Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3:

[Alex]

"Alex Hemming. We need to have a word." the Authority said as I walking in the direction of the Office. I had almost been late, but saw that I had one minute remaining until seven thirty. If it wasn't about me being late, what could they be wanting to talk to me about?

"Yes, Authority." I replied, following them in the opposite direction of the Office. The Authority led me down a long hallway, through a door at the very end.

We entered a room that was about the size of Kat's and I's whole house. Needless to say, that wasn't very big, except in comparison. There was a big television on the far wall, facing a sofa and two chairs. A fireplace was beneath the television. On the other side of the room was a conference table. It made me furious to see that the Authority were living like this, in luxury, while the rest of us were stuck living with nothing. Living and abiding by their rules. Doing the jobs they told us we had to do, or we would die.

"Please have a seat." the Authority said, motioning to the conference table. I sat down and waited. One of the Authority sat across from me. "We need to talk about this morning." was all he said. 

Of course, I knew he was talking about the incident early that morning, when Kat had yelled, but I feigned ignorance. "I'm sorry, Authority. What about this morning?"

"One of the night guards told us that he heard yelling coming from your house around two-thirty this morning." 

"Oh. Yes, Authority. Kat had a nightmare." That seemed a legit enough reason. 

"A nightmare? Boy, don't play games with me." When I didn't reply, the Authority continued. "Fine, what was the nightmare about?" he pushed.

"I'm not sure, Authority. Kat didn't give me details."

"Well, why don't we just ask Kat?"

My eyes grew wide as two more Authority dragged Kat into the room. She appeared to be fine, her long brown hair mussed and her equally brown clothes crumpled. I could tell that she was scared and had no idea what was going on. I wasn't exactly sure myself. All this commotion over a nightmare? It seemed illogical. It seemed insane. 

But then again, that seemed to fit my description of the Authority just fine.

The Authority forced Kat into a chair. She glanced over at me. "So, Kat..." the Authority said.

"Yes, Authority?" Kat answered meekly.

"Why were you heard yelling last night?"

"Technically, it was this morning." another Authority chimed in. 

"Shut up." the first Authority said, slapping the other on the arm. "Answer the question, Katerina."

"I already told you, Authority, it was a nightmare." I said quickly.

The Authority standing behind me punched me in the side. "Let the girl answer!"

"I have a question for you, Authority." Kat said determinedly. "What gives you the right to do any of this?" The 

Authority didn't answer, just smirked as Kat went on. "What gives you the right to cage us up, tell us what to do, what to wear?"

"Kat, stop." I pleaded. Why was she all of a sudden so fearless? Now was not the time to have an inflated sense of pride.

"Stop? Alex, wake up. We have to do something before they kill us all off."

"Kill you off?" the Authority said. "What fun would that be? Why, if we just killed you all off, who would we Utilize?" The Authority still wore a snide, yet smug, expression. He was enjoying this.

I stood up and placed my hands on Kat's shoulders. "Stop." I said. "Please."

"If the two of you are finished with your little love-fest, we have other business to attend to." the Authority said. 

His words surprised me. I had expected immediate punishment.

"What do you want us to do with them?" another Authority asked.

"Take the girl to The Chamber."

"What's The Chamber?" Kat asked. The Authority only smiled.

"No, take me." I said, stepping in front of Kat. 

The Authority shrugged. "Fine, take the boy. What does it matter? Escort the girl to her house."

[Kat]

"Maybe we should have some fun with her." one of the Authority who had brought me home said.

"Nah, I don't feel like it. Let's get back to headquarters and eat something." the other Authority replied.

"Fine, next time."

After the Authority had left, I went inside and closed the door. I was so angry. I was angry with myself for flipping out on the Authority. I was angry with the Authority for everything they were doing. And I was angry with Alex for stepping up and taking my place in The Chamber. I had no idea what The Chamber was; it hadn't been mentioned to us before, so Alex could be enduring anything right now. 

I went over and sat on the bed, leaning against the wall and pulling my knees up to my chest. I considered trying to do some sewing, but my mind was in too many places right now. There was no way I could concentrate. And, frankly, I didn't care if I got in trouble by the Authority for doing nothing. It would be better than sitting here worrying. It would be better than letting Alex suffer for something I had done, while I just sat here.

I closed my eyes and tried to think of happy times. The time before the Authority and before Imperium. Back to when I saw my mother and father. God, they were so in love. And Callie, she was crazy. 

I thought back to Callie's nineteenth birthday party. The party had been at Callie's house, since her parents were out of town. Everyone was there. There had been booze, boys and drama. It was just a normal, teenage night. I was still a teenager, yet here I was: no home, no family, no friends. Just Alex, the square and the Authority. 

Alex wasn't really a problem. I had come to like him, actually. The thing about Alex that bothered me was that he was so direct. He wasn't half as afraid as I was. Even though that trait was usually admirable, I hated it about him. 

Because I loved him. Because I needed him here, but he was always going to be getting into trouble, like today. Of course, that was mainly my fault, but he stood and took my place. Why did he have to be so noble? 

I heard a knock at the door and ran to answer it. It had to be Alex. But why would he be knocking? I opened the door and saw two of the Authority carrying Alex, one of his arms over either of their necks. I couldn't see anything wrong with him, until they brought him in and dropped him onto the concrete floor. 

Alex had been whipped. The whole three hours he had been gone, it seemed. The Authority left, closing the door behind them. Alex was unconscious, so I took his shirt off. His back was so caked with blood that his shirt took some time peeling away. I still had some water left over from lunch, so I took a piece of cloth from the sewing basket, soaked it in water and started cleaning up Alex's back. 

There were so many gashes, so much blood. And it was my fault. If I hadn't attempted standing up to the Authority, Alex wouldn't be in this mess. I heard Alex moan. He tried to stand, but I told him no. Unfortunately, Alex was too stubborn to listen to me. He stood and wrapped his arms around me. 

"Alex, come over to the bed." I said soothingly. "You need to lie down."

"No, Kat." It wasn't until Alex spoke that I realized he was crying. "We h-have to do s-something."

"I know, but not today." As much as I knew we had to do something, I also knew that there was nothing we could do. The Authority would always win. Alex and I were just two teenagers, two kids. How could we possibly save a whole nation?

I slowly led Alex over to the bed and helped him to lie down on his side. The bleeding from his back had stopped, but I knew the pain had to be excruciating. I crawled into the bed beside him and kissed his shoulder lightly. 

"I'm so sorry, Alex." I whispered. The only reply I received was a soft snore. I rolled over and closed my own eyes.

When I woke up, it was almost dinner time. Luckily, no one had come by and saw Alex and I sleeping. I didn't want the Authority to have any reason to punish Alex again. And I knew they would use any excuse they could conjure up to show how in charge they were. I felt tears come to my eyes and wiped them away impatiently. There was no time to cry. Not while Alex was lying over there on the bed with huge gashes all over his back. The Authority needed a reality check. And, as soon as Alex was better enough to go back to work, we were going to use his place in the Authority�"however small�"to get what we needed to break them down. If we couldn't do that, we could at least find a way to escape. Living the rest of my life as a pariah would be better than living like this.