Inveigle

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Rally

The stage was set. The bright lights hummed overhead. Protesters had been marching around since 11:00. By 5:00 the park lawn we were using was full of people of every color and their just as colorful signs. Good fortune seemed to smile on me; the crowd all seemed to be against Persim.

Our message worked, Logos voice was full of something close to pride.

I saw Persim across the stage behind the other side of the curtains.This was a small rally compared to anything she had ever been involved in. My heart sank. I had a crowd, but it was a small crowd. Persim still had most of the country bending to her will. What could actually be accomplished today.

Don't fret, honey. We have taken people from nothing to everything.

Correction, all three of us have taken people from nothing to everything. Ethos is on the opposite side of this stage.

Pathos didn't have to speak. I could feel her hot irritation with her brother in my veins. They were two sides of a coin called persuasion.

A voice outside of my mind snapped me back to the present.

"We were shocked when her secretary said she would be here," Tracy, the woman who had organized the event, said to me when I had first arrived. She was a small time event planner that Boss said had owed him a favor.

"You must really be a thorn in her side." Tracy was a thin young woman, who if she had the money, would be the right age to be working on a college degree. Her afro was pulled back into the thickest ponytail I had ever seen. She wore a tan pantsuit that had been a gift from her grandparents when she had graduated valedictorian of her high school last year. It had come as a real shock to most of her family. Tracy had been failing nearly every year until she turned 16. Then her last year and a half of high school, she just "got it." She had winked at me when she told me earlier in the morning.

"Um, yeah, I don't think the President will be joining my fan club anytime soon," I said. Tracy laughed.

Don't say um. We worked on that.

I felt irritated, not at Logos, but at myself. This was not a day to make mistakes. I could feel the energy of Pathos and Logos in my veins, as though electrical spiderwebs were woven throughout my skin. I inhaled deeply to quell my nerves and feed the energy.

"You look fierce, girl," Tracy said.

I knew I did. I had grown in confidence in the last couple weeks. I nodded at Tracy and she excused herself to do a final mic check.

I made the mistake of staring across the stage too long, Persim looked up and smiled at me, hollow. I felt as if behind her teeth was a cold black hole, nothing human inside. We both stepped out from behind the curtains. A hush fell over the crowd.

"Allow me to begin," Persim stepped forward before I had even settled my notes. "I am very proud of this community. You show your strength and determination with every day that you wake up. This gathering tonight, shows that this community is based on togetherness, being a united front. A family that stands up for the benefit of the whole."

You need to speak up. This is Ethos' favorite ploy. He will beat you to the start and never let you begin.

I stepped forward to speak, but Persim ignored me. The crowd ignored me. All eyes were on her, eating the words that built their small neighborhood up for the moment. A heat swelled inside me. This was my crowd. They came to listen to me.

"My opponent, if you can call her that, here would have you believe otherwise. She aims to sow seeds of doubt into your community. She will tell you that the policies I have put into play are harming you. I tell you the truth, they will benefit the future."