CHapter 15 : Fall

MAXINE. I didn’t sleep at all last night. I stayed up eating the cookies and making sure no one saw any trace of evidence while my mind was in a complete whirlwind. The only thing I could think of was the boy and why he was here. It just didn’t sit right with me. This is the first sign from my old life as a Human, and it makes me feel so bad that it has to be him. The reason why I’m in this situation in the first place. It made me very angry, and I stewed in that rage for hours until the morning came and I had to go to training. I was determined to learn and try to make things good with Theo again so he could help me get out of here, but then he dropped a gigantic bomb on me. The other boy wants to pass a message to me. As to what that message is, I don’t know. I don’t think I want to find out either. I wanted to express that I’m on Theo’s side. That that boy doesn’t matter and I just want to join his cause and leave. But he just has to accuse me of some kind of espionage. Some kind of cheating. I don’t know where he got that idea, when he’s the one who shouldn’t have been out and about in the first place. After that, my mind was set: the plan was just to act as erratically as possible. And maybe then I would get kicked out. They could exile me for all I care…. However, the universe really must hate me, because the moment I decide to leave, I run into Amarantha. Her anger can be felt throughout the amphitheater. She's glaring at me like she’s already taking my head off in her imagination. She walks in, and I could swear I could feel the walls shaking. Even Theo doesn’t seem to be capable of moving. “Overseer,” he says in his usual charming voice. “We didn’t know—” “What is this betrayal?” she interjects, shaking with anger as well as another emotion. Sadness. “What am I hearing? You want to escape? With her?” Theo’s eyes go wide. “I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.” “I heard you talk about leaving,” Amarantha says. “I heard her say she doesn’t want your help in escaping this hellhole. So you were offering to help all along?” “You must have heard it all wrong, Overseer, because I will never—” “I trusted you.” She advances towards him. “I tried to make your life here easy because I considered you a close friend. But all along you wanted to escape? What’s going on here?” The confusion in her voice is real. The heartbreak is real. I want to laugh because this is probably the closest I would ever come to hurting her, but the reason for her feeling this way is so misplaced that I can’t say anything. And not saying anything proves to be my biggest mistake, because out of nowhere, Amarantha snatches me by the arm and pulls me to the side. “How long has this been going on? How long have you been planning to escape?” She starts to breathe hard and raises her voice at Theo. “ANSWER ME!” “Overseer,” he says gently. “Amarantha….” “Are you not what I thought you were?” she starts to mumble. “Maybe that’s the reason why you want to work down there in the sewers. Maybe that’s why you refused all my offers to work with me. You’re conspiring something.” Even though I don’t like Theo in particular right now, my heart jolts when I realize that he’s about to get caught. And when he gets caught, it’s going to be more than just exile for him. They would uncover everything and get everyone involved. I need to do something. “You misunderstood,” I pipe up in a fairly steady tone. “I’m the one who wants to escape, not anyone else. Especially not Theo.” She wheels around on me, her eyes reduced into nothing but sharp daggers. I can almost feel them puncturing me. “I asked him for help,” I continue to explain. “I figured that since he’s the one who’s been here the longest, he must know all the ways in and out. He didn’t want to help me. No matter how hard I tried to convince him to help me, he refused.” The words hang in the air after I let them go. Amarantha just stares at me like she’s hanging onto every syllable. I know she wants to believe me. I know that she would rather take all these words than face the fact that Theo is using her. “So it’s you.” She faces me at last. “You’re the one who’s trying to turn him against me.” “I just want to leave,” I say, and it’s convincing enough because I really feel that way. “He has nothing to do with this. He refused me at any turn.” Amarantha lets out a laugh. A laugh that sounds deranged and detached. I actually start to feel bad for her, but all that sympathy gets wiped off when she turns to Theo and says, “Take her to the dungeons and keep her there all day, all night.” She turns to me. “You’re lucky that I let you have a normal life here, but since you’re not grateful enough, I will let you see how worse it can get.” * * * And worse it is. The dungeons are horrible. The air smells musty, with a little hint of something strong like manure. The walls of the cell are caked in grime and mold, and the floor is littered with a lot of soft squishy things that look like dead rats covered in moss. Only the metal bars are pristine, to keep the prisoner in. I sit in the corner, which happens to be the cleanest spot I can find. Amarantha is right. This is so much worse, and I’m starting to regret coming to Theo’s defense. Especially since he’s still standing outside my cell ten minutes after he locked me in, staring at me like I’m a unique zoo animal. “You can leave, Theo,” I say, and that seems to shock him awake. “No need to watch me here suffer. I will be fine. You’re going to take me out tomorrow anyway, that’s what Amarantha said. All day and all night—" “Why did you do that?” His voice breaks at the last word. “Because I don’t want to jeopardize your plans,” I reply simply. “It’s for all of the people in camp, right?” When he nods, I sigh. “So yeah. I’ll be the fall guy. You keep your connection with Amarantha. Use it for everyone here who deserves better. Thank me later.” “I’m thanking you now.” Theo slowly walks closer to me and slides his hand through the bars. He touches my shoulder, and his gaze softens into a look that makes my stomach flip. “I… I should have given you a chance. I should have listened to you more. But don’t worry, you are in for real. I will tell you everything you want to know when I let you out, and I will help you get out of here.” My heart flutters. “Thank you. I just….” I trail off when my eyes catch something. Something on his arm. It’s a huge scab that’s forming a familiar shape. A bite. A bite from a big animal. It’s still bleeding in places and it seems like it’s not going to heal anytime soon. However, he’s a Werewolf, right? A natural-born one too. Don’t we all come with healing abilities, which is the reason why Humans choose to take the venom? “What happened to that?” I whisper, lifting a hand to touch the scabs. But Theo recoils as though my touch electrocuted him. “I need to go,” he says suddenly. “Amarantha is looking for me.” “Theo,” I try to call out. “You can talk to me about it. We can talk about it. We can find something for that and you—” “Don’t tell anyone,” he cuts me off. And with that, he runs off, leaving me in the dark in more ways than one.