Imprisoned (13 page)

“But,” he added, “If you can bring me some useful information, then I will see to it that you are released a full month early.”

My mind whirled as I considered the ramifications of his offer. On the one hand I could fix my problem with Alyx. I pictured myself wandering from table to table at every meal, never having a group of my own, and didn’t think I could tolerate that much longer. But on the other hand, I could potentially add another week to my own stay.

But since I had no intention of being around that long, it was really a non-issue. I could agree to his deal and it wouldn’t really have an effect on me since I would be long gone before it was close to my release date. I wouldn’t have to worry about ratting anyone out because I didn’t really care about how long they thought they’d keep me here—I would be leaving sooner then they realized. And in the meantime, I would be a member of Alyx’s group. That was the key issue for me. I didn’t want to be on my own while I was here—especially with the threat of Beth hanging over me.

“I’d like to accept your offer.” A feeling of relief swept over me now that I knew everything would be okay—at least as okay as anything could be in this place.

He grinned. “Very good. One caveat though, Morgan.”

“What?” Wariness replaced my relief.

“I need that information within one week. Otherwise this offer is null and void.” He paused. “Agreed?”

The blood drained from my face at the implication. If I didn’t come to him with some juicy information on someone in the next seven days, Alyx would have a week added to her sentence and I would be banished from her group. But if I didn’t agree, I would remain banished. What choice did I have? “Agreed.”

I felt like I’d just made a deal with the devil.

Chapter Fourteen

I waited in the reception area for Kiera to come and get me and a few minutes later she did. As we walked towards the elevator she asked, “I hope everything is okay.”

It was most definitely not okay, but there was nothing she could do about it. Plus, I certainly couldn’t tell her—or anyone else—about my little deal with Mr. Madsen. “Everything’s fine.” The lie tasted bitter.

“Good.” She waved her card in front of the reader. “I hear you’re moving to the kitchen crew tomorrow.”

I was surprised she’d heard about it, since I’d barely learned about it myself, but evidently she was privy to information that most people weren’t. “Yeah. It will be nice to not have to scrub toilets.”

We stepped into the elevator and she pressed the number six. “I worked in the kitchen for a while when I first got here. It wasn’t too bad.”

A moment later we were back to my floor. Kiera stayed on the elevator. “See you later, Morgan.”

I stepped off. “Bye.” Then I went to the supply closet/office and checked-in.

“You met with your caseworker?” Kyle said as I came into the room.

“Yeah.”

“Were you able to resolve your issue?”

I wondered if he really cared or if he was hoping I would tell him what my “issue” was. Then I realized he probably would find out soon enough if he didn’t already know. For all I knew, Kyle was in on everything. All the staff probably was. Instead I said, “Yeah.”

“Good. Nicole has the cart in bathroom four. You might want to start on the vacuuming.”

“Okay.” I pulled the vacuum out of the corner and rolled it into the hallway, then plugged it in and began working, glad that today would be my last day cleaning up after the other girls.

When it was time for class, I stopped by my room and got my backpack, then went to the ninth floor. When I got to class I found a seat in the back and waited for the teacher to arrive. Like in all my other classes, he began by having us stand and say the pledge. Each time I said it, I hated it more and more—the words leaving my mouth sounding like a promise, but a promise that I would never keep.

I made it through class without incident and hoped that in English class I’d have a chance to talk to Billy about everything that was going on with Alyx. Maybe I could even tell him that I’d fixed everything—I just couldn’t tell him about my deal with Mr. Madsen.

When I got to class Billy was already there. I hurried to the empty seat next to him, eager to share the good news about my meeting with Mr. Madsen.

“Hey, Morgan,” he said, a smile on his face.

“Hi.” I hesitated, suddenly wondering how to broach the subject. “So, I guess Alyx was pretty pissed at me.”

He laughed. “You could say that.”

“Well, I think I fixed it.”

His eyebrows pulled together. “What do you mean?”

I smiled, pleased with my resourcefulness. “I talked to Mr. Madsen and he gave Alyx her points back. She won’t have to stay an extra week.”

