Read The Seekers: The Children of Darkness (Dystopian Sci-Fi - Book 1) for Free Online Page A

time.’”
    “Well maybe, but you and Thomas would argue with me.”
    “That’s why we came up with the Pact of the Ponds.” He
placed his right hand over his heart and thrust his left in front, then
gestured for her to do the same.
    Her hand ventured into the space between them, but pulled
back. “It won’t work. We need three to form a circle.”
    “Then let’s pretend Thomas is here.”
    She glared at him but finally gave in, covering her heart
and grasping his wrist.
    “Pact of the Ponds,” he said weakly. “No more arguments and
the game will begin.”
    “This is no game.” She yanked her hand away and stared beyond
the tree line, as if searching for Thomas in far-off Temple City. “Something
terrible is happening to Thomas. I can sense his loneliness and fear, even at a
distance. Do you believe that?”
    Nathaniel nodded. More than once in their years together she’d
seemed able to read his thoughts. “It’s possible... for friends since birth.”
    “Can’t we find a way to help? Your father’s an elder. What
does he say?”
    Nathaniel gritted his teeth as the shame from that morning rushed
back. He told her what had happened, and she had the same questions.
    “How will he change?” she said.
    “He might be sadder.”
    “A sadder Thomas? What a horrible thought. Why didn’t you
press for more?”
    “I tried. I don’t know why he wouldn’t tell, but I said
things I never should have said. Since Thomas was taken, we’re all in a foul
mood.” He glanced at the hut skeleton. “Why don’t we cover the shelter now, you
and I? It’ll cheer us up and give Thomas a pleasant surprise when he returns.”
    A crease formed between Orah’s brows and her eyes narrowed. “Our
special ceremony without Thomas? How can you think such a thing? He’s gone less
than two weeks and you’d forget him?”
    First he’d snapped at his father, and now Orah had snapped
at him. The world had gone awry. This morning, he’d been angry with his father
for one of the few times in his life. He’d never been angry with Orah
before. “This is the Temple’s fault, with all their rules and ceremonies.”
    “You mustn’t say such things.”
    “Why not? No one’s listening.”
    “Because the Temple protects us from the darkness.” She
recited from the book of light, a verse the elders used to admonish children. “ Beware
the stray thought. Like water dripping on rock, it can erode the strongest mind
and open a path for the darkness. ”
    “We don’t even know what the darkness is.”
    “The darkness is the time before the light, a time of chaos
and death.”
    He stepped toward her. “That’s what we learned to recite in
school, but what is it really? You’re the smartest person I know. Can you tell
me what the darkness is?”
    He studied her as she pondered his question. Her looks came
from the Weber side of the family, with olive skin and delicate but
unremarkable features, more than offset by flaring dark eyes. The sole gift
from her mother was a striking red tint to her hair. Together, they combined
into a fierce beauty, especially when outraged like now.
    At last, her outrage vanished and she came closer, enough so
he felt her breath. “Yes, Nathaniel, I can tell you. The darkness is when a son
hurts the father he loves, when friends are separated, and when those who care the
most about each other raise their voices in anger.” Her expression hardened,
and her delicate features disappeared. “By that meaning, I swear the darkness
will never return.”
    The strong words narrowed his vision, so he saw her now as
through a tunnel. When the moment passed, he noticed something cold on his
cheeks.
    A light snow had begun to fall.

Chapter 5 – Festival
     
    As festival approached, Orah came to agree with Nathaniel.
Covering the NOT tree would affirm their friendship with Thomas rather than deny
it. Despite her distress at his absence, she had no way to help. So the day
before festival, she and Nathaniel