Cooper had promised me that they would have a place for me in the caves tomorrow night. For now, I lay on top of the blankets with Box curled up next to me. Images of Finn's distraught face, his blood-red hands, and the stain on Mads's blanket threatened to follow me into oblivion...
The woman holding the black folder in front of me could have been a statue.
She didn't blink. Her hands didn't tremble. I wasn't even convinced that her eyes moved from side to side as she read my file.
I contemplated her salt-and-pepper hair, wondering if it really had thinned a little recently, or if that was just my imagination. Several minutes dragged by, but I knew better than to interrupt her. One did not interrupt management in this building.
Instead I looked down at the worn brown carpet. It didn't smell like anything in this office - unless you counted the faint antiseptic smell of a recent cleaning. There were no faux windows on the walls, nor were there any pictures or posters hanging up. Just a desk, a computer, a mountain of paperwork, and a single chair. Visitors were not invited to sit down.
"Are you sure?" she asked me. Narrowed black eyes flicked up, but the folder stayed steady.
"Yes."
A small harrumph escaped her lips and she finally set the file down, folding her hands neatly on the desk in front of her. I fought the urge to fidget, waiting for her to speak first. When she did I detected a hint of derision in her tone, of disappointment in her eyes.
"Do you really think this next path will wash away everything you've done? There's no reset button in this life." She flicked a hand in the air to let me know the question was rhetorical. "Even if you're a genius, which you clearly are, and you make a move into this field, it'll take you years. You might do something great, you might never make a single discovery worth reading about, you might never even get funding."
I know, I thought, glancing down at my hands, allowing myself to crack just a few knuckles.
Her tone softened. "You're good at this. You could stay here for the rest of your life. And when you're done, we'll take care of you. This jump of yours won't work."
I clasped my hands behind my back. The room around me began to dim and blur, the canvas of my vision being pulled apart thread by thread.
"I have to try."
YOU ARE READING
Vicious Memories
Mystery / ThrillerTHE MAZE RUNNER for ADULTS --- Things Oliver doesn't know: How he washed up on this island. What the blank keycard in his pocket opens. Who he murdered. When Oliver wakes up he's drowning in the surf, with no memory of who or where he is. Before he...
