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Fourth

I took a deep breath and walked up to the mansion like house. Like the other buildings in the area, this house was magnificent. The beautiful white house stood tall and proud. The setting sunlight bounced off of the tinted windows and its extraordinary pillars looked as though they could carry the whole world. It was a home fit for a king. Captain Pike followed closely behind me.

My hands were starting to get clammy and I wiped them on my new pale pink silk dress the stylist gave me. It was a beautiful dress, but I couldn’t help but to worry about Teyland’s dress and what would become of it. I feared with the way the Bly’s stylist reacted to it, it would become nothing more than scrap fabric.

Captain Pike rang the door bell for me. It took a few minutes before anyone answered the door. There was a pit in my stomach as I gave a weary smile at the woman on the other side of the threshold.

She gave me a dazzling smile that matched the rest of herself. She was tall and pale with bright blonde hair. Her appearance surprised me a little. It seemed as though she was made of porcelain, with perfect features and a perfect frame.

She threw her arms around me and gave me a huge hug before starting to speak rapidly. “You must be Emmary! Come on in, oh its so nice to finally meet you. Everybody has been so excited all day about your arrival! You came just in time for the party, we were getting worried that you weren’t going to be here on time. The party is after all to welcome you to your new home, and it would have been ironic if you had been late.” She gave a nervous laugh as I just stared at her. I was frightened to say the least. “Well, don’t just stand there, come on.” She gave me a wave and I hesitantly walked over the threshold.

Captain Pike stopped at the door way and cleared his throat. The woman gave a nervous laugh, “Oh right, sorry, Pike. I forgot all about protocol.”

Captain Pike smiled, “It’s alright, Ma’am. I, Captain Pike, birthing number 38229, have successfully carried out my duties to ensure the safe arrival of Emmary Eaton, birthing number 45729, to her destination of the Bly household, 57a34 street Q23, Subsector D, Sector 3.”

The woman smiled, “I, Mandrine Bly, birthing number 17746, have witnessed the safe arrival of Emmary Eaton, birthing number 45728.”

Captain Pike smiled and gave a small bow. “Thank you Ma’am.” He turned to me, “Have a perfect life, Miss Eaton.” I didn’t say anything to Captain Pike’s retreating figure.

“You look absolutely darling by the way. Janks is the family’s favorite stylist, I hope he treated you well. He did a fabulous job. You are simply gorgeous!”

I smiled shyly at the compliment, but didn’t say anything as I followed her through the entry room, I think I read somewhere that it was called a foyer. The house was stunning. The floor was made of a beautiful granite and my heels made a loud clicking sound against it. The walls were am off-white color and adorned with huge paintings. I tried to stop to admire them, but was whisked away by the woman, who I assumed was Vox Bly’s mother. She seemed about the right age. This whole place was overwhelming. All I wanted to do was crawl up in a corner and pretend that this never happened and that I was back in Sector 16 with my family, with Koontz.

It seemed like we walked forever through the never ending house. As we turned a corner, a group of people, were gathered around chatting mindlessly away. “Ladies and Gentlemen,”

Everyone turned to see who was gathering their attention. The noise settled and all eyes were on Mrs. Bly. “I’d like for you to welcome Miss Emmary Eaton, Vox’s fiancé.”

There was a round of applause. I smiled awkwardly. I was definitely not okay with this. My hands were shaking, so I clenched them. I swallowed down my racing heart. I didn’t make eye contact with any of them. I could tell that all of them were looking me up and down, judging me, evaluating me. Probably comparing me to their own sons' matches.

I lifted a hand, and managed to squeak out a “Hi”. Then I put my head down and stared at the ground. This was one of the most uncomfortable situations I had ever been in. I had no idea what to do.

Mrs. Bly took me by the arm and lead me around to different people, introducing me to them all. I absent mindedly picked at my fingernails as people talked about me. Never to me. They spoke to Mrs. Bly. They all complemented me, saying I had good genes. That Vox and I would be a good match. That I would eventually grow accustomed to parties and soirees. Doubtful. I didn’t know what to do. I just gave half-smiles and nodded along.

Someone else had grabbed me by the arm while some doctor talked about his wife’s first day in Sector 3. I was only half listening, half thinking of what Koontz’s mate looked like. The girl who had grabbed me was gorgeous. Her golden hair was pulled up into a bun. She tucked a loose strand behind her ear and looked me over with her soft brown eyes. Her skin was almost as pale as Mrs. Bly’s was. The girl’s appearance was completed with a dazzling smiled, white pearls for teeth and bright red lips stood out against her complexion. “Hi. I’m Halston Bly. You can call me Hal. I’m Vox’s sister. It’s such a pleasure to meet you. Really, you are darling.”

