Crimson Red, Cerulean Blue
Chapter 36

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(Violet)

I woke up to the sound of alarm bells.

Huh?

But no doubt about it – they were alarm bells.

Really loud ones, too.

I bolted upright from where I’d been lying on the floor, eyes wide. What’s going on?!

The guards outside my cell didn’t look like they knew what was going on, either. Their thoughts flowed into my head, a dizzying jumble of shock and panic.

I shook my head to clear them out, knowing they’d give me a headache if I tried to untangle them, and tried to focus on one. There had to be someone who knew what was going on.

But whoever they were, they weren’t here. I wasn’t getting anything from the guards but confusion, so I tucked myself into a corner, trying to stay inconspicuous. Whatever it was, it probably had nothing to do with me.

A woman stormed around the corner and into view, looking annoyed with just about everything in the world. She pointed at the guards and, to my complete astonishment, said, “Take the prisoner out.”

“What?” one of them asked, dumbfounded. “Why? Are we being attacked? Today’s not execution day!”

The woman blew her bangs out of her eyes with an exasperated sigh. “I don’t have to explain this to you – in fact, I should just punish you for being disobedient – but I don’t have the time right now. Mask says it’s getting too risky. Now will you hurry up and obey before I have to kill you?”

“Y-Yes, ma’am.”

He yanked open the door to my cell. “C’mon, brat! You heard her. Move it.”

I stayed put. Whatever these guys wanted to do to me, it definitely wasn’t good.

“Hello? Are you deaf?”

“Are you stupid?” the woman demanded. “Do you seriously think it’s going to listen to you if you just stand there and yell? It’s not your obedient little pet.”

“Oh, it’ll listen, all right.” The guard pulled out his gun and pointed it directly at me. “Or else.”

Having no other choice, I stood up, not taking my eyes off the gun. “I’m not an it.”

“Huh?” His eyes narrowed. “What was that?”

“I’m not an it.”

“Well, would you look at that,” the woman said dryly, clapping. “It talks!”

“I said,” I stressed, scowling, “that I’m not an it!”

The guard fired off a shot that slammed into the wall right next to me. Another inch, and I would’ve been toast.

I shut up.

“We can call you whatever we want to, freak,” he hissed. “Get out of that cell. Now.”

I swallowed, debating the merits of just standing there and staring him down. But the gun won out in the end. If I died, Mask would win for sure. I couldn’t let the others down like that.

So I pulled my hood over my head and stepped out of the cell for the first time in days.

“Follow me, kid,” the woman said, beckoning. “And no more of your little smart-aleck responses. I’ve got things to do.”

I didn’t say anything. I was too afraid to.

She led me down a long, long series of staircases, during which I tried to read her mind and came up with nothing. Either she wasn’t thinking about anything, or she was very good at clearing her thoughts. Probably the latter.

What was going on? Why in the world were all those alarms going off?

We arrived at a thick, metal door, which she pushed open. “After you.”

After a moment of hesitation, I stepped inside.

The room had nothing but a chair and a camera, set up on a tripod. My heart began pounding, and suddenly, I was afraid.

Afraid beyond any other kind of fear I’d ever felt before in my life.

“Sit,” the woman directed, pointing at the chair. I glanced warily at her belt, which held her own gun, and sat, pulling my cloak around me for comfort.

She shut the door, sealing both of us inside with a chilling thud, and stepped over to the camera, turning it on. A smile spread across her face as she faced it and announced,

“Hello, Spectrum. My name is Sandelle, and I am one of Mask’s loyal workers. Behind me, I have a girl called Violet, who happens to be a member of the Seven. That’s right, those horrible little traitors to our country and faithful leader, Mask.”

She pulled out her gun, the deadly smile still on her face, and pressed the barrel to my head as my eyes involuntarily went wide.

“And, in five seconds, you’re all going to be able to watch her die.”

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