Page 9 (2/2)

Chris looks sheepish "I just heard it was h, with no Haze Headaches afterward I thought you ht fro You can’t trust those street blends; they could’ve beenYou shouldn’t touch that stuff with a barge pole," Ash says

Chris nods, sitting back "Yeahyeah, you’re probably right"

Gregory turns his liquid hazel eyes on Ash, hatred burning in the bushy mustache--enters the library, a projector wheel under his ar off Ash’s jacket and sling it over the back of ht next to my ear My heartbeat quickens

"I want h luck"

"I’ive it back or--"

"What? You’ll killto wear thin"

He shakes his head "Keep it, I don’t care It reeks of you noay"

"There’s nothing wrong with the way I s

I don’t knohy this upsets me Why should I care what he thinks about hts, and everyone in the rooed into darkness I can see Ash’s eyes sparkling from the corner of ins of the Blood Wars, but I’ it hard with Ash so indecently close, his knee alainst the desk--tap tap tap--watching the screen at the front of the class, his face somber

Click: a photo of the city prewar, the filthy streets lit by neon lights

"The United Sentry States was drowning in corruption," Mr Lewis says "Drug and crian, and overcrowding was fast becorated to the cities in search of work and food"

Mr Lewis looks around the class "Does anybody knohat the biggest killer of hu this troubled time?"

Day’s hand shoots up "Haze addiction"

Mr Lewis nods "Over seventy percent of the human population of the United Sentry States was hooked on this highly addictive drug It was a very dark period of our history"

Gregory scowls at Ash

Click: a partially built concrete wall

"Purian Rose, as the newly elected head of the United Sentry States, realized the nation’s best chance of rehabilitation and recovery was to segregate the Darkling population froastates, he ordered that Darklings be relocated into walled ghettos"

Click: thousands of Darklings being led at gunpoint by Sentry guards into a ghetto

"Relocation was successful, with h some rebel factions refused to leave their homes--mainly those who had cohabited with humans and borne twin-blood children," Mr Lewis says

Ash stares at the screen, his face set like stone

"Purian Rose graciously allowed the twin-bloods to stay with their human parents," Mr Lewis continues "However, a laas passed shortly after this that prohibited relationships between Darklings and hu born Anyone found violating these terms was sentenced to death"

Click: a Sentry General with blond hair and piercing blue eyes

Grief spills over ation, overpopulation was still a massive burden on the state, so General Jonathan Buchanan put forward the Voluntary Migration Scheration camps in the Barren Lands--"

"That’s not true," Ash says

Everyone turns to look at him

"Would you like to teach the class?" Mr Lewis says, his voice dripping with sarcas on thin ice, Fisher"

"Why? If you’re going to teach us ‘history,’ at least you should get your facts straight There weren’t any ration camps in the Barren Lands"

Mr Lewis’s s just vanished into thin air?"

"No," Ash says

"Then where did they all go?"

Ash looks directly atHe knows The truth is they weren’t ration camps; they were concentration cas to the Barren Lands to die, cut off from any blood supply

If he’d had his way, he would’ve sent all the Darklings to the Barren Lands, but politically that would’ve been disastrous People wouldn’t have been able to ignore thepopulation Father once toldwater, it’ll hop straight out of the pan If you put it in cold water and very slowly turn up the heat, the frog will happily swim around the pot until it boils to death Purian Rose was slowly turning up the heat on our society,without ever realizing they were doing it

The first stage of his plan were the ghettos, which were just a s weren’t really "that bad" and that the other Darklings ere being sent to the Barren Lands were going there out of choice The government made it sound like the camps in the Barren Lands were a holiday resort, and people illing to believe it, because it’s much easier to believe a lie than face a terrible truth Purian Rose coht under their noses, and they didn’t even blink

Then one by one, the Darkling survivors in the Barren Lands got sick with a strange new virus, the Wrath Now the only Darklings left in the Barren Lands are mindless monsters infected with the virus I know all this because e of the relocation progra; that was the reason he turned sides and tore our family apart

"Well?" Mr Lewis demands

The rest of the class turns to look at , please, please, please I don’t want the whole class knohat s They may not understand All that’s left of my father is his reputation I have to protect it<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>