Dubius - el.smith (e book reader pdf TXT) 📗

rooms.
I breathed a sigh of relief that I wasn’t called yet. I stared at my soup, and said nothing. What felt like hours, was only thirty minutes until the intercom came on again and called Tom’s name. He rose silently, and I stared at him. “Good luck, I love you. See you tonight.” He nodded, and followed the hall to the exam rooms. I sighed; I was now all alone at the table. Only a handful was actually left in the room still. I waited; the whole room was now silent. Once I heard the familiar boom of the intercom, I rose silently like Tom and down the hall I went.
The others were mainly Intrepidus, some were Custodes, but I on the other hand was the only Medocris. We walked silently into the room, and took our seats in our destiny rows. I was the only one in my row, I felt lonely. The room was huge; it had high ceilings, and was spotless white. Three people stood at the front of the room in red gowns, and had clipboards. The one in the middle of the trio stepped forward and spoke.
“Welcome to the indication room. Those of you who are Intrepidus will follow Candice. Those of you who are Custodes will follow James. And if you’re Medocris you’ll follow me. Any questions?” She asked, and everyone lined up and marched out of there to the separate rooms to the side. I stood by her side. “Hello my name is Gloria, you must be Theresa Grey. Tom’s sister.” She said as she glanced up from her clipboard. I nodded, “Yes, that’s me.” I shook her hand, and followed her to the side room.
Inside the room were all mirrors, and a single chair. She saw, my face, and said, “This is the simulator. It simulates the test, and what choices you make. You will be strapped to the chair and the glasses will create the test based on your choices. So why don’t you hop on in and we will get started.” She smiled at me, and I nervously sat down and was strapped in. She placed the glasses on my eyes and I saw nothing at first, but then. . .
I’m standing in the middle of an arena; people are sitting on bleachers surrounding me. The ground is muddy, and there is a black table holding three items. There is a knife, a piece of meat, and Taser. All strange objects for the exam, until I see why I need them. The door to the arena opened, and a tiger appeared. It was growling low in its throat, and pacing. Then there was a voice that said, “Choose one, and only one.” My thought was if I grab the knife I would have to kill it, the meat would only preoccupy it. Then the teaser would only stun it. I couldn’t kill it though; I just slumped to the soft ground and let it come after me.
What felt like hours, the tiger finally got close enough for me to smell its horrid breath; it was hot and smelled of death. I opened my eyes, and was face to face with it. It growled once more and then sat down in my lap and started licking my face. I smiled back at it, and started to pat its head. “See you’re not a horrible monster.” I said, and the moment I said it a little boy fell from the crowd into the arena. I screamed as the tiger turned its attention to him. I, without thinking, lunged at the tiger to stop them from attacking the boy.
The boy and tiger disappeared, and in their place was a masked man. He was standing over me, and suddenly the voice said, “Now for this part you will fight him off and escape the maze.” I thought, but we are in an arena. But as soon as I thought that, the place shifted to a maze of green hedges, and the masked man was still standing over me.
Suddenly he grabbed me and pulled me to my legs. I screamed, thrashed, and then remembered something from a book I read before. If someone ever grabs you, go for the most sensitive parts and to scream fire. I then stepped on his foot hard, and then jabbed my elbow deep into his stomach. He doubled over and I ran towards the tree in the middle of the maze. I climbed it and scouted for the way out.
I spotted it and headed down that path, watching for the masked man. He was still down, so I run faster and out into an open field. There's that voice again, “You are now at the third and final exam. Choose who to shot. You must kill someone.” I glace around, there’s a table with a loaded gun, and I’m face to face with two masked men and they each hold guns and people with bags over their heads. The men remove the bags and I’m now faced with my brother and a stranger. It’s obvious of who to choose, but it’s a test of my selfishness.
Before I know it I race forward and grab the gun. Tom says, “No Natalie you can’t do this.” He starts to cry and I close my eyes and press the cool barrel to my temple. I stare at my brother, and pull the trigger.


