Vanished

Chapter Seventeen

It felt horrible, like physical pain. Luke shooting up Burger King echoed inside Bella's mind. It made her tremble when they left, sitting near the water fountain. Jason crouched in front of her while she just gulped. Even if she held his hand, it wouldn't go away.

"Are you okay?" Teagan asked with dark bags settled under her eyes while she forced a smile.

Bella nodded, but her insides didn't feel that way. Inside, she remembered just sitting on the floor while Nelson panicked about the store. Jason had gone to help the girl in the back by putting pressure on her wound, but she ended up dying.

At one point, she thought the bubble would be a place of peace. No fighting, just a normal city doing its own thing. It wasn't what she suspected would happen.

"Luke is horrible," Bella mustered out.

Greyson had gone back to Uden for something, but people said he would be arriving soon. It was then that she saw something you'd see on television.

"Oh my gosh," she gasped.

From the view, you could plainly see some boy with his hands and feet tied, only wearing underwear. Some people began to laugh at the sight, while the boy with bushy hair stood on the steps of the mayor's office, hands in fists and his face bright red.

"What on earth?" Jason exclaimed, now seeing the sight.

Greyson walked out the door with a charming smile settled on his face. "I'm sure those here are wondering why this boy is standing here," he said.

Scarlett came with a sheet of paper. The words "RULE BREAKER" were taped on his stomach in large, bold black letters.

"He stood up for a man who prevented us freaks from eating," Greyson explained. "That man is someone who unfortunately broke his ankles. Freaks and normals get equal food, not the opposite. We don't want to commit such crimes, right?"

Being tortured or humiliated for doing something wrong wasn't exactly considered right. Knowing someone had broken ankles didn't seem like a pure coincidence.

Greyson met eyes with Jason, wearing a grin, but nobody around seemed to be pestering him about how his actions were deemed wrong. She glanced over, seeing that Teagan had her lips pressed together, trying not to laugh.

In any normal incident, people would call it funny. Here in the bubble, reactions were switched in different directions. Jason remained quiet, though. If he only acted this way because he was afraid of Greyson, then he shouldn't listen. Greyson already hadn't been following some agreement rules that had been set.

It has only been two weeks since this started, and they still had the food deal, along with alcohol, but Uden has caused a lot of violence. There were hostage situations, shootings, public humiliations, deaths, and injuries.

Jason and Greyson vanished soon. They had to figure out a way to stop this vanishing situation. It wouldn't be some simple concept, Bella presumed.

Even seeing that boy having to stand in broad daylight doing something deemed ruthless. If she wanted to keep Jason here, she needed to figure out a way.

Emma came walking over with another guy, only in his underwear with his wrists tied. His walking was unsteady, as if he were drunk. Instead of pure humiliation, there was a hard glare that settled on his face.

Greyson used an invisible force to pick the boy up, lifting him high in the air. His eyes were averted to the right, looking toward where the people were. Some covered their eyes while laughing or smirking at the vulgar sight. He dropped the guy onto the street, where he landed face down. The boy groaned in pain, slowly standing up.