Memory

Chapter Twenty-Eight- Dimitri

And I mean every word.

I am at the other side of the room before the video box fades away and is replaced with the Capitol building x-rayed. I reach for the cabinet that holds all the Trackers, and I open one of the doors.

“I need a syringe!” I yell out, taking a single Tracker in my hands. I almost think that no one heard me over the furious din, and I open my mouth to repeat.

A hand graces my shoulder, and I look down to my left to see Ashley with widened eyes, her other hand holding a large syringe with an empty slot inside, presumably for the Tracker. I take it with a small nod, and Ashley sniffs, wiping at her eyes as she turned away, sulking over to Forrester’s side.

I extend my arm after putting the Tracker into the slot. I press the point of the needle firmly to the skin, and I count a few seconds before pressing down on the needle. I feel almost nothing as it slides into my arm, accompanied by a slight shiver as it is already obscured by skin and bone. I take the needle away from my arm, and it is suddenly snatched away from me. I look up in surprise, and I see Forrester’s blazing brown eyes.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he demands, pocketing the syringe in his back pocket. He did not notice that I already inserted the Tracker into me. I turn my head to catch the helplessness and furious expressions of Ethan and Lindsey, and I stifle a strange chuckle.

The irony. How can I be laughing when Trystan is near death right now?

I bring my attention back to the Lieutenant, tightening my jaw to keep the wrong words slipping out. “Nothing really, sir. I need to go get her.”

He looks almost impatient. “Do you think that we are going back there at this time? We are too far to go back. Don’t get me wrong,” he quickly adds as my face flashes with a lick of white-hot fury. “We are going to get her back. We will for sure, or we will die trying.”

I shiver at his words, but I sigh, forcing myself to understand the logic in his words. Glancing at my arm, I ask, “Then injecting myself with the Tracker was a waste, huh?”

He shook his head. “We’ll delay the activation until tomorrow morning, when we will go out on another mission. This time, to infiltrate the Capitol again.” He then turns from me, walking to the Holomap. He swipes his hand in an arc gesture, zooming in on the building. He leans down by the waist and types something up on the touchscreen keyboard. I watch as something pops up underneath the inside of the Capitol, and I walk over to see what it is. But I stop short as Lindsey comes up to me, her expression unreadable.

“Do you think that we’d be able to get her back?” she inquires, raising a blonde eyebrow.

I am taken aback by her question. “Why would you ask such a thing?” I exclaim, eyeing her suspiciously. “If we don’t...then I will give myself in with her.” The words tumble out of my mouth, and I cannot stop them. But as I think them over, I find that they are true.

Her eyes widen. “Are you crazy? Who knows what would happen to you?” She lifts a hand to take mine, and I feel her grip tighten. “We can’t lose you.”

I whip my hand away, furrowing my brow in anger. “And we can just lose Trystan?”

She pulls her lips into a thin line. Her gaze lowers to her feet, and she steps away from me. I suppress a shiver as her fingertips brush along the palm of my hand. “I’m not saying that,” she murmurs.

“But you meant it!”

I want to control myself, but I can’t. She’s bad-mouthing Trystan; it will not be tolerated.

Several heads turn to our direction, and Ethan eyes us with concern, walking over to us with wide eyes. “Is everything alright?”

I shake my head, turning away from Lindsey. “Everything’s perfect. Leave me alone.” Before Ethan retorts back, I brush past them both and towards the door to exit. I hear Forrester call my name. But I do not answer. Instead, I storm through the door and into the hallway, not looking back as the walls slip past by my peripheral vision in rapid blurs.

I cannot force back the agonizing pain I felt as I unwillingly watched Trystan’s torture. It felt as if my own body was feeling the heart-thrashing volts snaking their way violently into my limbs. I felt every and any pained breath that Trystan had drew into her lungs, and as I watched, I vaguely remember starting to yell and move around angrily; somebody had to hold me in place.

I make a left, recognizing the hallway that I had first walked through upon Trystan and I’s first arrival. I give a guilty jolt as I also remember my brother showing us around.

I do not want to remember the last time I talked to Jake. He is not worthy of mention at the moment.

I see a flash of color in the corner of my eye. Glancing to my right, I see a gray metal door, held in place by silver hinges. I furrow my brow. I don’t remember seeing this door at all, but I hadn’t really been paying attention to my surroundings at the time. I was too busy watching Trystan back then.

Curiously, I break my steady stride to walk over to the mysterious door. I place a hand on it, pressing weight into my fingertips as I try to open it.

It gives way, and opens without sound.

I quickly glance around, making sure that no one was around to see me. Satisfying myself with the fact that I am alone, I slip through the door, turning it around to close it.

As I turn back around, the sight has me gasping in surprise and confusion, a weird combination of emotions.

There is another Holomap in the center of the room, but with different, jumbled codes and images. The clarity of the images are so clear that I begin to wonder why we don’t just use this map. But I have a feeling that this room is completely different.

Why is another Observatory Room so close to the public eye? And why is it stark empty?