Selected
Twenty-Seventh

“So, about this party tomorrow.”

Vox smirked as he traced patterns into my shoulder. We were laying in his bed, my head was on his chest and his arms were wrapped around me, keeping me close. “What about it?”

“Well, like, what is it for?”

“It was originally our rehearsal dinner party. But, with everything that has happened, Mother relabeled it as my inaugural party.” He rolled his eyes, “But don’t worry, we will still have a rehearsal dinner the night before our wedding. I know you wouldn’t want to be cheated out of a Bly party.”

“Oh no, thank goodness its being rescheduled.” He laughed. “So, I’m guessing, like everything you Blys do, it’s going to be black tie?”

He nodded, “You would be guessing correctly.”

“I am beginning to understand why Hal forced me to buy so many gowns.”

He laughed again. I loved his laugh. I loved seeing him relax and happy. He has been so stressed lately so distant. It was nice to have him here with me. I was happy to have him to myself without the distractions of being Selector to keep him away from me. “So, speaking of tomorrow. I took the whole day off, so we can do something fun. I wasn’t sure if you had anything in mind.”

“Oh yes! I just finished my book the other day, so maybe we can stop by the library?”

“There’s a whole city of fun things to do, and yet you want to go look at dusty books?”

“Well, I haven’t gotten the chance to.”

“Which book did you read again?”

“The Curious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide.”

“Ah, should have known you had picked a classic like that. How did you like it?”

I sat up and reached over at the nightstand, grabbing the book. “It was good. I think you should read it, it was interesting and gave me a lot to think about.” I handed it to Vox.

“What is that supposed to mean?” He studied the cover, flipping it over to see the back.

I frowned, “Nothing, just that it was good and I think you’d like it.”

He turned his attention from the book to me. His eyes looked like they were studying me now. As if he was trying to decipher a meaning behind my words. “Okay, I’ll give it a try.”

I grinned at him, “Good.” I gave him a kiss. “So, I named what I want to do tomorrow. What do you want to do?”

He frowned, trying to think of something. “Hmm, that’s a good question.”

“You said it yourself, this city is full of fun things.”

“Oh, so now your throwing my words back at me, huh?”

I shrugged, “You should be able to back up everything you say.”

“Okay, just for that, I’m going to make the day a surprise. You won’t know what we are doing until we’re dong it.”

“Come on!” Vox pulled me along by the arm. We had just left the library and Vox had become as excited as Elex used to when school was cancelled. As soon as we stowed my new book in the backseat of the car, Vox had took off in almost a jog.

“Can’t we slow down?”

He shook his head, “No. We’re late. We’ve got a day full of fun and only half a day to complete everything. If someone hadn’t spent so long picking out a book, we would be walking right now.”

I huffed behind him, “So you’re saying it’s all my fault?” We turned a corner and he stopped. I would have plowed right over him if he hadn’t caught me around the waist.

“Exactly.” He gave me a kiss.

“Why’d we stop.”

He rolled his eyes, “Why do you think? We’re here.”

“Where’s 'here'?”

He smiled triumphantly and took my hand, “The ever so secretive Writing Wall.” He pulled me into the ally between two buildings. “It’s this huge street art wall. People are allowed to create whatever they want. It’s pretty amazing.”

“Do the police not cover it back up?”

He shrugged and kept walking, “They used to but eventually gave up. Now it’s a unique piece of Sector 3.” He stopped dead in his tracks at the end of the ally. His posture became rigid.

I looked up to see what caught his attention. The wall was a mixture of colors. All of the pictures coming together to create one big wall of art, it was, like Vox had described, pretty amazing. But the art wasn’t what had caught Vox’s attention.

Huge black letters stood out against the colorful background. I read the words aloud, “The end of Selection is near.” I turned to look back at Vox. He didn’t say anything, he just stared at the letters. “I’m sorry, Vox.”

He shook his head, “There’s nothing to be sorry about. They’re just expressing their opinion. Pretty clearly I might add.” He took my hand, “Come on, let’s just move to the next part of the date.”

We walked back out of the ally. Vox was clearly upset. “We don’t have to continue if you don’t want to.”

He shook his head, “No, I want to. Come on. This just means we have more time for other stuff.”

I couldn’t imagine what Vox had to deal with on a daily basis. He was about to become the Selector in a time when the people were opposing Selection. His world was starting to crumble around him. It seemed like he couldn’t catch a break. Maybe things would be different once he officially took his position. Maybe the people would settle down.

Vox kicked a rock across the sidewalk, “What do you think of Selection?”

His question surprised me. “I mean, it lead me to you, so I think it’s pretty great.”

He didn’t smile at my attempt to cheer him up. “Yeah, but it tore you away from your home. Everything you knew is gone, your whole life is different.” He paused, “Do you ever wish that it didn’t exist, that you could be back home?”

I decided what he needed to hear was honesty. “Before I got here, I detested the idea of Selection. I hated the thought of being forced to be with someone that I wouldn't love. I swore I would never have children. When I first got here, I thought about home all the time. All I wanted was to go back home, but now… Now that I’ve gotten to know you, and Hal.. Well, you guys are my family now. I love you. And I wouldn’t trade you for anything.”

