Freedom Fighters: Twilight City (Book 1) Read online



  Freedom Fighters:

  Twilight City

  RB

  Rossendale Books

  Published by Rossendale Books

  Category: Teenage, Fiction

  Published in e-book 2013

  Copyright Michelle Leyland © 2013

  Cover design by Robin Ludwig Design Inc

  www.gobookcoverdesign.com

  Starlet photography © Maksim Toome (Dreamstime.com)

  Rickie photography © Alexey Poprugin (Dreamstime.com)

  Carl photography © Verkoka (Dreamstime.com)

  Sarah photography © MegWallacePhotography (Dreamstime.com)

  Bryan photography © Tracy Whiteside (Dreamstime.com)

  Kat photography © Sheftsoff (Dreamstime.com)

  Josh photography © Kadettmann (Dreamstime.com)

  Mick photography © Jose Manuel Gelpi Diaz (Dreamstime.com)

  ISBN : 9781291289602

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Prologue

  Ebony held her baby close as the shouts and thundering at the door became louder.

  “You need to get her away from here,” her husband Ray said desperately. “You know what will happen if they catch us and we need to keep Starlet safe.”

  “But I can’t leave you,” said Ebony, with tears in her eyes at the thought of the danger her husband would be in.

  “Do this for our baby,” Ray pleaded. “We can’t let them kill her.”

  They both heard the crash of the front door being broken into and Ebony’s eyes widened with fear.

  “Go now!” Ray shouted. “I’ll keep them distracted.”

  Knowing she had no other choice, Ebony ran out of the back door holding Starlet close to her. Tears fell down her cheeks as she ran but she didn’t stop until she was far away from the house.

  She entered a dark alleyway, breathing hard and feeling terrified of being caught. She found a secret doorway hidden in the shadows and knocked urgently.

  A woman answered almost immediately and smiled, looking relieved, “Ebony, I was expecting you…”

  “You need to take Starlet,” Ebony told her desperately. “We’ve been found out; they’re after us...” she looked around in fear of being seen. “Please take Starlet to the sanctuary. Her life will be in danger if she stays and I can’t bear for anything to happen to her. She’ll be safe there.”

  “I will take her,” the woman agreed, “but what about you and Ray?”

  “They might be following me, I can’t risk it. Just make sure Starlet is protected, we will take care of ourselves.”

  Ebony started to cry even more as she gave her baby one last hug, “I love you Starlet. You’ll be safe, do not worry.” She kissed Starlet’s forehead and the baby smiled up at her. “Maybe one day we can be together again. I’ll come and find you if…” she stopped, knowing that she might not survive to see her again.

  She quickly handed the baby over, her heart aching. “You promise you’ll protect her and get her there safely?”

  “I give you my word,” the woman promised.

  Ebony smiled and stroked her baby’s hair, “goodbye Starlet, I will miss you…”

  She jumped with fright as she heard voices nearby and knew they were coming. The woman quickly shut and bolted the door, hiding the baby inside.

  Without hesitation Ebony quickly ran away into the darkness, leading them away from her baby and leaving her behind forever.

  Chapter 1

  I walk along the dark streets, feeling excited but anxious. Today’s the big day; I’ve finally left the sanctuary to return to Twilight City, the place where my life first began. I’ve been at the sanctuary since I was a baby, but now I’m sixteen years old and I want to return to the city and start my life.

  When I was little I had dreamed of one day returning home, even though we had been told awful stories of an evil dictator called Lord Snider who had taken over Twilight City and forced the citizens to work for him. He had taken over before I was born which meant I had to be sent away to live at the sanctuary where I would be safe. I knew a lot of bad things were still happening at home but it never stopped me from wanting to return.

  Ever since I was little I’d dream of being a freedom fighter just like my parents. They had fought against Lord Snider and I thought of them as my heroes and wanted to be just like them when I was older. I wanted so much to be with them again. Growing up not being able to see your parents really sucked; but those dreams were shattered when I found out the truth.

  When I was thirteen I was finally told that my parents had both been murdered after I’d been sent to the sanctuary, and they didn’t want to tell me this before I was old enough to handle it. I’d been devastated, knowing there was no way I could ever see them again and missing them even more.

  I still feel the sadness and emptiness inside me as I think of them. They mean so much to me even though I barely remember them and only spent a year with them before we were separated. I still have hazy memories of being held close and a sweet voice singing to me, and I’m sure it’s flashbacks of when I was a baby. I still miss them so much and feel my eyes prick with tears.

  I’ll make them proud, I think to myself, and once I’m a freedom fighter like them I’ll make Lord Snider pay for what he did to them.

  I concentrate on the map I was given, trying to stop my eyes from watering. I make sure I’m not seen, since I know I’m in dangerous territory now, and eventually find the place I’m looking for.

