Tattooed {Completed}

14: Chains

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"And what exactly are you planning on doing with all these Rebels? What are you going to lead them into?"

I was silent. Beads of sweat were forming on my forehead and my pulse was increasing rapidly.

"Miss Blackwood? Please answer the question."

I forced myself to calm down. I knew how these lie detectors worked; they forced you to believe that they could read your mind, but the only thing they were reading was your heart.

"I don't know." And that was a lie.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." I lied again. And the investigator showed no sign of doubt. I had tricked that dumb machine.

"Very well. You will have your final test tomorrow. Good day, Miss Blackwood." A guard escorted me out and led me to a cafeteria. My handcuffs were taken off, and I found brutal red marks around my hands were they stayed, chaining me from things they thought I would do.

I look around for Justin or Kenna, but don't spot them. Frustration filled me up, and I walked to the lunch line, where I was given stale bread and old soup. I sat at the end of a table, and watched everyone else. All these criminals didn't seem like criminals at all. They were conversing with each other like they were living normally, like they were all friends. I tried to eat my food, but it was difficult for me to even swallow it.

"I know the food is bad." I look up to see a short little girl, maybe 9 years old. "You get used to it though. So don't worry, it only gets brighter from here."

"Um, yeah. I hope so."

"I'm Annabelle. You're Malia, right?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"Everybody knows that you are the Champion. You are their only conversation for days."

"Really? Well, I wouldn't know because I'm usually in my cell. This is the first time that I'm here around so many people."

"Well, welcome." She said sarcastically.

"How long have you been here? You seem a little young to be in jail."

"Ya. My parents were killed about three years ago by the Clevenian government. I was left on my own thanks to my two brothers. I tried to get a job to earn a little money, but no one was hiring a 6 year old girl. So I had to steal to get food and clothing. As you can guess, I got caught stealing mangoes from a fruit stand and went straight here."

"Wow. I didn't know stealing was that big of a crime."

"Well, it isn't. They found that my parents weren't here to take care of me, so they decided to keep me here. The children's home apparently treats kids 'like dogs'."

I gave a small smile. And then my smile broke for this little girl who had lost her whole family and was thrown in jail for surviving. It was a cruel world.

"Wait, why were your parents killed by the government?"

"I was hoping you would ask that. See, they were both Rebels." My eyes widened. "Yeah. You know how every five years, they check everyone's Tattooes?"

"No."

"Well, they do, and when they came to our house, they found that my parents had the same Tattoo. And they were shot on the spot."

"But if I'm the Champion, how come there are Rebels that were made before I was even born? How did they choose their Champion?"

"I don't know. That was why I couldn't believe that the Champion was so young!" Annabelle had a look of wonder spread across her face. "So, what are you planning on doing?"

"What?"

"You are the Champion! What are you going to do?"

"Well, my original plan was to blow up the Inks, but now I have to find all the Rebels, get them together, and I guess start something. A spark."

"A spark....." Annabelle still had wonder written on her face, but something told me it was fake.

"Yeah."

"Well, I better get going. See you around." She got up and I got a glimpse of her Tattoo, and my heart stopped. Loyal. How could I have been so stupid? I had just told a Loyal everything I planned to do. I prayed that Loyal didn't mean loyal to the government. I prayed.

"'Well, my original plan was to blow up the Inks, but now I have to find all the Rebels, get them together, and I guess start something. A spark.'" The recording played.

"Very well Annabelle. Unfortunately, you have a lot of secret information that many Rebels would want to know, and we need confirmation that you will not tell anyone. After all, you Tattoo says Loyal."

"I'm loyal to the government, sir. I promise."

"Promising is not good enough." Mr. Graff raised a gun to the poor child's head, and shot her.

How many people had to die for this? For the evil? For the people who chained up society?

Hope you guys enjoyed this!