Now his eyebrows shot up. “Really? They do that?” Then he squinted at me. “How’d you pull that off?”

Embarrassed to admit that I’d had Mr. Madsen dock the points from me, I just smiled and said, “I have my ways.”

Skepticism was clear on his face. “I’ve never heard of them doing that before. There must be some catch.” He glanced away, then back at me. “You’d better be careful, Morgan.”

I nodded. On the outside I projected confidence, but on the inside my stomach churned, worried how I was going to keep my end of the bargain. If I didn’t, Alyx would be angrier than ever.

I got through class without falling asleep or having the Gray Witch hit me. When class was over, Billy and I walked to the elevator. “Do you think Alyx will let me sit with you guys at dinner?”

“I don’t know.” He paused. “Tell you what. Come a few minutes late. I’ll talk to Alyx and see what she says. After you get your food, I’ll give you the signal whether it’s yay or nay.”

“Okay.”

I lingered in my room for a few minutes, trying to give Billy time to talk Alyx into letting me rejoin their group. Finally, with trepidation, I headed to the cafeteria. As I waited in line, I glanced Billy’s way, but he was still talking to Alyx. My nervousness about what Alyx would say was so great, I hardly noticed what food they gave me.

When I reached the end of the line, I turned to the room and my gaze sought out Billy. He gave me a smile and waved me over. Relief swept over me and as I walked to the table, I mentally composed what I was going to say to Alyx.

When I reached the table, I hesitated a moment. “Hey, Alyx.”

She barely glanced at me “Hey.”

Since she didn’t forbid me from sitting with them, I set my tray in the empty spot between Billy and Piper and sat down. No one spoke to me, so I decided to get the ball rolling. “Guess what, Piper?”

Piper looked at me, a friendly smile on her face. “What?”

Glad that she didn’t seem to hold a grudge against me, I smiled. “Tomorrow I’m going to be working in the kitchen.”

“Really?” She seemed genuinely pleased. “Which shifts?”

I dug the paper Mr. Madsen had given me out of my pocket and handed it to her.

She read it over. “I’m in there before breakfast and lunch too. But not the after-lunch shift.” She handed me the paper.

“Cool. I’m glad I’ll know at least one person in there.” I picked up my spork and had a spoonful of soup. It was the same thing they’d served every night, but I was hungry and it wasn’t too bad. “What kind of stuff do you think they’ll have me do?”

“Well, the new kids always have to scrub the pots and pans, stuff like that. But eventually you might be able to help cook the food.”

More scrubbing. Great. Well, it was still better than cleaning toilets.

“I hear the Saturday Challenge is going to be intense,” Billy said.

I took another spoonful of soup. “Saturday Challenge?”

“Yeah. Every Saturday they break us into teams and they have us compete against each other for points.”

This was the first I’d heard of this. “So does that mean we don’t do our jobs that day?”

Alyx laughed with derision. “You don’t get off
that
easy.”

Even though I heard an edge of contempt in her voice, at least she was talking to me. “What do you mean?”

“The Saturday Challenge is in the afternoon, so you’ll participate during the time you would normally have classes.”

“Oh. Well, at least it gets us out of class for a day.”

“I guess,” she said. “But sometimes you might wish you were in class instead.”

After my experience in the gym with Hansen and his Enforcer buddy making me run on the treadmill, I could only imagine what they would have us do in this Challenge. “What kinds of things do they have us do?”

“Depends on what they think will be the most entertaining.” Alyx paused. “Entertaining to
them
, that is.”

“One time,” Piper said, “They broke us into teams of six and had us do tug-of-war.”

That didn’t sound so bad.

“But they always like to have a little twist,” she continued. “You know, to make it more ‘interesting’.” She did air quotes as she said it.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, there are always points involved. Like, the winner gets more points and everyone else is docked points. But for the tug-of-war they had a trench between us and in the trench they put dozens of snakes.”

“What?”

“I don’t think they were poisonous, but still.”

The idea horrified me. What kind of place was this? Were all F.A.T. centers like this one?

“Come to think of it,” Piper said, “We haven’t had a good game of tug-of-war in a while.”

