The Portum (Undergoing Rewrite)

Part Four

I gave up on that past idea and desperately glanced around for a weapon, as the person wasn't letting go. I remembered my smart-watch. Bingo! I flicked through the different functions before reaching the panic option, I paused for a brief moment. If I pressed this, people would come and help, but then I'd be taken off to school. I sighed and put the wrist with the watch on it, down.

I winced as the nails were beginning to draw blood on my arm, I spun to face the person the bony hand belonged to, it was an old lady, but she looked malnourished and kept muttering to herself, she looked even crazier than most of the "Hopeless." I gulped and lashed out with a foot, it connected with the lady's jaw and knocked her backwards, letting go of me as she fell back. "I'm so sorry!" I mumbled before jogging off. Wanting to leave tunnel 1 as soon as possible.

I reached the end of the dim-lit tunnel, pausing outside of it, I took deep breaths trying to calm down; I felt shocked a little, but shrugged the feeling away. I had better things to worry about.

I walked towards the Tower, pulling my hoodie close to me as I felt a little cold; I walked inside, weaving through the crowd of people, all dressed in suits and business-like clothes, I didn't bother going over to the receptionist, I headed straight for the lift, surprisingly there was no-one there to guard it; mind you, everyone probably thought I had been scared out of my wits and wouldn't dare to try something like that again. Well, I'm Rose Evans, and I am very unpredictable.

I pressed the shiny button that opened the lift and slipped inside, smiling happily; I found it hilarious that everyone was too busy working or whatever adults in here do, to even notice a girl walk in, I mean come on! I stuck out like a sore-thumb!

Stifling a laugh, I pressed the button for the floor my mother's office is on. The lift wasn't even halfway up, when it stopped; the doors began to open, I panicked and turned my face away from the door, hoping I wouldn't be noticed or recognised.

A pair of heels clacked as they stepped into the hallway, the person coughed to get my attention, I glanced at the person in the lift beside me, and it was my mother...

She gave me a stern look, narrowing her eyes at me. Strangely, my mother's eyes seemed smaller through her glasses than they really were. My mother was dressed the same way as usual, except she had a tablet in one hand, it showed different graphs and charts.

Sheepishly I turned to face my mother, waving meekly, "Hi mum, I needed to see you... " My mother sighed in exasperation, shaking her head. "Honestly Rose, what are you like? I'm supposed to be working, you can't just drop by whenever you want to!" My mother's tone was harsh, I flinched as though I had been slapped.

"B-but I never get to see you, and it was important... I-I know you're busy but I had to talk to you..." My mother grumbled and pressed the button for her office floor, a few moments later she stepped out, dragging me by my elbow.

She unlocked her office and walked in, still dragging me behind her. I sighed, knowing I was in trouble. My mother sat down at her desk, rubbing her temples as she thought, "Go on Rose, tell me what you need to, but make it quick, I have a meeting in five minutes." I nodded and sat down on the wooden chair in front of the desk. I took a deep breath before speaking, "I need to know what happened to me, you must know something, like why they put weird camera contacts in my eyes, and I thought I was having the surgery that 'corrected my thoughts!" I chose my words carefully, knowing my mother was a fan of the government and she trusted them. My mother stare at me blankly, before blinking a few times. "How should I know dear? And look, if this outburst is caused by what happened to your father and you wish to know more, I'm afraid I can't help you, but maybe one of your father's colleagues can help. Why don't you go see them after school? Which is where you should be right now Rose..."

I grit my teeth in annoyance, knowing I should have expected an answer like that, but my mother had popped a certain thought or idea, in my head. I should go to where my dad worked, I was now sure that I could get answers.

My mother, after her 'speech', had gone back to working on her tablet, barely acknowledging me, so I mumbled a goodbye and walked out, taking the lift back down, before setting off in a jog, towards the small building where my dad had worked, unfortunately it was on the other side of the Portem, so I knew I would have to find a fast way to get there.

A thought popped into my head, I could 'borrow' a hover-board! Since they were fast, and nearly everyone had one. My watch beeped warningly but I rolled my eyes and ignored it, pivoting and walking towards the park where the younger ones and people my age liked to hang out, there were a few skate ramps that people liked to ride their hover-boards on, so I knew it wouldn't be hard to find one.

I approached the park, artificial trees were dotted around a small playground for the little ones, beyond that there was a large bush, with an archway cut into it, which led to the skate park. In the distance you could hear the skaters yelling random things or cheering at a trick.

The muddy bark crunched beneath my feet as I walked, I glanced at my watch to check the time, and it was 9:30. I was meant to be in school, so I could get my rank. But it would have to wait until tomorrow.