The Proposed Prophecies

As the days passed, Liv continued to keep a low profile and waited for Jake and the first meeting. But the overwhelming feeling of being constantly watched was slowly eroding this small sense of impending freedom. The cameras were everywhere. They were mostly next to the lights and they were hard to be seen but the small blinking red dot was visible once she looked closer. Her life was completely under the microscope. She often become a slave to her own lonely thoughts as she was unable to talk to Carmen about anything that was happening and to share even what little information she knew. She was afraid that if she mentioned anything to Carmen she would put herself or her family in danger.

She often wondered about Jake and the plan she would be helping him with. She had never thought of herself as being smart or strong and yet Jake looked at her two weeks ago at the elevator like she was able to help with his plan.

The day of the first meeting with Eve’s team of Alters and military people approached quickly. Liv picked on her nails as she waited for Jake to pick her up. She took her fear out on her pinkie nail which she picked on so hard it started to bleed. Despite Jake’s assurances that would be able to help her family and friends, the thought of Eve finding out what she was doing terrified her. She was walking in circles next to the exit.

“Are you ready?” Jake appeared on the dot. She nodded her head and walked after him, squashing the urge to ask him millions of questions. She barely noticed the smell of mold and stale water anymore. The way into the upper floor was quiet, just like the day he had taken her to Eve. She suddenly remembered what Joann had said about him having feelings towards her. She wondered if Joann was right. It was hard to tell as they were not around each other that much.

The floor above the school zone was crowded with guards. They appeared to be walking into the conference hall which was the only room on that floor with multiple doors to enter it.

He opened one of the doors to the conference room. Inside they were facing a big screen with a female-looking person standing underneath it. Liv thought she must have been the main speaker as he was standing in the middle and looked like she was waiting for everyone to sit down. She was too far away to see her face but she wore the same exact uniform as the other guards.

There were at least twenty rows of seats. The set-up reminded her more of a movie theater than a conference room.

She sat down on the end of the row all the way in the back with Jake and wondered if she was the only half-human, half Alter there. They all looked like humans but then it was hard to tell the difference between the two kinds. She saw the circle crossed in half mark on the man’s neck who sat in front of her but then when she looked next to him, the man next to him didn’t have it. She thought they must have been mixed, people and Alters. Even her grandfather’s diary had said that people from the government, military and Alters were working together on the project.

“Welcome to our sixth annual meeting. I am glad to announce the successful launch of the virus in China, Brazil and Sydney. Over a million infected people have been reported in the past month.” Everyone clapped. Her voice was soft but confident and the sound of it reminded Liv her of her mother Helena and that she was an Alter. She knew that Helena was in the bunker as Carmen had told her she was in the red zone when Liv was in hospital. Suddenly she wished she could sit somewhere closer but all the seats had been taken.

The big screen turned on and showed pictures of dead people around the world. The pictures showed examples of aggressive behavior and highlighted people killing each other.

The pictures on the screen showed a blood bath. According to the presentation, the numbers of infected were slowly increasing in each country, affecting many people of all ages. The virus will have infected everyone left outside of the bunkers in the next six months, the lady announced. Liv heard chatter all around her; those around her sounded excited. “I can’t wait to go back home” the Alter sitting in front of her said to the man sitting next to him who didn’t have the mark on his neck. “I bet. I can’t wait for this craziness to all be over and to be able to start afresh with no more wars, no more social differences.” The man smiled at the Alter next to him. Liv realized that something felt different deep inside her. She realized that it didn’t matter if these people here were Alter or human, they all wanted this to be over. To have a fresh start and be able to return home even if it meant living on a completely different planet. She looked at Jake, who looked back at her and smiled, slowly blinking with his eyes. “I need your help so we can all go home,” he whispered and looked at the screen. She exhaled. She wanted the same thing. To go home and be with her family.

“What if there are still people alive, even after all this?” asked a young man in the middle row. Liv thought he must have been a human because Alters never seemed to question anything. “Then it is all of your job to clean the world up. We have thousands of teams working on this project and it better be done on time and better be done right.” Liv felt horror at the realization that the speaker meant that the rest of the people alive would be killed.

As the meeting ended, everyone was getting up but Liv remained in her seat. She wanted to go down to the podium and see the main speaker with the familiar voice. “Wait,” she said to Jake who was urging her to leave.

“This is not a good idea,” he said and Liv noticed his expression. He grabbed her hand before she could make a step towards the podium. “Liv please. We need to go back”. He said, holding her hand.

“Hi Liv.” The voice of the speaker sounded close, too close. Liv turned around and saw her. It was her mother, Helena. She was smiling with the same exact genuine smile she always had. Liv’s eyes felt wet. She wanted to cry, wanted to scream, wanted to blame her mother for all the lies she had told and at the same time she wanted to run into her arms.

“Leave us for a while,” Helena said to Jake, continuing to watch him as he walked out of the hall.

