The Pause

Chapter 18

Nathan awoke in a cold sweat, panting. Clutching for air, fear swallowing his eyes, whilst his tightened muscles grasped to his mattress. He found himself back in his dorm room, his head spinning. Mike nowhere to be found, and Elliott sat at the end of his bed, staring at him with confusion and horror. "Jesus what happened? Nathan are you okay?" He asked desperately. "I'm fine" Nathan sighed unconvincingly. Plagued by what he saw in his nightmare. He turned to Elliott, "I don't know. Truth is I'm starting to wonder why I'm doing this to myself. If I'm just some kind of weapon in the making". His eyes darted to the ground, his body shaking. The room was a freezer with a million eyes watching Nathan all at once. Or so it felt.

Elliott put his arm around his friend. His skin the first bit of warmth Nathan had felt since coming to. "Listen" the boy comforted, "we're not gonna let anything bad happen to you do you understand?" Nathan gave a sly nod. "Nathan how many times do we have to tell you that you're not alone? Me, Emily. Even Roberto all care about you. Whatever kind of bad dream you had was just that. A dream" Nathan began to look up at his companion. "It's not real and you need to know that it wasn't you. Now please Nathan, you helped me face through this when I felt worthless, it's my turn to help you do the same". The two boys hugged each other closely like brothers. Refusing to let go.
Until they heard a knock

The sound blasted and echoed off the corrugated metal door. "Nathan! Elliott! You in there? We need to talk". It was Emily, her voice deadly serious and authoritarian, much alike her father.

The group assembled at their usual meeting spot by the fire pit, currently lit by small scorching embers. Roberto paced back and forth running his hands through his hair muttering in Spanish, at a pace too quick to distinguish. "We have a problem" Emily boldly stated as they arrived. "A very very big one" Roberto added in a nervous state. Nathan and Elliott looked at each other in confusion. "What's going on?" Nathan asked though he had a gut feeling he didn't want to know the answer. Emily sighed, as if even mentioning it brought her physical pain. "It's my dad" she spoke softly, staring at the ground. "He's missing". This shook the boys, Nathan had that sinking feeling of guilt and responsibility drag him down, although it was what she said next that was a stab in the heart.
"And I think I know why"

Nathan began to feel dizzy, a loss of balance came over him and he began to struggle for breath. He was able to keep this hidden from the others, at great detriment to himself however. He was so focused on appearing calm he nearly zoned out completely. Though he was able to catch the rest of Emily's speech. She again took up that authoritarian tone, and began circling the group
"I could tell he was hiding something. It was pretty obvious, he would hush up on things he usually would give me the full details on. I tried spying on him a few times, and saw he was meeting with somebody"
This caught Nathan's attention SHIT, SHE'S ON TO ME. WHAT IF SHE KNOWS? IF SHE DOES THEN CHANCES ARE SHE BLAMES ME. BUT IF SHE DOESN'T. WELL FUCK, IF SHE DOESN'T HOW CAN I TELL HER NOW

"Do you know who he was meeting with?" Nathan stuttered nervously trying to play it cool. The fear and guilt eating away at him. He felt his palms become clammy, his legs unsteady, and his teeth grinding together aggravatingly. Emily paused, "no unfortunately I don't". Emily stopped circling, positioning herself in the centre of the group. Nathan had a strong sense of relief crash over him, though in order to maintain his act he couldn't show it. "In order to keep myself hidden I couldn't get too close, besides he was always three steps ahead, meeting in the most inconvenient locations, hardest to track and he always remained hidden. All I know is someone was there and someone knows what he was after".
Nathan began to loosen up but he could sense Emily still wasn't telling him something. "So is that it?" He asked cautiously. "If only It were that simple" Roberto chimed in, trying to calm himself down.

"Last night I saw him enter the tower, typically that would be normal for someone of his status except I never saw him leave. Not to mention the prison riot that took place". The others looked round at each other, catching onto where Emily was headed "you think he caused that" Elliott asked. "It's possible. I remember hearing that all the inmates in the Tower were political prisoners, people that stood against the big guy. I remember my dad talking about how he felt sorry for them" Nathan was confused, WHERE WAS THIS COMING FROM, THAT WAS NEVER HIS PLAN he thought to himself. He began to wonder if Emily knew more. "So you think that was his plan then? Releasing the captured rebels?". Emily shook her head "It can't be. Something doesn't add up, its not like this was new information. Why would he do it now? It also doesn't explain the person he met with. I think something bigger's going on. I think he was looking for something. And whatever it was, someone didn't want him to find it."