Today is Free Day, the one day a week we don’t have to go to the Ministry we belong to. I used to spend Free Days with my family or hanging out with friends, but I don’t have either now and I wake up not knowing what the day is going to be like at the commander’s house. I am aware that security is not something that can take a day off, so the Shark Units take turns to stay on guard certain Free Days but I ignore if today is going to be the 9th Unit’s turn or not.
I lay on the bed waiting for the commander to say or do something but he’s just staring at his phone. So I assume he is in no hurry to get to the Ministry of Bravery, that means this is his Free Day too.
“Could you go make breakfast, I’m getting hungry,” the commander mutters without taking his eyes from his phone.
I find Mortensen fully dressed and about to leave the moment I open my eyes the next morning.“I cleared some space for you, you can put your things in the closet,” he says before he walks out.I jump out of bed to see what drawers he cleared. As I suspected, one of them is the one with Grace’s belongings but, to my surprise, the watch Sabrina gave to him is not here either. I search around the room, the things are not here. I then go to his office, and in every place I can think of, but the things that were in Grace’s drawer are gone. I don’t even know why I’m looking for them, I am just curious to know what he did with them. I finally check in the trash can, in case he tossed them, but it is empty. What if he took out the trash while I was sleeping? It ma
(Leopold’s P.O.V.)I step into my office and I plonk myself down on my chair as I let out a long sigh. I close my eyes for a moment, for the first time in years, I feel great and liberated. Maybe I’m being silly, but I finally feel free from that wicked woman’s shadow. I guess I have to thank Aubrey for providing me with the perfect excuse to get rid of Grace’s belongings, I’ve been wanting to get rid of them for years, but I always feared people would admonish me for not keeping something to remember my late Bearer by. For the sake of appearances, I had to show that I was honoring her memory, even if deep down I loathed Grace with all my heart. Now, if anyone asks, I’ll just say that I didn’t want my new Bearer to feel uncomfortable being surrounded by my Grace’s belongings. Something good came out of this after all. I just finished my morning workout, I feel lighter and renewed like I jus
(Aubrey’s P.O.V.)Today I do my best not to be late. Matron Mary Ann thinks it’s a sign of insubordination and I don’t want to give her reasons to doubt me. I take a shower, brush my teeth and my hair and by the time the doorbell rings at 8:30 on the dot, I am ready to go. Glad that today I won’t have to hear her complains about my tardiness.I open the door and I find the Matron looking for something frenetically inside her purse.“Good morning,” I greet her.“Audrey, I made a terrible mistake! I forgot Wendy’s health card! Today the doctors are coming to perform your medical evaluations and they can’t do it without everyone’s heath cards!” she cries out.I feel a pang of fear in my stomach.“The medical evaluations are today?” I ask fearful. &ldq
I lift my head and watch the car drive away at full speed. Once the aggressors are gone, I take Matron Mary Ann by the arms and I drag her to the sidewalk at the other end. The Matron is a heavy woman but the adrenaline through my veins helps me take her to safety.Once we are on the sidewalk, I check how she is. Matron Mary Ann’s forehead is bleeding profusely. I take off my light sky blue sweater and I press it against the wound on her forehead. Very quickly the sweater is tinted red. “What happened?” The Matron asks disoriented.“We were attacked,” I say, worried that help won’t arrive on time.“Attacked? Wret
I instinctively take a step back the moment Commander Wilson orders his men to arrest me. Before I can say anything, someone holds me by the arms and forces me to put them behind my back. Then I feel the handcuffs on my wrists.“No, no, wait, I didn’t do anything,” I cry out nervously.“Silence!” Lt. Parker yells at me as he drags me to the back of the black van. “We have a suspect in custody. I repeat, we have a suspect in custody,” he says to the radio.I start to tremble, panic overcomes me and I am barely able to stand. Oliver Parker pushes me inside the van and then he roughly forces me to take a seat. Several Sharks get in the van after me, they all look at me with disdain. I mentally go back to the day I was arrested. Everythi
