Words of Fate

Chapter 7

Vivian's POV

I follow Cecilia out the door behind Ari and Sawyer, she leads me in the opposite direction. This place is absolutely beautiful and it amazes me that they've managed to keep it hidden. I can't wrap my head around Aceria, it just seems way too good to be true.

"So I know you have many questions about your father, more specifically how I knew him and how I had his compass correct?" I nod waiting for her to continue.

"I'll start with this, your father loved you dearly. There wasn't a day that went by that he didn't talk about you. He didn't want to leave you but he wasn't in love with your mother. He loved having a friendship with your mother but their relationship just wasn't true to him.” She pauses letting me take in her words.

“Seven years ago, he found his real soulmate, Daniel. They said their words of fate while in a grocery store. They were both unhappy in their current relationships but they loved their children dearly. The pain and guilt of lying was eating them away after a year of seeing each other. We got word that they were spotted together from one of our people. Our guy told them about Aceria, your father and Daniel decided to take a chance and come here." Cecilia gestures with her hands around us.

"They found safety here and both made an effort to still go visit their children as often as possible. They married and lived happily here for five years until Daniel became ill with a sickness that spread through all of Aceria, he died only 3 days after the almost month-long virus hit. Your father was destroyed when he lost who he had loved just as much as his daughter. After Daniel's death, your father couldn't stand living here anymore, it brought him nothing but horrible memories." Cecilia pauses once again.

"He requested the supplies to build a cabin close to the water not too far away from here and I granted him everything he needed. He lived there alone for only a few months before he went missing. We were delivering him a basket of food weekly even though he said he had already taken enough from us and when we went to deliver the basket his cabin was empty. There was a half finished mug of coffee on the table and everything else seemed to be in order."

"So, you're telling me my father is dead?" My voice cracks, I refuse to believe it. These people must be playing some type of sick game. 

"No Vivian, he isn't dead but he left and we don't know where or how to find him. His cabin is filled with journals that may lead us somewhere but we felt like we may have been invading his privacy if we read them. We skimmed through a few for recent dates to see if it could give us any clues. The journals we didn’t read had your name on them and we thought it would be best if you were the one to read them. There were no signs of a struggle in the cabin meaning we believe that he's just living somewhere else in the mountains."

"Vivian, I-" I cut her off.

"I need a little while to just take this in. I can't tell what's real or what's fake right now, just take me to the meeting. I'll listen to what you have to say but afterwards, I think I'll need a day or two to myself" 

"Of course, Vivian, you can always come to me if you need anything." She gives me a warm smile and leads me the rest of the way in silence.

I'm surprised when we make it to the meeting room, I was expecting a long desk with chairs neatly spaced around it but it's the complete opposite. The room is big but half of the room has tables with beverages and snacks even though we just came from breakfast. The other half of the room has couches and bean bag chairs they're arranged so they're facing the centre but this seems far more comfortable than any meeting room I've been in before.

There are many unfamiliar faces but when I make eye contact with Arabella I smile, I notice there is a seat open beside her and I take it. I take a quick count of how many people are here and I count up to twelve, thirteen if I include Sawyer who is standing at the entrance.

"Now that we're all here we can begin." Cecilia starts.

"We have some very important guests with us today. Vivian Reeves daughter of Elijah Reeves and Arabella Fallon my niece. They have been fated together and seek refuge with us that I will not refuse them of" she looks at us when she clarifies.

"They will, however, need to contribute to Aceria if they wish to stay. Today we will go over rules and they can decide where they would like to go. I'd like all of you to introduce yourselves by stating your name and what you lead here." Cecilia sounds much more professional when she’s in this setting and I can really see why she’s their leader. 

I try to pay attention but I can't remember anyone's names this quickly, I'm just able to catch what their job is. Cooking, security and scouting, the gatherers, hunting, cleaning, teaching, mechanics, childcare, medical and a few others that didn't appeal to me and left my mind quickly.

"You can have a week of no work but you'll need to choose a job so you can get some training after your week is up. If you're living here you must contribute back to the community. Are you girls going to stay?" Cecilia asks. I meet eyes with Ari and she gives me a small nod.

"Yes, we'll stay and we'll contribute" I announce.

"Great, now we don't have many rules here just some standard ones that need to be followed. I can give you a list but I believe you should be able to manage. We expect that you are respectful to all of the people living here, that you pull your weight, don't harm anyone and carrying weapons or firearms is prohibited unless you are trained and allowed to do so."

"Seems easy enough" Ari pipes in timidly.

"Okay, it's all set then. Do you girls have any questions?"

"Do you have a map for us?" I joke though a map would prove to be useful.

"I can get Sawyer or Luca to give you a guided tour after we're finished, any other questions?"

"How are there children here?" I ask curiously. If they had a childcare place there must be children that didn't come here because of their fated, we also met a girl who had been born here.

"Well some women come seek refuge with us while they're pregnant but we have a surrogate and donor system for families who want a child. I won't tell you too much about it because you and Arabella will have many years to go before I'd even think about letting you two arrange a donor." Cecilia's tone suggests she's joking but her look says otherwise. 

"Do you have any more questions?" Ari and I both shake our heads. 

"Alright, then you can head over to the other side, get yourselves a drink and chat to some of the leaders and figure out which job you'd like to take on. If you have any problems come and find me, I'll give you girls a week to figure it out." With that everyone stands and makes their way over to the tables, that was quicker than I expected it to be. 

I catch Ari walking over to one of the women, if I remember correctly she was the woman that takes care of the children. I trust that she'll be fine and I make my way over to the man that introduced himself as the leader for security and scouting. When he notices me walking up to him he smiles and holds out his hand for me to shake. 

"Vivian right? Luca told me about you stealing his gun," The man's voice is deep but I can tell he's kind hearted. 