“Not even for Koontz?” I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know what my answer would be. “If Selection didn’t exist, you and Koontz would be together back in Sector 16.”

What did he want me to say? I have always been torn between Koontz and Vox. I couldn’t choose between the two of them. I loved them both. And I was suddenly feeling guilty for the way I felt about Vox. It felt as though the closer I got to Vox, that it would seem like I had forgotten about Koontz. But I could never do that.

Vox stopped, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I’m an idiot. Please, let’s just forget it. Okay?”

I took a breath and nodded, “Where to next?”

He started to smile, “Come on, this way.”

We got back to Bly Manor shortly after 6 o’clock. The party would be starting at 8. He stopped in front of his bedroom door, “I would’ve loved to continue our little adventure.”

“Me too.” After the graffiti wall, we took a boat ride around Sector 3 Lake. The boat was complete with lunch and a bottle of wine. The ride was perfect, nice and quiet and romantic. And then just as I thought we were done, Vox took me up to the roof of the Selection building. It had surprisingly already been cleaned up from yesterday’s fiasco. On the roof, Vox had set up a table with more wine. We sat and talked and watched the sun set from what seemed like the top of the world. Everything about the day had been perfect. Not only did I get a new book, but I had spent the whole day with Vox, uninterrupted.

“Okay, well, I have to shower and get ready for that press conference I told Addeck I would do.” He made a face. “See you at the party.”

I nodded before he kissed me goodbye. As I was about to turn and head toward my own room, I caught Addeck leaving his. He didn’t give me a second thought as he passed me by and headed toward the stairs. I looked behind me and watched as he walked down the stairs and out the door. I stared at his door. It wouldn’t hurt to just see if it was locked.

I walked over and slowly turned the handle to his room. The door opened. I considered if I should take my chance and go inside now, or wait for another time. I made my decision before I could talk myself out of it with all the cons to this choice. I closed the door behind me.

Addeck’s room was just like I pictured it. Dark and a little dusty. He had minimal furniture and decorations. I didn’t know where to start looking. I didn’t even know what I was looking for. Just something to explain Addeck’s behavior. He always acted sketchy and strange. If I were a mentally unstable person where would I hide all my secrets? I walked across the floor toward his desk.

I opened the first drawer and found some miscellaneous cords, nothing suspicious. I moved on to the next drawer. Just some pens and paper, again nothing suspicious. Wait. There was a letter underneath a pile of pens. From between the pens, it looked like it was my handwriting. It couldn’t be. I looked behind me at the door before pulling the envelope out.

Sure enough, my print stared back at me. It was addressed to Koontz. Maybe he had to use a different envelope and kept this one for some reason. I opened it and pulled the paper out. I didn’t have to read it all the way through to know it was my letter. It was my letter to Koontz. I closed the drawer and darted out of his room and shut the door behind me.

I rushed into my room and sat at my desk. Addeck had my letter. This was my letter from Koontz. How did he have it? What was going on? I just stared at the paper with a blank mind. I tried come up with any reasonable explanation as to why the hell Addeck had my letter. But there wasn’t one. There was only one reason why Addeck had this letter. He didn’t send it.

I had to share my replaceings with someone. I knocked on Vox’s door. “Don’t worry, Addeck, I’m almost ready.”

I opened the door, “It’s not Addeck.”

“Oh, Emmary, hi. What’s up? Why aren’t you getting dressed?” Vox was looking in a mirror to tie his bowtie around his neck.

“I um, I.”

Vox frowned at me in the mirror, “What’s wrong?” He turned and approached me. “What happened?”

There was real concern in his eyes. “I found this in Addeck’s room.”

I held out the letter for Vox to take, “What were you doing in there?”

I shrugged, “I don’t know. But that’s not the point. The point is that I found this.” He took the letter from me. “It’s the letter that I wrote to Koontz.”

He pulled out the paper and skimmed it, “Didn’t you give him this?”

I nodded, “Yeah, for him to send it. But if he has it, that obviously means he didn’t send it like he said he did.”

Vox shrugged and handed it back to me, “So? Maybe there was a mix up and he just hasn’t gotten to it yet?”

“Don’t you remember what I told you? The guards found a letter from me to Koontz. It was the letter that supposedly caused him to kill Felicity.”

“What? Do you think that Addeck switched your letter for the fake one ?” I stared at him. Of course that’s what I thought. “Honestly, Emmary? I think you’re giving Addeck too much credit.”

“What else would explain why he has it?”

Vox shrugged, “I don’t know. Addeck isn’t really in his right mind sometimes, you know that. He probably just made a copy of it or something. I don’t think you should worry about it. I think you’re just being a little paranoid.” He straightened out the knot in his tie. “Look, I’m really sorry, but I have to go do that press conference.” He gave me a kiss on the forehead and walked toward the door.

“Vox,” He stopped with the door ajar. “You said that if I really needed you, all I would have to do is ask for you to stay.”

Vox looked at me, “I know, please don’t make me break my promise. I have to go. I can’t get out of this one.”

With that, Vox turned and left me alone in his room.