Firefly

|Ch. 25|

I laid awake as the lights began to change from black to white illuminating the room. I breathed out deeply, realizing that this may be my last day ever. I looked around the room trying to take in every single detail. Impatiently, I gazed at the vent hoping that Megan would come crashing through any second.

However, the seconds turned into hours as I sat at the edge of my bed looking helplessly at the opening wondering if I would ever be saved. Swinging my legs on the bed, I gazed up into the camera wondering if they watched us like hawks watching their prey. Today, I desperately didn't want to be scooped up and attacked. But, I couldn't just escape by myself.

They always say nobody can save you but yourself, but what happens when I couldn't even do that? Living up to the standard of being the hope for everyone out there was the hugest burden and it could all be shattered in a matter of hours. The thought of that scared me and empowered me at the same time.

I heard soft footsteps outside the hallway as the shadow underneath the door shown. I scooted back onto the bed resting my back onto the wall glaring at the opening door. Detective Lawson and Agent Williams entered the room with a sulky look. Instead of a clipboard in their hands, there was a neatly folded pair of clothes and shoes.

"Mrs. Collins would like to see you," Detective Lawson demanded.

I stood up from the bed and looked at them trying to sturdy my feet on the ground.

"First, we would like for you to change into these clothes," Agent Williams commanded handing the pair of clothes to me.

"Bathroom?" I questioned as they stared at me expecting me to strip right there in front of them.

Detective Lawson motioned her hand for me to follow her as I saw the security even more on guard today. We passed by Megan's compartment which had three guards stoically positioned in front of it. I gulped trying to hide any fear in my eyes.

I walked into the bathroom and unfolded the clothes staring at the jeans and black leather jacket. I slipped them on and put on the white tennis shoes staring at myself one last time in the mirror. The thought occurred to me that this may be the last time I ever see myself. I shook my head holding back the flow of tears that were trying to come out of my blood shot eyes. I splashed my face with some cold water and walked out of the bathroom to Detective Lawson.

She silently guided my down a corridor I had never been on. Every few feet there was a guard positioned against the wall. I watched as their eyes followed my every step I took. I gazed up into their eyes trying to sense some kind of rebuttal but they stared back at me with no pity. Detective Lawson looked over at me smiling trying to hide any anxiety in her emotions as I smiled back as big as I could. She leads me to a room with huge metal handles and nodded towards the guards to open them.

I smiled trying to compose myself for what laid ahead of those four walls. Walking into the massive room, I spotted Mrs. Collins silently speaking to Mr. Bates across the room. The vent did this room no justice, it was even bigger than I could have ever imagined and seemed to swallow me whole. With every step I took, I tried not to focus on the huge spotlight shining in the middle of the room.

"Just stand in the middle of the spotlight, Maddie," Mrs. Collins instructed.

I slowed my stride as my each of my feet entered the illuminated circle. Turning in a 360, I saw dozens of cameras situated in every corner and crevice of the room. Once I had stopped turning I faced a polished Mrs. Collins standing a few feet in front of me.

"We just thought you would enjoy this elaborate display. Am I right?" Mrs. Collins said motioning for Mr. Bates to join beside her.

I nodded confidently saying, "Yeah, it's definitely a statement alright."

"Oh, just wait. It gets better. Roll the projector!" Mrs. Collins demanded.

The screen illuminated the whole wall in front of me revealing Alex sitting in our spot. I stepped back in pure awe as I remembered the butterflies enveloping my stomach the first time I saw him.

"What is this?" I questioned.

"We just thought we would have a show before dessert," Mr. Bates mentioned.

Desperately, I wanted to run after him and wring my hands around his neck but I couldn't even manage holding myself up in a standing position watching Alex. I should be there sitting beside him, not standing here fighting for my life.

"I don't understand," I said trying to act like I had no clue what was going on.

"You don't have to, just watch. I'm sure everything will make perfect sense once it all happens," Mr. Bates stated to me backing away to the side of the room.

I didn't know if I could bear seeing Alex meet Sally for the first time. I thought Megan would be here by now but all I could think was that I was going to have to stand here and watch the love of my life try to forget about me. However, he would be reminded of me every time he saw me die in front of a screen.

I watched as the screen flashed to Sally and Olivia having small talk with each other. I looked over as I saw Mrs. Collins and Mr. Bates studying my facial expressions. Trying to portray a look of shock, I stepped closer into the beaming spotlight watching as the screen flipped back to Alex sitting and staring into the empty field.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked with a harsher tone in my voice.

"We just thought you would like see what it really means when two soulmates connect and fall in love," Mrs. Collins spoke up.

I looked over at her as my body began to tense and I looked between the projector and both of them trying to decide if I should ruin their plan. Like Megan said, "Why not go out with a bang?" The shining projector lit up my eyes as the camera zoomed in on Alex's hopeful face.

Had he moved on? Was I fighting for nothing? Did he even care about me anymore or was he waiting for his soulmate? Maybe, that's what Mrs. Collins and Mr. Bates were trying to make me think. Maybe, this was a plan to make me believe that Alex didn't care for me at all. But, what if he still did and that's why he was there? After all, it was our spot.

I saw as Sally's face illuminated the wall as Olivia pointed to her car with keys in hand. Desperately, I wanted to scream at her, "No." If only I could. However, I stood stuck in my stance in front of the spotlight like the prey.

Everything in me snapped when I screamed, "I am tired of this, and your stupid rules. I can fall in love with whoever I want and showing me this does nothing because there is one thing that will never change, the way I feel about him."

I pointed to Alex's face plastered across the wall as Mrs. Collins began to quickly walk over to me with an anger on her face.

"Excuse me?" she questioned.

"You heard me loud and clear. Why don't you just kill me now? Oh because it won't fit into your master plan? Well, what happens when your plans are changed? What then?" I yelled.

Suddenly, my feet took off as I charged towards Mrs. Collins with full force. Just as I was about to push her to the ground, a gun shot echoed the room as she landed on the ground with a thud. I watched as a pool of blood encircled her head and Mr. Bates headed towards the door with everything in him. Gun shots were heard as Mr. Bates dodged them left and right trying to escape.

I ran into a corner of the room trying to figure out how I was going to getaway. Suddenly, guards entered the room in a swarm as they were shot in a synchronization falling to the ground. I looked around trying to search for who could be doing this as my heart began beating out of my chest rapidly.

------------------

So who do you think came to save the day? And, what do you think is going to happen? Dang, it's getting all action packed now and I love it lol.