silence.

Chapter 5

12:08 PM

Her

"Don't say a word of what we talked about in front of you to Andrew," Amber hissed.

"Her? She's witty when she talks, I guess, but she barely talks. When has she ever spoken a word in front of Andrew?" Everest asked, pacing the room.

"Better safe than sorry." Carter walked into the room, causing Evverrest to roll her eyes.

"Thanks." Amber nodded at him, acknowledging his support.

"Any requirements today?" Evverrest directed her question at Amber.

"Not that I know of. Unless he wants to throw on some stupid last minute requirement, then no." Amber snapped. "But I require that she keep her mouth shut."

"You can't require anything, Amber," Luke stated nonchalantly as he pushed the door open with his foot, his gaze on the clipboard in his hands. She glared at him but didn't reply.

"It's for her own good," someone stepped in. It wasn't a face I recognized.

"You done checking the others already?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, none of them put up much of a fight." The newcomer shrugged. He was tall, probably around 6' 3", was broad shouldered and handsome, and looked the same age as Luke. Someone who could probably intimidate an unsuspecting 13 year old.

"Well, look who decided to join us today." Evverrest clapped slowly. "We shouldn't delay."

"Wow, thanks for the warm welcome, sis," he scoffed. Sis? Wait...

He and Carter nodded at each other, and Luke turned to me.

"Emilie, this is Bennett." Oh. So this was Bennett. He had a serious complexion, like nothing could make him smile. I didn't respond. "She's quiet." Luke explained to Bennett.

"Sure."

"Okay, so we know what's going to happen. When Andrew checks on her, we'll need to delay for a month at least, he has to do all the shi–" Amber reached up on tippy toes to whisper something fiercely in his ear. "Yeah, fine. He has to do all the shots and boring medication stuff."

Bennett snickered. "Thanks for making my job sound bad." He leaned back in the chair he was occupying.

Amber glared at him. "It was bad. You weren't here."

"It was bad because–" Luke let out a sigh and tugged his hand through his hair in exasperation. "Anyway, he has to do some stuff, so we're only planning for all the x-rays later. We can't do it on her."

Carter spoke up. "So we're letting her leav–I mean, we're not giving her the do-over?" He was acting surprisingly mature instead of his usual jumpy childness.

"We have to give her the do-over at one point, she can't just go on without it. She'll never survive." Everest argued, not looking at Carter.

"I don't know. Bennett can check on her–" Luke glanced at his watch, cursing silently as he saw the time. "We have to go. Who's staying behind today?"

"I am, I think," Amber volunteered. He looked at her for a few seconds until she met his gaze. "I'm fine," she insisted. "He doesn't freak me out." He nodded and turned to Carter.

"You should probably go up to the camera room."

"Yeah."

"Okay, then go!" Carter left swiftly and Bennett and Everest exited as well. Luke cast a lingering glance on Amber, to which she responded with a squeeze on his arm. He was soon gone. She turned to me.

"You ready?"

"Yeah."

"Same as always, okay? And remember what I said."

I rolled my eyes and shifted so I was sitting in the corner of the cell. The door flung open.

"Amber! My favorite!" Andrew's loud voice echoed through the halls behind him.

"Hi," she smiled sweetly. Andrew glanced at me.

"How is she?" he asked, his gaze narrowing.

"Bennett said she's fine."

"Good." Andrew sat down. For a man who was in his 50's, he showed no sign of tiredness or unusual aches. Perhaps he had none.

The interrogation was the same as usual, me not replying most of the time.

"She's the same as she was 6 months ago," he grunted. "She's a mouse. Never says a word, A muzzle would hardly make a difference."

"She's healthy, though." Amber replied. "Isn't that all that matters?"

He shrugged and she sighed.

"Let's go run some tests. We're done here." He made his way out the door, gesturing for her to follow him. She did, but not before mouthing her concern at me. I responded with a quick nod and she left.

The door shut with a loud crash.

The lock turned.

silence.