The Man In The Midnight Blue Suit

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"That's new," Lucian exclaims. "You never had that when I trained you. Oh, you sneaky little girl."
Lucian stands from the ground, his pupils dilated. He's in shock from the invasion.
"I've never met anyone who can do that." He continues his rant to stone-faced Elites. "I told you she was special, didn't I? I told you! You exceeded even my expectations, Casey. All of you did! You blew them out of the park."

Every time he says my name he rolls it through his mouth, like a sickening lullaby. I try to lurch forward, but my body is pulled back. "Oh, no, Casey," Lucian says, voice colder than ice, "I'm not letting you go."

I'm forced to my side. A dull thump: my head hits the earth. And then sitting up again: shins on the ground with my thighs made to stop only slightly above. The position makes my spine ache and my knees tremble – but they don't move. The elites are in control.

"As I was saying," Lucian continues, "I never asked this of you. I asked you to be the best, and you took it upon yourself to be better than not only your competitors, but every single person who had ever taken part in this competition."

I try to speak, yell at him in frustration. My jaw is clamped shut. "Let him speak," The Elite swathed in purple says.

"That angers me. It enrages me that you managed to destroy this ancient tradition, which by all means should have smothered you. But what amuses me, is that you thought you were going to surprise us." He chuckles, his fury mixed with a touch of insanity to make a dangerous cocktail.

Dread builds at the pit of my stomach.

"You thought you were careful, didn't you?" He taunts.
It's not true.
"You thought your whispers would not be heard."
He's lying. He's ashamed. He's distraught.
"Hale heard them. He didn't tell us though: no, he's much too proud for that."
No.
"Of course we knew, Casey! We knew exactly what you were trying to do."
No.
"We knew the minute you walked into the arena that you would attempt to destroy it."
"NO!"

My voice breaks through the bonds holding me down: but only for a second.
"She speaks!" Lucian announces. He spins around with his arms up, drawing his audience in, the insane ringmaster of the Elite's circus. "It's amazing that your spirit is still intact, really. I thought it would have been dampened by now – no, drowned."

"Get on with it Lucian. We don't have the patience for games." The Elite with a long beard protests.
"I am in control here, Jaquan." Lucian declares. "We have all the time in the world for games." His becomes sinister, his voice promising the vengeance he believes is his.

Lucian turns to me, pale grey eyes flaring like his midnight blue flames. Across from me, Tobias moves. For a moment, he is filled with hope and relief, stretching his arms and feeling them move freely. But after that moment, he falls backwards. His body shudders and spasms. He screams. He limbs turn in unnatural angles. His chest convulses.

I'm the one screaming. Inside my head: my body will not move to let the desperate sound out. Perhaps it's for the better.

"Games, games, games. All the worlds a game, if you let it." Lucian torments us.
"You discovered life after the game, I think, Casey. That's what made you hate me so. I admit I was careless with you and your brother. You slipped through my fingers. I never realised you knew about them until today. Careless. It's not a mistake I'll be making again."
He looks at me, sees the confusion I'm trying my best to hide. He's talking in riddles.
"Oh, don't you remember, Casey?" He says. "I'm sure you do. I'm sure it shocked you, right through to your core. The top floor, the one place you weren't allowed to go. Jonathan, I thought, might have learned to keep his mouth shut. Obviously not. How you got in, I still can't quite figure out. Just shows how special you are, Casey."