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If you asked me what the most important thing in my life was, my answer would be simple and summed up in one word.

Not money or freedom, but Micah.

I would do anything for my brother. He was all that was left of my parents and I didn’t want him to turn out like me. I know that shielding him from everything isn’t the right thing to do. He’s not an idiot. He knew what the world was like for people like us. He learnt that first hand.

But if he started to see the see the world through the same eyes as me, he wouldn’t be able to smile like he does now. His innocence would be shattered to pieces. I didn’t want that to happen. He deserved to be a child while he still could.

That’s why I try to protect him, because as much as he needs me, I need him too. I need him to keep smiling, because seeing that gives me some glimmer of hope that things might just turn out okay in the end.

Hope is such a fickle word. It comes and goes like a child playing a game of hide and seek, never staying in the same place for too long and never where you need it to be.

After my parents were murdered by those elites for speaking out, I just haven’t been the same. Seeing them flaunt the wealth they never had to work a day in their lives for, while we slave away like dogs makes my blood boil. There was nothing complicated about equality, but still the world wasn’t fair. It was a simple fact.

It’s a dark, gloomy place filled with laughing shadows. A place where no matter how hard we tried, we’d still never be good enough. The Alphas, Betas and Gammas stood at the top and Omegas were at the bottom.

Nobody cared that the newborn of an Omega who worked in the kitchen of a noble was the result of r*pe. Or that talking back ensured a severe punishment. The common people didn’t know how we were herded together like livestock.

It makes me sick to my stomach and I want every one of them to know our pain. To see that we weren’t weak or invisible and to realize that equality isn’t something complicated.

Elizabeth is different somehow. She doesn't judge or hate us, and she sees Micah as a friend. But she is a common girl, a human. She doesn't know any better. When she smiled while talking about how the kingdom could change I really wanted to believe her.

If she was willing to help clean up this mess, that would be a relief. I want to make a difference. I want to take a stand and let everyone know that we have a voice and we want to be heard. I want to have a future where my brother can keep smiling.

I want to live.

Maybe… just maybe we could change this place one step at a time. After listening to her, I was willing to try. I sure as hell wouldn’t give up, even if it killed me. We had nothing left to lose.

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