The Traitor

Chapter Twenty-Four: Checkmate

Jasper took a step to the side and Savannah took a long stride toward me.

She smiled, but not in a friendly kind of way. It was more like a pure evil grin. "That's where I come in," she told me. Clearly, she had been waiting for her turn to tell this part of the story. "See, it was my job to single-handedly convince all those who remained loyal to you, even after Jasper's setup, that you were a traitor. Luckily for me, those numbers were few. Connor was easy to persuade, since he was already curious enough about what Mr. Thomas had spoken to you about, and all it took was a little urging to get him to ask. As for Lauren and Sophia? They were a bit trickier- both seemed very convinced it wasn't you, but after a few times, I managed to persuade them to stay away from you." She smiled at her work, and despite my desperate attempt to remain calm, I erupted with anger. But she only laughed. "I didn't need to convince Mr. Thomas; he already believed you did it after the first time. But I did a little snooping around, and trust me when I tell you, he won't be coming to rescue you. No one will."

"You're wrong!" I shouted back at her. Bad idea, I told myself. But it was too late- I had to stand my ground now.

She cocked her eyebrow as if to say 'how so?' silently urging me to explain myself and knowing full well she would just shoot me down.

I swallowed before saying, "When I don't come back from rescuing Jasper, Mr. Thomas will send someone to rescue me." The confidence in my voice beyond surprised me, catching me off guard as I studied the still satisfied expression of the blonde traitor.

But she only smiled at me. Clearly, she knew something I didn't. "Now, there's where you're wrong," she disagreed, then went on to explain, "See, the night you left to rescue Jasper, I knew you wouldn't be coming back. But Mr. Thomas, as well as the rest of the Daines, didn't. I figured he'd be suspicious when you didn't return from your mission and, like you said, send someone to the rescue. So I intervened." She smiled, leaving me in the dark as I tried to put the pieces together and figure out what else she had done to make my escape even more impossible. That's when Jasper stepped forward, next to Savannah and began explaining to me what she was attempting vaguely to get across.

"Savannah told Mr. Thomas that you had returned to the Wen Side, finally home from your tedious mission, which was to spy on and get top secret information from the Daines, meanwhile pretending to be one."

My jaw dropped once again and I felt my hands begin to shake with anger, then my jaw tightened. I stood there, dumbstruck, as I faced the two traitors who had helped come up with a flawless plan in order to make sure they achieved their ultimate goal: making sure I was captured and completely unable to escape. They had planned everything just right, not leaving out a single detail. I was never leaving and there was nothing I could do about it.

"Pleasantly surprised?" Jasper asked, then laughed out loud, joined in by Savannah as they watched my helplessness show through my hate-filled expression. "We knew you would be, and that's why we're about to explain to you the rest of our flawless plan." He grinned in complete satisfaction, knowing he had won. But I couldn't let them think I was giving up.

"You won't get away with this." But I knew deep down that they already had.

Mirroring my thoughts exactly, Savannah sneered, "We already have. Besides, what are you going to do? Try to escape by yourself, not having anywhere to go because you're now known everywhere as a traitor?"

"That's not true. I could go to my family. I could go to Brandon!" I shouted back.

But Savannah just laughed. "Brandon? You mean this Brandon?" she yelled back in a voice that reminded me of a witch, as she stretched her arm toward the open door from which she had come.

Suddenly two guards appeared in the doorway, and to my surprise and absolute horror, they held a struggling Brandon's arms tightly behind his back as they walked into the room.

I gasped and took a step back in shock. Brandon was pushing and pulling against the guards' restraint to no avail. I noticed both his forehead and eye were black and purple with new bruises, and his lip and upper arm were bleeding, the fresh blood running down his elbow and falling to the ground, creating a red trail behind them. 

I screamed at the sight of him as they walked closer to me. Brandon finally took a break from struggling, to look up at me after hearing my scream, a look of true horror crossing his face. He stopped in shock at seeing me there, which caused the guards to stumble over the back of his heels. One of them reached up and hit him hard on the back of his head, making him fall forward and hit the ground. I screamed again as he got back up and the guards again grabbed his arms.

"Brandon!" I shouted. I turned to Jasper, giving him the death glare, which he returned with a smile. "What is he doing here? I thought you took him home! You said you would take him home!" Tears stung my eyes as I yelled, despair falling over me as my already horrible situation multiplied by ten.

"Oh, but I also said I was a Daine. I lied, Teya, get over it."

I erupted. "Get over it?! Are you serious? You have me, you don't need Brandon too! Please just let him go!" The tears surfaced and began falling as I begged, causing Jasper even more amusement.

"Let him go?" Jasper repeated, pretending to be shocked at such a request. "But then you'll try to escape. If we have Brandon here, you won't leave." He had created a perfect chess board, with all of his pieces teamed up against my one king. And I was in Checkmate. I couldn't move anywhere without an immediate attack. It was game over.

I took a deep breath, wondering if I could make this promise. Of course I could- for Brandon. "I won't try to escape, I promise," I mumbled, just loud enough for everyone to hear. "If you let Brandon go, I'll...I'll stay here."

"Teya, no!" Brandon shouted, but then one of the guards reached over and hit him square in the stomach, causing him to bend over gasping for the air that had just been knocked out of him.

Jasper ignored Brandon's comment and scowled at me. "Don't give us that, of course you will. As soon as we let Brandon go, you'll stop at nothing to escape. That's why we have to keep him here. It's for your own good, princess." He said it like he was trying to protect me, like I was asking if I could do something dangerous and he was telling me no so I would stay safe. He gave me a false sense of security in his tone, but I knew how his cruel brain worked. And he was promising me anything but safety.

"Don't call me that," I demanded.

"I'll do whatever I want. You're the one behind bars, remember?" He smirked, mocking me yet again.

I rolled my eyes, letting my annoyance get the best of me. "What do you want from me?" I asked. Hopefully, I could just give it to him and he would let us go; or if not both, then at least Brandon. There was no need to bring him into this.

"It's not something you can give us, Teya," Jasper replied, his tone up to his chin with sass.

"Then why am I here?" I asked in a voice that said clearly, 'tell me what you want so I can give it to you and get out of here.' Savannah glanced over at Brandon and gave him a cruel smile, to which he gave her a defiant glare. Don't give in, I wanted to tell him. Stand your ground. We'll get through this...somehow.

"We want you, Teya. You're a RAY, remember? You're special. You're one of us," he told me, drawing out the last part and gesturing to both him and Savannah. Boy, did he have the guts to say that...

"I am not one of you! And I will never be one of you! You can keep me locked up in here forever, for all I care. But I will never join you!" As good as that felt to say, I knew then that I had crossed a line.

Jasper's face twisted in anger. "Oh, you're going to regret that!" he shouted back. "Guards, take him out!" He gestured toward the guards holding Brandon and I watched Brandon's face erupt in fear.

"Wait, Teya, no!" Brandon shouted, struggling against the guards' impenetrable hold. "Teya!"

My hands flew over my mouth as they began pulling him back toward the door. "Wait! Don't hurt him! Please!" I started sobbing as I watched the guards retreat into the hallway, carrying my brother and best friend with them.