  In the middle of nowhere there is a tall building block. It looks rundown and deserted, but I don’t hesitate and walk over to it.

  I knock loudly on the closed entrance. I wait a few moments until the door opens slightly and someone looks out at me.

  “What’s the password?” he asks me from behind the door.

  “Wanted,” I say, remembering the word I was meant to say.

  The man opens the door wider, “come in.”

  I follow him inside and he bolts the door behind us. A teenage girl approaches and studies me, “hello,” she looks a little suspicious. “Who are you?”

  “I’m Starlet,” I answer. “The workers at the sanctuary sent me here.”

  She smiles, finally trusting me now she knows who I am, “take a seat, I’ll bring Carl to see you.”

  She walks away and I sink into a white leather sofa and look around. The place loo
ks completely different from the inside. The walls are brightly painted, the wooden floors are polished and the room is filled with trendy furniture and tall spider plants.

  I see the girl from earlier leave a posh looking office up ahead, and then a tall guy walks out and approaches me.

  I look up at him, feeling nervous. He’s nineteen years old with short, black, spiked hair. He’s wearing a dark blue t-shirt with long sleeves, which have been rolled up to his elbows to look trendy; along with jeans and trainers.

  “Hello Starlet, it’s nice to meet you,” he shakes my hand and indicates for me to follow him back to the office.

  Chapter 2

  I follow him into his private office space where he sits behind a desk and starts looking at the computer. I sit down on the chair opposite his desk and wait.

  “So you’re here to become a freedom fighter?” he asks me.

  “Yeah,” I answer, feeling a little nervous.

  “I’m Carl, the leader of the freedom fighters,” he introduces himself and goes back to studying the computer screen. “I’ll need to do a background check on you before we get started.”

  I see him type my name into the keyboard and read the information that appears on the computer screen.

  “So you’ve lived at the sanctuary since you were a baby?” he asks, obviously getting the information from the computer.

  I nod in answer.

  “And your parents…” he stops to read whatever is on the screen and then looks at me. “Your parents were Ray and Ebony Summers?”

  I nod again, trying hard not to embarrass myself by crying.

  He smiles sympathetically, “I’m sorry for your loss, I heard they were great freedom fighters.”

  I smile, feeling proud.

  Carl goes back to his screen, “Everything’s fine so I guess you’re in.” He fills out the forms and hands over a printed membership ID card with my name, photo and a long digit number.

  “You’ll need to have training before you begin any work,” he explains. “You’ll be staying here as this is our secret freedom fighter base.”

  He gives me a sheet detailing all my future training and I quickly look at the course summary and smile.

  Freedom Fighter training:

  6 week course

  Freedom Fighter history and information

  First aid and medical training

  Weapon, item and gadget usage

  Circuit and fitness training

  Self defense

  Bomb deactivation

  Basic Navigation

  Basic alarm technology, CCTV and lock picking

  Basic computer hacking

  “I’ll show you where you’ll be staying,” he says, and I quickly look away from the course sheet and follow him.

  We go up a flight of stairs and along a corridor until we reach room number 26. I look inside and see what looks like a hotel room. There’s a small lounge with a kitchen and a doorway leading to a bedroom and small bathroom.

  “We have a large dining room and cafeteria downstairs on the ground floor; there are also a few lounge rooms, a conference room and an entertainment hall. Feel free to use them any time you like.”

  He hands over the keys to my room and I smile at him, “thanks.”

  “Your training starts in the hall tomorrow morning at nine o’clock. Don’t be late,” he reminds me and leaves the room.

  I look around my new flat a second time, feeling excited. I start to unpack which doesn’t take long. The belongings I’ve brought with me are all stuffed into my rucksack. I don’t have much, just clothes and essentials, my mobile and iPod already loaded with my favourite songs.

  I decide to go and explore around the building. As I look around, a few people notice me and say hi. I smile back at them, thinking how great it is to finally be one of them.

  I have dinner at the cafeteria, and on my way back I hear loud music drifting from the entertainment hall and curiously go inside. There’s a party and everyone is dancing to the music, talking and laughing and drinking. I walk around looking to see if there’s anyone I recognise, and that’s when Carl reappears beside me.

  “Hi Starlet, welcome to the party,” he says with a friendly smile. “Can I get you a drink?”

  “No, I’m fine thanks,” I answer politely, looking over at the bar and feeling self-conscious at not having any money.

  “The drinks are free,” he says as if he’s just read my mind. “Everything here is free as long as you work for us.”

  I smile and feel a little better, “okay, maybe I’ll take that drink.”

  Carl goes over to the bar, and as I wait I feel someone looking at me. I turn and see a guy gazing at me from the other side of the room. He’s very good looking, with brown eyes and long, spiky black hair. He’s slim and wearing black jeans and a dark green vest top which shows off his toned arms. He smiles at me flirtatiously and I can’t keep my eyes off him.

