Grandfather (20 page)

“Yeah,” Ashton said. “Or
if something happens, we’ll be here.”

“And I guess if you’re not
out in . . . I guess two hours, we’ll go.” Marley didn’t sound
happy about that. Her lips quivered. She hugged me tightly. “Just
be careful,” she said.

“I will,” I said. “Just
remember. He needs me. He may keep me, but he won’t hurt
me.”

Ashton put out his hand
toward me. I took it and shook it. “Just get out of there as soon
as you can,” he said. “Hit him in the head again if you have
to.”

I couldn’t help but
snicker. “I will,” I said.

Then, his expression
quickly changed. He closed his eyes and shook his head.

“We’ll stay as long as we
have to,” Marley said.

“No,” I quickly said.
“Keep with the plan. Two hours. Leave after that. I’ll figure
something out.” I honestly wasn’t sounding so confident in myself.
I think Ashton noticed. But there was no turning back. I was so
close. I couldn’t turn around.

Ashton basically had to
drag Marley out of the building. Once they were out of site, I
turned around and walked to the front desk. I was ready. I
think.

Chapter Nine

I
walked up to the counter where the receptionists sat focused
upon their transparent computer screens. None of them looked up. It
appeared one of the ladies was playing some sort of war
game.

I took a deep breath,
hoping they would hear it.

Didn’t work.

There was only one thing I
could do: Quit being shy. “I uh. . . need to see President
Cornelius.”

Finally, the woman and the
other looked at me with extremely bored facial
expressions.

“What?” she asked,
squinting her eyes. I guess I did look pretty suspicious, asking
for the president so late.

“President Cornelius . . .
I need to see him.” I told her.

She started laughing
immediately. The man joined her.

“You can’t just ask to see
the president,” the guy said. “Who do you think you
are?”

“Like President Cornelius
would see him,” the woman said, slapping her hand onto the desk.
They continued laughing, ignoring me.

I remembered how everybody
in the city was obsessed with the story Cornelius told about me.
Everybody probably knew about it. I used that to my advantage. “I’m
Carsyn,” I told them.

Let me tell you, I had
never seen anything like it. Their expression became serious in
less than a second. Their eyes stared at me in wonder. It was
really awkward. I turned away a few times just so I didn’t have to
look them in the eye.

Finally, the woman spoke.
“Carsyn?”

“As in the orphan?” the
other asked, trying to clarify.

“Yeah,” I told
them.

“That’s impossible,” the
man said. “He’s been
kidnapped.”

“I got away,” I said. “He
said to find him. Here I am. I need to see him.”

They exchanged nervous
glances. They were definitely unsure.

“
How do we know you’re
telling the truth?” the woman asked.

“You don’t,” I told her.
“But I am. Do you want to risk Cornelius getting angry with you
because you didn’t let me in?”

Yeah, I took a chance. I
figured getting me was a top priority for Cornelius.

They were silent at first,
glancing between one another. “Hold on,” the woman said. She hit a
button and another screen shined up into the air in front of her. I
watched her fingers click a few numbers.

“Yes,” a female’s voice
said, coming from the screen.

“I’m sending somebody
claiming to be the orphan President Cornelius is looking
for.”

“Are you sure it’s him?”
the voice from the computer quickly asked.

“We don’t know. But we
can’t risk it.”

She was silent at first
before forcing out an “Okay.”

She didn’t like the idea,
but I had no doubt that she knew how important I was to Cornelius.
She wouldn’t dare risk it.

“
Send him up, and I’ll
contact the president.”

The voice went away, and
the woman hit the same button. The screen disappeared. “Follow me,”
she said, standing up slowly and walked toward a long row of
elevators. Her shoes echoed with each step as they clicked against
the marble.

Inside the elevator, we
didn’t talk to each other. I avoided looking anywhere close in her
direction. I watched as the numbers above the door increased pretty
rapidly. I caught a glimpse of the back glass wall, giving me a
view of pretty much nothing. It was just a boring gray wall. But
just as I was about to turn to face the door again, the scenery
changed, and I couldn’t help it. I turned completely around and
stood so close to the glass my nose pressed against it.

Replacing the gray wall
was a view of the entire city. And, of course, it looked absolutely
remarkable.

As the elevator went up,
the pedestrians and cars on the streets became smaller and smaller.
The city lights became dimmer and dimmer. Soon, the elevator soared
far above any other skyscrapers. Many were lit with purple and
green and blue lights. The green infinity symbol shined brighter
than anything else. From high up, the symbols were huge! Literally,
I didn’t see one skyscraper without it.

In the distance, I could
see the huge gray wall. It didn’t look as big as usual because I
was high above it. The familiar forest lied beyond the wall. To my
left and way past the wall was a large lake going as far as the eye
could see. It was almost like an ocean. But I knew we didn’t live
on the coast. They at least taught us
that
at the orphanage.

I could’ve stayed in the
elevator for hours, just staring. But I couldn’t do that. The
elevator reminded me of that as it slowed to a halt. I turned back
around, this time catching the woman giving me an odd look. I guess
amazement toward the city wasn’t seen very often. People there were
used to it.

The doors opened with a
ding. I almost expected to see Cornelius standing there, but he
wasn’t. That was probably for the best. I didn’t feel
prepared.

I found myself in a small
room with the same shiny white marble. There were two halls, one on
the left and the other on the right. Across the room was a small
black desk. Behind it was another woman. This one wore a black
skirt and a white button-down shirt. Two officers dressed in black
stood on each side of the desk, each carrying a very large gun. My
heart beat quickly at the site of them. I wondered if they were
always there.

