Caged

7 - Lights

Lacey is the one who guides the fifty to a pair of tall warehouse doors.  Although they are thick, I can hear people shouting on the other side, not urgent, but excited.  Lacey informs us that the people out there are there to see us.

“They’ve told the public classified information about who you are in this Task.  Most of the information is false, however, but it aligns with the Panel’s plan for you,” Lacey tells us carefully.

“What is that supposed to mean?” someone asks.  “Wasn’t the whole point of that last little exercise to create ourselves?  What did they tell them?”

“Like I said,” Lacey snaps.  “It’s classified.  You cannot know what they know.  They cannot know what you know.”

“So you’re messing with our heads?”

“Basically.”  Lacey shakes her head, smiling.  I wonder what she knows they we aren’t supposed to know.  “Now, what I can tell you is that you are very important in the public’s perspective now.  If all goes according to plan, they’re obsessed with you now, so things are going to be a little crazy.”  Lacey stops, pushing her earpiece into her ear like she’s trying to hear what is being said.

“Wait, what?” someone else asks.  How crazy is she talking?  What is she even talking about?  I’m still too stunned by nearly getting taken out of Testing to rationalize her words in my head.

“I’m sorry, you’re going to be late if I explain.  You’ll see.”  Lacey rushes through the words.  “Okay, smile, smile!  Just don’t forget to smile!”

As bulky green guards are hauling open the doors, a hand clasps around my wrist.  My eyes follow the hand up to the face of the person –– Elena.  She and Dalton are at my side, beaming.  I, on the other hand, am terrified as to what Lacey means with this obsessive and crazy talk.

The shouts get louder, the voices grow closer, and suddenly bright lights blind me.  Camera flashes go off in my ears and I’m being pushed forward in the group, into the mob of photographers and spectators.  I stumble to the side, desperate to get out of the sea of people, but I only make it worse for myself.  Cameras are shoved into my face, and people call my name, Elena’s name, random names I’ve never heard before.

My hair is yanked on by the mob coming at us, and guards are hastily pushing people away.  Glinting in the flashing lights, I see a pair of silver scissors and the owner reaching for my hair, a rabid look in her eyes.

Someone pulls me from the scene and shoves me into a long car.  I fall onto the seat on my side, my legs kicking someone and my head landing on another Member’s knee.  It’s Elena who grabs my hand and pulls me into the open spot next to her.  I mumble an apology to the people I landed on, but they don’t seem to care about that.

I realize that the car is an abnormally long bus, so long that there is another entrance in the middle, hence why I fell on people when I was tossed in.  Only two people can fit in each seat, and Elena and I share one.

Everyone is looking out their windows at the chaos.

“Damn,” Elena sighs, shaking her head in disbelief.  “They are obsessed with us.  And I don’t even know why . . . we’ve barely even been here.  It must be fake or something.”  She turns to face me.  “Someone was literally trying to take me with them.  And the weird thing was was that they know who I am.  He knew my full name.  He pulled on my arms and just kept going, ‘Elena Larkin Patel, I love you so much, come with me.  Please come with me, Elena Larkin Patel.’  Like, I didn’t even care enough to know my own middle name until, like, three years ago.”