Selected
Twenty-Fourth

I didn’t join Hal and Mrs. Bly downstairs. Instead I took the opportunity to visit my friend, Walter. No one was in the stables to help me. It wasn’t like my intentions were to ride him. But, I would have liked some guidance as to where things were kept. Like his brush or some snacks I could give him. After some half hearted searching, I gave up.

I walked over to Walter’s stall. “Hey buddy.” He nodded his head back and forth.

I reached out and started petting the side of his neck. I wasn’t really sure what I was doing, but it was comforting to me at least. Hal’s words had left me with chills. I hadn’t realized that the family secrets were so secret that I couldn’t know. I thought I was trustworthy enough to know everything. I mean I was practically married to Vox already, right? Of course we hadn’t had the official ceremony, but I wasn’t gong anywhere. I should be able to know what family I was marrying into, right? What difference would it make anyways? It’s not like I had a second option. At least not anymore.

“There you are.” I turned around to see Addeck standing next to the stall.

I jumped so high I could have probably mounted the horse. “Hi.” I had lost track of time in my own head. The sun had set a long time ago. Someone must have turned on the lights . Or maybe they were automatic.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. Vox has been looking for you.”

“Oh. I was just. I just wanted to be a lone for a little while.”

“So, should I tell him where you are, or do you still want to be alone?”

I patted Walter one last time, “No, I’ll go inside. I’m getting a bit cold anyway. Thanks, Addeck.”

He smiled and turned on his heel to walk away. “Addeck.” He stopped and looked over his shoulder at me. I wasn’t sure what made me call out to him, or what made me ask the next question. Maybe it was curiosity, maybe it was desperation to actually get answers. “I’m trustworthy, right?”

He took the few steps to shrink the gap between us, “You haven’t proven otherwise. Besides the part where you spied on me. Other than that I have no reason to not trust you.”

I could feel a blush creep up my neck at his mentioning of spying. I hadn’t realized that he knew. I shook the embarrassment off, I needed answers, “Then why don’t people fill me in?”

He frowned, “I don’t know to what you are referring.”

“Hal said that there were family secret that she couldn’t tell me because I wasn’t a Bly. But I think I’m pretty much in the club, right? Unless there is some sort of handshake I need to learn.”

My comment made him chuckle for half a second. “Emmary, I’m sorry. But, honestly, we don’t have any secrets. Hal just gets a little over protective about some of our family’s more private details.”

“Like what?”

He shrugged, “I don’t know. Like our pasts. Mine is a pretty hefty one. Mother has some past actions that wouldn’t be appropriate for her. It’s not like if you knew any of these things it would lead to the world ending. Hal is just dramatic.”

“She said that if I knew, that it would ruin the plan.”

He rolled his eyes, “She just means the stupid perfect world she’s created in her head. She does everything she can to make it come true. And sometimes, it just doesn’t work out.” He smiled at me, “I have to go, please go see Vox, he was worried about you.” Addeck then walked out of the stables and disappeared into the darkness. It was a little unnerving how he could do that.

I felt a little better after talking with Addeck. I mean I wasn’t absolutely 100% positive what he told me was the truth or another excuse. It seemed like the Bly’s were good at evading questions they didn’t want to answer. He didn’t give me answers, just reasons.

The house was quiet, all the guests were long gone. I knocked on Vox’s door, before opening it. He wasn’t in there. I tired my room, but he still wasn’t there. I sighed, not really knowing where else to look for him. I decided the kitchen wouldn’t be a bad place to look, and maybe get some food. I hadn’t eaten since before the funeral.

As I approached the door I could hear Addeck’s voice, “Just fix it, okay?” The tone in his voice sounded harsh and stressed. He had been perfectly nice ten minutes ago when I talked to him. What could have set him off so easily? “I have to go help Vox.”

I could hear his footsteps approaching the door. Not knowing what else to do, I pressed myself against the wall. When the door opened, it hid me from Addeck’s sight as he left. I held my breath as I watched him make his way across the house and out the front door. If he so much as looked over his shoulder he would clearly see me. I didn’t know who he was talking to but, I was pretty sure I wasn’t supposed to hear any of it.

I counted to thirty before entering the kitchen.

Hal sat perched on a bar stool with a pile of grapes sitting in front of her. So, Addeck had been talking to Hal? What did she have to fix, and why had it set him on edge so suddenly. Was it about me? Was it because I said that Hal had mentioned family secrets? I hoped that I hadn’t accidentally gotten Hal into some sort of secret Bly family trouble. “Hey Emmary. Where did you run off to?”

I shrugged and grabbed a grape off her plate, “The stables.”

Hal scrunched up her nose. “Gross.”

“Not a fan?”

She shook her head, “Not at all, but I’m glad at least one of us got the chance to escape the madness that is the Bly house.”

“Did you just hide in the kitchen and eat the whole time?”

