Within These Walls

Chapter 7

My bare feet are quiet on the stone floor as I follow Marcus down the white hallway toward the gymnasium. I wish I'd taken a moment to look for shoes before I left my room. I wish I'd looked through the dresser in my room. What if it holds information? Tools? Something to help us get out of this place?

Marcus pauses in front of the gymnasium and waits for me to catch up. He laughs when I stop about ten feet behind him. "For a tough girl, you sure are spooked easily."

"Just being safe," I say as I trail in after him.

My voice is amplified by the spacious, brand-new gym. He heads over to the metal rack and grabs a dark-orange ball. He tosses it from one hand to the other, testing its weight. "I wouldn't call picking a fight with Rudolph being safe."

Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer. It's fitting, and I approve for a change. Still. "What's with the nicknames? Why can't you just call people by their names?"

"Where's the fun in that?" He dribbles the ball and tosses it at the basket. Swish.

"Is that it? Because it's fun?"

Marcus grabs the ball as it bounces back. He dribbles and shoots again. Misses. He chases after it. There's something almost comical about seeing him running around barefoot. But it's not so funny when he turns to me with those hard eyes of his.

"You really want to know?"

It's almost like he's challenging me. "Yes."

"My old foster dad taught me the power behind names." He walks closer. "When you pick out a person's flaw or insecurity and call them that, you define who and what they are. You control them."

I was wrong for thinking Marcus is a dumb brute. He's smart and cunning, and every time he calls me Rose, he reminds me of my vulnerability. My need to protect myself with thorns so no one will ever know just how fragile I am.

The sound of the basketball hitting the floor ricochets like a gunshot. I hold in a flinch, but the smile he gives me tells me he's seen through me.

"You grew up in foster care?" I ask.

"You're not going to get me to talk that easily."

I try to fit this piece of information into everything I know already, but it's like trying to push a square peg into a round hole. I store it away anyway. "Why'd you bring me here?"

Marcus starts to circle me, the basketball caught in the crook of his arm. His footsteps are silent; if it weren't for the cold prickling at the back of my neck, I wouldn't know he's still behind me. "You ignored my friend request. That hurt my feelings."

"You weren't being friendly."

Marcus chuckles, the sound closer now. He brushes past me and heaves the ball across the gym. It bounces many times, bang, bang, bang, and rolls to a stop near a far wall.

"Here's how it's going to be, Rose. You'll join me. Work under me. You'll do exactly as I say. When I say jump, you'll jump. When I tell you to keep your smart mouth shut, you'll listen. You will do everything in your power to make my time here easier."

I give him a look that makes it clear I think he's insane. "Why would I do that?"

"Because you care about your friends." He shrugs. "I'm not going to force you. But the next time Rudolph or the others pick on the hillbilly, I'm not going to save his sorry ass."

"They're not my friends," I say. I don't—can't—have friends.

He shrugs again. "Your choice."

I should walk out of here right now. That'd let him know what I think about his crazy proposition. But I'm rooted in place. I keep picturing the cruelty in Rudolph's eyes. "What makes you think they'll bother Carson again? Are you going to send them after him?"