A half hour goes by, the commander says nothing to me. He just ignores my presence and continues acting as if I wasn’t in his office. Finally, the door opens and Jareth Jordan comes in with a wide grin on his face.“Good news, commander. I have the security footage right here,” he says as he lifts a tablet in the air. He walks towards Mortensen’s desk and shows him the recording. “Here you can clearly see Aubrey and the Matron crossing the street and then, the green car runs the red light and tries to run over them, you see? Aubrey saved the Matron by pushing her and then… there! the first rock is thrown… the second… and the third. I also got the testimonies from the two workers backing Aubrey’s declaration. Everything checks out.”“Good, give me this,” Commander Mor
“Good morning, Aubrey. Are you ready?,” Matron Constance says to me as she stands on the front porch with her hands on her back.“I…” for a second I feel baffled by her presence but then I recall the awful attack against Matron Mary Ann, of course she is not going to be able to come pick me up after what happened. “Yes, I am ready, good morning, Matron Constance.”“Excellent, then let's get going. It is a lovely morning, isn’t it?"I close the door behind me and I follow the Matron.“How is Matron Mary Ann doing?” I ask her while we walk.“She is much better now, thank you for asking, she is a little scared because of what happened, but luckily she is going to recover. She will take a few days off and then she will be as good as new and ready to go back to the Ministry to work,” she replies without slowing
The next morning, as we walk towards the subway station on our way to the Bearer Center, Matron Constance notices a scarf on a store window that she likes.“Look at that! They don’t make scarfs like that anymore,” she exclaims pleasantly surprised. “Aubrey, wait here as I go in to inquire about the price.”Matron Constance doesn’t even give me time to reply, she goes into the store hastily as I watch her go. She is definitely not like Mary Ann, she would have never left me unattended in the middle of the sidewalk. Matron Constance is more relaxed about watching over me and I appreciate it.Through the store window, I see the Matron talking to the store clerk. Based on their body language, I think it’s safe to assume she is bargaining the price.&n
(A few months later) (Aubrey’s P.O.V.)I fix my eyes on the TV screen, I look at the news anchor for a brief moment trying to pay attention to what he is saying.“The secession movement has gained enough support in the Fourth District and now they have separated from Estermond. This is the third district to separate from our nation in the last two months. Unfortunately, without the Righteous Regime, there isn’t anything we can do about it as we witness the downfall of our nation…”I turn off the TV. I don’t care about the news, I am uninterested by Estermond’s destiny. Since the fall of the Righteous Regime a lot of changes have occurred in our nation and there is no one who can stop them. People are taking back what once was taken from them, the life that we once knew is over. We don’t have a unified powe
(Leopold’s P.O.V.)We get off the car in half a second and run towards the building. It is time to save Bastian. We go in and run up the staircase to the sixth floor. Sabrina is waiting for us in front of the apartment where she heard him cry. As soon as the four of us are together, Jareth kicks the door open.“Ministry of Bravery! Hands up!” Wilson yells at the top of his lungs as soon as he takes the first step inside. Sabrina and I go in behind both of them.We are immediately greeted by a burst of gunfire. Jareth drops to the floor in time to avoid the bullets, but Wilson is not fast enough and he is shot twice in the chest. Sabrina and I take cover behind a wall and start shooting back at the Eels. Ahead of us, we hear Jareth shooting at them too. I lean my head slightly to see what is going on, Jareth is crawling inside the apartm
(Leopold’s P.O.V.)The only thing I want is to drive as fast as I can to get to the place where the Eels have my son. But I am aware Jareth and I cannot do this alone, we need the support of our Sharks and for that we have to go meet everyone else.The meeting point where Major Anderson and Commander Wilson are waiting for us is located a few blocks from where the Eels supposedly have Bastian. Jareth drives at full speed to get there, we don’t want to waste any time. We arrive at the meeting point, the place is brimming with Sharks from numerous Units. Wilson is not the only commander present, there are other commanders ready to help. The only high ranking Shark who is absent is General Thompson who is with President Laurent at the Righteous Regimen headquarters, but nevertheless he is in constant communication with us thought the telephone. It moves me to see
