for your birthday?" Alistair clarifies, Dion answers, "Why, what do you get for your birthday in your faction?"

Alistair didn't answer, Alessia elbowed him.

"Again, Alistair, they didn't know, we already knew that."

"I still can't believe someone like him is driving this thing." Alistair says, crossing his arms.

"Times like this, I do remember Kahlil." I say, Alessia replies with a laugh and I joined her.

Alistair ignores us and attempts to sleep, I did the same.

The ride went smoothly, I didn't even notice we already arrived at faction 9. Dion goes down from his seat and we follow. "I have brought you here all safe." Dion declares as he welcomes the area.

Alistair says thank you to Dion, Alessia teases him for it. "This is so much different from our faction." I say, appreciating the nature faction 9 has to offer.

"It looks beautiful." Dion says, leaning down to hold the grass. "The wind is so serene." He continues.

The faction 7 has a balance of technology and nature. But never this much trees, a lot of it was cut off to built the centrus.

Alessia leads the way, beneath the hill we landed on was a undeveloped road that leads to a bunch of houses. We follow as she walks,

"Every one in our faction knows everybody, we try to preserve the land we own so the houses our only built on areas which the trees have been already cut off, it's a law that one chosen had implemented, saying that one day, we will thank him for still having this much land area." Alessia says, and run to the bunch of houses in the middle. It is not much compared to the houses I am used to back in my faction.

"Alessia!" I see a kid run toward Alessia, the kid hug her too tightly, I actually hear her say ouch.

"I miss you too little one!" Alessia lowers herself to reach the kid. "But see, Megayi Alessia is accompanied by some friends, I will take them first okay?" Alessia stands up, and turns around.

"Please don't ever leave again Megayi Alessia." The kid says, holding his hand. She just smiled and took some candies in her bag.

"Here, share this with your friends."

We all continue walking, "What is the meaning of Megayi?" Dion asks, which I've been meaning too as well. "It means Big Sister, if you are a big brother, Megayu." Alistair says, we reach the house of Alessia. She immediately comes inside. None of us follow until she says so. They are cries heard, and everyone of us stay silent. None of the words are comprehensible, but the hurt is reached with in. We just stood there, waiting for her to come outside.

I don't know how long we were all standing. But the moment she comes outside, I don't recognize her, I have seen her with ropes tied to her, but she had never been this tired. She comes to me and hugs me. I hug back.

"I'm sorry, come inside you all stood up for quite a long time." Alessia says, she pulls me, Every one else follows.

The outside of her house is also the same inside. It looks like just a brick of wall, painted gray, with only minimal things inside. Only necessary stuff like gas stove, table and 4 chairs, with one chair that has a broken foot, only fixed with something like a white cloth tied at both ends.

"My house is not as pretty as the centrus, but it is warm." Alessia says, and I see the prettiest fire place I have ever seen in my life. The stones that cover it are mixed systematically, and the woods create such fire that imitates the sunset, even if the dining area and the kitchen area are completely lacking, the place is astonishing.

"My mom always says, you will know you're home, when it is warm." Alessia continues before giving us tea for drinks. We all sit down, the faction 9 may not be as cold as 7 since we usually have snow, but the metals act as heater, which the faction 9 doesn't have.

"I will be designating your beds later, I will go elsewhere to fix my mom's burial." She says, before sipping her tea.

I look around, to see her siblings, on my farthest right ahead, I see a double bed bunk on a room that only is covered with a curtain, sees two kids sleeping.

"Thank you for everything." Alessia whispers at me. I hug her as a reply.

I look at Dion. This is not what he thought the other factions are. It may be a shock to him. But I see him, sipping his tea. All I could think of was my sister, she would break if she see this. She is always the warmest person I know. She will cry.

"Take a rest. You will need it." Alistair says, giving me a blanket. I say thank you before folding it. I wanted to give Alessia hug again. Hoping to pass her mother's warmth.