  He walks over and I suddenly feel breathless.

  “Hey,” he says, admiring me. I see him taking in my long blonde hair and blue highlights, my slim figure and green eyes.

  I smile at him.

  “I haven’t seen you ‘round here before, are y’ new?” he asks.

  “Yeah, I joined today,” I answer, feeling myself blush.

  “Cool. I’m Rickie by the way.”

  “I’m Starlet,” I say. “Most people just call me Star.”

  “Starlet’s a beautiful name,” he says, holding my gaze. “Does it have a meaning or something?”

  “It means the making of a star,” I explain, remembering the fairy tale story of how my mum had chosen my name. The workers used to tell it to me, along with other cute stories of how I became a little dancer once I could walk.

  He smiles at me and I feel myself falling for him already.

  “I see you’ve met my bro,” I hear Carl say as he returns.

  I nearly jump with fright and suddenly the magic spell between me and Rickie is broken.

  “I didn’t know you had a brother,” I say, still feeling stunned as I accept the small, glass bottle of Pepsi.

  I study them both and suddenly realise they have some resemblance, similar eyes and same black hair.

  “I was going to introduce him to you eventually but I guess he beat me to it,” Carl looks at Rickie who grins back at him.

  “I was just makin’ her feel welcome, that’s all,” he says. “Wasn’t I, Star?” he winks at me and I blush even more.

  Carl rolls his eyes, “trust you to hit on the new girl,” he says, “Starlet needs to concentrate, she starts training in the morning so the least thing she needs is you bugging her.”

  I look up at Rickie shyly and see him smile at me, like he’s reading my mind. We both know I don’t mind having him around.

  “If he annoys you again just tell him to back off,” Carl jokes to me and gives Rickie a playful shove. “I’ll leave you two love birds alone.”

  When he’s gone Rickie smiles at me again, “don’t listen to him, he always gets annoyed if I flirt with girls. So, wanna dance?”

  “Yeah, okay,” I agree and quickly take a sip of my drink before setting it down on a nearby table.

  He takes my hand and pulls me over to the dance floor. Soon we’re dancing along to the music, his arms around my waist, and I’m lost in the song, dancing and moving my hips to the music.

  Rickie looks down at me amazed, “you’re really good at dancing.”

  “Thanks,” I smile, feeling happy because I love to dance.

  “You’re so wasted on being a freedom fighter. You should so be a professional dancer instead.”

  “Maybe,” I reply, knowing that if I couldn’t be a freedom fighter I’d definitely go for a dance career.

  We dance together for the next few songs and I feel happy being in his arms. Electricity runs through me whenever I feel his touch. He stares into my eyes again and my heart beats fast.

  “Hey Bro,” we hear Carl call over.
“There’s an emergency, we gotta go.”

  Rickie looks a little annoyed at being interrupted, “I’ll be right out.”

  He looks down at me again. “I’m sorry Star, I really need to go,” he looks sad at leaving and I feel my heart sink too.

  “It’s okay,” I reply and feel disappointed.

  “Maybe we can meet up sometime?” he suggests.

  “Sure,” I agree and smile happily.

  He smiles back, “later, Star.”

  I watch him walk away and follow Carl out of the hall, but even though he has left I can still feel my heart racing. The last thing I expected was to fall in love with someone on my first day, but now there’s nothing I can do to stop it even if I wanted to.

  Chapter 3

  The next morning I wake up wondering where I am. I stare around at the unfamiliar flat and suddenly remember that I’m no longer at the sanctuary; I’m in Twilight City and finally becoming a freedom fighter.

  I quickly get washed and dressed, make myself some toast in the kitchen and then head downstairs. It’s 8:00am and Freedom Fighter training only starts at 9:00am, but I really need to see Carl because last night, after endless thoughts about Rickie, I came up with a great idea.

  Carl is leaving his office when I arrive downstairs and he looks surprised to see me, “you’re up early,” he says. “Eager to start training?”

  “Yeah,” I answer, “but I wanted to talk to you about something.”

  “Okay, what is it?”

  “Well, I was talking to Rickie last night…” I begin and see Carl smile like I’m crazy. He obviously thinks I want to talk to him about his brother, so I blush and feel embarrassed.

  “He gave me a great idea,” I explain quickly. “I really love to dance so I thought maybe if I could set up some shows I could raise money for the sanctuary?”

  Carl looks surprised, “yeah, I guess that could work. Good idea. I thought at first you wanted to talk about Rickie.”

  “No, of course not,” I say, trying not to blush. I may be secretly in love with his brother but there’s no way I’m going to embarrass myself by talking to Carl about it.

  “I could set something like that up,” he says, thinking over my idea. “Meet me here tomorrow morning and we’ll discuss it, okay?”