Lucrative Games

chapter eight

Someone suggested Chacey as a Chase/Lacey ship name....WHAT DO YOU THINK???????

RECAP: Chase and Lacey sneak around and find this secret room, and they return again in hopes of more to explore. They find an upstairs room and saw some really sad stuff happen:( but thennnnn, they hear people coming up the stairs and the chapter ends. DUN DUN DUNNNNNNN. AND SO, here we are........

I was so concerned with escaping the dangerous situation that I hadn't noticed where we ended up.

All I can see is stark black, and I can only guess that what I'm sitting on is a plank of wood. I hear Chase's quick breaths mingling with mine, and I ignore the fact that he's practically sprawled atop my lap.

We wait in silence until the murmur of voices snaps us out of our relaxed state. I hop up in a frenzy, nearly smacking my head against the low ceiling.

"Wait," I warn. "Be careful standing up."

Chase slowly stands, nearly bending in half as we blindly walk around in search of an exit. Chase grabs my hand—my fingers entwining with a boys' for the first time in my life—and I follow behind him as he reaches around for a door.

Without warning, I am tased by the evening sky outside. I blink a few times until the fresh light becomes bearable, and then Chase and I jump onto a platform about a foot below where we are standing. My white sneakers travel along the tiny, smooth pebbles below me, and it doesn't take long to realize that we're standing on top of The Dome.

Chase takes a seat on the gravel, and pats the stones beside him. With a sigh, I sit crisscrossed to his right and stare out onto the green tangle of land that stretches for miles and miles and miles.

The Mids.

In between each Domain is the vast land that is The Mids. President Reticent ensures us that there isn't any life out there—not even animals. All of the animals that survived from before were dispersed among each Domain. I'm not sure how it works elsewhere, but in Congen we can view them for entertainment.

There isn't anything in The Mids—except for foliage, of course. President Reticent is generous enough to spray water over it every so often to ensure the land remains alive. No one has ever even gone into The Mids, aside from President Reticent and a few select individuals who have been assigned to deal with its maintenance.

"Stunning," Chase mutters, shaking his head in defeat. When I meet his eyes, his flustered state ceases and he shoots me a beautiful smile. "Are you ready to read?"

"Oh," I whisper. "I forgot about the book."

"You don't have to whisper, we're safe up here."

"It's hard to believe you," I admit, finally speaking at my normal tone.

"You don't trust me?" Chase teases, a playful smile resting on his face.

"Nope," I reply, looking towards the green surrounding us, "not yet."

"Maybe one day." Chase adds, "I hope."

"Maybe," I concede. "So what are we going to read?"

"It's called Cinderella...have you heard of it?" he pauses. "No? Well, it's a story about a princess. You'll like it."

"How do you know it?" I wearily ask. How am I supposed to trust him when he makes comments like that?

"I've heard it before."

"How?" I probe. "And how did you know it would be in that room?"

"Lacey," he states. He doesn't continue, and goosebumps rise on my arms. I've spent so much time with this boy, but I don't know a single thing about him.