Then something occurred to me. “Where is this Saturday Challenge held?”

“They have an area outside just for the competition.”

Outside. That could be my chance.

My thoughts must have been written all over my face because Billy said in a low voice, “Don’t go there, Morgan.” 

I looked at him but didn’t say anything.

He leaned toward me so the others couldn’t hear. “I know what you’re thinking.”

“I’m not thinking anything.” I didn’t know if I could trust him with my desire to escape.

He just raised his eyebrows and went back to eating.

Saturday was two days away. As I ate my power bar, I contemplated this unexpected opportunity. How well guarded was this Saturday Challenge? Did the Enforcers get distracted by watching all the fun? Would it be possible to slip away?

Chapter Fifteen

As I got ready to do my workout I looked at the bright purple bruises on my legs and thought about what had happened the day before. I knew Hansen must have enjoyed making me suffer and I dreaded having to face him again.

I checked in at the gym, got my towel, then began stretching in the warm-up area. As I began walking on the treadmill I saw Mr. Muscles walking around, checking on what everyone was doing. Scared that he would harass me again, I picked up my pace. When he walked toward me my heart rate escalated, but not from exertion.

He stopped next to me and looked at his device, which I assumed told him my heart rate—compliments of the chip in my arm—then he smiled at me. “That’s what I like to see, Morgan.”

It didn’t matter that my heart rate had increased merely due to his presence, as long as it
had
increased. I gave him a partial smile, then focused on running, hoping he would go away quickly and leave me alone.

He stood there a moment longer than necessary—at least I thought it was too long—then he finally walked away. As I went through my workout—which I was able to get through without being hassled—all I could think about was Saturday and a possible chance to get out of this place and back to the tunnel. This was only my third full day at Camp Willowmoss but already I was so done with this place.

After my workout I showered, then headed to the ninth floor to meet with Mrs. Reynolds and the other delinquents like me who had to be re-educated.

Today there was no scale in the middle of the room—just the ring of chairs filled with the other criminals in my group. Billy was there before me this time and I sat in the empty seat next to his.

“Hey, Morgan,” he said. “How was your workout?”

“It was okay, I guess.” I paused. “When do you work out?”

“Before breakfast.”

My eyebrows went up in surprise. “Aren’t you the overachiever?”

He laughed. “No. I just prefer to get it done first thing.” He glanced around, then whispered, “Plus Austin’s not there yet. I can’t stand that guy.”

“Mr. Muscles?”

“Who?”

I laughed at the look of confusion on his face. “That’s how I think of him.”

He grinned. “Good call.”

I was surprised to know that Billy didn’t like him either. I wondered what had happened to him. And, I realized, I still didn’t know why he was here. Obviously he’d committed a crime of some sort—why else would he be in the counseling session—but I wondered what it was.

Mrs. Reynolds walked in, a smile on her face. I didn’t know why she always looked so happy to be here. Of course, she wasn’t a “camper” so that would help.

“Good evening, group,” she said. “It looks like everyone is here, so let us stand and begin with the pledge.”

We all shuffled to our feet and said the words along with Mrs. Reynolds. “I pledge to always follow the rules and to take care of my body. I will strive to put the good of all above the desires of one. A healthy me is a healthy world.”

“Very good. You may be seated.”

After we sat, Mrs. Reynolds looked at me and I felt my heart rate skyrocket. “Morgan, you may give that back to me now.” She pointed to the card with my weight on it, which hung around my neck.

I took it off and handed it to her.

“I hope you will remember now to weigh yourself daily.”

I nodded. Of course I would. That was the purpose of the humiliation—to make sure I would never forget.

“Very good.” Then she turned to Chad Beacon, the other new kid, and I sighed in relief. “Mr. Beacon, tomorrow you may eat breakfast again.”

A tentative smile lifted his lips. She looked away from Chad and I saw the relief on his face and knew exactly how he felt.

“Today I want to talk about the value of putting the needs of others above those of your own.” She looked directly at Billy and he stared back. “Billy, do you think there’s value in that?”