<center>![Picture]( https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2014/07/27/22/16/utah-403231_960_720.jpg)</center>*<sub>By 12019 on pixabay.com</sub>*


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Act 1:
[Part 1]( https://steemit.com/fiction/@suesa/joel-the-chosen-part-1), [Part 2]( https://steemit.com/fiction/@suesa/the-capital-the-chosen-act-1-part-2), [Part 3]( https://steemit.com/fiction/@suesa/secrets-the-chosen-act-1-part-3), [Part 4](https://steemit.com/fiction/@suesa/mia-the-chosen-act-1-part-4), [Part 5]( https://steemit.com/fiction/@suesa/promises-the-chosen-act-1-part-5), [Part 6]( https://steemit.com/fiction/@suesa/fixing-things-the-chosen-act-1-part-6), [Part 7]( https://steemit.com/fiction/@suesa/the-funeral-the-chosen-act-1-part-7)

Act 2:
[Part 1]( https://steemit.com/fiction/@suesa/a-new-beginning-the-chosen-act-2-part-1), [Part 2]( https://steempeak.com/fiction/@suesa/teaching-the-chosen-act-2-part-2), [Part 3]( https://steempeak.com/fiction/@suesa/invaders-the-chosen-act-2-part-3), [Part 4]( https://steempeak.com/fiction/@suesa/survivors-the-chosen-act-2-part-4), [Part 5]( https://steempeak.com/fiction/@suesa/monster-the-chosen-act-2-part-5), [Part 6]( https://steempeak.com/fiction/@suesa/growing-up-the-chosen-act-2-part-6), [Part 7]( https://steempeak.com/fiction/@suesa/meet-the-president-the-chosen-act-2-part-7)

Act 3: 
[Part 1]( https://steempeak.com/@suesa/darkness-the-chosen-act-3-part-1), [Part 2]( https://steempeak.com/fiction/@suesa/a-look-into-the-past-the-chosen-act-3-part-2)

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*June 13, 2180*

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The upside of a completely dark room was, as Joel soon realized, the fact that it was completely dark. 

Relentlessly the sun found every crack, every opening in the walls and between the curtains to push its light into the room and through Joel’s closed eyelids. He moaned and rolled over, pressing his face down on the pillow.

*”Joel? Are you awake?”*

*”No.”* Lily giggled.

*”Yes you are. It’s about time, you’ve slept since we came here. Didn’t you have enough rest in your cell?”*

*”Prison is more exhausting than you might believe.”* Accepting that there wouldn’t be any more sleep for him, Joel blindly reached for his sunglasses, which he had placed on the night stand the day before.

*”You’re going to break them”*, Lily remarked.

*”No I won’t. Don’t be so condescending, I’ve changed your diapers just 10 years ago.”*

*”You’re disgusting.”*

Joel’s hand finally touched the cold frame of his sunglasses and he put them on. As he opened his eyes, the brightness seemed less intense than when he first left the dark room. His eyes seemed to adjust nicely, the human body was truly a miracle.

*”Did you think of bringing some food to your secret hideaway?”* He asked Lily, the rumbling of his stomach illustrating the reason for his question. 

*”What do you think how old I am, 12?”* Lily scoffed. *”Of course I stashed food. Let me get you something.”*

From a cupboard at the back of the hut, Lily pulled out an assortment of tin cans.

*”Chicken or beef?”*

*”I haven’t seen a chicken ***or*** a cow in my whole life. What’s in these things?”* Lily shrugged, obviously unconcerned by the mystery meat. 

*”It’s what they had at the back of their storage room. Nobody will miss it.”*

*”I wonder why”*, mumbled Joel, and took the can opener Lily offered him. The inside of the can, he had picked beef, did not resemble any kind of human food he had tasted before. He still ate it, and watched Lily devour the “chicken” version. For a while, they chewed in silence.

*”So”*, Joel finally said, *”what’s your plan, little one? How do we get back home?”*

*”That’s your job to figure out”*, Lily said, without interrupting her meal. *”You’re the adult. I just needed to get you out of that prison.”* Suddenly, Joel started questioning if it had been so smart to raise Lily in a way that made her believe he was always the most competent person around. Obviously, she fully trusted his ability to get them out of this place.<sub><sub><sub><sub><sub><sub><sub><sub><sub><sub>@suesa</sub></sub></sub></sub></sub></sub></sub></sub></sub></sub>

It hurt to take away her illusions.

*”I’m not sure if I can get us out of this”*, he said quietly, setting down the now empty can. *”This is a situation like none I’ve been in before.”*

*”Well, kidnapping me was also the first time you did something like that, right? You’ll manage.”* She didn’t bat an eye while saying that, and her voice was devoid of any strong emotion. Joel felt like his blood had been substituted with liquid ice.

*”What did they tell you?”* He asked.

*”They? Not much. My mom? A lot. You want to hear a summary?”*

*”Please.”*

*”You came to England, met my dad, lied about being a priest, killed my dad, and when my mom gave birth to me you stole me to bring me to Antarctica.”*

*”That’s … pretty much it.”* Joel felt uneasy about how dryly Lily said all this. As if she didn’t care. She also seemed different from when they had left the society of the enlightened. More … grown up. More serious. Then, Joel realized something. *”I never killed your father”*, he said, furrowing his brow. *”Xeraias was killed when he tried to get rid of the drug dealers he was working for.”*

*”That’s what mom wanted you to believe. But she controlled you, you know? Forced you to shoot him blank in the face, and made you forget all about it.”*

*”She ***what***?! How?”*

*”I still haven’t really understood that”’, Lily shrugged. *”Apparently, we’re descendants from some weird alien race that came to Earth a super super long time ago. She said I’m the chosen one, which is kind of funny because that’s what you’ve been telling me all along. She said I’m special, and that my children will be even more special. I don’t want to have children, but when I told her this, she hit me.”* Lily sniffled, visibly upset by the memory. *”I didn’t like that, so I used my powers to throw a book at her. But she has powers too, which is why she caught it.”*

Many things went through Joel’s head at that moment. Mia had powers. Mia was an alien herself, albeit a human-looking one. And her family had been here for a while.

*”Why did you free me?”* Joel asked the girl. Finally, there was some honest emotion on Lily’s face. She put aside the can she had still been holding onto, stood up and sat down next to Joel on his bed. Instinctively, he put his arm around her.

*”Mom said she missed me”*, Lily said. *”But the moment she saw me, the first thought that crossed her mind was how ugly I am. She was glad to see me, but not because she had been worried about me. She just didn’t want to go through pregnancy again, didn’t want to sleep with a hybrid again. She ***hated*** my father, and was ***disgusted*** by me.”* Tears had started rolling down her cheeks. *”My mother hates me! She just sees me as a tool, a birthing machine that her family had tried to create over millennia.”*

Joel’s heart ached, hearing the broken voice of the girl he had raised. He pulled her closer, and started petting her hair softly.

*”You’re different”*, Lily said, after a pause. *”I mean, I can see in your thoughts that you don’t think I’m very pretty either. I can see that you think something like me doesn’t exist. And that hurts. But you also … you … you ***love*** me. As a person. You were there the whole time I grew up, and you took care of me and protected me, not just because you have to, but because you care about me.”*

The fact that Lily was reading his mind didn’t sit well with Joel, especially because she clearly saw all the things he hadn’t wanted to tell her, ever. But at the same time, he realized how important this was. Lily trusted him, and she trusted him more than she would ever trust her mother.

No matter what happened from this point on, as long as he didn’t go back to lying to Lily, the girl would be on his side.

They had a chance to survive this.


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