Chapter 2

I heard the sound of the gun go off, but I didn’t feel it. I looked around, I’m back at the exam room, and Gloria, her face is in shock. I just know that I did something wrong, I’ll probably end up a homeless person, kicked out of my destiny.
“What’s wrong, did I not do it right?” I asked, my voiced cracked. Sweat poured down my face and my breathing accelerated. She just shook her head like nothing was wrong, but her earlier expression said otherwise. “Nope, just need to go get the results.” She left and I sat there waiting for her to return. I was getting so anxious that I started to bit my nails.
It felt like eternity before she ever came back. She opened the door slowly; I knew something was wrong by the set of her lips. “Well I’ve got some interesting news for you.” I shuddered, I knew something was wrong. My hands started to shake violently, “What did the results say?” She looked at me soberly. She pursed her lips and said, “Theresa, your test results are indecisive. Do you know what that means?” I, wide eyed, shook my head.
She sighed, “What I’m about to tell you is not to be repeated, okay?” I nodded, “Your exam results were split between Intrepidus, Medocris, Custodes, and Principes. This means that you are what they call Dubius.” I was utterly baffled, what does this mean? “What does Dubius mean?” She looked around nervously.
“Dubius means unsolvable. It means that you are a unique individual that is multi-personal. You are gifted, and you can’t tell anyone, understand? The government would have you executed if they found out.” I nodded, a million thoughts raced through my head. I innocently asked, “Why?” She sighed, “Because you tested for more than one destiny, and that means you are a threat to them. They believe that people like you are different; they don’t understand why there are people like you. They are afraid of you.”
I stared at her shocked, I couldn’t believe this. “I think you should go, and don’t mention any of this to anyone ever. You have a lot to think about for the Choosing ceremony. Good luck Theresa Grey.” I nodded, and exited the room. Oh my I thought, what was I going to do? I know which one I should choose, but I know deep down that I’m not selfless enough, and that I wouldn’t be ever. I had to clear my head, so I rounded the corner, and rushed out of the school. I caught Tom’s face as I hurried out the door, and it was a mix of confusion and worry. I smiled weakly at him and sprinted out into the square.
I swiftly moved around people, and for once my short height and small body helped me move quickly and easily through the crowd. I looked down the whole time, not meeting anyone’s eyes. I decided against riding the bus home, so I cut through the wooded area around the bus loading docks.
The wooded area was dense and untouched because the government tells us of all the dangerous animals and homeless people live, so naturally nobody would see me here. I meandered down a dirt trail, and eventually emerged on the street next to mine. Sweat was pouring down my face; I wiped my forehead and walked down the sidewalk. Nobody was out today; it was so quiet that I could hear the city generators on the outskirts of the wooded area.
I hiked up the walkway to my house and grabbed the key form under the flower pot. I unlocked the door, and strolled into my room and flopped down on my bed. My parents were still at work, no doubt that they were already at the volunteer center. And Tom would be home soon, so I would need to explain to him why I left early, and start dinner.
I groaned, and jumped up, thinking of things to make for dinner. I entered the kitchen, and grabbed a frying pan. I decided on making plain chicken breast, broiled potatoes, and gruel. A very common meal in Medocris, and my father’s favorite, but he doesn’t say anything because we try to avoid vanity, greed, envy, and not being selfless. And not to favor things especially. But I can tell that he likes it, so maybe he wouldn’t think about what we are going to choose tomorrow.
I had just finished dishing out everyone’s plates when Tom and my parents walked through the door. I smiled and said, “Hey guys, dinner is ready.” My father smiled back at me, and said, “Thank you Theresa.” He put his coat away, and my mother sat down at the seat across from Tom. Tom took his seat and my father did as well, leaving me standing in the kitchen, assembling the drinks. I slowly moved around the table, placing the drinks down careful not to spill them.
Then I took my seat, and started on my chicken, warily cutting it into small bit size pieces. I had just placed my first bit into my mouth when my father cleared his throat. “So, how did your tests go today?” I grew nervous, and waited for Tom to say something. “Well I know which Destiny I’m going to choose.” He said with a smile, and turned to me. Oh no, my turn. I took a quick sip of water, and cleared my throat. “I think I know which one to choose as well.” My parents smiled, and my mother spoke. “Well we are glad with whatever you choose.” And with that my father nodded, and everyone resumed eating.
It was Tom’s turn to do the dishes, so I said goodnight, and went to my room. I couldn’t believe this, what was I going to do. If I choose Medocris, I wouldn’t be able to be selfless enough, and if I don’t I will never see my family again, not until visitation day, which is in four weeks.
I decided that my only way to