Perfectly Scarred

The Chaos

Alpha grabs me. I feel her nails dig deep into my skin.

"Come with me," she says firmly.

"My granddad." I say to her, feeling breathless already. "I have to get my granddad"

"He'll be fine" she says dismissively, leading me down from the stage.

"No. He comes, too!" I stop walking.

She tries to tug me again but can see I'm not moving until we sort this out.

"All right. I'll tell Irene to bring him to us" she quickly barks orders at Irene, who looks on the verge of collapse, but instead pushes her way through the panicking crowd to get to Granddad, whom I still can't see. I don't have much faith in Irene at this point. I think she will be more concerned about saving her own skin than my Granddad's. I can see his cap in the moving crowd. Everyone trying to make a way to the door, trying to escape.

"Granddad" I call. He doesn't hear me.

I start to panic. I pick up the microphone that only moments ago I couldn't think of a word to say into and shout into it, but it has already been turned off.

"I have to find him"

"Irene will get him". Alpha grabs me by the arm and pulls.

"Forgive me if I don't have much faith in Irene." I snap. "Did you tell the whistleblowers I was here?" I shout. "Was this a trap to catch Lisa?"

"What? Why would I do that?" She asks, so alarmed and disgusted that I believe her.

"Irene thought I was speaking here today. Did you advertise this?!"

She looks guilty. "I might have mentioned it to a few people, but certainly didn't advertise it."

"Damn it!" I shout, pulling my arm away from her. "You used me!"

"Let me explain," she says, changing her body language. She appears panicky. "Come with me and I'll explain"

"Where are we going?" She doesn't answer- she just moves quickly. The room is in utter chaos. There are those who want to leave, and those who are strong and firm in their stance and stay where they're seated, arms folded in defiance.

The speaker from the F.A.B institution tries to get Alpha's attention. She runs along the side of the stage, chasing after us. "You said I would be protected!" She says, panicking, as Alpha ignores her and pulls me away with her.

As we reach the back of the room, I hear the whistles, and my heart pounds with memory of Shay Lee and my own experience ringing in my ears. It makes me freeze on the spot, and it has that effect on most people. Caught. The room start to go silent at the sound. Freeze. Panic. Alpha gets moving again, pulling me in the opposite direction.

"Granddad," I say, sob catching in my throat. I see the red vests swarming into the room, I see a baton swing in the air, and I hear people scream. Alpha pulls me through another door, and we leave the mayhem behind.

"Jesus" Alpha pants as we start to run now. "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus"

We run faster and she leads me down a corridor and into and elevator as we go down another floor. When we come out, the ceilings are low, the hallways are narrow. This part of the house is not so plush. It's more like a bunker.

"This way." We can no longer walk by side in the narrow hallway, so I follow her, her looking back regularly to make sure I'm still there.

"The Society keeps an eye on us, and more important, lets ys know that it's keeping an eye on us. It sends one or two Whistleblowers. They sit in the back row, listen, and keep an eye on things. This isn't an illegal gathering since they know about my cause. Usually there's nothing to worry about." She says.

"But what happened today? Why is there a sudden ambush?"

"I really don't know. It's the first time that happened. It usually goes well. I am as clueless as you are, Roseanne"

"Usually" I say bitterly. "But you told people I was coming. That I was speaking. And I'll bet Dahee has introduced a new law against this. She's going to say you were holding a rally. That I was speaking at a rally."

She looks at me and swallows. Her look of fear doesn't do anything to comfort me. "But we're not doing anything wrong. We're just sharing our stories. We're allowed to do that".

"The rules have changed." I say. "Dahee is changing everything now"

Dahee is scared. She feels her power slipping away. Perhaps, she's hears about the secret committee investigating her, perhaps not, but either way there is enough rising opposition to the Society among the public and now among the government to make her panic. And on top of that, if I'm right, she's going to extreme measures to silence the Society guards and Ms. Bennett, if she gets her hands on her. She is panicking.

Alpha stops in the middle of a hallway and lifts a section of the dado rail and inserts PIN code. "I can assure you, Roseanne, that I did not alert them to your presence. I may have told a few people that you'd be here, but I'm not ready to announce you as a friend of the foundation yet"

"Good" I snap. "Because, right at this moment, I certainly am not a friend of the foundation; and if you think you'll be allowed to homeschool me again, you better think again. I'm sure this is the last time you and I will ever be allowed in the same room together. I'm suprised they let you in the first place."

"Like I said, the Society encourages counseling of the Failures. They felt that I would be a positive force in your life. That I could stop you from speaking against them."

I snort.

"I'll tell them you were going to share your sob story snd persuade them to not make mistakes, that life as a Failure is miserable, that you weren't going to glamorize it."

"I am actually going to glamorize it."

She looks at me in surprise. There's a beep, and a door that I hadn't noticed before suddenly opens.

" A secret door?"

"Not secret, just not as clearly marked." She says defensively, with a sly smile.

Once inside, I find myself in an office. Walnut desk, shelves filled to the brim with books. Leather chairs with gold buttons. Photographs in gold frames covering every inch of the wall. "You'll be safe here. They don't know about this room" she says quickly. "I have to go back and talk to the Whistleblowers, sort this mess out, with your granddad. Stay here till I return."

The door closes behind her, and I'm left in the room alone.