She looked like she was a year or two older than me. If that was the case and she was still here, she had either been matched up with another from Sector 3D or she hadn’t been matched at all.

I gave her a smile back, “Hi. I’m Emmary.”

She rolled her eyes, “I know who you are. Everyone does. You’re the girl from Sector 16 whose going to marry my brother.”

I had an uneasy feeling in my stomach when she said the word marry. I nodded along anyways, “Yes.”

“I’m so happy at least one of us Bly kids will get married.”

So it had been the latter. She was a matchless. She wasn’t matched with anyone. It was a rare occurrence, but sometimes it happened. If Hal were a boy, she would probably have joined the guard. However, they don’t allow women. Hal would still have a chance at making a career, of doing something with her life. It would be easy for her with her family's money and status. The rest of the matchless women, the ones not born into an elite society, had to replace ways to fend for themselves. Sometimes they would become nannies, caring for others’ children. And sometimes they would be homeless, beggars, wandering the streets. There were a few of them back home. Like everyone else, I pitied them. A life without a chance of a family or someone to love. It was a life that no one would wish upon someone else.

I didn’t know how to respond to her. Among the subjects that I learned in school, dinner party small talk was not one of them. She simply smiled, “Well, have you met Vox yet? He has been stressing all day.” She rolled her eyes, “Like he’s really the one that should be nervous.” I gave her an uneasy smile, “Not that you need to be nervous. We’re nice people. I’m just saying that my brother shouldn’t have anything to worry about. It’s not like he was the one plucked from another world and dropped into ours. I mean everything must be so overwhelming.”

I nodded, at least one person understood.

“Come on, I’ll introduce you to your future husband.” She gave me another glamorous grin and a wink. A pit formed inside the pit of my stomach at the mention of the word husband. How far away was this wedding that she kept mentioning anyways? Back home people waited almost a year before getting married. I had a feeling that this place was different.

Hal grabbed me by the hand and escorted me across the room. I could feel the whole room full of guests watching me. Waiting to see my reaction. I licked my lips in anticipation. My heart raced and my palms started to sweat. I let go of Hal’s hand and wiped it on my dress. I suddenly felt very hot and wished that my hair was up so it wouldn’t be sticking to my neck. I was about to meet the person I was going to spend the rest of my life with. Whether I liked him or not.

Hal looked over her shoulder, she had an annoyed look on her face. “He saw us coming and ducked into the kitchen. He’s avoiding us. Come on, we can corner him.” She started to make her way around another group of guests, heading toward a door in the corner.

She turned to me again, this time with an apologetic smile, “Sorry, Vox can be shy sometimes. Like I said he’s been nervous all day. But the sooner you guys meet the sooner the awkwardness will be over and the sooner you guys will be in love.”

Hal’s words didn’t comfort me. At all. If he was nervous to meet me, it made me a million times more nervous to meet him. I mean I was the one who was below him. I was the one who had to impress him. I was the one who had to make him like me. How was I supposed to do that when everything around me was more impressive than my wildest dreams?

Hal swung the door open, and after a big deep breath, I followed after her. I was caught off guard when I entered the kitchen. Was it their kitchen? There wasn’t a thing in this room that I recognized. The counter tops were made of a beautiful stone I was unfamiliar with. The cabinets were a sterile white. I didn’t like being in here. It was foreign and cold.

Hal squeezed her way between two waiters in black suits carrying metal trays. She was headed towards a guy on the other side of the room. “Vox! Stop right there.” She turned to look at me, and gave me an encouraging nod. She reached Vox before me. She was grinning and giving him what I presumed were words of encouragement.

As I got closer, Hal linked her arm with mine and reeled me in. “Baby brother, meet Emmary. Emmary meet Vox.”

We exchanged small and awkward smiles. “Hi.”

I responded with a “Hi.” back.

Hal smiled, “Well, I will leave you two love birds to it. See you guys later.”

Vox ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head mumbling about how unbelievable his sister was. He avoided eye contact with me. Which was fine, I was too. I gave him a once over.

He was attractive. His blonde hair was cut short, and matched his golden colored eyes almost exactly. He was taller than I had imagined. Actually he looked nothing like I had imagined. Actually when I had imagined my life, imagined my husband, I always pictured Koontz. They were nothing alike though. Relief washed over me. I don’t know how I would have been able to survive if he resembled Koontz in the slightest. I shook the comparison from my head when he cleared his throat. “Did you have a good dart?”

I smiled and nodded, “Yeah. It was fine.” If crying your eyes out counts as fine.

