987 (Complex Series, #3)

Chapter Thirty-Eight

 Arrie calls out, “Come on back young-uns. We’s a-need ta be a-headin’ back.”

All the children give their parents one last hug or giggle, and march back over to Arrie. Willow sadly hands the baby back to Arrie, after giving it a soft kiss on its forehead.

Did my mom ever kiss me on the forehead?

We follow Arrie back to the village. As the gardens begin to disappear from sight, the baby begins to wail. A screaming, high-pitched screech. Arrie rocks it back and forth, humming, trying to get the noise to stop.

Arrie shouts over the noise to explain to us, “She just be a-missin’ her mama. She’ll be a-stoppin’ soon enough.”

Did I cry for my mother while I was being taken away?

Rose informs us, “Arrie a-says I been the worst baby she’s ever a-taken care of.”

Arrie laughs, “Ya were. Every time I a-took ya away from yer dad or mom, ya would a-wail for hours and hours. It’d be impossible to a-quiet ya.”

Rose grins proudly.

We get back to the village, Arrie unlocks the gate. I check the code, making sure I memorized it right. I know everyone else is doing the same.

Arrie leads us back to our sleeping building, “I was a-told ta a-leave ya here when I was a-done. Spara and Nikolas will be a-comin’ ta a-talk ta ya in a couple minutes.”

We wait inside while they leave. Right before the door closes behind all the kids, Rose pops back inside and says, “I’s a-be really a-glad ya came here.”

She ducks back out of the room before we can respond. The statement pierces my heart.

We’re leaving tonight. What will she think? What will everyone think? Will they be glad we left them? They won’t know that we left to protect them. 

I realize now that I want to do nothing more than stay in the village. I feel safe here, away from the Complex and guarded from animals. I want to learn to be free like all the children here.

I want to stay, I really do. I just can’t. To stay in this village, I would inevitably destroy it when Derek comes looking for us.

Piper sighs, “I know I’ve only been here for a day and a half, but I’m going to miss this place.”

I’m nodding in agreement when Spara and Nikolas enter the room.

I can’t read anything off their expressions. They’re faces are both completely blank.

Have they already decided whether we are going to stay or not?

Spara and Nikolas once again take a seat on our bunks, motioning for us to sit on the floor again. We obediently do so.

Nikolas grabs the hologram generator from the corner and brings it back over to the bunk. He fiddles with it. As he turns the generator around, the hologram floating in the air swings around into our eyes.

I squint against it, trying to see what he’s doing. Is it purposeful or an honest accident? Does he not want us to see something? What is he hiding?

Panic starts to build.

The moment passes quickly when he shifts it again, sending the hologram back up to the ceiling. I blink the bright spots away from my eyes.

Nikolas makes a oh noise and does something with the hologram.

Suddenly the hologram is filled with a face.

Emotions jar through me: fear, guilt, panic, dread, terror. I expect Jonathan or Derek to stare down at us, ready to kill us.

Instead, it’s the face of a woman Official. I haven’t seen her before, but I glance at Canton, Bridget, Piper, and Brinn’s faces to see if they know who it is.

They simply look terrified.

The woman sees smiles confusedly at us, “Oh, hello. I wasn’t expecting a call from you.”

She can’t see Spara and Nikolas from the position that the camera on the hologram generator is facing. She thinks it’s just us. What if she gives away something that uncovers all our lies?

Brinn says in a voice below a whisper to me, “Catherine. Rogue Official. Visited us once in room before you got there.”

As far as we know, she’s a rogue Official. Does that mean that she knows about Derek? Is she working for Jonathan?

I wish we could turn off the hologram, but Nikolas is holding it in his hand. Maybe that’s the idea. Maybe they are trying to corner us, so that we reveal something to them.

Catherine frowns, “Can you hear me? Is it working? What did you call for? I don’t know if I’m supposed to be answering this.”

Piper springs into action, “It was an accident. Sorry.”

Catherine smiles, “Oh, that’s okay. I want to talk to you anyway.”

Bridget asks, “Why?”

Catherine’s smile fades slightly, “Actually, it was more Brinn.”

Bridget repeats, sounding slightly irritated, “Why?”

Catherine seems to lose herself in the thought. She takes a deep breath, seeming to prepare herself, “I…I knew Dawn.”

Besides me, Brinn sits up straighter. Dawn was Brinn’s Renewal Official. Dawn helped Brinn out of many dangerous situations, like when Brinn forgot her MCC and bruised her nose. Dawn told Brinn her name and Official number, making their relationship closer than it should have been in the Complex.

Dawn used to be the leader of the rebellious Officials, until she died.

Brinn accidently had a part in Dawn’s death, too. Brinn threw the blue shot that shattered on Dawn during the Profession Tests, causing Dawn’s painful death.

I learned all that information from Piper when she was sent to the Unknown. Brinn has never known why Dawn helped Brinn with everything she did.

Catherine stares sadly at Brinn before continuing, “Dawn wanted me to explain everything to you herself, but she…” a tear slips down her face, “passed, before she could. She confided in me that if she couldn’t tell you, that I should.”

I glance worriedly at Brinn. What is Catherine going to tell us? Will it hurt Brinn? Is it something private, something Brinn wouldn’t want us to know?

Brinn asks quietly, “Was Dawn my mother?”

 Catherine gets a really sad look on her face, “No…no, but she’s the closest thing you could have in the Complex to a mother.”

Brinn’s face falls. I can almost feel all the hope flying out of her. A thin tear slips down Brinn’s face as she says, “Then why’d she care so much about me?”

Catherine squeezes her eyes shut, as if that will prevent the tears that are falling down her face. She must have been very close to Dawn as well. She murmurs, “I didn’t think this was going to be this hard.”

Catherine tries to smile through the tears, “Before Dawn was an Official, she had a close friendship with one of her roommates. When it came time for them to be Officials, they didn’t want to go their separate ways. Dawn was amazing with hacking into holograms and that type of thing. She managed to create a system for her and her roommate to communicate.”

Catherine takes a shuddering breath before continuing, “The roommate was sent to Complex A, where she had a baby. She hated giving her baby up to the other Officials. She contacted Dawn and asked her to make sure that her baby was kept safe in the Complex.”

Brinn stares, her mouth slightly open. Two twin streams of tears trickle down her face.

Catherine concluded, “Dawn’s roommate, Brinn, was your mother.”

In a shaky voice, Brinn urgently asks, “My mother, is she, is she still alive?”

Catherine presses her lips together. She shakes her head, slowly at first and then quicker as more tears fall from her eyes, “No…no. You are all over ten years. All of your mothers are dead.”