Grandfather (21 page)

“
You’ve already been told
that I need you for something,” he said. “That’s obviously why
these rebellious people took you. What do they call themselves
anyways?” he asked.

“Why do you need me?” I
asked, ignoring his question.

“You don’t know?” he
asked. “I’m guessing that means they don’t know.”

“I was told nothing,” I
answered.

He left his desk and
walked until he was standing directly beside me. He grabbed ahold
of my chin, yanking my head, forcing me to look straight into his
ugly eyes. “Your parents gave you such a beautiful pair of eyes.”
Then, for the first time, Cornelius was gentle as he released me
and took a step back.

The first thing I did was
purposely look in the opposite direction.

“The eye is such an
amazing organ, wouldn’t you agree?”

I didn’t
answer.

“
Did you know that your
pupils dilate during strong emotions? Fear . . . anger . . . for
some reason, it has an effect on the pupil.

Of course I didn’t know
any of that. There was no way somebody would’ve been able to teach
us that outside of the wall. Something like that would’ve been too
advanced for us outsiders.

“
Why are you talking about
eyes? I asked. “Is that why you wanted me here?”

“
Yes, actually.”

I couldn’t help it. I
turned to face Cornelius.

“
I’ve got a problem,
Carsyn. And I need you.”

“
Me help you?” I asked,
smirking.

Cornelius ignored me.
“I’ve inherited something. Something important.”

“
Like what?” I asked with
little interest.

“
A safe… and I can’t even
open it.”

“
You know a lot of people.
Can’t you blow it up or something?”

He chuckled. “That won’t
work,” he said. “I don’t want to ruin what’s inside.”

Ok-ay. “What do I have to
do with any of this . . . and my eyes?”

He pointed at my face.
“Your eyes . . . they can solve my whole problem.

What was this guy talking
about? I think he knew I was confused, so he kept
talking.

“
Your pupils can apparently
open up this safe.”

I was stumped. Was that
even possible? I supposed I didn’t know a lot about the technology
that existed so anything was probably possible. What was in the
safe? And more importantly, if it was true, how did somebody even
get access to my eyes?

“How is that possible?” I
asked.

Cornelius chuckled
again.

I was starting to despise
that sound.

“
Sometimes I forget you’re
from outside the wall. No technology there.”

“Which is your fault,” I
remarked.

“Not my fault,” he said.
“Don’t forget that the separation between the poor and the elite
started long before I had any power. With that said, I do agree
with it. It’s the greatest step this nation has ever
taken.”

“That’s so stupid,” I
said. “You know, people are eventually going to realize the walls
are wrong.”

“
Keep dreaming, boy,”
Cornelius said.

There was no use in trying
to argue about the wall with Cornelius. He was close-minded. He
would never agree. “Never mind that,” I said. “What’s in the safe?
How can I even open it for you? I don’t know you. ”

“
No, you don’t know me. But
let’s just say we’ve come across the same person in our
pasts.”

I thought of anybody I had
met. There was nobody other than the houseladies. I really doubt
they could’ve known Cornelius long ago. They would have bragged
about it if so, as if that made them more important.

Cornelius seemed to read
my mind. “Y were too young to remember.”

I looked him straight in
the eyes. “What are you going to do? Gouge my eyes out?”

“I wish,” he said. “I need
your pupils to dilate. I need you alive. I’m gonna have the safe
transported here to the capitol. Should take about a
week.”

“Just blow it up,” I
said.

Cornelius reclaimed his
chair, shaking his head furiously. “I’ve tried everything, but the
material is too tough to break through. Blowing it up could damage
whatever is inside.”

“
Let me
go,” I demanded.

Another laugh.

“
Surely you’re not that
naïve,” he said. “Of course I’m not letting you go. I need
you.”

We had suspected it. I
knew it was very possible. But he just said he couldn’t kill me. He
needed me alive for my eyes to open his stupid safe. That meant I
had time to think. I was confident I’d find a way out before this
safe Cornelius talked about reached New Dawn. I wasn’t sure how
yet, but I’d find a way. After I found out about my parents. I
couldn’t allow the trip to be completely wasted.

“Are you going to tell me
about my dad?” I asked. “Benjamin, Jaclyn . . . your
friends?”

“Ah yes,” Cornelius said,
as if just remembering them. “You want to know the
truth.”

“If you’re keeping me
here, you have to at least tell me,” I demanded.

Cornelius was amused. “As
I said earlier, I know the truth. But I want to talk about
something else,”

I wanted to hit him with a
lamp again. “No,” I said, raising my voice again. “Tell me the
truth now.”

Again, Cornelius was
amused. “You really think you can order me around.” He chuckled.
“Carsyn, my boy, you got another thing coming. Now you will sit
there and we will talk about this group you’ve been with.” He sat
in his chair, clasping his hands together and throwing his feet
onto his desk. He was wearing white slippers that looked just as
soft and comfortable as his robe. “Who are they?”

“People who can take you
down,” I told him. Of course I didn’t know if that was true. But he
didn’t need to know that.

“Okay,” he said. “Maybe
you
are
more
naïve than what I thought. But I suppose you can’t help your
ignorance. Where are they?”

“Don’t be so dumb,” I told
him. “You know I won’t tell you that.”

He stayed silent, his
nostrils flaring, his eye twitching. He definitely didn’t like
being called dumb. Oh well, I didn’t really care.

“Listen, bastard,” he
said, slamming his feet down on the ground and leaning forward,
toward me. He pointed at me. “You think your little group can
destroy me? You have another thing coming.”