The woman looked at me. I
was about to tell her who I was when she pointed to the hall to her
right. “First door on the right. He’s waiting.” She examined my
whole body. I assumed she, just like the others, was wondering if I
really was Carsyn.

The elevator dinged again.
I barely caught a glimpse of my escort as the doors shut. She was
probably in a hurry to get back to her computer.

I walked to the hall, the
officers watching me closely. One of them even gripped his gun
tighter. I made sure to not make any sudden movements.

I entered the hall. Just a
few yards ahead was the first door on the right. I slowed down. I
don’t know why. I think I was just trying to put my little meeting
off. Thoughts of everything that could go wrong flashed in my head.
There was a lot. What if Cornelius did want me killed? How would I
get away? What if he was lying? But then I thought of the good
things that could happen. What if he was telling the
truth?

I approached the door.
Slowly, I grasped the cold door handle. After a deep breath, I
opened it, not knowing what I’d find inside.

The room reminded me of
the office where I first met Cornelius. This one was bigger though.
The room had bright white carpet. I didn’t see one stain. On the
walls, pictures hung. Most of them were of the city and of people I
didn’t recognize. Shelves packed with books and pictures were
against the wall. In one corner of the room, there were two black,
leather sofas facing each other, a coffee table separating them. A
screen was projected onto the wall next to the sofas, playing the
news. The headline read:
PRESIDENT
CORNELIUS PROPOSES CURFEW LAW.

I hadn’t heard of the new
law. I wondered if everybody under the mountain had.

In the middle of the room
was a huge dark wooden desk. On it were small stacks of papers, a
computer, a couple of plants, and a lamp. I wanted to grin when I
saw the lamp, but didn’t. In front of the desk were two chairs,
just as Cornelius’s last desk. Sitting in the dark red office chair
behind the desk was the president himself.

The Grand
Imperial.

He gave me that familiar
crooked leer, his brown eyes staring deep into mine. I didn’t look
away.

He wasn’t wearing a suit,
which made sense because it was so late. Instead, he wore a long,
thick purple robe. I imagined it would be soft to the touch,
definitely unlike anything I had ever seen before.

“
Had to get out of bed,” he
said, turning down the volume on the television. “I was angry at
first. After all, I don’t get much sleep. Being president is a lot
of work.”

I said nothing.

“But when I heard you were
here . . .well . . . I was wide awake.”

I still said nothing. I
don’t know if it was because I didn’t know what to say or I was
just scared.

“Please,” he said,
pointing at a seat.

I walked toward his desk,
keeping my eye on him. He watched me closely, smiling. I looked at
his bald head, almost able to see my own reflection.

“Can I get you anything to
drink?” he asked.

I shook my head as I sat
down. It was so cushiony. At least I was going to be a little
comfortable while talking to him. Just a little.

“Well,” he said. “I think
I’ll have something.” He walked over to one of the tables against
the wall. On it sat a few glasses next to a pitcher. He took the
pitcher and poured a golden brown liquid into one of the
glasses.

I finally gained the
courage to speak. “Did you know I’d come?”

He returned to his seat
before answering. “I thought you might. Of course I didn’t think it
would be this soon.” He swished his drink around before taking a
swig. “Are you sure you don’t want something?”

“I’m sure,” I
said.

He sat his glass down. “I
guess you want to get down to business, don’t you,” he
said.

“”I want to know the
truth,” I said.

“Doesn’t everybody?” he
asked. “But did you know that it is sometimes best to not know the
truth.”

“I don’t care,” I snapped.
“I still want to know,” I argued.

Cornelius watched me. He
took another sip of his drink. “I suppose you mean the truth about
your parents,” he said.

He was probably enjoying
himself.

“
Yeah,” I
replied.

“
You see, Carsyn.” He stood
up and walked over toward the screen against the wall. The
reporters were still talking about some curfew law. Cornelius
turned to face me again. “I figured a boy who grew up with no
parents, knowing nothing about his parents, would easily succumb to
curiosity.”

He was right. “What made
you think I knew nothing about my parents?” I asked.

“I just knew,” was his
simple answer. He looked away for a second, as if thinking back to
something. “And I knew you just wouldn’t be able to resist coming
here.”

That was definitely the
thing I didn’t want to hear. I was really hoping I hadn’t made a
mistake by going to him.

“I bet your mind has been
swarming with the possibilities this past week.”

He was right. As I had
mentioned earlier, I was going to go crazy under that
mountain.

“Curiosity. Confusion.
Probably some anger too.” He snickered.

Now, I was starting to get
annoyed. “Is it true?” I finally came out and asked.

He didn’t say anything at
first. He took another swig of whatever it was he was
drinking.

“I know the truth, of
course,” he said. “But like I said, sometimes it’s best to not
know.”

“
I’m
here,” I said, my anger starting to grow.
“This is what you wanted. The best you can do is tell me if
it’s true. I want to know!”

Cornelius cocked his head
sideways, watching me curiously.
His smile
completely faded, but only for a second before returning. “I know
you do.” He took another swig of his drink. “This was all a part of
my plan.”

“
What plan?” I
asked.

“You’re not a bright one,
are you?” he asked.

“What plan?” I asked,
raising my voice.

His stupid smirk returned.
He walked back to his desk. This time, sitting on the
edge.