4522 {The Number Series}

33

I wanted more than anything to be able to say that I had more than one person I could trust with my life but it seemed impossible to find. I could fully admit that Macallister was a shifty individual but I could not do anything about it other than watch my back. None of his followers made any attempt to know me. Marie had originally had good intentions but events had changed things drastically when she had to put her family before her future wishes. The only person who I could look in the eyes and know they had my best interest was Archer. But he also had the best interest for Jericho and, despite knowing it was a good thing that he cared about other people, it bothered me more than I liked to admit. 

I was just grateful that Archer held my hand in the library despite our situation. The touch was familiar and I could not help the warmth that spread through my body from his hand. It took me to memories of when we spent time together. If I closed my eyes I could almost force myself to forget that life kept changing to the point that I had no idea what was up and what was down. 

Archer squeezed my hand as someone entered the library with us. He was an older man who had a short beard. Facial hair in the city was not permitted which told me he never showed his face in the streets. This man was clearly in hiding. He strode over to a stack of old books that sat unsteadily, looking as if it would topple over any second, on a table near us. I watched as he fixed the stack. His brown hair was freckled with grey and a pair of glasses sat perched on his nose. Archer watched him as I did. The man looked up only to match our eyes with his. He did not become spooked.

"Hello," he said in a soft voice. 

"Hello," I responded back. I still held Archer's hand in mine.

"Are you two looking for anything?"

Archer cleared his throat. "I was just showing her."

"And you are?" The old man examined us. 

"Archer. And this is Remi."

The old man's face crinkled with a smile as he pointed at me with a small chuckle. "I remember a long time ago when Macallister first found you. You're the girl who used to sneak to the library at the school. I told him that you were special."

"He told you about me?" I froze, unsure as to how to feel about the new information from this encounter.

"Of course," he smiled. His mouth was small and his eyes were pure green. "You reminded him of me when you used to wake up and read for hours. He would delete those tapes to ensure you were never caught. He said that you did not have a fear of death."

"She does and she doesn't all at the same," Archer interjected. "I always thought you were just reckless."

I shrugged. I did not fully understand the things I did sometimes. There were countless moments where I stopped and thought about my actions, how I did things a certain way just because no one else did. 

"If she wasn't, we wouldn't be here today." He grabbed a book from the other table and sat down across from us. He opened it slowly. The cover was ripped along the edges and thick . Along the top, near the page number, it stated Religions of the World. A distant memory tugged for my attention. I remembered the book, the lowercase 't' with a man painfully hanging from it. It was from the schools library. 

"I know this book," my voice was airy, I almost thought no one had heard me. The old man looked up with a grin. 

"Do you?" I nodded. 

"The first time I snuck out in school. It had been sitting open on a table." My eyebrows drew closely. "But how is it here?"

"Do you really think that any one of those Teachers or Officers in that facility were interested in this?" He laughed bitterly and shook his head. "You were not the only one going there, though you were going there on your own. I was sending Macallister to recover books that were more thank likely never going to see the light of day again or, possibly, going to be destroyed in the future. The books I had him steal were priceless."

"By going to the cameras and deleting his own adventures is how he discovered you. He told me about you. It was then that I realized the society had made more mistakes than they knew about. Not everyone was complacent on the inside. You gave me hope."

"I thought Macallister was in charge of the Third Party?" Archer questioned. "But if you were telling him what do then doesn't that make you the true leader of all of this?"

The old man itched his beard. "I was at the time. Macallister is my son. I am getting older though and, despite the cities advanced technology, old age still cripples you slowly." 

More secrets were being discovered about Macallister and I was not sure how to handle all of this information I was learning about him. It made me feel as if I did not know him at all. At the same time I understood that he had a lot to lose if something went wrong in all of this. I tried to remain indifferent. It also appeared that the Third Party had been around for much longer than I had been alive which means they had been planning for a long time. I did not know if I was ready to carry out their plans.

"I am sure he did not tell you any of that but you have to understand that we are an organization formed on secrets. It is dangerous for us all to know too much in case we are ever captured. There are things that I do not even know that way part of it may remain hidden no matter what."

Archer grunted but said nothing. He did not like the idea of being in the dark in any way. I did not either but I could not argue with the reasons why it needed to be that way. 

"But, since you know of me now, you can call me Harold."