The Cardinal, Elif Kaya [best historical fiction books of all time TXT] 📗

with difficulty. My shoulder hurts like hell. I start running towards a bidonville.

I take rapid turns extemporally. I will be out of my breath soon. I can't run from them. However, there is a chance that I might be able to hide. I seek for any door that is open. I turn right and face the ugly truth: It is a dead end. There is a sign hanging from the store at the end of the street. "Marauder's Bar - 7/24 open"

"I knew you would hear me. Thanks, dude." I silently pray to Jesus. I push the glass door open. There is a thick cloud of a heavy scent - a mixture of alcohol and mold. I try my best not to throw up. Behind the dark wooden counter a tall figure appears. I tell him "I really hope you're a decent guy" and with that, darkness comes over me and the pain of my shoulder ceases. 

 

Chapter 4 ***

 

Axel 

 

I am laying on the mattress of the bunk bed. My head feels heavy on my body yet I feel emptier. It is like my soul is sweeped away from my body and all I have left is a mass of muscles and heavy bones. My ribs push and pull at each other and don't provide my lungs with enough space to breathe in and out oxygen.

 

It has been a full day since I pulled that damn trigger. A full day since I have become a monster no different than the ones that rule the Cardinal ruthlessly. A full day, since I was rewarded with a room for murdering an innocent. After her dead body was taken out of his office, Kerrington told me that I was free to move out of the sleeping quarter and into a room of three. What I fear most lying on my new bed in my new room is the brooding possibility that I am going to forget about her face gradually. I am scared of forgetting the desperation in her eyes, the look she gave me, if there were any golden sparkles in her green eyes. They have succeeded, I tell myself. They managed to crash my ideals of breaking the cycle. Now I am just another gear that turns and turns according to the movement of the one coming before him.

 

The worst part is not losing my humanity though. The fact that I am still pondering about how to get myself out of this situation while guilt eats me from inside is far worse than only drowning in my guilt. I need to figure a way to drive their attention away from me. Otherwise I might end up like the girl I shot. I know that my little stunt wasn’t enough for them. They are going to surveil me. I have to convince them that I am suitable to become a soldier. I must prove them that I am capable of being a machine gun. Just cold and mechanic. Ready to oblige and kill. If I fail, not only my ideals are at the stake but my head as well. 

 

God! What was I thinking when I punched that imbecile Carter? Why shouldn’t I just contain my anger? 

 

There is a sudden shingling of keys. I avert my gaze from the ceiling to see who is my new roommate. I expect it to be Carter since it would a fitting punishment coming from the Cardinal officials. A crucial but entertaining joke to them. They would have fun pushing my limits and driving me to insanity by forcing me to spend time with Carter. They would laugh at me just like how they laugh after people taking the so called “Test” with high hopes without knowing the odds that they would get admitted to the Academy are even lower than a drunk man shooting a target in the eye with an arch bow after taking fifteen shots of tequila. You can wonder how I know about their laughters but believe me when I say I had heard enough of them when I used to be a child wanderşng in his home unaware of the things that were being planned behind closed doors.

 

There are more rumbling on the other side of the door. Someone must be carrying his belongings with a trolley. But why would someone fidget with the keys first instead of carrying his belongings. Then it hits me hard. The trolley probably belongs to my second "roomie". I get up and sit straightly on my bed. I don't want to appear weak and vulnerable. 

 

The door opens and I prepare myself to start living together with Carter for the rest of my life. However, I am greeted with a pleasant surprise: a scar on the face of my first roommate. I feel relief washing through me. However, my enthusiasm gets interrupted when I see the one following the Scarface. He is the rich boy of the Phoenixes who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He is the one with the trolley. Why would anyone bring that much belonging with him? I answer my own question: Maybe because you have much more than what you’ve brought. 

 

They both enter the room. The Scarface raises his eyebrow. He must be as dumbfounded as I am at the moment. Holy shit! The Sergeant is really playing a trick on me. He didn’t make Scarface my roomie out of the goodness of his heart. He is testing me. Well, two can play a game.

 

As we continue exchanging glances, Daniel, the Richie Rich looks at us carefully, trying to figure out what is going on. Then his face lights up -trust me, I didn’t use figurative language-. His pupils get bigger and the light blue of his eyes get smaller, he raises both his eyebrows and his mouth opens and a “Woah!”

 

“You are the two who queered Carter’s and his bitches’ pitches and set the thames on fire: Axel and Brandon. Oh men! We are going to be LEGENDARY!”

 

Daniel lets out a screech and Brandon whispers under his breath:

 

“I am not sure whether we would make it till the end of the semester, let alone being legendary.”

 

Daniel offers brightly: “Why don’t you lift your asses up and we go out tonight?” I want to turn him down. I really do but honestly I don’t have the energy in me. Moreover, why would I miss an opportunity to drown my sorrows?

 

...

 

They have a night to remember. Drinking and bonding

Chapter 5

 

Sasha

 

"Hunter, listen to me before trying to stop me."

 

"Ok, I am listening. I really wonder what you have to say. I hope you will be able to persuade me that you are not out of your mind. "

 

I sigh in annoyance. He refuses to admit that two banished people aren't enough to take down a government and reach my parents' secret file. We cannot both keep an eye on the current actions of the Cardinal and dedicate our whole time to decode my parents' heritage. Even though we now have computers and internet connection, it is still unbelievably difficult to take down the security system of the server and reach to the files that my parents hid in the archive under cover. We still don't know for sure whether they hid it there or not. However, I have no idea about where they could call a heaven if not their workspace. 

 

"Look, I am pretty sure that there are a lot of people studying at that Academy just because they have no other choice if they want a decent life. I think I could just sneak into the campus as a mole. I would take the exam and act like a regular technology student or a new recruit. If I could reach out to them during my time in Academy, we would have more companions."

 

"That brilliant plan of yours is too risky. Let's assume that you have found these people. How can we know if they are not spies of the Cardinal who is in the campus to detect rebels? I know that it is barely possible to change the system on our own. However, our main concern at the moment is not initiating a rebel but finding the message your parents left."

 

"Hunter, you are, at the moment, not capable of thinking out of the box. We both know that with the equipment you have now, you will be able to trace the hints and get a hold of the secret location of the message. As much as I want to honor my parents' heritage and take their revenge, I want to change things. I desire to help others -well to take my revenge as well."

 

I close my eyes and murmur the word "please". 

 

Hunter is surprised to see that I am pleading. I hardly ever use the words "please" or "thank you". He finally hunches his back in defeat. I knew I could break him. As common sense slowly kicks in to his thick head, he looks up at me. I can see the gears functioning in his mind. 

 

"We have to get started creating your new ID. I hope you don’t have any criminal record by the way. Because if you have, good luck explaining how a dead girl is able to join the Phoenixes on her second death anniversary since they will get your fingerprints as soon as you step foot on the Academy."

 

I nod in enthusiasm. Then he adds “I almost forgot to tell about the part where we are going to give you a makeover”

 

***

Hunter

 

The bell on top of the door rings and I peek up from my desk behind the counter. I decide to get up and check who has come. As a precaution, I take my gun from the drawer and slowly get up from the chair behind the desk. 

 

There is a girl standing at the door. She is about to faint. Her clothes are covered in blood and she is wet from head to toe. Her breaths are unsteady. She tries to walk towards me but traps over her own food and ends up on the floor. As her eyelids close, the last thing she says are incoherent but I catch the words “decent” and “hope”. I used to be a decent guy, if that is what she was trying to ask. However, I’m not sure I am what she was hoping to get while entering my bar. I’m damaged far beyond repairing to believe in a hopeful future and fairy tales. I will try to help