The Origin

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"No, Anne, we need more people for the mines." The leader of the IITC said defensively.

I let out a small gasp.

"Oh man, this is bad." I whispered. "What do you think we should do?"

"I think we might have to go." Riley whispered back.

I knew he was right. We couldn't stay here much longer if they were threatening to send me out to District 2 to mine more Golmotite for them.

I motioned for Riley to stay with me just as he started to turn away. We listened for a little while longer.

"I did not make the deal for her to just be sent straight to the mines!" Ms. Anne exclaimed.

I wondered what she could be talking about. What kind of deal?

"Remember, the deal was that as long as I live, Autumn will stay in District 1. I can't bear the thought to lose another one of them."

Ms. Anne was starting to cry as she kept defending her side.

"First it was Molly. I can't let another one of them die. That's the whole reason why I then distanced myself from the kids. It breaks my heart everyday to see new bodies being brought in from the other districts. Bodies of kids I used to know. Kids who I used to play hopscotch and hide and seek with." She explained.

She was now weeping having to say her feelings out loud. It sounded as though she had been keeping all her emotions pent up inside of her for all these years.

I started to get tears in my eyes too.

If only I had known she had the same feelings about all of this. I would have tried harder to seek her out and reconnect.

"I think we should go now." I whispered, the pain obvious in my voice.

I could tell that Riley noticed I was upset. He nodded and we crept back to our rooms so no one would know we had been eavesdropping on a very important conversation.

"Well, goodnight." I quietly said to him.

"Goodnight." He said back.

I opened my bedroom door as quietly as I could to avoid being heard by my neighbors. I closed it behind me with the same volume as I stepped into my room. I walked over to my bed and plopped down, head first, onto my pillow. I rolled over, my right leg still slightly hanging off the edge.

I so badly wanted to sit with Riley. He always knows how to make me feel better. I also knew that at this moment, I needed to be alone and think. Think until I fall asleep. Think until I wake up. Think all through the next day.

I needed to find a way out of here.

Soon.

I close my eyes and wait for myself to drift off into my dream. The last thing I remember before falling asleep was the sound of my clock hitting 12.