City of Silence by S. E. Gutierez (cheapest way to read ebooks TXT) 📕

This place, it's so strange. No one is answering my questions. Why won't they answer me? I trip and scrape my knee, but there are no comforting words or "It's okay"'s. Why don't they talk?!

"Mommy, Mommy why aren't you here? Where's Daddy? Why aren't they talking? Where am I? Where Trixie, where's my doggy?" I scream.

Everyone is wearing gray, no color. Why is there no color. Who are those scary men staring at me? Why are they the only ones in white? Why is everyone writting on those pads? Why is my voice the only sound.

"She's just a little girl." Someone mutters.

The people in white wrestle with him. WHy are they hurting him? The push him to his knees. Why do they want him on his knees. Why are they tying his hands behind his back? What's happening. The men in white pull out a shiny thing. What is it? I know, Daddy used those when he hunted. Why are they pointing it at him?

They fired.

I jolted awake, drenched in sweat. I have been here since I was five, twelve long years, and every night, my dreams are the same, a replaying of my first day here, of the man that spoke. The man that was shot. I fell back down. Ugh, four in the morning, and there was no way I was going to be able to sleep again. I lay there for a few minutes, think about this silent place, the soundless people. I missed talking, siging, and listening to music. When I was young, and still with my parents, I used to dance around the house, singing the nursery rhymes Mom had taught me. Dad used to play the piano and I would spin and twirl for him. Here, music wasn't aloud, unless you intended to play for the High Preists. I despised them. Some of them were old, wrinkled and hunche dover, while others where young and stuck up, always looking down on you either way. The old ones are pretty much normal, aside from High Preist Jarolds, he's a little off his rocker. The young ones though, they think they can hit on anyone. Naive little turds.

Sighing, I slid out of bed, pulled on a pair of gray pants and a somewhat normal looking gray shirt and picked up my, guess what, gray instant telegrapher. In the place I lived when I was little, we just called them cell phones. I had three new telegraphs from my best friend.

11/23/2114 11:02 PM
Alzara,
Something terrible had happened. My dad spoke. I don't know what to do. The High Preists don't know yet. Oh I hope they don't find out.
C

11/23/2114 11:54 PM
ALZARA,
Our neighbors, the one's with cousins that are High Priests, they told us that the Preists found out! WHAT DO I DO?!
C

11/24/2114 12:05 AM
THEY TOOK HIM! THEY TOOK DAD!

They took Calisto's father. They took Mr. Tristofred. This was so not good.

"Why, why are these people so cruel. All he did was speak." I said.

Since I lived alone, and no longer in an apartment with thin walls, I spoke to myself when I was home. I didn't know what to say to Calisto. I knew she would have to go to the White Court to hear the case againts him. The Court was silent, all questions and statements written or in the Language of the Hands. We were taught the Language of the hands in school, but it was complex and hard, as if we were learning to dance the hardest dance. I sighed. Sighing, yawning, and speaking were against the law, we were allowed to grunt, but only if we were working, and we could only scream if we were in danger, or being hurt. This world was cruel, cold, and sooner or later, it was going to go down. I knew what to telegraph Calisto.

11/24/2114 4:26 AM
Callie,
I'm so sorry! :( I hope they go easy on him at the White court. I swear, this place is twisted. I can't stand it here. If I could, I would totally give those stupid Preists a piece of my mind. HOW DARE THEY TAKE YOUR FATHER!!!
A

I pressed send, and my message was gone. I really hoped Mr. Tristofred was okay. I shook my head, pulled on my, yupp, grey hoodie, a pair of slightly darker grey tennis shoes, and went for a jog.

The air was cold, and fat drops of rain hit my face. Withing five minutes, I was soaked, wet, and cold, but I still didn't want to go home. I was still angry. When I came to my usual turn-and-go-home point, I kept running.

"STOP!" I hear someone shout. "You are under arrest for conspiracy against the High Preists."

