The elevator doors reel open, and this time, I'm ready with a vengeance. The inductees around me stream out of the elevator, all pleasant and unsuspecting. I wait behind just a second before following them.
Dozens and dozens of people swirl out from elevators and cross the finely-carpeted lobby. The air isn't sterile or fearful but welcoming. I squint my eyes in scrutiny.
I scan the lobby, pivoting slowly to look for familiar faces. Everyone adorns gold attire, causing so many questions to fill my mind. I glance upwards. Sparkling chandeliers and exuberant decorations drape overhead.
All the golden colors bothers my eyes. Plus no one's wearing anything to identify if they're lower, middle, or upper class. Guess all that won't matter for tonight.
A shoulder bumps into me, waking me up. There's no sense in standing around in the middle of a busy area. I sweep a final glance around the room before taking a path through an archway. The area is packed with people, so I squeeze my way through.
A hundred banquet tables fill the huge space I enter. Inductees swarm to fill the area. Instead of searching for my own place to sit, I search for Nicolette and Stephen.
My heel catches on the carpet, but I manage to avoid tripping. Thankfully no one notices my blunder. I straighten out my dress and move away from the busy entrance.
I lean against a nearby wall, scanning the banquet hall. My mind is so conscious of the sensor in the back of my neck. The technology makes me fear Stephen so much, and I need to disable it. The only question is how.
Voices float around the banquet, carefree and light as my situation darkens with dread. I can't freak out if I spot Stephen. The last thing we need is me causing a scene.
I search and search for both my friends and a solution. My eyes skin around beautiful tables with electronically-flaming centerpieces. There's even a few lit-up accents around the room hosting similar golden flames.
I wonder why there's so much fire, I think to myself. It reminds me of the rebel attacks in Grand Rapids with the explosions of bombs.
I find myself reminiscing. War is so easy when you've got a gun. Just kill the bad guys instead of letting their technology manipulate you into fearing the person you love...
My gaze falls on the post heating my shoulder. The gold flames crackle as my eyes widen. I feel my heart pound as I stare at the fire. I've got an idea.
Without missing a beat, I scramble towards an empty table and grab a metal knife. I pinch it within the folds of my dress to disguise it hastily.
Returning to my position against the wall, I drop half the knife into the flames. My sudden plan is so ungodly insane it's going to be a success. Step one is done, and now on to step two. I've got a plan, and this is going to work.
My hands begin to shake, my nerves flare. I need to find Nicolette before Stephen find me. And I need to do it now. I can't afford to spazz out in fear of Stephen, and I know exactly how to prevent that from ever happening again.
Back and forth I sift through all the faces I see. I manage to spot a few semi-familiar faces, but no Nicolette. Minutes upon minutes crawl by.
C'mon, Nicolette. Where are you hiding?
At last I spot her, sitting at a table halfway across the banquet room. I jump to life and hurry towards her.
"Excuse me, sorry, excuse me," I say as I brush past tight paths between tables. My eyes don't leave Nicolette's form. Within a handful of yards she spots me and deflates in relief.
"Hey!" I raise my voice to be all fake and happy. "I just found the most beautiful decorations I just have to show you! C'mon!"
Nicolette's eyes flash in confusion. I squeeze past a few more people and grab her wrist. Pulling her back through the crowd, I cross my heart and hope we don't come across any undercover Screeners or something.
We brush by the flaming post, and I nab the metal knife.
"Holland, why are you--" Nicolette begins.
I cut her off in an overly sweet panic. "Oh, you just need to see all these pretty decorations!" I let my smile drop into a flat expression for a millisecond. I'm careful not to brush the hot knife near her dress.
I keep up my chatter until I steer us into the lobby and towards a restroom. There's at least twenty stalls, so I beeline towards the furthest one from the door. Out of the corner of my eye I spot some make-up on the bathroom counter. I grab a few of the tubes and shove us into one of the stalls.
"What's--" Nicolette stutters before I jam my hand over her mouth. She tries to shake me off, but I lock my eyes in deadly fear with hers.
"It's just me. I need help with this make-up," I lie. My speech remains extremely vague so I don't accidentally mention a tabooed word. Tanner said something about cameras activating when they hear certain words, so if I avoid those mystery words, I should be able to tell Nicolette everything she need to know.
I dump the make-up tubes into Nicolette's hands and start opening them. One of the tubes reveals a pencil-like stick. Bingo.
I rip a couple sheets of toilet paper from the dispenser and begin scrawling my message on the paper. Finally I finish and give her the paper to read.
Nicolette skims it quickly, blinks at the message a few times, and then looks at me. She nods slowly, and I hand her the knife.
"Okay," she says. I nod back to her and turn around, pulling my hair away from
my neck.
Without wanting, the flat edge of the searing knife presses against my neck. My skin ignites in burning as a nearly let out a scream. My hands squeeze my over my own mouth so hard it hurts. Oh, how much it hurts!
I swear I hear the sensors and technology sparking beneath my skin like a firecracker. I grit my teeth and let the burning continue. It takes all my effort to keep from flailing too much. Nicolette keeps the metal knife pressed hard against the back of my neck, unfaltering.
After another painful minute, she pulls the knife away, and the heat continues to stings my skin raw. I bet the skin is charred, but I don't even care.
I twist around, clawing Nicolette into a tight hug, thanking her. I don't care about how much of a jerk she was to me or how our friendship fell apart. She rescued me from fearing Stephen for the rest of my life.
With shaky hands I scrawl a final message on toilet paper for Nicolette. Like a good friend I desert the bathroom. If Nicolette is smart, she'll leave the the rest to Stephen and I only. After all, it's our time to reunite and fight the forces who locked us in the Project and harmed my family. I don't know when our opportunity will arise, but when it comes, I'll be ready.
"Hey, 400, where were you?" Stephen says, approaching me through the archway in the lobby. I can't help but smile widely at his nickname for me and leap into an embrace with him.
Stephen seems startled at first, but his arms slide around my lower back. A bit starstruck, he kissed my lips a few times, raising my spirits. "I thought I'd never be able to do that again,"
he says.
I kiss him back as we find a nearby table together, saving a spot for Nicolette just in case. We keep our hands folded together as the voices around us continue to chatter.
"What happened back there?" Stephen asks. "In the boxes? What happened in your Task that scared you so much?"
"I don't know. Something just freaked me out," I say, knowing exactly what occurred. It wasn't the Task but Stephen himself. "I don't know. But I have a feeling it won't ever happen again."
-- -- -- -- --
reunite and fight won! i hope you guys liked this chapter and think it makes sense. the fun will be starting. after all, there's a purpose to this Equinox banquet...
Question: Choose a phrase: skip to the action, wine and dine, or backfires quickly.