My eyes are glued to Bates, who is pacing around the room. Normally, I'd be scared out of my mind. But I'm not scared anymore, I'm angry.
"What did Lenore say to you?" Bates asks nervously. This is the first time he's ever shown any real emotion. It doesn't suit him to be emotional.
"Nothing." I bravely reply.
Bates sighs, "You need to tell me what she said. Please."
Did Bates actually say "please"? What is going on with him? He must really want to know. Well, I'm not going to tell him anything. I have the upper hand, and I'd like to keep it that way.
"No." I cross my arms.
"Tell me!" His voice booms. I can tell he's getting desperate. I need to find out why.
"Why do you want to know?" I ask.
He takes his glasses off and rubs his eyes, "Because I need to know if she told the story wrong."
"Story? What story?" I pretend not to know.
"You know what I'm talking about. Lenore has been...out of control lately. There's no way she hasn't at least thought about telling you and the fact that she was in this room when I opened the door says to me that she did. I fear she may have shaped the story to make it seem like I'm the bad guy."
"Maybe it seems like you're the bad guy because you are the bad guy." I retort.
"Don't talk back to me." Bates angrily says.
"What are you gonna do, starve me?" I sarcastically respond, referring to what he did to Zayn and Lia.
"Aimee, you need to know the truth." He calmly states.
"I already know the truth!" I yell, getting more and more frustrated.
Bates takes a deep breath, "Listen to me, Aimee. The only reason I did all of this was because of you."
"Well, you're- wait, what?" I ask.
"I assume Lenore told you who you are to us," he slowly speaks, "All of this was for you. I just wanted you to have a life safe from the terrible world above us."
"You're insane!" I exclaim. "You have kept us locked up for our whole lives. From what I can tell, that world up there is incredible and you took away our chance to live, and you say it was in our best interest. There's no way life can get any worse than this!"
"Are you sure?" He challenges my statement. "You don't know what it's like up there, you have no idea what I've seen. I assure you, it can be so much worse than this. I've created a peaceful world for you and the other children I brought down here, I wanted to shelter you from the truth. War, famine, and homelessness are just a few examples of what's wrong with that world. If you saw those things for yourself, you'd wish you lived in this utopia I've created."
"No, I wouldn't," I say, "You made all of this because you wanted to have a world where everyone would do as you say! If you truly wanted this to be a peaceful place, you wouldn't be keeping secrets from us, you'd give us more than just bread to eat, and you'd teach us more than just how to speak!"
Bates sighs, "I've kept you all alive and healthy. The bread that you eat isn't normal bread, I've added the necessary nutrients so none of you would get ill or weak. I didn't want you to learn anything more than how to speak or else you would have known what you know now a long time ago. This place has been kept germ-free so you wouldn't get sick. Don't you see how incredible this life is? You have clothes, food, and a comfortable place to sleep. Of course, there is potential for a good life up there, but there's also potential for a terrible life. Life in Eden will always be good, don't you underst-"
