986 (Complex Series, #1)

Chapter Twenty-Three

We’re still waiting for the knock. The vents shut off a couple minutes ago. A quiet sigh echoes from the other side of the room. I grin into darkness and match Piper’s frustration with a sigh of my own.

The day had passed slowly, matching the same monotony of every other day I didn’t have a chance to talk to her. Kate was at my side during Free Hour before I even saw Piper.

A soft knock echoes from our door. If I wasn’t straining my ears, I would have missed it. The instructions said we had to wait one hundred seconds before we could go. I start the count in my head. 1. 2. 3…21…51…73…98…99…100.

I push back my sheets and stride to the door. Piper taps my shoulder to let me know she’s here. We hurry to the Eating Hall.

Sienna’s already there, sitting on the counter waiting. Piper and I join her.

Josh comes within five minutes and jumps over the counter. We hop down on our side and step towards the door.

With no Officials in sight, we advance down the hallway. We have to duck into small rooms twice along the way to avoid Officials before we make it to the Lecture Hall. We slip inside the double doors. Strips of tiny lights run up and down the rows of seats. The screen at the front of the room gives off a soft glow. Darkness threatens to swallow the entire room.

I think it’s empty. I can’t see any silhouettes sitting in the rows of seats or up on the stage. A light beam comes around the corner of the hall, forcing us to go further into the room.

We duck behind seats, waiting for the Official to pass.

Whispers slip into the room as two Officials stalk the halls. I’ve never seen two Officials together, so they must be important.

“…terrifying, that could happen to us at any moment. I don’t want anything to do with those girls. All the Officials, who just had the bad luck of being chosen for that test, were executed. I was almost put on duty for that…”

The voices fade away before I can figure out what they’re talking about. I look at the shadowy faces of the others, and they’re just as clueless as I am. I shrug it off. It’s probably some important Official business that has nothing to do with us.

Josh whispers, “What now?”

“Get further away from the door?” Piper suggests.

We crawl to the last row of seats and crouch down. I rest my back against the cold metal and my eyelids begin to droop.

Where are the rebellious Officials? Why would they tell us to come if they weren’t going to show up?

I lift my head above the tops of the seats. “Maybe we should go to our seats with our numbers. Maybe they didn’t see us come in or something and are still waiting for us.”

Piper nods, “Sure, why not?”

We slip from the back row of chairs and to our own. The path is so familiar to me, that I’d probably be able to do it in absolute darkness.

My eyes land on our seats and I point at it.

An object sits on Piper’s seat.

We hurry towards it, and Piper hesitantly picks it up. It’s a portable hologram generator. They aren’t very common, but I’ve seen Officials use them enough to know how it works.

Piper presses a button and a hologram shoots into the air. It floats a few feet above us, words printed across the screen. The bright letters smear across my eyes in the darkness. I squint my eyes to make out three short sentences.