Young Writers Society

These are the Banned Books. These are the books that the Authority does not know of. These are the books which might actually come from our past, not the books the Authority provides for us, written by Members.

It takes a large part of me to grab hold of that rope in the back of my mind and pull me back in before spiralling in between these pages and never wanting to leave this room. This small and narrow room, I remind myself. I can’t dive into these words, I need to find out more.

“Banned Books.” I whisper.

“Yes, yes.” Noah has a slight twitch in his left eye. Plus, he has a bloodshot expression which tells me that he’s either impatient or excited. “This is the last refuge remaining, at least that we know of. This is where we meet.”

“Who’s ‘we’?”

He smiles, “Just a bunch of misfits.”

***

“You’re risking everything if you do this.”

A few steps behind me, Kole and Sky are talking in hushed voices, it’s hard to make out what they say.

“What is it that I’m risking anyways, my freedom?” Skylar snickers.

“You know what I mean.” Kole snaps back, not in a harsh tone but he is definitely not keen on making jokes.

“Yeah, okay, whatever.”

“I just wanted you to know.” Kole calls after him as Sky makes his way towards me. “You know this isn’t just talk anymore. You don’t want to fail again. We don’t even know exactly what and who we’re up against, we don’t know the consequences.”

Sky doesn’t turn around.

“I said I’m ready.”

He approaches me, his eyes locked in a staring contest with his feet. Behind us, I could hear Kole sigh, not an exasperated one, more like a feeling of worry. As if he’s scared this fragile piece of glass will fall off the edge of a cliff. I glance back and see him vanishing back underground into what seemed like a separate world.

We walk silently through the same way as to how we got here. It’s strange how it must have been just an hour ago, and yet now it’s a part of my past I will never get back. A time where I didn’t know of secret rebel groups hiding underground, when I didn’t know of Skylar’s true secrets hidden beneath his mask, how he can let himself free only underground, veiled from this world. This world which now seems unknown to me. How is this the same way I walked an hour ago? It can’t be. So much has changed since then; and yet everything looks the same.

When they had finally let me out of the little room with Noah, everything after that sort of rushed past me in a blur. I remember everyone looking at me, and then Kole announcing I was allowed into the group. I remember thinking, When did I ask to be in this group? How did I even get to this? But I was given no time to speak. He read out to me a list of rules or principles:

1. You are not to speak of this group with anyone from the outside world
2. Don’t do anything which risks the secrecy or safety of the group.
3. Never get yourself involved with the Authority unless planned with the rest of the group.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Symbol of our group.” She said. “Represents wholeness and unity.”

That was the last time I spoke, after the incision into my finger Kole nodded to Sky and he lead me out back into the open. Now here we are, side by side as we were 10 years ago and yet separated by miles of questions and secrets.

After a while I’ve grown tired of letting the wind carry my questions, and I finally let one out.

“Sky, I,” My voice falters. I don’t even know how to start. “What is this group? Who are these people?”

“You shouldn’t have followed me.” He doesn’t look up to answer me.

I’m caught off guard by his answer. He’s right. I wish I hadn’t.

I try changing the subject before we go into another eternity of silence.

“What’s up with that girl… Lou? Why is she so… you know.”

“Lou has anger issues, I guess. A great fighter, someone who’s always on the edge of their seat ready to either protect you with her life or turn you into ash. I bet it has something to do with her past, something which I bet you will always remain a mystery to the world. No one knows anything about her, and no one probably ever will.”

“Kole is the leader isn’t he?”

“Yeah, I would call him that. Although sometimes it’s like you have to remind him.” He pauses and finally looks up at me. “He can’t remember anything of his life before last year. He says he just has this feeling that something is wrong in this world, and that something is out there.”

I want to ask about Jai, I want to ask about the young man who seems to follow me everywhere I go, but he answers my questions before I get the chance to ask them.

“Jai and Lucas, they’re the quiet and mysterious ones. I don’t know much about them, apart from that they’re obviously against the Authority.” I’m surprised as to how nonchalantly he just stated that, it’s not something I’m used to hearing everyday. “Oh, sorry. Forgot how new you are to all this.” He must have noticed the hint of shock in my expression. “Don’t worry, soon enough you’ll be thinking like us.”

I don’t know who he means to reassure with that comment. Do I even want to think like Skylar? Do I want to question my society, put my whole life at risk?

“Agro, the big guy who sat in front of Jai, he’s basically just there to grumble the whole time. Doesn’t give any suggestions or ideas, just there to tell us off. As if he were some sort of guard asked to keep an eye on us or something.” I heard Sky muttering to himself after that, “Like, who does he think he is coming here just…”

“Last but not least?” I ask.

“Oh yeah. That loony head.” I restrain the urge to laugh hearing that from Sky. “Noah. Ever since he started blabbing on about beings from other planets invading our own and magical resurrecting birds, we chose to just leave him be. He thinks he himself isn’t human. He keeps coming up with these insane ideas on how we’ve all been brainwashed by aliens.”

Ironic how I must sometimes think the same about Sky as he does about Noah.

We keep walking, and I get that same tingling feeling I got on my spine when I followed him to the refuge. It’s not cold, but I hear my teeth clattering against each other, shivering.

“Don’t you get a…strange feeling about this forest? Like, I don’t know, everything’s dead?”

I expect him to make some sarcastic comment about it being haunted, instead I get something very different.

“Everything is dead. Well, not dead, just not alive. Artificial.” He knocks hard on the tree nearest him, a bang of metal echoing in my ears. “You see, after the wars the Authority tried all they could to hide the ruins as they were,” He rolls his eyes and makes quotation signs with his hands, “reminders of inhumanity. They knew that this area was likely to have secret rebel refuges, so they tried concealing this part of the city from the people by creating the ‘Infernal Forest’.”

My ears suddenly pounce at the sound of clanging of metal. Skylar raises his hand to a tree and knocks hard. I follow his movements, but at the touch of the tree I do not feel something hard and metallic as I expected. The tips of my fingers scrape against the rough bark of the tree, disguised as any other one.

“You see what I mean now with the ‘don’t trust the Authority?’ They’re a bunch of lying, manipulative, power-hungry tyrants, hiding behind their polished white uniforms, holding us by a couple of strings with their left hands as if we were puppets.”

I hush him. The last thing I need, he needs, is his comments to be heard by those who could do something about them. As I think I realize, why am I even telling myself this? I am basically saying that there is no freedom of speech. Is that not proof that Sky’s insane talks of defiance are true? Stop it. I mentally slap myself. It is way too early to make myself believe that Sky is right.

“I say it’s finally time to cut the strings.” He says.

After that we walk in silence, past the lying trees and the masses of gray blocks beyond.