It was only Liv and her mother still in there. It was suddenly quiet and the screen was turned off. “I don’t really know what to say.” Helena said and exhaled loudly. “Is it true? Are you an Alter?” Liv asked and Helena nodded her head. “It is true. I didn’t tell you or Becky because I would put you both at risk.” Helena’s hand suddenly approached Liv’s but she pulled back. She was still so confused. “Are you working with Eve?” Helena glanced back at the door and then back at her. “Honey, I need you to understand that this is not all about the proposal or Eve anymore. This is me and your father trying to keep you and Becky safe as long as we can.”

Liv wiped her tears and looked at the door where Jake was signing with his hand, pointing at the watch that they needed to go. “You have to promise me that you won’t trust anyone. Alters are splitting and I need you to stay out of this. Whatever Eve or Jake asks you to do, I need you to stay out. Do you hear me?” Helena placed her hands on her shoulders. Liv looked into her brown eyes. She still looked the same, despite the Alter uniform. “Promise me,” she repeated.

“We have been through so much, me and Becky, because of you and Christopher. All those daily fights between you two. It was all because of some kind of a proposal?” Liv took Helena’s hands off her. She remembered the time when they had to be trapped in Amy’s house in Miami during the virus and her father Christopher had come to bring them food. She thought about his description of the unfortunate situation in which Helena got pregnant and Christopher’s deal with Axel to keep them all safe and his forced help with the bunkers which led him to drink and raise his voice each time he was around. Liv had always wondered why Helena had taken the verbal abuse for so long but now it seemed that all that was only for the sake of the proposal. “It’s more complicated than that. We just wanted to keep you both safe, you and Becky were so small and innocent. Your father and I just fell into our own traps and we couldn’t get out. I am sorry for all those years in which you and Becky had to listen to our fights.” Liv felt irritated as all those years she felt it was her responsibility to keep Becky from hearing those fights between their parents. This feeling could not have been prevented with a simple sorry. It suddenly felt a little funny, but in an ironic way. “So what is next?” She looked at Helena and crossed her arms.

“Some of the cities have stage three of the virus, which means that the virus is killing the host. It won’t be long before these cities can be cleaned up and people can start to be rehabilitated there.” Helena said. Liv started to laugh. “Haven’t you forgotten one tiny little detail?” Liv paused. “I am not a human… mom. And neither is Becky.” Liv looked over to Jake, who was approaching them.

“Eve is letting people and ….” Helena paused. “And hybrids live alongside each other. She wants the reestablishment to be like it was proposed. There would be a second chance with us, Christopher and I will have a chance to make it up to you and Becky.” Liv shook her head. “Wait… What? So you and Christopher want us to be a family again?” Liv’s face felt like laughing but inside her body she felt like she wanted to vomit.

“Liv! We have to go back,” Jake said. “Wait.” She felt Helena’s hand on her arm as she tried to walk to Jake. “Remember, this isn’t your fight,” Helena said and let her arm go. Liv knew she was referring to what she had said earlier about not getting involved with Jake and Eve.

She ran out of the conference room, passing Jake. Tears rolled down her face. All she wanted to do was to forget everyone and everything.

“Liv wait. You can’t walk around without the handcuffs.” Jake grabbed her hand as she stormed out of the conference hall. She saw his eyes on hers, begging her to stop crying.

“I don’t know what she told you, but you need to calm down. This is not the place to make scenes.” His voice sounded worried as he placed the cuffs on her hands.

“I don’t want to do this anymore. I don’t want to come back to these meetings or to rewrite the history.” She raised her voice and the anger boiled in her body, the adrenalin rushing through her.

“Think about your family and friends.” She wiped her nose. It was running as much as her tears. He was right, she thought. Quitting was not an option. She looked down at her red sneakers, supporting her hands against her knees. All she could focus on was the red color. She used to love the color red but now, even though she hated it, it was somehow the only thing she could look at. She inhaled and exhaled. She let her knees go and stood up straight. He was still looking at her.

“Wait for me tonight in your room. At midnight I have a guard on duty that is on my team. I will make sure the cameras there are disconnected and we can talk.” The anger was slowly abating but her heart still raced. She looked back at the entrance to the meeting hall and saw her mother standing there, still watching. “Let’s go.” She felt his hand on her waist and he gave a gentle push to encourage her to start walking to the elevator. She looked back again but Helena wasn’t there anymore. Suddenly she didn’t even care if the whole bunker fell on top of her. Her migraine felt like it was tearing her head apart. She thought of her grandfather, his diary and Amy’s words and wondered if this is how he felt before he took his own life - if it was true that he had. If these were the reasons behind his death, she imagined that he had been feeling the same exact way as she did right now from the agony, the anger, the pain inside her head and the disappointment that slowly killed each hope, each positive thought.

As Liv walked into the red zone she saw Carmen approaching. She looked disappointed and Liv knew it must have been because Joann had left. Carmen seemed to have taken it better than Liv thought she would. She didn’t look angry, only sad. Neither of them said a word, only walked to the dining area, following the crowd of women. It was another day and another portion of green beans and rice. “I still don’t believe Joann is an Alter,” Carmen said. “Me neither. I had never heard of Alters before and now it suddenly seems like everyone is one.” Liv looked at her plate, staring at her lunch. Carmen laughed. “Yeah. I wonder what other surprises are waiting for us down here.”

Liv looked at the blinking red light above her head and exhaled. “I am not ready for another surprise.”