The Shadow

Chapter 3

I'm completely stunned. Tom is Van's dad; the crumpled dollar bill; Matthew Davis, the guy with the piercing blue eyes; all this new information, what am I supposed to do with it?
"Leah, we need to go to the Announcements. Wouldn't want to be late huh?" My mom says, in a fake voice, batting her eyelashes at Tom.
"I'll walk you there, milady?" Tom says to my mom.
Realizing I'm completely forgotten, I get my leather jacket and pocket the dollar bill.
"Mom, we need to go." I say, grabbing her hand and pulling her out the door.
"Leah! That is rude!" She screeches as I shut and lock the main door. "Humph... Stupid child." She mumbles as we walk to President Nixon's house.

Every day at 3 pm, we have to go there for Announcements. Nixon never speaks in person, it's always a different representative, all of them are highly wealthy, mean, and snobbish. After the Announcements, we gather in different Public Squares to watch the beatings. It's the worst part of the day for me; a random person is chosen, and are beat until the guards are satisfied. It makes my blood boil just thinking of them.

"Hello Yvonne!" A voice calls from behind us. I grin as I see Liam's parents coming.
"Ah Rita! How are you." My mother answers, flashing them a smile. "Oh, there you are Liam! Still as handsome as ever."
"Uh... Thanks?" Liam says, crossing behind them to come walk by me.
"Still handsome, eh?" I ask laughing.
"Your mom is... different." He answers, shoving me to the side lightly.
"That she is." I answer laughing, and shove him back.

For a couple minutes I'm able to forget about everything messed up in my life. For a couple minutes I'm able to laugh and joke with my best friend; I'm able to be a normal teenager, not having to worry about Van's secrets, Jeremy's doubts, or my mother's fake smiles and laughs.

I'm brought back to my dull reality, when a loud bell goes off, signaling the Announcements are about to start.
"Hello people of The Former United States," Nixon's representative says. "As always, I want to remind you that President Nixon will protect you at all costs,"

At this, I scoff. Yeah right. Protect us?

The representative continues, talking about not wasting water and food, and curfew laws again. The Announcements are boring, most of them being repetitive from the day before.
"All right everyone. Time to go to the beatings, and the people selected are: Eleanor Swessily, Area 1. Jennifer Swan, Area 2. Henry Blanchard, Area 3. Reyna Mills, Area 4."

I let out a breath as I start to walk towards Area 2. As we crowd around the circular opening, I let people push past me. I don't get why they want to be in the front. To watch other people get hurt?

As the guard comes nearer, I watch as they drag Jennifer Swan with them. My jaw drops as I notice she's pregnant. "No please don't do this!" She cries, "What about my baby?"

I grit my teeth as they pass me. How can they do this to her? She's pregnant! What will happen to the baby? They force her to her knees and raise her arms, locking her hands in the cuffs positioned in the metal pole above her head. Her crying becomes louder when the main guard grabs the whip. It feels like a stone is dropped in my stomach when I realize the guard is Tom.

Van... Where are you? Can't you stop this?

Tom raises the whip and brings it down on to her back with a loud crack. Her blood curling screams continue as he brings the whip down one, two, three more times. After the 4th whip, her screams suddenly stop and she goes limp.
"Ha! Finally, her screams were getting annoying." Tom says with a laugh. The crowd is silent as he bring the whip up again, preparing to strike.
"Stop!" I hear myself yell, pushing my way to the front. "She's unconscious, pregnant, and hurt. Isn't that enough?"
"Ah... Leah was it? Why don't you move your pretty face back into the crowd? 'Cuz I would hate to ruin it." He spits, twirling the whip around.