Cecelia Ahern - Perfect

I sit beside her on the sand, her arm over my shoulder, and I cuddle into her. I watch Carrick by the water, just standing there, hands in his pockets, head down, lost in thought.

“He’s very handsome.”

“He is.” I smile.

“Well? Tell your mother.…”

“I don’t think I need to tell my mother anything. You always know exactly what’s going on.”

She smiles, and I see the concern in her eyes.

“I know, I know. Be careful, be wise, etcetera.”

“Good. He seems like a good person. He cares about you, I know that. He’s risking a lot to help you.”

“So are you,” I say, feeling afraid for her. “So has Juniper.” My eyes fill, thinking of my sister in that place right now. And of Granddad in his cell.

“I’m not afraid, and neither was Juniper,” she says. “I can’t wait to march into that place and demand for my daughter to be returned. It’s everything I wanted to do when you were in Highland Castle but couldn’t, so I get my chance to do it now.”

“Thank you, Mom. I’m so sorry I’ve put you all in this situation.”

She places her hands on my cheeks. “Don’t you ever be sorry for what has happened. You tried to help a man. You were a bigger person than any of us could be.”

I appreciate those words.

Silence falls between us. And now’s the time.

“How is Dad?”

“He’s okay.”

“Is he still working at the station?”

“Yes, just about, and it’s killing him to be there working for the Crevans, but…”

“You need the money.”

“No,” she says, which surprises me. “I mean, of course we need the money, but he can work anywhere. Your dad wants to know what’s going on with you, and working at News 24 means he gets to find out what exactly they know about you. He’s like a little spy.” She laughs.

I smile, thinking of him there, guarding me. “I need his help.”

She looks at me, intrigued.

“Carrick thinks I’ve arranged to meet you to discuss plans to get Juniper.”

We both look at him standing at the water’s edge, hands still in his pockets, looking out, the weight of the world on his shoulders.

“But I don’t want him to know about this. Because if he knows, then it won’t work.”

I show her the USB. “It’s footage of Crevan giving me a sixth brand.”

She looks at it in shock. “ Crevan branded you? Himself?”

I nod. I refused to ever discuss it with her before.

“Mr. Berry filmed it,” I explain. “Now Mr. Berry has gone missing, as have all the guards. It’s what Crevan has been looking for.”

She takes it in her hand, squeezes it angrily, while it all sinks in. What this man has done to her daughter. I can tell she’s looking forward to her invasion now. “This is what they’ve been searching the house for?”

“And why he’s been hunting me. He doesn’t want me . He wants this . I need you to give it to Dad. I need Dad to make copies. Then I need him to find Enya Sleepwell. She and I have made a plan. She’ll know exactly what to do with it.”

“Enya Sleepwell, the politician?”

“We can trust her.”

“Okay. But I don’t understand why Carrick can’t know about this.”

“Because this is a backup plan. The fewer people who know, the better chance it has of working, and I’m hoping I won’t need to use it. I need you to take this laptop. Keep it safe somewhere. Carrick transferred the footage to this, too. I need to hold on to the original USB. I have a meeting with Judge Sanchez.”

Her mouth falls open. “You what?”

“Plan A.” I grin.

The sun appears on the horizon, and the new day begins.

SEVENTY-TWO

BACK IN THE turret room with Jackson and Sanchez, I look at the clock.

There’s a plasma screen on the wall. Jackson presses the power button on the remote control.

My entire body tremors, from nerves, adrenaline, and the pain of my abdominal wound.

Sanchez’s eyes widen as she watches the television. It looks like she’s not breathing. The party political broadcast is on every channel.

“Hello, my name is Enya Sleepwell, and I’m leader of the Vital Party. We began five years ago with relatively small numbers but we are now the fastest-growing political party in the country. Since I became leader two months ago we have taken a look at our policies and reinvented ourselves. We are representing the real desires, hopes, and dreams of real people. We are the party that stands by our beliefs; we ask the difficult questions, find the solutions. We want to make this country strong again, undivided, working in harmony, leading and taking it forward using compassion and logic.

“We’re also about lifting the veil on hypocrisy, revealing the truth about the leaders in our society. What you are about to see may be distressing to many. It is shocking and deeply disturbing. Our current government is fraught with danger; our current government allows this to happen.”

The broadcast cuts from Enya to the footage of the Branding Chamber. Me, strapped in the chair. Judge Crevan stands before me in his bloodred robe shouting at me to repent. I refuse, and instead hold my tongue out, my first act of defiance against him. Bark places a clamp on my tongue and brands it with the hot weld. The sounds that come from me are like those of a wounded animal.

It’s distressing, and I see Jackson hold his hand to his head. I doubt he’s ever witnessed a branding in his life.

Then Judge Crevan shouts at me some more, accuses me of being Flawed to my very backbone. He orders the sixth branding and Jackson sits up, turns to Sanchez in shock, then back to the screen again. He can’t believe what he’s seeing.

I hear sounds from outside. The crowd. Restless.

I stand up and make my way to the window that overlooks the courtyard. Neither Sanchez nor Jackson stops me; they seem frozen by what is happening on the screen.

Outside, the thousands of Flawed who gathered earlier are now gone, but the courtyard has been opened up again to members of the public, who are always invited to come to the courtyard to watch as accused Flawed are taken from their holding cells in one building, across the courtyard to the courtroom on the other side.

Many of the people outside are dressed in red, but they aren’t Flawed. They are members of the public, they are protesting against the Guild. I see them wearing T-shirts just like the ones Mom, Juniper, Ewan, and the students were wearing, reading ABOLISH THE GUILD. The courtyard is mixed with protestors and regular people, and they are letting out shouts of disgust. Boos.

And then I realize why.

They are all watching the footage of my brandings on the large screen people watch trials on. Somebody has switched the station from Flawed TV to this. More and more people flood through the gates of the castle to watch, to see what all the fuss is about. I see them hold their hands to their mouths in shock as they witness Crevan in action.

Bark refuses to brand my spine. He says that there is no anesthetic.

I hear the people gasp, I see them grab the arms of the people next to them. They are starting to realize what they are about to see. These are not just protestors: There are other members of the public there, too, who came to witness a Flawed being brought to court. I sense them changing sides.

Crevan takes the searing hot rod in his hands. The guards are emotional and crying, trying to murmur words of support in my ears, trying to hold me still. Crevan brands my spine and my scream echoes and rebounds off the Highland Castle walls in the courtyard and out over the city.

The crowd howls in disgust. My body is trembling.

“No.” Sanchez stands. She is visibly shaking, her red robe quaking around her body.