Hollow

Chapter 4

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I sat in the chair and stared at the wall in front of me. I'd been sitting in this room for almost two hours without any explanation.

After hours of driving in the truck surrounded by armed men, I was taken to this building. They held me down while they forced me through examination after examination. They'd taken my blood, my fingerprints, a saliva swab from the inside of my cheek. They even forced me to urinate in a clear plastic cup.

When that was finally over, they sent me into a cell, only coming three times every day to give me a meal. I'd searched the cell high and low, trying to find a way out, but it was no use. I'd been in the cell for eight days before someone had come to take me elsewhere.

They'd brought put me into this room earlier this morning without a word, and still neglected to remove my handcuffs. We were still in the same building, but it was a completely different section.

The only objects besides myself in the room were a table and three chairs, one of which I was sitting on. There was a long mirror on one of the walls.

I stole glances at myself, examining my physical features. At the agency, there weren't mirrors. The only time I saw myself was in reflective glass like the windows, or computer screens. I looked at my reflection, my red hair remained in its ponytail though a few strands had fallen out, my face was pale but I wasn't sure if this was its natural pigment or anxiety-caused.

I'd never dealt with a situation like this, I was never trained for these circumstances. I didn't know what I was supposed to do.

If being seen was to have failed, being captured might as well have been the equivalent to death.

My thoughts were halted when the door across the room clicked open. Two men walked in and sat in the seats across from me.

"Good morning, Miss." One of them said. He set a folder down on the table and linked his hands in front of him. "We're going to ask you a few questions. It'd be in your best interest to answer them truthfully."

The other man leaned on the table with his elbow. "What can you tell us about the organization that you worked for?"

I only stared, unmoving.

They looked at each other. "Do you speak English?" The first of them asked.

"Look, you're young, you've got your whole life ahead of you." The second man said. "That life is going to be spent behind bars if you don't cooperate. Tell us what you know about Francis Sotelo."

Francis Sotelo. That was the first and last name of Dominus, though if we were to call him by that there would be severe punishment. Calling him by anything other than his title was disrespectful, and disrespect was not something that he tolerated.

"Are there other groups like the one you were apart of?" He asked.

Groups like ours? I didn't think so. I was told that we were the only thing that maintained peace, that without us the world would perish. Now, though, I didn't know what to believe.

The only thing that I was sure of was that I was not to trust these people. Why should I? They'd done nothing to show me that they weren't going to kill me as soon as they were done questioning me. They'd already killed the specialists and Dominus.

I stayed silent, watching them. They didn't seem to like my lack of an answer and their questioning intensified. Their voices raised and they pounded their hands on the table with certain words for emphasis. I didn't flinch.