A Mist of Brightness

Three

I guess Daniel was right.

Sighing, I followed her. She wove through the mostly deserted hallways which were dimly lit with a small hanging light bulb every twenty feet or so. I resisted the urge to slip away considering she never turned around to make sure I followed. Overconfident much?

There weren’t many reasons that the leaders would like to talk to me. Either I had to give up my bed or they’d found out the truth about me. This was as serious as it could get. Every time I was asked to help out with something, I was simply asked in front of whoever was around. This place was not very big on secrets. Or at least I hoped.

The more we walked, the less lit the hallways were, the less doors (or curtains rather) I saw. We finally stepped through a curtain. The room we stepped into was…a meeting room? A long oak wood table took most of the room and the faces of the leaders stared at me as they sat around it.

“Um…” I didn’t know what to say or do. My heart beat frantically as I went through scenarios through my head. I currently couldn’t think of any lies to tell them. At least, believable lies.

All the leaders were sitting on the same side of the table, facing me. Margo went around the table and joined them. Sylvia gave me a small smile, but it seemed forced.

“Sit,” Gregory gestured to a chair across from them. Well, if this wasn’t meant to be intimidating, then it sure was frightening. Gregory was probably mid-fifties. I’d never seen him smile. But I think it’s his mostly bald head which gave him the aura of someone important.

Carefully making my way toward the table I asked, “So…Why am I here? Did I do something wrong? Is this like the principal’s office?” I rambled.

They waited till I was seated to open a folder.

Margo cleared her throat. “We have become aware of the influence you’ve had since coming here almost a year ago.”

“You keep a file on me?” I asked disbelievingly. I never thought they’d keep track of all the people coming in and out of here.

“Of course,” was her response. “The difference you’ve made has not gone unnoticed.”

Luc, the other male leader (and French), spoke up. “We want to thank you, first of all. I don’t know how you’ve done it, but you have. The word hasn’t spread so fast before. More and more people have been joining us since you came. And we don’t believe that to be a coincidence. We have not been short on supplies, food, or clothing since you stepped in. You could say we are…curious about you.”

“Maybe it wasn’t me. Other people joined here around the same time I did. We have to keep an open mind,” I tried to take some of the credit off…

“We have enough evidence pointing otherwise.”

…and failed.

I tried to avoid their eye contact. “Look, I must have gotten lucky. I must have done something by accident that led to a favorable butterfly effect in spreading the word. Trust me, there is nothing slightly significant about me.”

“Is that so?” asked Luc in his faint accent.

“We want to know you better and for you to become more involved in this cause. We truly need someone like you for our more serious matters,” added Sylvia.

“Look, you guys know my story. You have it all right in front of you. I never knew my parents. I grew up with my maternal grandmother. She and I live in a cabin at the edge of town. I didn’t grow up around many people and quite frankly, I lived a rather boring life. This is one of the reasons why I came here. I wanted to do something important with my life.”

“And now is your chance,” Margo said to me, making me fall into a trap. Gosh dang it, couldn’t I have come up with a better mini speech?

“You know why I can’t do that. My grandmother is suffering greatly from Alzheimer’s. I don’t want to leave her alone or leave her to facilities. Bringing her here would only make it worse for her. Please, she is the only family I have. If something happened to her because I wasn’t there…”

The other female leader, Carol Holder, finally spoke. “We will send a few people to care for your grandmother when you are indisposed.”

No, they couldn’t do that. And I wasn’t going to go out to the city when I knew I could run into him again.

“But—”

“We need you to put your mind and soul into this cause. If you wish to have a home here you will follow our orders.  There is no room for slackers.”

I raised an eyebrow and looked at each of the leaders. “You’re threatening me?” When no one answered, I stood up and clenched my hands at my sides. “Listen and pay attention because I am not repeating this. I chose to become rogue because I wanted equality, yes. But most of all I wanted freedom. I didn’t sign up for this,” and I gestured to them. “I signed up for a cause I believe in and because I wanted to make a difference. But not like this. This is turning into the same thing as the system. You are like the council. The higher class who believes they know what’s best for everyone. None of you are of Alpha, Beta or even Delta descent. Don’t act like them. You were each elected because people believe in you to act as the voices of our cause, not to order everyone around.

“You say you need me. Well, I don’t need you. I have a home outside this complex. Don’t threaten me when I have nothing to lose. I’m the one that will be the decision maker on how much I help you and with what. You don’t tell me, you’ll ask me. That is, if you want my cooperation. If not, I can walk away right now and leave you with your problems.”

I was almost shouting at the end of my speech.  All five leaders simply stared at me—mostly with fury.

I let out a fake laugh and turned around, satisfied. No one bossed me around. No one.

“Wait, Eva,” I heard the soft voice of Sylvia say. “We’ll compromise. We need your help as much as you want to openly live in freedom.”

“Please,” she added.

I stopped but I didn’t turn around, knowing my inner wolf was coming out. When a werewolf’s inner wolf came out, their eyes changed to their wolf’s color. I was sure mine were changed. They couldn’t know I’d lost my cool. With that knowledge, I took a deep breath.

“I’ll think about it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a grandmother to tend to.” I flung aside the pale blue curtain which gave the illusion of a closed door and strode out.

Only I ruined my dramatic exit by tripping over a small crack in the ground.