274 (Complex Series, #4)

Chapter Seventeen

All thoughts flee from my head, leaving me empty, blank. I stare at the two girls with the desperate hope that they are joking.

Their faces are gravely serious.

How can this be true? They seemed so welcoming, so sympathetic. They’ve been helping me walk and gave me something to eat.

It’s no wonder they had so much extra food to give away. If they’re part of the group, they most likely have an endless supply of food. They’re the only ones truly living here.

I can’t be taken to a place where useless people are murdered without a second thought. I can’t work, not with the stabbing pain in my skull and back. I can’t walk without the support of Leah and Lucy.

Lucy’s words fly into my thoughts. Their theory is if you aren’t bringing them food, you shouldn’t be eating their food.

I have no chance of survival.

Maybe, when you disappear, you die. But there’s a small chance that you go somewhere else worse than this. There’s a small chance that I could live.

I need to do everything I can to stop Lucy and Leah from taking me there. I can’t escape, not when I can’t walk on my own. I can’t fight them off.

I only have words left. I need to somehow convince them not to take me. Too bad I have no idea what to say.

I ask, “Why did you choose me? I’m about to disappear.”

Leah shrugs, “You were easy to capture.”

I point out, “But I can’t work? Wouldn’t it be better to bring back someone who can work and bring food?”

Lucy says, “We can always kill you.”

“You enjoy watching people die?” I know this isn’t a good thing to say when I’m trying to win them over. I don’t want to insult them, but it slips between my lips before I can stop it.

Leah shrugs, “We don’t necessarily like watching people die, but they are eating food that could be ours. We do it the most humane way possible, a quick snap of the neck.”

A horrible image of my own neck snapping reaches me. I push it away, asking, “Why can’t you just steal the food from the kids? Why do you have to kill them?”

“Even if you take the food away from them that they currently have, they’ll probably find more and eat that. We need all the food to survive. The healthier we are, the less likely to disappear. By being part of this group, we’re practically immortal.”

I bite back the urge to spit at their feet in disgust.

I say, “I’m already dying. Wouldn’t it be easier just to leave me to die here and capture someone else who can work?”

“If you are already dying, why shouldn’t we speed it up?”

I ask, trying to keep my tone light, “How much further do we have to go?”

Leah shrugs, “Only a couple more hallways, why? Are you scared?”

I lie, “I’m ready to get out of this horrible place.”

Their faces twist up in confusion, but they don’t say anything more.

I take their confusion and push it further, “Death would be a relief from all this pain. I’m sure death is better than your disappearance. I’m almost the lucky one here. By killing me, you’re sending me to a better place, rather than disappearing.”

They shift uncomfortably, no longer sure of how to respond.

I say, “I’ve heard rumors of what happens at your disappearance. There’s another monster lurking in the halls, just like the Thing except worse. No one sees it until their disappearance. The monster is invisible, there might be one in this very hall and we wouldn’t know. The monster absorbs you, dissolving you into nothingness.”