Counterfeit

-fiftyeight--

--fiftyeight- 

I'D LIKE TO think that the old me was so enduring that the only solution for some control was to alter me, as if the knowledge would be some sort of counsel to who I was becoming, or growing back into. But not being able to trust which parts of myself were true, and which were counterfeit into some sort of quiet mold, made me contradict every thought I had. 

I wanted to be brave. I wanted to be courageous, but I didn't know if I was. 

Martin, my brother, had taken over the explanation, moving onto the Hibernation Pods - a concept I was completely unaware of until now. Their purpose terrified me, and when I learned that I had been enclosed in one for my Alteration period, a coldness rattled my body. 

"No, there's two different types of pods." Martin informed me. "One is a zero-gravity pod - used for the people being tested on, and the other is the for the Alteration. In the pod you were in, they tested your body's reactions to things, mapped how your brain perceived certain images or ideas, and altered your memories which concluded your experience." 

"And the other pod?" 

"Yes... It leads onto the Rule. And another concept entirely: the holograms." 

"Holograms..." I repeated after, processing what he had stated, still piecing everything in my mind. 

Martin spoke up again, but his question wasn't for me. "Charleston, is she ready to know yet?" 

His hand moved reassuringly against my back. "Why don't you ask her." He replied. 

His words gave me such a liberation. A power I hadn't had in months, a power to determine what happened to me and would be allowed to know. 

Finally, something I knew that I meant, "I'm ready." 

Martin offered me a polite smile, nodding as he prepared himself to speak again, to explain what was being done to my friends. 

"In order for the ESA to determine the effects of the disease, there needs to be a comparison between the healthy, the sick, and the in between." 

I already knew where I stood in that line, drifting unwillingly between the two without even an awareness. 

"But exposure to the sick would effect the other two parties, resulting in the purpose of the first pod. The Hibernation pod." 

Something cut Martin off. A noise to the right of them. I looked along, forgetting they weren't here. Within seconds, both my dad and brother were on their feet, looking startled in a direction we couldn't see. 

"What's happening?" I turned to Charleston. We were both up, too. 

He hesitated in his answer. "Uh, I don't know. Stay back." But I didn't listen to him, assuming that he had also forgot about them not being here. 

I inched behind him slowly, trying to make sense of what had distracted them from our call. When Charleston noticed, he grabbed my arm, carefully, but quickly ushering me from sight. "Pip, I need you to stay back. You can't be seen." 

I obliged by his request, hovering in the corner of the room, fearful over the booming noises coming from the projection. Every now and then we'd hear a mumble from either Martin or my dad, and then the other would run across the room, weapon in hand. 

"They can't find about this. Not whilst she's inside. Do not say a word about her. You hear me?" 

It was the last thing we heard before the screen glitched to a transparent state, revealing no more than the other side of the room. I ran forward, out from the dark and dust to where the light of the projection had just been. 

They were gone again. Something had happened. And I still wasn't any closer to remembering who I was before. 

A voice behind me. A warm hand on my arm. "I'm sorry." 

Yet he was always sorry, and I was always tired of him feeling this way. He had fought for me long enough, taken every failure as his own, done everything to keep me safe. 

"No." I turned around. "You shouldn't be."  

It was my time to fight for him. 

"The plan begins now." 

--fiftyeight-

12/03/18

The gif is touching my heart.

I imagine him looking at Pip like that. Caring for her like that. Loving her like that. 

I'm thinking maybe this book will end at chapter eighty ish? And I came up with a big idea for this series earlier today which I'm contemplating on telling you guys.

Please read my profile on news about my movie for Counterfeit if you haven't see a recent update. Thank you for getting this far!

Please comment what you thought of this!

What do you think happened to Thelonious and Martin (Pip's father and brother)?

What did you think about the ending with Pip finding her courage to progress on the plan for Charleston's sake?

Are you excited for the next chapter? You should be. A VERY cute Pip and Charleston scene is coming. I've got it planned, but if you could have anything in the next chapter (between them), what would happen?

Remember to find God today! Look to Him for all your struggles because He is our rock and our fortress - an ever-present help in our times of trouble. He is my reason.