I stop dead in my track. I turn around.

"You, High Preist, can. Kiss. My. Fat. Butt." I said.

He took a step back, shocked.

"Alzara Anne Amerilia, you are under arrest for defiance, speaking, and conspiracy. You need to-" I cut him off before he could finish.

"I don't need to do anything. It was not my choice to come here, and I will not follow your commands. Like I said, kiss my butt. I don't give a friggin' flying fart on toast in space." I turned and ran as fast as I could.

"STOP! Lower Preists, chase her!" the man shouted.

Oh this is so not my day.


I ran, ran, and guess what, ran. Somehow, I had lost the Preists and wound up in front of Calisto's house. I ran up the stone step to her front door. The buildings here were tall and looming, like big, stark, uniform storm clouds. I banged onher front door.

I wanted to yell at her to open up, but I knew that would only get me into more trouble. I slamed my fist on her door a few more times beofre finally giving up. I was about to set foot on the step farthest from her door when a boy opened it. I had no tablet or pad to write on, no pen to write with, and speaking would give me away to the Priests. I ran up and to him, and touched my pointer finger to my thumb, and pretended to write, the universal sign for 'can I get something to write with please?'.

He ushered me inside.

"Lis, do you know who this is?" he whispered.

She slowly came down the stairs, tears sliding down her cheeks. "ZayZay, is that you?" she whispered.

I nodded. She ran over to me, sobbing. "All he said was 'Oh, almost forgot my tablet.' ZayZay, I don't know what to do, they took my dad, they took Daddy."

I wrapped my arms around her, she was like my sister, and her parents treated me like their second child. "Shhhhhh, Callie, shhh. It's gonna be okay, you're gonna see your dad agian, we'll

see your dad again. We're gonna get through this together, okay?"

She nodded and sniffled. "Okay."

"Just one thing," I whispered. "Who's Mr. I'm-just-gonna-stand-here-awkwardly-and-hope-you-don't-notice?"

She looked confused, then it hit her. "Oh, I must've forgotten to introduce you to Asher, my twin."

Oh, today just get's better and better.

Calisto, Asher and I decided talking was a little too dangerous, especially considering their father was just taken away in chains for that.

So, care to explain why you pounded on my door at five in in the morning? She wrote.

I'd rather not... I wrote back.

As your best friend, I hereby demand you to tell me.

Ugh, fine, but don't be too upset. After I sent you that telegraph, I went for a jog, a little past the park, a High Preist came after me an told me I was under arrest for conspiracy. I told him to kiss my butt, then he made the charge conspiracy, speaking and defiance or something, then I told him he could kiss my butt again. I ran, lost them, and wound up here. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come here.

After she read my words, her eyes went big.

"You really said that to a High Preist?" she actually asked.

"Yupp, and I'm not sorry." I answered.

Stay here while I go get Asher. We need to figure out what to do.

She slid her tablet over to me, and dashed down the stairs. I knew that I shouldn't have spoken, but honestly, who came up with that dumb law anyway? I remeber, in my history lessons when I was little, and still living with my parents, we used to learn about a place in the past, America. They had right to religion, freedon of speach, expression. It sounded like heaven.

A few minutes later, she came down the stairs, taking them two at a time with Asher and her mother on her heals. The three of us sat around Calista's dinner table. We were scribbling on our pads, brainstorming ideas about what to do.

We could hide. Calisto suggested first.

What about your father? What are we gonna do about that? I wrote back.

I honestly have no clue. What do you think, Mom.

We are going to have to break him out at the White Court. Calisto's Mom answered. We are going to do so at the trial. Alzara, you will stay here with Asher while Calisto and I rescue her father. Wait for us, when we get back, we will run.

Asher, Calisto and I looked at each other, scared. This was either going to work, or land all of us in chains, just like the man. Shivers went down my spine as Calisto and her mom went off to create their plan of action.

I sat next to Asher on their sofa, shaking. My mind kept replaying the man