(Aubrey’s P.O.V.)I look at myself in the mirror of the dressing room where they are making us wait until it is time to go to the set. In my hands, I hold a sheet of paper on which I wrote down what I want to say in case I get too emotional and forget the message.Leopold is standing behind me looking at his phone insistently in case there is news about Bastian’s whereabouts.Someone knocks on the door and comes in. It is an assistant who is here to take me to the set. I get up my chair and walk behind the assistant. Leopold gives me a reassuring smile before we exit the dressing room. The assistant leads us to the set, which consists of a black desk, a chair, and a gray background. I already gave them Bastian’s photo, so they can show it while I talk to the camera. The assistant takes me
(Aubrey’s P.O.V.)There is no point in staying at the Equality Square, the banner has no more information or clues that can help us find Bastian. We go back home, heartbroken and feeling dismayed. Sadness is has consumed my will to live, I find no comfort or solace. The Eels have not attempted to contact us, they have not asked for ransom or anything in return for Bastian. The banner we found in the Equality Square only indicated their desire to make the citizens of Estermond suffer, they do not seem to have any intention of negotiating to give our son back to us.Once we are home, we find that Roberta has made dinner for all of us. I sit at the table and stare at the food on my plate. I am unable to eat, sleep or do any normal human function, in my body there is only room for anguish.Mabel turns on the TV, the news of Bastian's kidnapping spread like wildfire through Estermond. Several people w
(Aubrey’s P.O.V.)Several hours go by and we have no news of Bastian, with every passing minute my heart breaks a little more. I do not know how much I will be able to endure this nightmarish situation. I never imagined experiencing pain like this was possible.In the news they are justifying the closure of the roads with maintenance work, President Laurent does not want the population to panic thinking that Estermond can not take care of their babies. He wants for Bastian’s kidnap to remain a secret.The night ends and a new day begins. We are all exhausted and dejected. At dawn Alice decides to go home, she wants to be here to support me, but she also worries for her little boy. She is afraid that what happened to us could happen to her child. Commander Wilson orders one of his men to accompany her and watch over their house, he is worried about his son too. Our experience is a cautionary
(Aubrey’s P.O.V.)I feel like I am trapped inside a nightmare and I don’t know how to wake up from it. The house is full of Sharks that come and go gathering evidence. I am seated in an armchair in the living room while Alice holds my hand to give me strength. On my lap, I have Bastian’s blue baby blanket. My baby boy is not here, someone took him and forgot his blanket. Bastian must be cold, he must be scared, hungry... I burst into tears again. Alice surrounds me with her arms to comfort me. She says nothing because there is nothing to say. What can you say to a person in a situation like this? There are no words, no possible comfort.The 9th Unit along with other Units is questioning all our neighbors, hoping that someone has seen something unusual that can help us find Bastian's whereabouts. People I have never seen in my life are searching for Basti
(Leopold’s P.O.V.)We arrive at the building of the Ministry of Bravery. People get out of their vehicles wearing their best clothes, the place is brimming with Sharks and their families. Aubrey takes my arm and we head to the party. The event is going to be held at the Temple of Strength under a big white tent. A lot of Sharks salute me as we walk, I am enjoying greatly all the honor and respect that comes with being a major. I look at Aubrey out of the corner of my eye, even though she has barely slept since Bastian was born and she has spent all her energy taking care of our boy, she looks ravishing. I feel like the luckiest man when I am with her.We enter the tent, inside I see General Thompson chatting with other high rank officials, among them Major Anderson. I d
(A few months later) (Aubrey’s P.O.V.)My eye lids feel so heavy that I have to close my eyes for a moment to rest. I can still hear Grandma and Mabel as they talk to each other seated on the couch next to my bed. I would like to ask them to give me a few hours to sleep in peace but I am afraid to be perceived as rude.The whole family is so excited about the birth of our little Bastian that they did not even wait for us to leave the Bearer Center to come to meet him. Normally, the Matrons do not allow so many family members to be here at the same time, but this time they decided to let it pass because of Leopold’s rank.Leopold is showing little Bastian to Jareth and Roberta in the nursery, while the three of us stay in the room waiting for them to come back."Aubrey, are you paying attention? What do you think about the id