Pandemonium

Chapter 15

Exactly at 11 pm, the door opened. Josh and Kathy along with Mike flooded in. Kathy looked at me, worry evident in her eyes, "Are you sure you want to do this today? I mean, considering what happened with Emily, we could postpone our plans."

I shook my head in denial, "No, I don't want to waste any time. I'm fine." We had to move soon without letting Susan know about our plans. "Let's go then, Mike will lead you. Follow Mike." I caught Mike's wrist before he could move, "No, we have to get Raina too."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Josh said, scratching his neck, "I don't trust her, you know?"

"I agree with him, she's a nurse here. She could report us to Susan."

"Kathy, I understand you don't trust her, but I do. You guys can trust me, right?" Both of them nodded, "Alright, we'll get her too." Josh agreed.

The four of us then walked towards Raina's room, with Mike leading us all. She was waiting right outside her room, "I was hoping you wouldn't come."

"Come on Raina, don't be scared. Susan doesn't know, we'll be fine," I consoled her. "It's not Susan that I'm scared of." Her voice was so low that only I heard it. "It'll be alright," I said putting my hand on her shoulder.

"Can we go now? If you both are done acting like couples?" Kathy asked with her arms crossed, a smirk on her face. I could hear Josh and Mike snicker quietly as Raina looked away, blushing. Smiling, I nodded at Mike. He gestured us to follow him. After some time, he halted abruptly, "What's wrong? Are we there?" I asked.

"No, little miss. Mike finds this unusual."

"What is it?" Josh questioned.

"Mike sees fewer guards than yesterday. Mike thinks we must return."

"There's no need for that. Susan gave some of them a leave this morning," Raina said, beads of sweat on her forehead. Worried, I asked her if she was okay. "Yeah, just nervous I guess," she replied.

"Okay then," Kathy tapped Mike on his shoulder, "Let's go, Mike." He nodded at her in agreement and continued leading us to the room. He stopped next to a door and whispered, "Mike found it when Mike was sad."

Holding the door open for us, he bowed his head and said, "Welcome to Mike's castle." It was a castle indeed, a broken sofa with wooden crates aligned on either side of it, like a royal court with the chair being the throne. Only a single light illuminated the dusty room filled with old, broken objects.

"Come on little miss," Mike ushered me to the chair saying, "Sit on the throne!" I shook my head, amused, "Shouldn't Raina sit there? Her name means Queen." I asked, an eyebrow raised in question.

"A name doesn't make someone a Queen, little miss. Their behavior does. Mike thinks you are a Queen." As I sat in the chair, he bowed his head and sat on one of the crates. Others followed suit. Everyone leaned in towards me, showing interest. "Start from the beginning, Queenie." I nodded at Kathy told them everything that had happened with me.

"So you're saying Susan made you lose your memory?" Josh questioned, his arms crossed.

"Yes"

"And your actual name is Arden?" I nodded at Kathy who was wringing her hands, "And you don't have the anagram condition. It seems a bit far-fetched, don't you think?" Josh nodded in agreement.

"Mike says you prove it. State our names."

"Okay, Mike, Katherine, Joshua, Raina. Do you guys believe me now?"

Kathy's jaw dropped in surprise, "Susan! That liar! I'm going to-" I cut off her rant, "There's one more thing," I got up, reaching to my back pocket; I showed them the note Sierra had written.

I read it aloud so everyone could hear. Silence followed my words until Josh spoke out, "Are you sure Sierra wrote it? A note can be easily fabricated, you know?"

I stepped towards him, my jaw clenched, "You think my sister is lying?"

His eyes widened, "What? No! That's not what I said!" he took a step back, "I only meant that we should think rationally before trusting a little note."

A little? A LITTLE? Was my sister's suffering a joke to him? My eyes narrowed, sneering I pushed him back, "A LITTLE NOTE!"

"Alright! Calm down, children!" Before I could do any actual harm, Kathy held me back, "Let's vote, the one who wins will decide what to do next." Agreeing, I shrugged her hands off me. "Mike, what do you think?" she asked. "Mike is with little miss always," he replied.

She clicked her tongue, "Well I side with Josh. That leaves the decision up to Raina," Kathy looked at Raina, expecting a reply. But not a single word left Raina's lips as her eyes remained downcast. "Raina?" I tilted her chin upwards to make her look at me; her eyes brimmed with unshed tears, "What's wrong?" I asked.

"I'm so sorry, I had no choice," she whispered as her tears fell. Before any of us could react, guards swarmed in. Within moments, each of us was on the ground. Except for Raina, everyone was on their knees with a gun pointed at their heads.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"