Untitled Novel – Part 5 – Hope Szymanski

About 6 months ago, I started writing a story bit by bit on this blog (actually it was my former blog). Since Part 4, I haven’t released any new chapters. However, today, I decided that I wanted to continue writing it, so I wrote Chapter 5.

If you are unfamiliar with the story thus far, I would recommend reading parts 1, 2, 3, and 4 which can be found below:

Before you read Part 5, I should warn you that I feel slightly unsatisfied with the transition. I believe that often happens when you don’t work on a particular story for a few months. That said, after recapping myself on the story, I believed it needed to go in a different direction than I had originally planned, so I switched things around. I may have to edit Part 4 in order to make this transition more effective…so stay tuned. 🙂

PART 5:

There was light. A blue light shone throughout the sky and radiated Katrina’s whole world. She felt like she was flying over the sun because it was so warm, but the looks of it resembled the moon. Freedom felt so good. Now she was running. Running towards the town center. The opening of the pendant had made her remember a few things. The Collective was bad, the Resistance was good, and Jason was her friend. Upon reaching the well in the center of town, she realized she was shaking. Why? Suddenly, Katrina’s daydream broke and she could hear the sounds around her again. Sirens were going off everywhere. Fear rose in her heart. Perhaps bursting out of her dorm in the middle of the night wasn’t the best way to accomplish her mission…
“The Collective is the ONE AND ONLY way to find happiness!” The Voice screamed into her head. Instantly, her head went from being completely fine to feeling like it was on fire. Katrina screamed and clamped her hands over her ears. “GIVE IN!” The Voice shouted. “Your stupid necklace is all they gave you! They ABANDONED you! HE abandoned you!”

“NO!” Katrina screamed. The sirens were making her migraine even worse, and Katrina burst into tears.

“Where are you!?” Katrina shouted, sobbing. “Where are you!?” The sirens were even louder and closer, and other people had started to gather and form a circle around her.

“Be still,” they all said in unison. “The Collective will save you.”

“NO!” Katrina was hysterical now. “JASON!” She screamed. She opened her eyes and looked at the moon, which seemed to glow an eerie red through her blurred vision. “Jason! Where are you?!” She screamed again. But the moon was frustratingly silent. “Help…” Katrina whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut again. She knew what she had to do. She didn’t know how she knew, but she knew. She opened her pendant again, and grabbing the blue pearl, she searched for the words to say that would bring help. Meanwhile, The Collective was closing in on her.

“The pain will go away if you just relax…” The Voice said soothingly. “We promise.”

“We promise.” The crowd echoed.

“Release the pearl.” A different voice said. Something deep inside told her to trust this voice and what to say.

“Summon the Resistance.” Katrina whispered, quickly opening her palm and exposing the blue pearl to the moonlight. With a flash, it was gone. Katrina opened her eyes and looked down at her empty palm. The Collective hissed at the mention of the Resistance. That was all the pearl had revealed to her. The Collective was bad, she was part of the Resistance, and Jason was her friend. Those three things she was certain of. Now, the pearl was gone. No more secrets were to be revealed through it. And the pendant was dead as well. Katrina could just tell from feeling it. It was ice cold.

Suddenly, the pendant was ripped off of her neck by one of the people in the crowd. They had started closing in to the point where they were touching her.

“No!” Katrina panicked. “Get away from me!” She backed herself up against the well as a woman with F-4455 on her shoulder patch grabbed her hands.

“Shhh…” She soothed. “It’s okay…You’re okay…” Katrina shuddered.

“Stop it!” Katrina pleaded, tears streaming down her face. Fear gripped her even further as she realized she had nowhere to run. Thick hands grabbed her shoulders and lifted her up, restraining her. Katrina started screaming and thrashing as much as she could, but to no avail. The arms carried her away from the town center into the building across from hers.

“Come and stop resisting The Collective. We are here to help you.” The owners of the strong arms said in unison.

“They are lying…” A voice inside of Katrina’s head warned her. Katrina kicked harder and harder until she couldn’t kick anymore. The men strapped her down on a sterile table so she couldn’t move her arms or legs.

A young man whom Katrina assumed was a doctor, approached her bedside with a long syringe, and Katrina shuddered again.

“No…please don’t…” Katrina’s plea was cut short as the needle was buried into her left upper arm.

“It’s okay…The young man said as he injected the contents of the syringe into her arm. “You’ll be set right very soon.”

Katrina’s vision started to get blurry as the syringe was removed from her arm. Her head was dizzy, and the last thing she remembered before losing consciousness was another doctor entering the room with what looked to be surgical equipment.

Katrina awoke in a cold sweat. She was still breathing hard from a nightmare she couldn’t remember. All of the other girls in her dorm were still asleep, so Katrina rolled over and closed her eyes. How long had she been a part of The Collective? It seemed like years although she had been told it was only a few months. Whoever she had been or wherever she had come from before being accepted into The Collective was completely gone. She had been told she had been rescued and her life saved. The doctors here were to be thanked for it. Unfortunately, these nightmares seemed to come back every few days. In the morning, she would have to request permission to see the doctors again as dreams in general were not normal or healthy.

The only thing she knew now was that she was safe. For the most part. If only she could get rid of the nightmares and the nagging feelings that sometimes overtook her, she could be free to be a full member of The Collective. The Voice soothed her day in and day out, and she was determined to surrender completely to it because it promised security and safety. The trouble was, she was having difficulties saying the right words in order to surrender.

“The Collective is the – “ Katrina stopped. For some reason, she couldn’t finish her sentence. Bad memories of a jab in her left arm and a dark and painful night haunted her. Why didn’t she feel like she belonged? What is wrong with me? Katrina asked herself frustratedly.

But no matter how much she searched her memory, she couldn’t find the answer.