Chapter One:
Siobhan crouched down, staring at what looked like a bundle of rags. It shifted, and she caught a glimpse of something bright- an eye.
“Hello,” she said softly. How can she be a peri? I always thought peri were, well, feral. It was hard to imagine this little girl as one of the feral monsters they’d been taught to hate. Siobhan noticed how loosely the rags hung off of her.
The girl uncurled a bit more, so that Siobhan could see her face, albeit it being partly hidden by shadows. Her cheeks were sunken and dirty, but besides that she looked like any other girl on her way to kindergarten.
“Siobhan?” she heard Linn call. “Where are you? Mrs. Rayne is looking for you.”
Siobhan quickly opened her lunchbox and started handing the girl some of the food. At first the girl recoiled, but then she eased up and started to reach for it. Linn rounded the corner that separated Siobhan from the rest of the class; they were all eating lunch, but Siobhan had snuck away because she wanted to see a peri before the class went back into the Compound.
“Oh my God!”
“Shh!” Siobhan said, standing up. “Please don’t tell, please-”
“That’s… that’s a peri, isn’t it?” Linn asked, pointing a shaking finger. “Siobhan, you know having any contact with them is illegal.”
Oh, damn. Reality hit her with blunt force. It wasn’t just about helping a little girl- in the eyes of everyone, it would probably be seen as nothing less than base treachery.
The little girl grabbed the food and scrambled away.
“You won’t tell anyone, though.”
Siobhan’s statement hung in the air. Linn shook her head.
“You know I wouldn’t.”
“Linn? Siobhan?” she heard the teacher call out. “Where are you?”
Siobhan tried to close her lunchbox. It took a while because her hands were shaking too hard. She glanced up at Linn, who was just watching, her eyes wide. She started to walk back to the class, willing herself to calm down. Linn won’t tell. I know she won’t.
The rest of the class was standing outside the gate, chatting or finishing a snack. The teacher spotted them and walked up to them, frowning.
“Where were you two?”
“Just over there, finishing our lunches,” Siobhan said, gesturing vaguely. Mrs. Rayne pursed her lips.
“You’re not supposed to go out of site, you know. You could have been attacked by a peri. But come on, we’re going back to class.”
Linn bit her lip and started playing with some of her long blonde hair. Mrs. Rayne walked over to a small black box that was attached to the gate. She bent over, showing her eye to a little glass ball that stuck out of it. Of course, Siobhan realized. An eye scanner. So that’s how they know when to open the gates.
Linn didn’t say a word as they walked back inside the Eden Compound. Siobhan looked around, comforted by the familiar sights- the wide roads and the startlingly green grass that presented so much of a contrast to the outside world.
Their bus was waiting for them, hovering slightly above the road like all the other magnetically- levitated vehicles. They clambered in. Linn sat down next to Siobhan, her face still white.
“Why?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Siobhan replied. “It’s just…”
“Look, I’m sorry, but if I’m covering for illegal activity I need to know why.”
Siobhan smiled despite herself and made sure nobody was listening.
“You didn’t see her, Linn. She’s just a little girl- just scared and hungry,” she admitted.
“Siobhan…”
“Yes?” Siobhan asked, preparing for an ultimatum. Linn sighed.
“Nice humanitarian gesture and all, but what if someone saw? They could turn you in.”
“Nobody’s confronted me yet.”
The promise of the yet was still there, though, and the thought scared her- what would they do to her? Visions of her in an orange suit doing the hard labor in the Compound didn’t seem appealing.
“True,” Linn said.
They looked out the window, not wanting to say anything more on the subject.
------------------------
Siobhan bit the end of her stylus. The test was hard, and she couldn’t concentrate. She glanced at the time on the corner of the IntelliScreen tablet they were using. Just five more minutes, she told herself.
She wrote in another answer and went to the next question. Just as she started reading it, the door flew open. Everyone looked up. It was two policemen, standing there looking grim.
“What’s going on?” the teacher asked, standing up.
“We’re here for Siobhan Maine, ma’am.”
YOU ARE READING
The Eden Compound
青少年小说Siobhan didn't think helping the little girl would get her in so much trouble. She didn't think she'd be banished. And she most certainly didn't think she'd be at the top of a revolution. But then again, when have people ever thought?