The conversation ended with that. We stood there in silence some more before he tried to revive it. “You look really pretty.” He laughed, “Nothing like I imagined though. Not that that’s a bad thing. It’s actually really good.” He gave another nervous laugh, “Not that I was picturing you looking ugly or something, I don’t know you just look better than I expected, which is good and I-.”

“You look nothing like I imagined either.”

He gave another nervous chuckle, “Is that a good thing?”

I simply shrugged, “I guess it doesn’t really matter, does it?”

He nodded along, “I guess it doesn’t.”

That killed the conversation again. I studied the pattern on the floor, trying not to look up. Vox tried to start up another conversation, “So, uh, what do you like to do?”

I shrugged and bit my lip, not knowing what to say really. “Umm. I don’t know. I like to read I guess.”

He nodded along, “That’s cool. The Sector 3 library is huge. I’m sure you’d like it. Cause you know. You like books.”

I laughed to myself, “Yes. I’m sure I’d like it.”

He grinned, “Great. I can take you there…” He hastily added a “If you want.”

I nodded, “I would like that very much.” I looked up at him. We finally made eye contact with each other. I looked away quickly, “What do you like to do?”

He shrugged and ran a hand through his hair again, “I’m still trying to figure that out.”

“You don’t know what you want to do?”

He sighed and copied my words from earlier, “I guess it doesn’t really matter.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

He licked his lips and stared off into space as if he was thinking through a conversation and seeing an outcome. He changed the subject, “Do you like to do anything else besides read?” I guess he didn’t like what he thought I would say.

I shrugged, “I don’t know.”

He shrugged, “Maybe we can replace out what we like to do together.”

A man popped his head through the kitchen door, “Vox, your mother is ready to serve dinner.” He then left without waiting for Vox to reply.

Vox smiled at me, “Hungry?”

I nodded and he took my hand and lead me out of the foreign kitchen.

I sat across from Vox and next to Hal. The two chairs to Vox's left remained empty the entire night. Vox chatted with the man to his right for most of the night. Every now and again I would catch him looking at me. When I did, I could feel my cheeks flush and I immediately looked down at my plate. Hal babbled on at bout this and that, mostly upcoming events that I would be attending. It seemed as though my social schedule was already booked with balls, weddings, and other fancy events.

After dinner, Vox had disappeared. He slipped away as the staff was gathering the plates from the table. Hal however never let me out of her sight. She took me around, showing me the house. I had gotten lost as we took all the twists and turns. I felt as though we were going in circles in a crazy marble floored maze. She finally stopped in front of a door and gave me another one of her dazzling smiles. “Here’s your room.” She turned the door handle and lead me inside.

The room was bland. White walls with a cream colored comforter on the bed. Hal frowned, “I’m sorry this room is so awful. We weren’t sure of your design tastes so Mother went with a neutral pallet, which I replace completely hideous.” She sat down on the bed and I took a few more steps inside. “You know, this room really feels sterile and cold. Not welcoming at all.”

I shrugged, “It’s fine with me.” It was a million times nicer than the small room I had back home. This room had bay windows and a huge plush king size bed. There were a few doors that I assumed led to a bathroom and maybe a closet. I wouldn’t be sure until I opened them later. A fire place crackled on the far wall across from the bed.

Hal shook her head, “No, it’s not.” She pulled on her lip with her teeth. “Why don’t we switch rooms? You know, you can have my room. You’ll be much more comfortable in there. And I’ll take this room. Tomorrow we can decorate it how you like and it’ll be much more comfortable.”

“I don’t really care what the room looks like.”

Hal rolled her eyes, “Oh please. I know that it’s just a few weeks before the wedding and then you and Vox will have your own home to decorate, but I want you to be comfortable while you’re here.”

I cringed at the sound of her mentioning the wedding again. “I really don’t -.”

She waved her hand and stood, “Nonsense, come on.” She grabbed my hand and lead me out of the room and down the hall a little ways. She opened another door. “Here’s my room. You can stay here.”

I smiled and entered the room. It was larger than the guest bedroom that was set up for me. It had dark purple walls and white furniture. The fire beside her bed was also lit. Hal pointed to a few doors, “That’s the bathroom, and that’s the closet. You are more than welcome to anything of mine.” She smiled. “I think that’s all you need, right?” I shrugged, not really answering her question.

She pulled me into a hug, “I am so glad that you are here.” I gave her a light hug back. “It’ll get better. I promise. We can go shopping tomorrow, and then we can start planning the wedding. Oh, Emmary, I am so excited.” She clapped her hands. “If you need anything I’ll be in the other room. Don’t hesitate to come get me.” She hugged me once more before she left.

