The Claiming

Chapter Twelve

Fall turns into winter very quickly, and snow comes soon after. Alec and I finally begin to really settle into our home. Alec has started his job, working every weekday from eight in the morning to four in the afternoon. We've finished unpacking everything, we've finally found a complete wardrobe for me—free of any trace of the Facility—and I've started to chill out about the cameras in our home. Of course, I'm still furious about it, but I'm not showing it as horribly as before.

"Grab your coat," Alec says to me. "It's freezing out there!"

Alec and I have finally been able to meet up with Riah and Chance again. They've been off the radar for a while, and I've been getting worried. So, we're planning on meeting on top of the Plaza, where we met before the Claiming.

It feels like it's been years since then.

Alec pulls me to my feet. All afternoon I sat reading on the sofa—one of the few entertaining things to do in Bayfell nowadays. Together, we put our coats on by the door. Alec grabs his keys and wallet, and then ushers me out the front door.

The snow tickles my nose when it drifts down to my face. I squint up at the grey sky, and then at the white wonderland around me. As ugly as this part of the neighborhood is, the snow makes it look gorgeous. I smile a little bit. "We should build a snowman. Tonight."

Alec kisses my cheek once we arrive at his car. "Sounds like a plan."

It takes me a struggling moment to pry open the door, stuck shut from the cold. "Alec," I say, drawing out his name in a whine.

He chuckles. "Get used to it, love. It's only going to get colder!"

I slump into the passenger seat and shut the door. "Are we going to tell them?" I ask.

Alec hesitates as he puts the car into drive and backs out of our driveway. Then he says, "They have a right to know."

"Do your parents know?"

Alec shrugs. "I haven't talked to them much since I moved out. It's weird, but I guess this is their way of letting me go."

"Well, we should go see them soon!"

Alec smiles at me. "We should."

***

We reach the Plaza and enter the quiet building. The building is mostly useless. Events are probably the only way a bulk of people would be seen here. Otherwise, official meetings take place here on an irregular basis. The doors are left unlocked for who-knows-what reason, so when we discovered this years ago, the four of us took our chance for a place to spend time together without anyone looking our way. Now, it feels like the only safe place in Bayfell, and I'm not even sure that's true.

When we reach the roof after climbing up the many staircases in the stairwell, we find the rooftop empty. We must be the first then.

"I'll give them ten minutes, and then I'll call," Alec says.

I nod slowly. I pull my jacket tighter around me and walk to the edge of the roof ledge lined with cement fencing. Alec stands beside me and pulls me under his arm to protect me from the brutal wind.

"I'm not so sure meeting here was the greatest idea," I say as I hide my face in Alec's coat.

"Where else would we go? This is the only place I can think of that isn't surveyed."

Suddenly, the door to the roof opens and Riah and Chance walk out hand-in-hand. "Hey, guys!"

I smile at our friends. It starts to feel like old times again... well, old meaning before the Claiming.