Page 129 of Between Earth and Eternity
I stare into his cold eyes, wondering when they lost their light, if they ever contained it. Vallen may have inherited these hazel eyes from him, but they look nothing like the dark abyss I peer into now. I don’t blink or speak.
Then he rears back and slaps me across the face. I cry out, the sting causing my eyes to tear up.
“Answer me,” he demands in an eerily calm tone, the way someone speaks when they’re used to getting exactly what they ask for right away.
How many times has this same hand hurt Vallen? How hard did he have to hit him to make him bleed? It makes me sick to my stomach. I’ll cut both his hands from his body if I ever get the chance.
A single tear falls from my eyes, not from the pain, but for Vallen. And now I’ve hurt him too, even when I promised I never would. Somehow, Vallen knew deep down that this would happen, and I was foolish to think he was the only one capable of causing harm.
“You’re pathetic,” I say, watching Alister’s face carefully for any tells. I don’t think anyone has muttered those words in his presence in his entire life. Who would ever dare to? A smirk erupts on my lips, and his eyes dilate, the only warning before he slaps me again. I lick my lip, tasting the iron of my blood, and smile again. His menacing glare cuts through me, but it won’t break me.
“You are making a grave mistake, Skyler. You will only end up hurting yourself and those you love.”
I swallow nervously. Vallen will keep them safe. I can’t say the same for him and the rest of Nova.
“Take her to a cell and drug her to keep her compliant. I want her off Zenith as soon as possible.”
One of the badges nods and pulls a syringe that I am all too familiar with from his belt.
“I’ll get what I want out of you, Skyler. Only you can decide how painful you want it to be.” He turns to leave, but I intend to have the last word.
“I hope you live to see the Mannox legacy fall to ashes. That everyone will know the truth, even if it means the human race goes down with you,” I say, my confidence so strong in delivery, it causes the badges to pause a moment.
Alister doesn’t turn around, but I see the restraint in his shoulders.
“Remember, Mr. Mannox, from Earth to Eden. Together.”
And then everything fades to black.
The termghost townhas never been more fitting. Not only is the city center nearly void of life, but we might as well be ghosts ourselves as we wander about as lost souls. Or forgotten souls. I’m not sure which is worse.
After E.P.S. was officially shut down, it seemed like there was some new development every day. First, it was badges being pulled from stations across all settlements, then they seemed to disappear altogether. Harrison Andrews claims to have a reliable source that the last space shuttles left days after his daughter, my best friend, boarded Zenith and the base is now deserted. I didn’t believe it at first, but when food deliveries started to arrive later and later, and with farmland already sparse, that’s when things really took a turn. I don’t know what I expected for the collapse of society—maybe I was too hopeful that if we had survived this long after the sundering, we could get through anything—but it was like the sun set one evening and never rose again. What rose the next day was anarchy.
I don’t know what San Fran would’ve made of it, and I can’t ask her no matter how bad I want to. Communications are sent, but they’re met with a wall, like there’s something stopping anything from going out, and if nothing is going out, we can only assume nothing is getting in.
The only thing continuing to transmit are Zara’s recordings that provide daily updates on Zenith, their progress, and the promise of what awaits everyone on Eden. But it has been painfully obvious that these aren’t updates; they’re taunting us. We are here, stuck on a dying planet probably forever, while everyone aboard Zenith is headed for paradise. No one besides Harrison and my mother have said it aloud, and as much as I wish they weren’t right, I can’t help but find truth in the words. It’s like a virus that is slowly making its way to each person and once everyone catches it, unable to deny it, Earth is going to become utterly maniacal.
Since the day San Fran left, I have discovered two absolute truths. One, I wouldn’t have traded my time with her for anything. No matter how much I thought about following Sarah’s, Ben’s, or Markus’s paths, it always led back to what really mattered to me. Home. My family. Not just my mother, but the whole Andrews family, and Sky was at the center of it.
Second, if Mannox is the name of our destruction, Nova, a word I only learned about days ago, may be our resurrection.
Harrison waited a few days after Sky’s departure to tell me about the note and his suspicions. I had merely hoped for something like this happening in the shadows and it turned out he was onto something, but what he needed to find out was who else knew and what could be done, if anything at all. We both worried it was too late. That is until the wordNovareached our ears.
A message from Nova was sent directly to Harrison’s home console, addressed to both of us, but was only accessible witha password. A six-letter word that took Harrison less than two seconds to figure out.
SKYLER. She was the reason behind this. Whatever she’d learned on Zenith had brought this to us, and we needed to know why.
The message told us the time and place as well as the instruction to leave any devices behind.
And that is what brings me back to the abandoned E.P.S. building now. Harrison would’ve come with me, but Gran has taken a turn for the worse. Her breathing has developed a rattle, and we don’t need a doctor to tell us what that means.
This meeting will hopefully tell me everything we need to know—if Nova is real or just a false hope. It’s strange walking into the building that used to be filled with so much, from books to music and more, but the only things that remain are the memories.
When I walk into Harrison’s empty office, there’s a figure standing in the middle of the room.
This isn’t creepy.
“Where is Mr. Andrews?” a female voice asks. The shadows cover her face.