I opened the first door and found a closet full of clothes. I closed it and then moved on to the next door. It was a white marble bathroom with light blue accents in the towels and candles. I took a few steps toward the shower. A nice hot shower sounded good. I stared at the foreign metal knob, trying to figure out how to turn it on. I twisted and turned, nothing happened. I pushed it, still nothing. It took me ten minutes to realize that it wasn’t the knob to the shower but the soap dispenser. I had run my hand under the senor and soap had squirted out, covering my hand.

I looked around and found a control pad and pushed buttons until the shower finally turned on. I shed my clothes and stepped in. The shower was unbearably cold, but I couldn’t figure out how to turn the temperature up. I decided to just make it a quick shower so I could get out faster.

I found a shirt and shorts that I could sleep in in Hal’s wardrobe and changed. I whirled around to face the door when it suddenly swung open. I stood stiff as he walked in. “Hey, Hal, I’ve got-.” He stopped in his tracks when he looked up and saw me. “You’re not Halston.” I shook my head. He pointed his finger at me, “You must be Emma then, right?”

“Emmary.”

He nodded, “Right, right. Vox’s girl, uh yeah. I’m Addeck by the way, I’m Vox’s brother. I’m sorry I couldn’t make it you your party. I was busy with um something.” One of the empty chairs must have been for him. He shared a lot of Vox's facial features, except Addeck had green eyes and a square jaw bone. He looked like he was older than both Vox and Halston.

I smiled, “That’s okay. There was plenty of people there.”

He laughed, “Yeah Mother likes to go big on parties. Especially since you’ll be the first to marry one of us Bly kids.

I knitted my eyebrows together, “You don’t have a match?”

He shook his head, “Nope.” He popped his ‘p’ and then quickly changed the subject. “So, if you are in here, where is Halston?”

“In my room.”

He huffed and shook his head, “Figures.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

He opened the door, “Oh nothing, just that she’s a generous host, switching rooms with you and all.” He paused, looking at the window. “Did you want me to open that?”

I glanced over at the window as well, “Isn’t it cold outside?”

“Sometimes the rooms can get a little stuffy. Especially when Mother has all the fire places going.”

I shrugged, “Okay, I guess.” I was fine with it open or close, it didn’t matter to me.

He walked over to the window. “To open and close it, you just have to push here.” He pressed his thumb on a small rectangle beside the window pane. The window slid open and a slight breeze blew through, giving me goose bumps. “There you go.”

I smiled, “Thanks.”

“Not a problem. Alright, well, goodnight Emmary.” He shut the door and left me alone once again.

It was hard going to sleep that night. For one thing, it was unbearably cold in my room. The fireplace automatically went out about an hour after Addeck left. I had spent at least a good hour trying to close the window, but the stupid button wouldn’t work for me. I ended up replaceing some extra blankets in the closet to cuddle with.

Secondly, I couldn’t sleep because I don’t take well to change, in fact, I hate it. I was plucked from my universe and dropped into a completely different one full of strange technology and even stranger people. I felt lost and confused every second of the day, which is way out of my comfort zone. How was I going to adjust to this new life? They don’t give us a crash course on how to live in a elite society. I’ve only ever known Sector 16F. Here, I was just out of place.

Thirdly, I couldn’t stop thinking about Koontz. I couldn’t stop wondering how is day went. I wanted so badly to walk across the square to say hi and catch up with him. There was a pain in my chest at the thought that I’d never see him again. That I’d never see his family again. I laid there for the longest time, replaying last night. Was it only last night? It felt like weeks since I had been home. I was glad Koontz had made me climb that wall. It was the perfect memory to hold on to for the rest of my life.

As I replayed the memory over and over again, I could feel myself slowly drift asleep. It had been a long day and my exhaustion was starting to overcome my obstacles. I heard a slight thud and my eyes snapped open.

I tensed up, waiting for another sound to come. Something to tell me that I wasn’t imaging the noise. There it was, one of the floorboards creaked. I tried to focus on the objects around me, trying to see the source of the noise. I started to see a figure start approaching me ever so slowly as my vision started to get used to the darkness.

There was an intruder in my bedroom. I started to panic. What was I supposed to do? Pretend that I was a sleep so he could kill me? Start shouting and hopefully someone will come to my rescue before he kills me? Fight back, and hopefully he doesn’t kill me in my feeble attempt to win the struggle?

I decided a combination of the last two was my best option. I waited until the figure got closer and closer. When he was finally in arms reach, I quickly sat up and starting screaming and punching wildly into the air. I could feel my fists coming in contact with something while I flung them around. The lights came on, which blinded both me and my attacker. I opened my eyes through the pain of the overwhelmingly bright light. I caught a glimpse of the man before he turned and ran out the window.

It was Captain Pike.