Shades of Purple

Chapter 19

'There is a knock on the door.'

* * *

Marina looks around the room, searching for anything she could possibly use for protection. She sees her reflection in the mirror- the mirror. She takes off her shoe and smashes it into her determined reflection, the glass shattering like all of the things she had ever held to be true.

She sees the white door begin to slowly creep open, and she frantically reaches for the largest piece of glass she can find. She relaxes when she sees who it is greeting her.

"Father," she asks in disbelief? Richard pulls his daughter in for a much-needed hug, and she drops the fragment of glass, no longer fearful.

"We do not have much time to talk," he tells her quickly in a hushed tone that makes her begin to worry.

"What is going on," Marina asks, making sure to lower her voice?

"I need you to tell me what happened. Tell me everything from the very beginning," her father orders her urgently. Just looking at him, Marina can tell that it is necessary.

"Well I woke up and realized it was the day after I was supposed to die. I did not really think about what I was doing- I just ran. I knew I could not leave a note or else a government official might have found it before you or Mother did, and I knew they would kill me if I chose to stay. They are going to kill me, are they not?"

Richard does not want to answer his daughter's question; Instead, he chooses to ask his own: "Where did you go," Richard questions curiously?

"I went into the forest, then I met a girl- her name is Roz, and she saved my life. I kept traveling until I got caught." She was about to tell him about the Village she had found when he asked the one question she could not bare to answer:

"Where is Otis," Richard asks?

Marina feels her bottom lip begin to quiver, "Otis died, Father."

"I am so sorry, Marina. Now chin up, sweetheart, I have something really important to tell you."

"What is wrong?"

Her father pulls out a flash drive and puts it in Marina's hand. "Do not lose this. On it is evidence that the government is causing the deaths. Marina, they are poisoning the food! They put different amounts of poison in each person's food so they can tell when you are going to die. They have been lying to us. I did not realize it until an official questioned me about your disappearance; he asked if you had ever broken any of the rules, and I said that you had not. Marina, you did not eat the food. That us why you are alive right now."

"I killed Otis," Marina whispers in shock.

"What?"

"I fed Otis my food! Father, I killed him," Marina cries! She begins to pace around, "I should have known something was wrong. He was being super slow and sluggish. Why did I not notice? I killed him."

"Honey, you did not know," her father attempts to console her.

Marina does not respond- she can't.

"We need to get out of here," Richard tells her. She looks up at him blankly, and he gazes back into the eyes of his little girl who grew up far too quickly.

"What time is it," she asks him hoarsely?

"It's almost time for the morning guards to start their shift." He hands her the bag they had taken from her when she was captured, and she shoves the flash drive into the front pocket.

* * *

They make it down the bare, white hallway, and Marina thinks she might just have a chance at escaping Death's grip for the second time. Maybe she will, or maybe she won't...

"This way," her father hisses. She follows him, understanding the severity of the situation.

They hear footsteps echoing as terror draws near... the morning shift has arrived. Her father grabs her by the wrist and pulls her behind a column.

Putting his finger in front of his lips, he silently tells her to stay quiet. Silence is the only way they will stay alive.

"There they are," a male voice calls out, although Marina cannot pinpoint exactly where from.

"Run," her father whispers so quietly that she has to read his lips to understand what he is telling her to do; she obeys.

Her feet slap the floor like pellets of hail hitting the hard pavement. Her father follows close behind, whispering which turns to make. They hear the guards yelling to each other, and Marina continues to run for her life.

Richard yells something to his daughter, but she does not hear him. The gunshots were too loud as they ricochet off the walls. One of them hits her father in the stomach. Marina rushes to her father; 'I cannot lose anyone else. He cannot be dead. This is just another hallucination. I will wake up in Roz's cabin and-' she thinks desperately, but she knows she is only lying to herself. Clutching to life, Richard Rosewood pulls a camera from his pocket and hands it to his daughter. She knows what he wants her to do; as her father takes his final breath, she does what he silently told her to do. With the motivation of both Otis and her father, she wins.