The Traitor

Chapter Eleven: Protecting The Innocent

The guards held my arms tightly behind my back and escorted me to the door, where they forced me into the back seat of their Ranger. The head guard stood outside my door and through the open window, in a deep voice, said, "Mr. Thomas won't be happy to see you here." I frowned, knowing all too well what his reaction would be. He then closed my window and walked over to another guard, telling him something I couldn't hear. The guard nodded and walked over to the Ranger I was sitting in. Glaring at me, he opened the passenger side door, got in, then closed it behind him.

I glared back at him, then turned and looked out the window. Great, I thought. What am I going to do now?  I couldn't keep Jasper's words from circling around inside my head. I just can't get locked up, not now. How is it that I just barely became a Daine and am already being arrested? 

Another guard got in the driver seat and turned on the Ranger, then pulled away from the prison. The drive there put me in a state of suspense, as I tried, to no avail, to convince myself that Mr. Thomas would be understanding. But I knew of all the reactions he might have, understanding was not one of them. 

As we pulled up to the Daine President's office, the guards opened my car door and dragged me to the porch, where we waited for Mr. Thomas to answer our knock. It was the middle of the night, so I was surprised when he answered immediately from the inside, "Come in."

The guard to my left opened the door and the other pushed me inside, causing me to trip and almost fall as I entered. There I stood facing the desk where Mr. Thomas sat turned around in his chair, digging through some papers in a file cabinet.

He turned around to face us. "So who's the-" He stopped short when he saw me. "Teya." He glanced up at the guards restraining me from getting out of there as quickly as I could. I couldn't keep Jasper's warning from ringing through my head, threatening to come true and making the situation a hundred times worse. If he was going to lock me up, I wished he would save us both time and just do it already. The anticipation and anxiety was killing me.

"What are you doing here?" he asked me angrily.

I stood there silently, trying to appear as though I wasn't afraid of him. I wasn't sure what he was going to do to me, but I knew I had blown my last chance at proving myself loyal to the Daines. After this, he would never believe that I didn't bomb the train.

"You...you were the one caught sneaking around in the Prison?" His walkie-talkie went off and he lifted it to his ear, listening to a muffled voice I couldn't understand.

Suddenly, he stood up quickly from his desk. "What?!" he shouted even more angrily into the walkie-talkie. "How could this happen?! I-"

More muffled sounds came from the small device in his hand and he listened intently, his face creased with anger. "Oh...the girl?" His voice was suddenly calm again as he lifted the walkie-talkie from his ear and stared down at me.

"What were you doing in the Prison?" he asked, trying remain calm. But as I continued to ignore him, his expression returned to anger.

"Where is Prisoner 421?!" he shouted at me, raising his voice even more.

I knew I couldn't ignore him anymore. "I...I don't know."

"Do not lie to me, Teya! Did you or did you not help Prisoner 421 escape?!"

I couldn't take it anymore, I knew I had to give in. "I had no choice! He's my brother!" I cried out. I watched his expression turn from anger to thoughtfulness and for a moment, I thought he might let me go.

"Hmmm..." He thought for a second before saying, "Your brother?" I nodded. "And why is he in prison?"

I bowed my head and stared at my feet. "I...I don't know. He's a Wen and-"

He cut me off before I could finish. "A Wen?" I nodded again. "He must be rebellious, like you, in order to end up in prison. You see, he snuck over a few nights ago on a mission for the Wens, but the guards caught him. He surrendered without a fight, but the guards still considered him a threat. Of course, they couldn't just simply put him in his cell, or he might find some way to escape. He was much stronger than most of them. That's why-"

"Stop, please," I requested. I knew he was about to tell why they had beaten Brandon up and I couldn't stand to hear that about him. I knew he would never hurt anybody. No wonder he was in such bad condition; he didn't fight back.

"What? So you must know he didn't fight back," he guessed.

"It's not hard to tell," I mumbled reluctantly, dropping my head once more.

"So you did see him. You must know where he is then." He started pacing back and forth behind his desk, and I sighed in defeat. I felt a stabbing pain in my left leg and suddenly remembered the glass. I wanted to see the extent of how bad it was, but at the same time, I didn't. I couldn't trust myself to see blood without hurling.

Mr. Thomas noticed me flinch from the pain and glanced down at my leg. "Let her sit," he instructed the guards. They pushed me toward a small wooden chair and I gladly sat down, ignoring the urge to inspect my leg damage.

Mr. Thomas waited till I was seated before continuing, "So, are you going to tell me where he is? Or do we have to do this the hard way?" He waited for me to say something, but when I didn't respond, he said, "There must have been someone with you, someone to help you with your brother's escape. Surely, you can at least tell me who helped you."

I looked down at my lap and shook my head. If Jasper had gotten out with Brandon, then telling Mr. Thomas that Jasper was there too, would surely lead to capture of both him and Brandon. I couldn't take that risk. If someone was going to get punished, it would be better if it was just me, rather than both Jasper and I.

"No? Fine. I guess we'll have to do this the hard way." He sat back down behind his desk and looked me straight in the eye. "Teya, you already have a black mark on your record for being a traitor. This could lead to you being locked up. But, I'm willing to make you a deal." I swallowed; I didn't like the way he said that. "If you can tell me who else was involved, I'll forget about the little train incident, and ease up on the punishment for both you and your...partner in crime. But if you can't, you will receive both of the punishments, and be locked up for treason against the Daines. Your choice."

Though I suspected he would do it, it still came as a surprise as the words left his mouth. "Locked up? But sir-" I began to argue back.

He stood up and shouted across his desk. "Can you or can you not tell me who else was involved?!"

I sat back and looked at the ground, shaking my head.

"Very well. Guards! Lock her up! When she can tell us who was else was involved and where Prisoner 421 is, bring her back!"

"Wait!" I shouted as the guards picked me up from the chair and began escorting me out. "You don't understand!"

"Oh, I understand perfectly, Teya!" Mr. Thomas shouted as the guards began pulling me out the door. "You are a traitor, and it was a mistake not to lock you up the first time!" The guards shut the office door and began pushing me toward a small hunched building, hidden away behind his office. The building was old and run down, and looked as if it hadn't been used in years. Had it not been for the uncontrollable fear creeping up my spine, I would've laughed. Of course it hadn't been used, it's not every day someone is accused of treason. This just happens to be the one day someone was.

I looked up as we approached the building, and noticed a sign above the door that read, 'Traitor to the Daines. No Visitors.' They brought me inside the building, closing the door loudly behind them. We were standing in a small section by the door, which was the only part of the building that wasn't barred off. They opened the cage door that stood a few feet in front of us, and pushed me into it, locking the door, then disappearing out of the building. It took me less than a minute to figure out that the building was just an isolated jail cell, disguised to look like an abandoned building.