Tattooed {Completed}

13: Second Thoughts

Welcome back readers!

I thought very long and hard about the polygraph since it was over. Our food was brought to us and we were given spare clothes. No shower.

My mother was not one to keep secrets. I wasn't lying when I said that her and I were close. We were very close. We were like best friends. Why she didn't tell me about something as serious as her Resistance or her being a Rebel, made me doubt everything knew about my mother. And I hated the government for that. If they hadn't told me, I would have went on believing that my mother was the great person she was who died merely of a heart attack.

But the more I thought about it, my mother was better than just a great person. She sacrificed her life, and her family to not be a Rebel. But that meant she was for the whole societal system, not against it. Wasn't the Tattoo system bad? She apparently didn't think so. And I trusted my mother. There must have been a reason.  

And then I remembered that, what seemed to be a lifetime ago, Mr. Graff had said something about the Tattoos. "The Tattoos keep us sane." And he was right. If we had a choice, there would be so many bad people in this world. This made me even more angry. Would we all be insane if we had the right to choose who we wanted to be?

"Miss Blackwood. It is time for your polygraph test." A guard said outside my cell.

I get up off the floor and walk outside. I arrive in the same room as the prior day. The detector is strapped onto me and the test began.

"Welcome back, Miss Blackwood. This is the second part of the three tests. Remember, I can see if you are lying, so make sure to tell the truth the full time, even if it's bad." He didn't tell me this the previous time, so I imagined that there were going to be questions I didn't want to answer.

"Ok." I could feel Mr. Graff's stare on me.

"This time, you are allowed to answer any way you want, but we are asking the questions."

"Ok."

"First question: Who is Kenna?"

"We met her when we were in the government tunnel."

"But who is she?"

"She's just...... a girl. I don't know." The investigator gave me a sigh.

"What was she doing kidnapping her brother from the hospital?"

"I don't know." I lied.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Miss Blackwood, I know you are lying."

"Can I skip the question?"

"Miss Blackwood, please answer the question."

"She was saving him." I knew the next question before it was asked.

"From what?"

"From the Tattoo system. She didn't want him to get a Tattoo because she wants him to have a life where he can choose what he wants to be."

The investigator didn't seem interested in my answers. He was just running the tests. I look over at Mr. Graff, and I saw rage burn in his eyes. Our purpose was revealed.

"Very well. Next question: How is it that Justin and Kenna have the same Tattoos?"

"I don't know." That wasn't a lie. I had an idea why, but I wasn't for sure about it. And I'm glad. They would have killed many Artists if they figured out there were more Rebels.

I looked over to my side and see Mr. Graff wear an uneasy look on his face. He thought I knew that last question. I wanted to know, and I was determined to find out.

"Are there more Rebels out there?"

"Yes. Only one that I know of."

"But besides the one, do you think there are more?"

"Yes."

"And what are the Rebels designed to do?"

"Follow me."

"And why is that?"

"They don't have a choice. I'm their champion."