The Circle

Chapter Six

"Well done Treese" The Checker sarcastically clapped as if I had just got an easy question right. The Protectors walked sturdily over holding the guns in one hand and the sign of hell in another. They hauled me up from the floor to my objections, which were little as I had no energy to act how I wanted and plonked me into a black seat. A seat that looked very ordinary, a black one with metal bars underneath to rest my feet on, but this was no ordinary seat. It was the seat of death.

This was where most of the criminals ended up getting killed if they had been a 'traitor' towards the capital and were caught. The chair, although it looked ordinary, was lethal and had many hidden contraptions; the best of which was a button which could be pressed to strap the criminal onto the chair with metal before the toxin was administered, or that was what was said. Well, I guess I was about to find out if that was true.

"what are we going to do with you?" The Checker whispered in my ear sending shivers down my spine. A protector then gripped my neck, restricting me from talking, allowing The Checker to have a great laugh at the suffering and his favourite colour now being created in my face. Pale blue. The gasping started to increase as I started to feel my throat close in on itself and then Elin slapped his hand away.

"That's enough! Let's get down to the real business" she told The Protector as he tried, again, to place his hands around my neck to squeeze. The blood started to run back down into my body causing my head to go hot and me to get a bad headache. The sound of my heart pumping rang in my ears as I saw Elin and The Checker scheming together, against me, about what they would do to me I imagine. But I could not hear a word until The Checker turned to face me.

"Let's get the injection, shall we?" The Checker asked kindly. My heart started to speed up as I tried to push myself up from the chair but all I could feel was the force of the other two Protectors making sure I could not move by holding down my shoulders, restricting any movement or resistance that I had left in me.

Elin moved towards me as I watched her master walk towards the metal cupboard with glass transparent bottles full of transparent liquid. "It will be over soon" She kicked my leg and then I felt the bones rattle and my skin squirm from the pain of the blood and the earlier task of escaping. Escaping from death to a destination of death. I stayed silent as I grimaced at the stinging pain and the sight of blood filling the floor, like taps filling water we retrieved every day from the watering shed; it wasn't even a shed, it was just a little metal box like we lived in but this one just kept us living so we could work for Hannover.

But that was all going to be over.

I sat and closed my eyes, keeping myself calm and stopping myself from resisting, and then I felt the cold air around me, making me shiver. I knew the needle was near me. It was the air of fear crowding around my skin waiting for the main attraction. My death. The needle was getting closer and closer and my mind was running around in circles. From prayer to the god of Hope and Heaven to the family that I had lost. Maybe it would be better dying and getting away from all the destruction in my life, but still, my head was sending prayers, hoping I would live, just for one more day. The needle traveled closer and closer as fear out of it, injecting me. But then it stopped when I felt the point touch me.

I opened my eyes; head spinning, confused about what was happening. I'm supposed to be dead. I could hear voices, just as my sense of hearing came back, discussing and shouting of what to do but I couldn't see anyone. I sat and tried to move but still I was held down by The Protectors. What was happening over there? I questioned in my head; thinking why I wasn't dead. I waited, eyes open, and stared into the empty space until I heard the voices come nearer and footsteps clatter near me.

I shut my eyes.

Warmth soon loomed over me as I can feel the heat, as if human-like, standing over me. The smell of dodgy deodorant and bad breath hit me and made my sense of smell want to disappear and then I felt something. A shud! Of someone trying to wake me up and a voice blister my eardrums. A whisper. "Wake up! You aren't dead..." The voice paused and then continued in its menacing, scheming tone. "Yet" The voice laughed and then I opened my eyes. It was The Checker, why wasn't I surprised? He was grinning with an evil glimpse of murdering in his eyes and then he spoke again. Loud this time: for all to hear.

"What shall we do with you?" He said, in the same tone as he did before, still grinning at his plan. The room fell quiet, waiting for me to speak but I did not want to fill the air of awkwardness. It was how I liked it. "I don't know. Make him suffer" Elin spoke out on behalf of everyone in the room, what a brave thing to do. "Well... We heard her, didn't we?" The words ripped through my skin and I sat dreading what his next words would be.

"suffer" his voice quivered as he tried to think and then he had it.

"Well, we don't have anyone to represent Lushein City now?" The Checker questioned himself and he had it, I could tell he had it by the sound of his breath slowing down, showing the work had finished. "You can represent us. The Capitalists don't deserve to suffer. You do!" He raised his voice making his words echo all around the room. This was it. I was definitely going to die. I was going to follow in the footsteps of my dad. A useless job he did and I'm sure I'll do worse. I'm a failure and I was told that from a young age so I won't stand a chance.

"Get him some new identity! He is now from Lushein City, we will make sure he looks likes one of us now" The Checker smiled at me, now showing his delight of his newly formed proud.

"I am so good. I'm a genius" He told himself and the turned his back. "One. You're in charge. I need to see Hannover" His voice ruptured through my heart; I was going to be in The Circle. "Do what you want with him" He walked away.