Chapter 14

Third Person's POV

Rojum cracked and gave in to his frustrations. He knew he'd lost digits, but he just couldn't take it anymore.

He picked up the shoe that hit him and threw it back to the girl, but unfortunately, he missed it.

Allisha couldn't help but burst out in laughter. She found this boy funny for being so lame. The boy's throw was powerless.

"What's that? Is that even a throw?" Allisha hardly spoke while laughing.

Rojum pounced on Allisha so hard that he knocked both of them down on the ground.

"What are you doing? Ha?" Rojum asked, really confused by what Allisha was doing.

But Allisha didn't bother answering; instead, she kept on laughing.

Rojum was dumbfounded by Allisha's behavior. But he couldn't understand what it was about this girl that made him fine with wasting his time staring at her doing such an unfamiliar thing.

He was drowning while he looked at and studied Allisha. Until he was startled by yet another unfamiliar sound coming from inside her.

Allisha's stomach rumbled.

"What's that?" Rojum asked as he lowered his sight to Allisha's tummy and innocently bent down to put his left ear to it.

"Wait! What are you doing? Get off! I'm just hungry, that's all," Allisha explained while pushing away Rojum.

"What is hungry?"

"Really? Wow, what a peculiar dream! Never mind!" Allisha said as she dusted herself off after standing up.

"Inside are the organs; such a sound indicates that your inside organs are going through something. Is hungry painful?" Rojum said and asked after carefully thinking about the situation.

"What?" Allisha smiled at his innocent statement. "You're crazy. Of course not. It's uncomfortable, though. Don't worry, I just have to find something to eat," she continued, worried why she felt hungry when it was just a dream.

Rojum stood up and ran somewhere.

She curiously fixed her gaze to follow Rojum walking away. She was puzzled by everything until the old man handed her a stone.

"You can see me?" she asked, surprised.

"Take this and leave. You have to leave or you won't ever be back." The old man said.

Allisha got more confused about the situation.

She stared at the stone before accepting it.

"What's this…" Allisha said interrupted when Rojum appeared behind her without her noticing his already being back.

"Eat," Rojum said after handing over a sandwich.

Allisha smiled.

Rojum, out of his mind, slit a small smile.

"You smiled!" Allisha said while unwrapping the sandwich and cutting it in half. "You even got furious, curious, and concerned. You are a human after all."

Rojum's wayward ways and pale appearance muddled Allisha's interest. She thought how strange it could be for a person to not even show any sign of an expression.

"What smile? What are you trying to imply? I am a normal human, soon a worthy one." Rojum went back to his emotionless persona.

Rojum's eyes got wider when Allisha handed over the sandwich's half to the old man—to someone about to be Worthless.

Allisha laughed even harder but turned in such horror when the old man with whom she just shared a sandwich dropped down on the ground, lifeless.

The sky turned dark, and the rain started pouring.

A group of armed men came and surrounded them. Four of the men picked up the old man and slid him into a black pressure-sealed bag, just like trash.

Allisha stood frozen in terror.

"Wake me up! Wake me up!" she wailed in so much disbelief.

She looked at Rojum, who was also stunned by what had happened.

The leader of the group grabbed Rojum's hand and scanned.

"Rojum Valian, Nehiam Family, apply a deduction. First error. Two more, and you'll be thrown out as Worthless." The commander in an armed suit declared with all the power resonating amongst the empty streets.

By this time, everyone should be on their respective schedules, either at work or in school.

"What?" Rojum asked dumbfounded.

"According to your digits, you are scheduled to be in school right now, but you are here on the streets, giving out food to someone using your own worth digits. Against the rule!" The commander scolded Rojum. "No Worthless can tarnish the balance. Take him to Visrion." He ordered pointing out the old man who just died.

While they sealed off the helpless old man, a middle-aged man showed up in the midst of the pursuit.

He got off a very strange vehicle and he was wearing something elegant that screamed of power.

"An Upper, pay some respect." The leader commanded.

"He's my son. I'll handle this." The middle-aged man said who turned out to be Rojum's father.

Allisha watched the man and Rojum left in a hovering car.

She wiped off her tears and took off with the armed men to where would they put the old man's dead body. Since no one could see her, she attempted to take risks.

"We reached Visrion." A mechanical voice announced.

They reached a developed area where magnificent buildings were built, at the middle, a complex designed structure marked with the word Visrion caught Allisha's attention. She felt she knew this place but wasn't sure. The car turned to a lonesome area, a kilometer deeper in the woods behind Visrion.

Allisha stared at the large signage on the curved rusting metallic gate at the entrance.

"W-O-R-T-H-L-E-S-S" she spoke slowly.

There she heard screams and cries.

There were people of all ages. They were lined in a row. Everyone was pleading and crying, others were laughing and criticizing the armed men.

They exhibited emotions. Unlike the Rojum she just met. And the armed men. And the so-called father of Rojum.

One by one, they were killed after being announced as Worthless.

Allisha felt a burning rage inside her. She believed that the only one who could take back something was the giver itself.

Allisha noticed that the stone she was holding started glowing and radiating a strong pulse throughout her body.

Allisha tried her utmost strength to step forward and say something to stop all the nonsense happening, but she just couldn't. The more she wanted, and resisted, the stronger the pulsating feeling from the stone was crippling her.

"Please…help!" a young girl called for her attention.

She couldn't move. She tried and tried but he could only stare at the young girl's helpless eyes begging for help before she snapped out when the little girl was about to be killed.

"NO!"