"Uh yeah. He wasn't using it right and I didn't think he was capable of protecting us." I shrug. 

"So you've used a gun before?"

"My dad taught me a couple years ago. I prefer a bow and arrows though." I don't allow my voice to quiver. 

"So are you interested in joining my group?" He asks. 

"There's no way I'd be stuck in a kitchen doing dishes"

"So I'm taking that as a yes?" I nod my head. 

"Great we can begin training whenever you'd like though I have a feeling you won't be permitted to carry a firearm until Cecilia is positive we can trust you" 

"That's reasonable. What's your name by the way? I missed it earlier." I ask.

"It's Brodie, we can talk again soon but you should go over to Cecilia and tell her about your choice before you get a tour." Brodie suggests.

"Yeah, thanks. See you around" I say turning around and heading over to Cecilia. 

"Hey, so I think I'll join Brodie and his group" I announce to her. 

"That's great are you ready to get a look around? I have other places to be but I'll go find Luca and send him over here." 

"Actually could Sawyer just take us on the tour?" I ask remembering what happened with that i***t Dylan this morning. 

"Sure, that's no problem. Is there anything wrong?" She asks.

"No, but if Sawyer is already here there's no point in bugging Luca" I cover. 

"Alright, I have to head out now. Come see me whenever you want to start training." Cecilia excuses herself and heads for the door. I notice Sawyer is near the door too so I go over to him, Ari can join us as soon as she finishes talking.

"So did Cecilia tell you that you're on babysitting duty?" I joke and he gives a smile.

"Oh, I'm sure it's going to be such a pain to show you two around" Sawyer kids. 

"Is this place actually what it seems like?" I ask hoping to catch a glimpse of uncertainty in Sawyer's eyes but I come out with nothing. 

"I've been here for three years and they've protected me and have given me a place where I actually feel safe and I don't have to hide." Sawyer's voice doesn't shake but stays honest. 

"Ready to look around?" Arabella asks making me turn my head towards her. 

"Definitely" I respond and with that Sawyer opens the door for us and we walk out. 

Sawyer took us around for over an hour, he showed us the South wing first which included all four school rooms, the pre-school, male and female showers, Cecilia's office and he included which room was his in case we ever need his help.  

The east wing was next which had everything from a library to a medical center and even an animal care center. Apparently, some people came here with their animals, cats will just stay in their owner's houses and the center is mainly used for the seven dogs that live throughout Aceria when they need a vet or when their owners are working. 

The North wing was where we came into Aceria from the elevator, it didn’t have much but I was shown where I’ll have to go for training. The North wing is also where they have the gardens which are absolutely beautiful, they have flowers displayed just inside the gate and farther back I can see fresh vegetables and other foods. According to Sawyer, they keep only fresh foods up here and most of the non-perishable items are stored in underground pantries until they’re needed.  

Our wing, the West wing has open public showers for people who don't feel comfortable in the male or female showers, a dining room like all the other wings, a*****e and points center. It took 

Sawyer quite a while to explain to us how the currency works here but from what I understand everyone will get a linked points card and points will be given in the same way you would be paid with a job. Sawyer also tells us that there are other ways to earn points too, for example, both Ari and I will start off with fifty points each for joining the community, we can also earn them for doing something kind, donating items back to the store, or to one of the centers and doing a few other things. Even attending Aceria’s public events can allow you to earn points. Of course, we get points for working too and Sawyer explained that everyone gets an equal amount of four points per hour of work. 

"I think that's all you girls need to know, if you have any other questions don't be afraid to come to find me or anyone else."

"Oh, why are there so many dining rooms?" I ask before Sawyer gets a chance to leave. 

"They all have a different meal and you go to the one you would prefer, the four meals are announced at every meal, we just had a feast this morning to welcome you two. I suggest you stick to the West dining room though because we have better chefs in there who choose better meals though it's up to you two"

"Okay, thanks Sawyer" I nod and walk down the rope bridge to where Ari is already opening our door. 

"So, are you choosing child care?" I ask Ari once we're inside. 

"Yeah, I love children and I wouldn't be good at any of the other stuff. What did you choose?" she asks.

"I'm joining the security and guards" 

"That should be a good fit, you seemed experienced with Luca's gun." I notice when she says his name her tone changes. 

"Are you going to talk to him about this morning?"

"Eventually I guess. We've had arguments before and we always seem to make up. I get that he didn't want to tell his boyfriend off but he didn't have to let him be such an asshole"

"You know what'll make you feel better?" I ask with a smile forming. 

"What?" she asks looking into my eyes. 

"If we go check out the library" At this Arabella brightens and excitedly nods. I have a sudden urge to kiss her, but I know it’s still just the pull of being fated. She's so adorable but it's too early to kiss her, I've only known her for a few days.

When we leave out room we try to remember where the library is and after taking a wrong turn and walking past one of the bridges we were supposed to cross we finally make it to the right building. I pull open a massive oak door and when I walk in I'm amazed at how beautiful it is. There are many bookshelves at various points and they're all clean and dusted and even organized alphabetically by category. 

"Hello girls, you must be Vivian and Arabella. I saw you at breakfast this morning" an older woman greets us from a chair in the corner. She sets the book she was reading gently down on a table beside her.

"Do you two need help finding anything?" She asks us. 

"I think we're okay thank you, but if we need anything we'll be sure to ask" I'm a bit surprised when Arabella speaks up. 

"Okay girls and if you find any books you'd like to borrow just come find me and I can sign them out for you"

"Thank you," I tell her as I follow Ari through the shelves. We both quickly find books we want to read and we take advantage of the seating area near the entrance, spending the rest of our morning reading. We only stop when the woman, who we now know as Mrs.Jones, tells us that it's lunchtime and we need to head over to one of the dining halls.