“Not the whole time. I had to leave to use the restroom once.”

I laughed, “It’s a good place to hide. Speaking of which, do you know where Vox is hiding? Addeck said he was looking for me, but now I can’t replace him.”

Hal chewed and swallowed before answering, “Yeah, I think Addeck said something about having to help him, so I assume he had to go back into work.”

“Well, that sucks.”

She nodded along, “I know, I’m really sorry.”

I shrugged it off, “It’s no big deal.”

“Em, Sweetie, yes it is. I know that you barely saw Vox in the first place and now, now he’s been thrown into a job that he isn’t nearly prepared for so they’ve got him running around crazy, leaving you here all alone.”

“Well, not all alone. I do have you.”

“Yes you do. And if you need anything, please let me know. I don’t want anything to happen to you.” I knew exactly to what she was referring.

I smiled, “Thanks, Hal.” I grabbed one last grape. “I think I’m just going to shower and go to sleep. It has been an awfully long day.”

“Okay, good night.” As I opened the door Hal called me back.

“Wait. I uh, I also wanted to just add that I’m sorry for like freaking you out earlier with the whole family secret thing. I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just that we’re pretty guarded about our past and stuff and it’s just kind of hard to let others in. I didn’t mean that you weren’t one of us, because you’re basically the sister that I always wanted.” She paused, “What I’m trying to say is that I simply mean that it would just take time to fully open up about everything. Some wounds run deep.”

I smiled, “Don’t worry about it, Hal. And when you are ready to open up. I’m here.” She smiled as I left the kitchen.

I took a long shower to wash away the things that had been bothering me all day. The change in date, the funeral, the secrets, the acting, I pretended that everything that had been worrying me was rinsed down the drain, never to be seen again. Of course, that wasn’t true. I knew as soon as I woke up in the morning, all of those things would be back on my mind.

I got out, dried myself off, and changed into some comfortable pajamas. I still felt weird being in Vox’s room when he wasn’t there. I just felt out of place in there, like I was invading his privacy or something. It was his room, not ours. I grabbed The Search Engine from my night stand and turned it on. I had finished Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide last night and was in need of another book. This was my alternate form of entertainment for the night.

I stared at the blank screen for a while, not really sure what I wanted to explore yet. Something shifted out of the corner of my eye. I looked over at the window, but there was nothing there. I started to flashback to my first night here. To Captain Pike standing above me. I shuddered.

“Search for Captain Pike.”

Hundreds of articles popped up on my screen. Apparently Captain Pike was a decorated and very honored soldier. He fought in the Border War as a sergeant, where he earned the purple heart for valor. He rose through the ranks fairly quickly before landing the job as a Captain of the Selector’s guard. He had apparently saved Mr. Bly multiple times from assassination attempts. Was this really the man that I had seen attack me?

Maybe I was wrong. Maybe my attacker just looked like him. Or maybe he didn’t look like him at all. I didn’t really get that good of a look. It was dark and as soon as the lights had turned on, he was out the window. Why would an exemplary soldier like Captain Pike attack me anyways? I wasn’t of any importance.

The link after his biography caught my eye. It was an interview with Captain Pike about the assassination of Mr. Bly. I clicked on it and was taken to a video.

It was a head shot of a stern and sorrowful looking Captain Pike, the Selector building was in the background. A microphone was placed in front of him and made his voice echo with every word he spoke.

“Today, a hero has fallen. A hero who’s job was to make lives better, make this country better. This devastating incident couldn’t have come at a worse time than now. Our country is falling to pieces from the deaths we have suffered. From Felicity Lightheart’s appalling murder, which opened our eyes to some of our country’s most horrendous crimes, to now this. Our hearts have been broken by this tragedy, and the only way we will heal is if we come together.

"On the night of January 12, 2116, the Selector building was infiltrated. As of right now we do not know who did it or how. It was found that the security system was not tampered with and there were no signs of forced entry. The system shows that both Lincoln Bly and Vox Bly entered the building at 6:00pm. Lincoln Bly then entered the building again at 11:20 pm. The system does not track who leaves. Only those that enter. Vox Bly called emergency services at 11:29 pm. Vox Bly was questioned, and is currently not a suspect. We are still determined and hard at work to solve this grievous crime. Thank you.”

The video ended and I was left with more questions than answers. Why would Mr. Bly leave? And then come back so late? Maybe he had a meeting at town hall and then went back to work. But a meeting that late? And the intruder must have been waiting for him to return if he was killed in 9 minutes. Why would anyone want to kill Mr. Bly anyways? To make a statement? Was it part of some revolution? Don’t they know that the Selector will just be replaced?

I set The Search Engine back down on my night stand. I had wanted to just relax tonight. It had been a long and stressful day, and I had washed all of that away. Now I was revving myself back up again. Winding myself up with worry and confusion and mystery. I just needed to go to calm myself back down and go to sleep.