The Witness

Chapter XI

"Maple," lightly calls a voice at my door. "Maple, may I come in?" I roll over in my bed as I give a quiet grunt yes. I open my eyes to see Matthew slowly entering the room, his kind eyes looking unusually upset. I sit up immediately, ready to run. Did I do something wrong? "May I have a seat?" Matthew asks, gesturing to the bed. As I slowly nod, he sits, rigid, on the very edge of the mattress and sighs heavily.
"Umm... what's wrong?" I ask, pulling the sheets tighter around myself.
Matthew gives another sigh. "I don't mean to worry you, Maple, but - but, last night, Olivia, she broke in to the compound." At those words, my blood ran cold, and my heart stopped.
"She - she found me?" When Matthew looks at me worriedly, I realize I said those words out loud. "Is she here? Now?"
Matthew gives a subtle nod. "In the cells," he says. "I actully came to ask if you wanted to question her. She's locked behind bars, guarded by my soldiers. She won't be able to harm you." Matthew's looking at me expectantly, but I don't know if I can go through with what he asks. What if she gets out one day?
"I... I don't think I can," I say in a small voice. "I'm sorry."
"Oh, no, no! Don't apologize," Matthew says, his eyes creasing with worry. "It's your choice. But note that if you do have any questions, any at all, now's your chance to ask them." I sigh, and I may have rolled my eyes slightly. Matthew gives a small chuckle, but covers it up with a cough. I still heard it, though.
"Fine. I'll ask some things. But she may not answer." I roll out from under my covers and stand, Matthew following suit.
"I'll leave you to get dressed," he says, walking towards the door of my little apartment. "Meet me down the hall when you're ready." With that, he closes the door, leaving me with my thoughts. I wonder how this is going to go? Well, only one way to find out. I slip on a pair of black tights with an oversized blue sweatshirt that I found in the dresser drawer. Then, I walk out the door.

We don't speak as Matthew and I head down hallway after hallway, leading to the cells. What will I ask Olivia? Will she even answer? What do I want to know most? As Matthew's footsteps stop echoing around the blue hallways, mine stop, too. A small white door, just taller than Matthew, looms in front of us. Matthew looks at me, and when I nod, grabs the handle and pulls. The door creaks quietly as it's pulled open, leading to brightly lit stairs.
"Would you like to go first, or should I?" Matthew questions. I answer by staying back, and watch him step in front of me and start walking down the stairs. I pull the door shut behind me as I follow him. About three platforms later, we arrive at another door, the same as the first. Again, Matthew opens it, but instead of stairs, this one leads to a small square room with a desk. Matthew leads me inside. He greets the young man behind the desk, twenty years old if I had to guess, and then turns right into a hallway I didn't notice at first. The walls are lined with cells. He leads me a few paces and then stops, turning to the cell on his right. I follow suit, but freeze when I see the woman inside the cell.
"Ahh," Olivia breathes. "Hello, my daughter. My dearest. Come to greet your rightful parent?" She says, glaring at Matthew.
"She has come to ask you questions," Matthew says with authority in his voice I didn't hear before.
"Hm," she exhales. "We'll see how much I'll answer." Matthew looks at me amd nods slightly, and I step forwards, ready to ask questions. But before I do, Olivia stands, her orange jumpsuit crinkling. "Yes, my daughter," she hisses, stepping closer to the bars. I hold my ground. "Come to me..." Faster than I can register, Olivia reaches through the bars and grabs the strings of my sweatshirt, pulling me towards her. My forehead slams into the bars as Olivia's face looms into view. "You left me!"  She screams as a man dressed in uniform (a guard, I presume) jumps in front of the cell and pushes her back. Matthew's strong arm wraps around my waist and pulls me closer into him. I grap his shoulders, feeling safer when his arms are around me. "We could've been happy together!" Olivia continues to scream as the guard hits the bars with his stick, yelling at her to be quiet - but all I hear is Olivia, screaming at me. "You left me! You left me!" Matthew grabs my arm and guides me out of the cell, Olivia still screaming bloody murder behind me, and the guard still hitting the bars with his stick. More guards are running down the hallway Matthew and I are walking in to, trying to shush Olivia. Suddenly, I can't take it anymore. I collapse, and Matthew drops my arm in surprise. I fall backwards, my head slamming into the ground. Matthew recovers quickly, scooping me into his arms and bringing me up the stairs to my room.
"Relax," he tells me. "You are safe here. It was my mistake to bring you down there. I'll answer all your questions tomorrow. But for now, rest." I drift off to sleep.