The Encroacher's Trilogy: Dystopia (COMPLETED)

Chapter 12

"Goodbye Flora. Be good." Mother kissed my forehead and followed father out of the door on the following Friday morning. They went to work as usual while I was requested to stay at home and do chores. I watched them join the pedestrians and step into the houses of clients thinking, 'why should I do chores when there is a better option?'
Why, I could break into the basement.

***

As soon as the door closed onto the outside world, I led Aldo into the lounge and locked him in there while I went to fetch the keys to the basement. The reason how I knew where to find the keys was because the night before, I watched my parents lock up the house atop the staircase to see how they got into the basement. I knew they would go in there because they always had the same routine every night since I had returned home:
Double lock the front door; get the torch; turn off the lights and switch on the torch; check no one was looking and-
I never knew what they did next. They would always point the torch to the floor as if for an extra precaution and the next thing I knew they were in the basement.

Until that night.

I sat in the shadows of the staircase and looked intently to see how they opened the basement.

It was the light switch.

They unscrewed the light switch panel with a screwdriver and inside lay a dark hole.
Mother reached her hand into the hole and pulled out a small brass object: the key.
They took the key out and unlocked the basement, and then...
They were in.

***

And then it was my turn.
I scrabbled through the kitchen utensil draw to find a screwdriver before running back to the light switch. Before I knew it, I had unscrewed the light switch panel and there it lay, peacefully and innocently holding all of my answers:
The Key.

I grabbed it with clammy, shaking hands and haphazardly stabbed it into the lock on the basement door. Meanwhile, Aldo was whining and scratching at the lounge door as if he were criticising my rash decisions. It took all my strength to ignore the whines or else I'd free him.

***

Eventually the key fitted the lock and I had the chance to enter the abyss of secrets.

Should I really be doing this?
Yes. Yes I should.

I smiled at all of the prospects of what was in that basement while making my way down the stairs. A part of me was petrified, but another part of me was beyond excited because I had faced my fears and proved to everyone that I was more than just 'someone who messed things up'. The air had started to become cloggy as I descended the staircase until it came to the point where I could smell mildew and smoke that I realised there was something very unauthorised in the basement.

What if it could kill me? What if it was a safety hazard?
What if my parents came back and found me dead on the floor?

These were the sorts of pessimistic thoughts that domineered my brain.
I knew I was being ridiculous because my parents would've been caught already if they had any dangerous weapons in my basement... but then again, why was everyone so afraid in class when the news reached their ears that I had a basement? The reaction that was given was as if everyone had been told that a criminal was on the loose and they were near our village. Even the teacher seemed afraid.
I tried to push these thoughts out of my mind for they were only oppressing me and making me think that I had made a grave mistake. I continued to make my way down the long dark staircase wondering when it would end when I saw a light at the bottom.
Once again I was renewed with determination and adrenaline, and my feet quickened in pace by their own accord. There was no Rottweiler stopping me now and I laughed out loud with sheer malice of what I was doing.

3 foot... There was the candle shedding the light.
2 foot... There was a table with... what was that?
1 foot... There was something on the walls- were they...

My feet had started to slow down as the realisation hit me.

No. I was torturing myself... It couldn't be true.
Not my family.
I was overthinking things.
Not my family.
I neared the images on the wall and felt tears pinprick my eyes.
"Not my family..." My voice caught in my throat, "What have they done?"
I looked at each of the pictures and turned towards the candle lit table in the centre of the room.
I picked up some letters and skim read them not daring to take in what I was reading.
It couldn't be true.
Not my family.
But then something blue caught my eyes.
Blue prints.
'Machine no. 2051' it read with a diagram of an exploded drawing of its compartments.
No... Not my family.
I picked up the wax candle to examine one of the pictures in further detail, when I realised that they weren't pictures... they were maps.
I fell to the floor and rocked back and forth letting the tears come.
They deserved to come. They would never be able to fit into this society. Not after this.
I scanned the room and looked at the other maps around me.
"Not- my-"
That was when I saw it.
The Map. The largest map. The one that contained all of my answers.
I staggered upwards and examined this map when a thought hit me like a dodgeball and I felt my eyes widen further then they had ever widened before.

It all made sense.

Noah saying he couldn't see me anymore... his parents... Katherine Bolders... the bike... Someone could of identified his mother and searched his records.

But why was Noah at school?

That was one answer I couldn't figure out.

***

I couldn't get my head around what I was seeing. Everything was put into a whole different perspective. No wonder he never wanted to see me again; he knew the risk that I could've told my parents about the bike.

But I didn't.

He could've been sent back to the Lab.
His family could've been sent to the Lab.
His father was a spy.
My parents were....
No. It couldn't be true. But it was the only logical explanation.
I ran to my room to fetch the Book about the war plans.
I turned to the first page.

'Property of Peter Bolders.'

No... not my family. They were good people. They wouldn't... They couldn't have.

But then I read a note on the first page:

"Eric.
You must keep this out of sight; it is for your eyes only. A spy of ours has retrieved this information from the enemy. I don't know how they have obtained our plans but I am afraid Eric. Very afraid.
After this war has ended they cannot be allowed to live, you understand that? They must be eliminated. What would happen if they were allowed to live? The war would never end.
You must obey this command Eric. Do you understand?
You must obey this command and succeed."  My suspicions were correct.
My parents were the leaders of World War 3 and Noah's parents were their enemies.
That man in the rubble... he was...
No. I wasn't ready to take that in yet.

With all of those maps showing where and when to bomb, there was only one conclusion:
The war wasn't over.
It had only just begun.

***

It was too much to process.
I suddenly felt very dizzy and white spots danced on my eyes.

Just a head rush...

I lost the feeling in my legs and the world went black.