The Origin

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I sat in my dark room, thinking about the question that has been planted in my mind for years. Why am I still here?

You would think that the leaders of the IITC would want all the help they could illegally get, but for some reason, I still have never mined a day in my life.

The moon illuminated my floor through the window. The snowflakes falling outside shone through like crystals in the sky. I flopped down on my bed and layed on my back in silence. The bed creaked under my weight, but what would you expect from a 24 year old mattress?

I pulled my quilted blanket over top of myself and snuggled into the little bit of warmth it provided. I closed my eyes, preparing for the comfort of sleep that was to come.

I was just drifting off when all of a sudden my door flew open. I pulled the blanket off my body and sat up, still barely awake. When I saw who was in my doorway, I turned away and rolled over, back into my sheets. When Riley saw this, he came over trying to be quiet knowing that we had to stay in our own rooms after 10:00.

"Psst, Autumn, I know you're awake." He whispered to me.

"I'm trying not to be." I said.

"I know, but something weird is going on." He replied.

The anxious tone in his voice made me sit up again. I faced him and started to get nervous too.

"What do you mean?" I asked, yawning.

"I just overheard something really weird a second ago." He said, keeping his voice down.

"Remember Ms. Anne?" He asked me, triggering my memories again.

"Yeah..." I said, my voice starting to shake at the thought of Molly and Ms. Anne.

Ms. Anne was the only adult in The Origin that I actually bonded with. I loved her with all my heart. Then she just disappeared. I still saw her around every once in a while, but she never acknowledged me. I could tell that was all she wanted to do, but for some reason she didn't. Or couldn't.

"I heard an argument." Riley said, snapping be back from my thoughts.

"What was it about?" I asked cautiously, not really wanting to know the answer if it involved Ms. Anne.

"You." He said solemnly.

I sank back onto my bed, wondering what was so important to Ms. Anne that she had to argue about me.

"What did she say? Who was she arguing with?" I ask, now wanting to know what was going on.

"I couldn't really tell who else was there, but he sounded pretty important. He was saying how they are going to need more people for the mines. He wants to send you in." He said sadly.

"Why? I help out here fine." I said, starting to get defensive.

"Don't worry, Ms. Anne wasnt budging. She's on your side, she doesn't want you to move districts either.

"We have to go see who she was talking to." I said, looking at my alarm clock. It was now 11:30 at night. I knew no other kids or workers would be up and about, but every once in a while one of the leaders comes to check on everybody and make sure they are following the rules.

Tonight turned out to be one of those nights.

The quiet sound of someone's sneaky footsteps sounded through the hallway outside my room. I knew the sound well. Someone was at the other end of the corridor from my room. Riley's was right next to mine, on the opposite side of the person in the hall.

"Someone's coming to check the rooms." I whisper quickly.

"I'll come back after, we can go check it out then." He said.

He slipped through the secret space in the wall in my closet connecting his room to mine. We had this exactly for this reason. The room checker would have seen if we went out in the hallway, so we had to get creative.

I slipped back under my covers and pretended I had been asleep the entire time. I assumed Riley did the same. Just as I rolled over to face the wall so it would be less obvious that I was awake, my door slowly opened. I couldn't see who was on duty this time, but I felt their eyes on me. I tried to stay as still as possible, breathing like an asleep person would. That was hard because I had just rushed and jumped into my bed and I was breathing pretty heavily.

The door closed and I waited a little longer until I heard Riley's door close again too. I let out my breath that I had been holding for so long. Then I realized.

If there is a room checker tonight, that means everybody will be in their rooms. This is perfect!

I quietly snuck over to my closet and peeked through the hole in the wall. Riley was just getting out of his bed to come meet me.

"That was close." He said, "I think I almost got caught that time."

"You better never get caught." I said playfully.

"Okay, we have to somehow get out of here and go find Ms. Anne, she might still be talking to that guy. Well, arguing with him." Riley suggested.

"Yeah, we have to be quiet though, we can't let the room checker see us if they are still out in the hallway." I said.

"What if we wait until 11:45, they should be finished checking on everyone by then." Riley added.

"Okay, that's a good idea." I said. "Then I'll see you in a couple minutes."

I headed back to my bed and sat down. I reached to my bedside table to pick up my project. I had been crocheting a hat for Riley for once we escaped the orphanage. I had gotten pretty good over the years of practice, so I was able to continue in the dark. I went a whole two rows across before my door opened once again.

"Room service!" Riley whisper-yelled as he entered my room.

I quickly shoved the hat under my blanket and stood up, trying to cover the fact that I just hid something.

When he pretended not to notice, I pretended not to notice that he noticed.

"Okay, we should go now." I said awkwardly.

"Yeah, good idea." Riley agreed.

We headed out of my room and down the hallway.

"Where did you say you heard this?" I asked.

"Right through here."

He ducked into a little part off the hallway that had a door and I followed him. It was easy to figure out that Ms. Anne was in fact talking about me. Then I caught a glimpse of who was in the room with her.