Jack Patterson - Elusion

ELUSION

Book One in The New Victorian Chronicles

Jack Patterson

& Brooke Jay

Other titles by Jack Patterson

Cal Murphy Thriller series

Cross Hairs

Cross the Line

Triple Cross

A Cross to Bear

James Flynn Thriller series

The Warren Omissions

The New Victorian Chronicles

Elusion

PROLOGUE

EVERYONE HAS THAT MOMENT. It might be a good moment or a bad moment. But its the moment from which your story hangs. Some random event forever marks your life. At least you think its random. And you dont even have to think hard to remember it because you mark every other moment in your life by that event.

I was a few days shy of my sixth birthday when mine happened.

It was a crisp Sunday morning in March. My mom had just finished adding a few extra curls to my long brunette locks. She fluffed my hair with her hands as the tendrils fell back across my shoulders.

There, Melanie. You look like a princess now, she said.

I smiled back at her. Its what she said every Sunday morning after she finished making me over. I didnt mind.

I walked past my brothers room on the way to the breakfast table. Dustin was 15 and Seth was 13. They were fightingas usual. But it was boy fighting, where they just hit each other for fun. I didnt understand it at the time, but it didnt matter since they never involved me in their horseplay. Since I was the youngest siblingand the only girlthey treated me like a fragile doll.

Dustin stopped and said, Mel, you sure look pretty today.

I smiled, unaware that these simple moments of bliss I enjoyed were about to vanish.

Dad sat at the breakfast table, nursing a cup of coffee as he read the news on his tablet. I always thought coffee smelled gross, but whenever I smelled it, I thought about Dad. He wouldnt smile in the morning until he had finished at least one cup.

Ready to go, Princess? he asked as he turned off his tablet.

I nodded.

Dad rounded everyone up and we walked out the front door, headed for church. He held Moms hand as they looked lovingly at each other. Seth and Dustin continued to hit each other. I took in the moment as I slipped into my own little world.

A nip hung in the air, just enough to remind me that winter had not yet given way to spring. I pulled my sweater tight and looked upward at the sun beaming down on me. I closed my eyes and listened to the cheerful song of a sparrow that was sitting on the fence that surrounded our house. My world felt right, like it was in perfect cosmic balance, even though the world around us was crumbling.

Then it happened.

A flatbed truck full of soldiers stopped right in front of our house. One of the soldiers screamed orders to his troops.

Grab those two, right there! he yelled, pointing at my parents.

Before I realized what was going on, soldiers dragged my mom and dad down our walkway toward the street. Mom tried to fight it. She threw a weak elbow, which earned her a slap to the face by the arresting soldier. Everything in her purse tumbled out into the street. Dad needed to be restrained as well, but he chose to accept his fate. He used to talk to me about picking the right battles. This was definitely a battle worth picking, but he had no chance of winning itnot yet, anyway. A guard whisked him away, but not before mouthing, I love you, Mel.

I tried to scream. No sound came out. My whole world had suddenly flown off its axis.

Through bleary eyes, I looked down our street to witness every other familys life change that same moment. Moms and dads, adults of every age, dragged to the curb and hoisted onto waiting flatbed trucks. Some went quietly; others resisted with spirit.

I stood on the sidewalk, paralyzed by fear at the scene before me. The shrieking screams of mothers torn from their children. The cries of pain from men subdued by Tasers.

Then there was my mom. She wouldnt give up. No teenage soldier was going to keep her from her children. They werent going to drag her away. Not without a fight.

It was a fight she had no chance of winning.

The soldier handling my mom didnt look much older than my brother. His frustration level rose visibly as my mom refused to comply with their demands.

Lady, you need to calm down or this wont end well for you, he said.

Is that so? she said.

The soldier didnt respond.

Then you have no idea how badly this is going to end, she quipped. She swatted at the guard a few times before he secured her hands behind her back.

That was my mom, feisty to the end. She used to say similar things to my brothers when they fought at home. But she knew Dad was on his way home and would deal with them accordingly. She appeared desperate without my dad for backup, who sat slumped on the truck bed with a gun pointed at his head.

Eventually the soldiers had finished gathering all the adults living in our cul-de-sac. They were ready to leave. As the truck began to pull away, I stood on the sidewalk and continued to watch my mom attempt to wrestle her way to freedom. I could see my dad trying to reason with her to sit still. But she would have none of it. She continued to squirm and stomp and scream. Just as the truck rounded the corner, I heard a gunshot and watched my mom collapse.

I finally found my voice, unleashing a shrill scream.

Dustin knelt beside me and pulled me close as I wept in his arms. Heaving sobs.

Its going to be all right, Mel, he said. He grimaced as he went to give me a hug. The pain in his eyes betrayed his soothing words.

Dustin was always nice to me, but how could everything be all right? It was never going to be all rightnot anymore at least. Not without my mom. Not without my dad.

Down the street, kids stood or sat near the curb, stunned at what just happened. Some were in shock, speechless as they stared at the corner where the trucks were last visible before disappearing. Others wailed. In an instant, wed become orphans.

I looked down to see all the contents of my moms purse still strewn across the street. A family picture she treasured had lodged beneath my shoe, flickering in the stiff breeze. I picked it up. We were all smiling.

I doubted I would ever smile again. Suddenly, it felt like winter againwith no spring in my future.

That was my moment. It was also the moment I vowed I would make a new one no matter how hard it was or how long it took. That was almost 12 years ago, but it feels like yesterday.

CHAPTER 1

IN THE MORNING, Ill be whisked away. My punishment will be swift and severe. This isnt the family reunion I was hoping for. No parentsjust one of my brothers. But he isnt even here. Hes a few hundred yards away inside the safe borders of The Badlands. Meanwhile, Im confined to this cell, wishing to be anywhere but here. Well, almost anywhere.

A few days ago, I turned eighteen but I still havent celebrated it. I havent had a chance yetand nobody throws a party in prison.

But Im here by choice. Well, not here by choice, but in this predicament as a result of my own decision. And if I had to do it over again, Id make the same decision. Sounds crazy, right? I mean, who would want to skip their eighteenth birthday party?

Maybe I am crazy. At this point, Im not dismissing any theories. Before this whole thing started, I thought I was living in heaven on earthat least what was left of the earth after the nuclear decimation during The Great War. But then I learned the truth. Whenever you learn the truth, you cant unlearn it. Truth sticks with you, ensuring that even if you choose to ignore it, it follows you. Sometimes it follows you, mocking you as you embrace some alternate truth that is nothing more than a neatly disguised lie.