I was pretty happy the next day, too, when I heard the whispered debates in the hallways. This was what I'd wanted to do, get people talking about rather or not safety was possible here. No one- from Orange Team, at least- was called to the office, so it looked like, so far, the Matriarch didn't know or didn't care. I was in such a triumphant mood that I finally managed to successfully form a whole spear! I couldn't wait to show it to Maxwell. But first, I had to deal with Lauren and Kayla.
Lauren cornered me in the Constructions classroom to lecture me on how incredibly stupid it was of me to let Laurence tell everyone. "You KNEW it was dangerous just telling Laurence, why would you let him tell other people?! Now if she finds out, she can trace it directly back to you!" She hissed, just loud enough for me to hear her but still very obviously upset. "People needed to know! Look at them now, they're actually questioning why we're here! Laurence was the only person I could find who was capable of getting it out there." I explained.
Lauren didn't even get a chance to retort before Kayla, passing by, saw us and exclaimed "Lauren! Hannah! Long time no see!" It didn't seem like it had been that long to me, but apparently she'd just wanted an excuse to hug us both tightly. I saw her whispering in Lauren's ear as she did so, and assumed it was the same thing she'd whispered to me: "Watch out. Someone's going to pay for this." By 'this' I assumed she meant the graveyard debacle. She'd been here for years, I knew she probably knew what she was talking about, but all the same I opted to ignore it in hopes that she was wrong.
Still, it gave me a shock when every Connect in the room chimed at once. I looked down at my arm and felt all of the blood drain from my face. It was a message from the Matriarch: Everyone meet in the cafeteria in the next thirty minutes. No exceptions.
This couldn't be good. Kayla's expression was grim, and as she closed the message her hands were shaking. "We'll be fine." She said. She didn't sound like she believed it. There was a river streaming across campus, a river of people from every team, all of them with worried expressions. I could barely manage to keep walking. My feet felt like leaden blocks. The image of the graveyard kept playing over and over in my head, but this time with a new gravestone. A gravestone with my name on it. I just couldn't understand how she'd figured it out so quickly. Maybe she hadn't. Maybe it was something else. Powers, I hoped that was it. I had to calm down. I couldn't look suspicious. I took a couple of deep, cleansing breaths as I walked. From somewhere in the depths of my mind, an image rose of the same girl that I'd seen after my fight. It was calming today, somehow.
By the time I took a seat in the cluster of tables Orange Team had claimed, I was somewhat calmer. My stomach was only doing jumping jacks, not cartwheels. Person after person streamed in, until every chair was filled, but there was no sign yet of the Matriarch. The room was dead silent as ten, twenty, thirty minutes passed. I was beginning to think she just wanted us to stew in our misery. Finally, she came in. To my amazement, she was smiling as she walked to the front of the room. "Hello!" She said cheerfully. "Hello, Matriarch." We chorused dully. "I've gathered you all here today because I believe in celebrating success when it rises above and beyond the expected." She explained. "Today, we are here to recognize Maxwell, of Orange Team, with the quickest rise to Level Two, and then to Level Three, of all time. Come up, Maxwell!"
Maxwell rose cautiously, but there was still a proud smile on his face. He got up and went to stand beside the Matriarch. She put her hand on his shoulder. "Let's give Maxwell a round of applause for his accomplishments!" She said. We all obeyed and I, for one, thought he deserved this. But as the applause died down, her expression darkened. I could see her hand on his shoulder tighten. "But I ALSO don't believe in encouraging excessive pride. Maxwell has admitted to thinking that I am not a necessary part of life on this island, even that he is more powerful than me!" Maxwell opened his mouth as if to say something. "Don't deny it!" She snarled. "I have it on video!"
All of a sudden she was smiling again, but it was a dangerous smile. "Maxwell, since you think you can beat me, we're going to have a little fight. It's only fair, after all, to give you the chance." She said. As she spoke, the air around her began to shimmer with power. "Uh, no thanks..." Maxwell said nervously. The Matriarch laughed. "Oh, come on," Maxwell rose into the air. "If you're so powerful," He flew into the wall, power flickering around him but unable to realize. "Fight me!" The Matriarch made a twisting motion, and Maxwell howled in pain. "Still." He doubled over as if he'd been punched in the stomach. "Think." Bruises began appearing all over his body, already dark and ugly, and he gritted his teeth. "You're." He went completely still. "Better." He began to wheeze. "Than." He took gasping breaths and clawed at his throat. "Me?" He went completely limp. When the Matriarch's power let go of him, he simply slid to the ground like a marionette with its' strings cut.
Instantly, without being bidden, several members of Green Team got up and left the room. The rest of us just sat there and stared at Maxwell's limp body. I wanted to be sick. I'd TOLD him not to say things like that, but he hadn't listened. The Matriarch simply stood there, her hands clasped primly in front of her, and watched us watching Maxwell. Shortly, the people who had left returned with a stretcher. Maxwell didn't react as they loaded him onto it and carried him away. Where were they taking him, I wondered? The infirmary, or the graveyard?
