Imprisoned by Christine Kersey

Author:Christine Kersey [Kersey, Christine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: YA dystopian, YA, parallel universe, dystopian, suspense, Suspense & Thrillers, alternate reality
Publisher: Wind Chimes Publishing
Published: 2013-06-16T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty Two

I followed him out of my room and down to the second floor, trying to come up with an explanation as to why Piper and I had been talking about starting a fire. The Enforcer left me sitting in the same chair I’d sat in before, but a different Enforcer sat behind the desk this time. A moment later Mr. Madsen led me back to his office.

“Have a seat, Morgan.”

I did, my heart hammering in my chest.

“I understand you had a bit of difficulty in the Saturday Challenge. What was that about?”

My mind went back to the horrific experience I’d had an hour before, slipping and sliding closer to the pit of spiders and finally falling in, spiders swarming up my bare legs. I shuddered in remembrance.

“Morgan?”

As I looked at his face, I wanted to slap it. Why did he think I had “difficulty”? Because the people who worked here—including him—were insane? I decided to play dumb. “What do you mean?”

He sighed, like he expected me to know what he was talking about. “You ran off the field and Officer Hansen had to retrieve you.”

Is that what you call it? I wanted to shout. When an Enforcer who outweighs me by a hundred pounds, most of it muscle, punches me in the stomach, then drags me back to a bizarre game of tug-of-war, that’s “retrieving”? My hands fisted, digging my nails into the tender flesh of my palms as I tried to keep control of myself. “I just don’t like spiders,” I managed to say through nearly clenched teeth.

“Ahh. We all have our fears.”

I wondered what he was afraid of. I pictured him falling into the trench and spiders crawling over his body, and him dancing around in terror and felt myself relax, just a bit.

“I spoke to your mother today,” he said, his face serene.

The shift in conversation caught me off-guard and I gasped. He’d talked to Mom. “What did she say?” I blurted the question and knew I’d exposed a weakness.

“She said she can’t afford to pay for you to be here, so you’ll have to stay longer to make up for it.”

My mind raced at the implications. What would they do to Mom if I ran away? Would they punish her? Would they even tell her that I’d escaped? What if Piper and I failed and I had to stay here longer than my six month sentence? Could I survive that?

“What are you thinking about, Morgan?”

My gaze went to Madsen’s face and I stuttered a response. “I . . . I . . . is it possible for me to help on the grounds?”

He seemed surprised by my response. “I didn’t know you were interested in working outside.” He squinted. “There are spiders out there, you know.”

Not piled in trenches I’d have to step in. “Maybe that would help me overcome my fear.”

“I’ll have to think about it.” He made a note on his notepad, then looked at me. “When we met two days ago we talked about you bringing me some information.

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