“We have Sub X,” I told
him. “You can’t use it anymore.”

“I don’t give a damn about
X,” he barked. “I have you now. My inheritance will be more
powerful than that substance, and once you open it, I won’t need
you again.”

“So what is your
inheritance?” I asked.

Cornelius didn’t say
anything. He was actually taken aback. He didn’t even tell me it
was none of my business.

I laughed, trying to play
everything cool. But inside, my heart was about to pound out of my
chest. “You don’t even know, do you?” I asked him.

“It was passed down
secretly from the original Grand Imperial,” he said through closed
teeth. “Whatever it is, it was said to be their biggest creation.
Releasing Sub X will be nothing compared to what’s inside the
safe.”

I thought about the
original Grand Imperial. I wished I had learned more about him.
What could possibly be in that safe? Whatever it was, it obviously
made Sub X look like nothing. At least Cornelius didn’t know what
it was either.

“What can Sub X do
exactly?” I asked.

“You don’t know?” he
asked. “You guys haven’t examined it? Or do your people not have
the education to do so?”

“It’s been locked away,” I
replied. “You’ll never find it. Now what can it do?”

He leaned back into his
chair. “Make a lot of people sick,” he said. “All with a few drops
in the water supply or perhaps releasing it into the air as a
vapor. Hiding it in today’s medicines was the ideal
plan.”

“Why would you want to do
that?” I asked him, getting aggravated.

“It’s easier to control
vulnerable people. Wouldn’t you say ill people are quite
vulnerable?”

I glared at him. “You’re
an evil man.”

“Ha! Is that supposed to
bother me?”

Of course it wasn’t
supposed to bother him. He was proud of himself. I couldn’t say
anything that would hurt him. But I knew I could get on his nerves
and make him a little angry again. Shoot, I might as well if he was
going to be keeping me there.

“
You don’t even know what’s
in the safe and you’re assuming it’s going to be better than X? “ I
asked, chuckling. “It’s going to be funny if it’s not. I can’t
believe you don’t even know what’s in it. I must have hit you in
the head harder than what I thought.”

Cornelius jumped out of
his seat, his fists clenched. I was freaking out, but I had to
appear calm. “Boy, you’re about to push it too far. I can easily
have you killed right now.”

“
But you won’t,” I said,
risking it.

“
I could,” he growled. “But
do believe me when I say you don’t have long. Now tell me where
your people are hiding and I might let you live.”

“
I won’t say anything,” I
said, my arms crossed against my chest.

Cornelius kicked his chair
back. It rolled into the wall, knocking over a painting of two old
men shaking hands.

“
I don’t have time for
this,” he said. “And you don’t either. I may not kill you, but I
can torture you.”

“
I’m not saying anything,”
I repeated.

He stayed silent, his
nostrils still flared. “Have it your way,” he said. He hit a button
on his desk.

“
Yes, Grand Imperial,” a
woman said. I knew it was the same one just outside the
office.

“
Send them in,” he told
her.

“
Yes, Grand Imperial,” the
woman replied. Seconds later, the door behind me opened slowly. I
turned around, wondering what was being sent in.

“
I’ll get it out of
somebody,” he said. Two officers entered, each holding somebody by
the arm. My heart stopped. Now, I was more nervous than ever.
Things had turned sour quick.

Ashton and
Marley.

Ashton had an angry look
on his face as he glared at Cornelius. Marley’s hair was all
knotted up. Her face was red from crying.

“
You hurt them then I swear
I’ll . . .”

“
What!” Cornelius screamed.
“What is somebody like you going to do to somebody like me?” He
held his arms out.

I didn’t answer. He was
right.

“
That’s what I thought,” he
said. He tapped his fingers on the desk. “It’s late, and I’m tired.
Take all three of them to the cells.” Cornelius chugged the rest of
his drink as a third officer came in and grabbed me by the
arm.

“I’ll not tell you,” I
said as the officer dragged me toward the door “And you’ll have to
force me to open up your safe.”

“I’m not afraid to use
force,” Cornelius called back to me.

The officer dragged all
three of us out of the room. Cornelius slammed the door shut. The
woman behind the desk looked at the computer screen floating in
front of her, ignoring us as we were drug past her desk. The
officers took us down the other hall, stopping at a door toward the
end. They opened it and dragged us into the dark. A few seconds
later, the lights came on, revealing four metal jail cells, all
empty. One by one, we were thrown in separate cells. The officer
was sure to throw me even harder. My back slammed onto the cold
floor. My eyes watered as a jolt of pain shot up my
spine.

“
The Grand Imperial will be
here to get the information from you later,” one of the officers
told us before leaving. He shut off the light, leaving us in
complete darkness.

“I knew this was a bad
idea,” Marley said in tears.

“Are you guys okay?” I
asked.

“Yeah,” Ashton
breathed.

“Okay?” she asked, then
shouted, “No, we’re not okay. What are we supposed to do? They’ll
come asking us questions soon. They’ll torture us. They’ll kill me
and Ashton.”

“No they won’t,” Ashton
assured her, though he wasn’t sure. There was a good chance that if
they didn’t give Cornelius answers, he would kill them. He didn’t
need them as he did me.

“This is why I didn’t want
you guys to come,” I said as I scooted on the floor until I reached
a wall to lean on.

“None of us should have
come!” Marley shouted.

“I had to,” I said,
starting to raise my voice. “I was going to lose it if I
didn’t.”

“And now look what
happened,” Marley argued.

“Well, it wouldn’t have
happened if you would’ve stayed behind!”

“Let’s just calm down,”
Ashton yelled.