The Man In The Midnight Blue Suit

Chapter Twenty-Five

We meet Scot in the courtyard, away from the prying eyes of the two Elite statues. Sometimes I feel like they're watching me. I'll turn around and they'll still be made of stone, the remnants of who they once were long gone. Still, those purple and orange flames never fail to send my eyes glancing behind my back.

We stand in a clearing, just off from the path. To me, the ground is covered with snow like ice-cream and the trees are silvery aspen and pine, dusted with snowflakes. I don't think I'll ever stop being enchanted by this winter – especially without the cold. That's the only thing it's lacking.

Tobias leans against a tree, his arms crossed. He may try to look tough, but he's too sweet for that. The way his dark hair sometimes falls across his face, only to be swept away by a hand, puts off the look. Near him, I stand with Scot, whose hunched appearance was only strengthened by his misty green eyes, which never wandered from us. For once, he doesn't try to blend into the background.

"Well?" He says. "You've dragged me out here when I'd much rather be resting after whatever that challenge was. You better have something good to tell me."
"You're the one who wanted to know," Tobias remarked. I shoot him a sideways glance. Play nice.
"You don't want to miss this, Scot," I say.
"Tell me then. What's going on?"
"Simply put," I say, cautiously, "We don't being the Elite's pawns. So we're going to break the rules."
"Casey, don't get me wrong, I love puzzles, but explain it to me straight."
I glance at Tobias. He's looking at Scot, his face stern.
"We want to overthrow the competition – or, more precisely, the Elites," Tobias reveals. His voice doesn't make room for any doubt. Scot hesitates for a moment, letting the meaning of the words sink in.
"What do you mean?" He asks.
"We – that is, Tobias, Gin and I – are planning to stop this. We're sick of being used, and we're not willing to sit around and wait to see who gets the final prize. Come on, don't try to say you believe what they've forced us into this with good intentions."
Scot takes a step back as if he's been pushed. "You're not serious."
"Trust us, Scot, we are." Tobias answers.
"And how do you plan to go about this, this overthrow?"
"We have an idea. But it's got to involve everyone – well, mostly everyone. We've got to try." I say.
"No. No, you don't have to try. You don't have to do anything. You could just – wait it out."
"I, for one, will not sit by and wait for their plans to come a full circle. I'm tired of not knowing what's going to happen to me, to everyone else. None of us asked to compete."
"So you think the way out is to go up against them? The Elites?"
"Yes."
For a moment, he's quiet. He runs a hand over his short blonde hair and his face. I want to know what he's thinking – I'm frightened to remember I can find out.
"You've underestimated them," Scot says, his voice shaky. "You're crazy. You both are. Do you really think that you can beat the Elites at their own game? Do you think they will let you? There's six of them, and they've been doing this for aeons longer than us. Two years ago, I thought this would have belonged in a fairy tale. You're special Casey, but you're not that special." He shakes his head, punctuating his point.
"Think about it–"
"Count me out of it, Tobias! I don't want to know." He storms away, chocolate brown flames flickering in his palm.

It somehow shocks me that he doesn't feel the same. I thought that we'd all band together, simply because we've all been thrown into this competition by the Elites. That no one would protest, no one would think different. I was naïve. Perhaps Scot is the most sensible one of us.

Tobias pushes off the tree. "You can't win everyone over, Case'. Some people just won't take the risk."
It scares me a little that he can sense my anguish. Only Jonathan had been able to do that.

"What if he's right? What if we're only pretending? What if we're ignoring the fact that we've got no hope of going up against them and coming out on top?"
Tobias steps towards me and nearly opens his mouth to speak.

"I don't think he's right."
Hearts suddenly jumping, we both turn our heads to the now dark wood behind us. Katelyn stands there, face lit up by her pale yellow flame.
"I know it's bad, but I saw you leaving the arena. You didn't follow the rest of us towards the apartments and... I was curious. I swear I never meant to stay so long. Once I heard what you were saying I couldn't leave." Her airy voice is nearly soaked up the trees around her, and we have to strain to listen.

"So you heard everything." Tobias states. It's not a question.
"Yes. And... I want to be part of this. I don't like what they – the Elites – have done. It was scary at first, then amazing, and then it sank in that they weren't doing it for me. I think... we could do this. At least, like you said, we have to try."
I smile. She's so shy, Katelyn, but when she does speak it always surprises me. I thought that she, at least, would take some convincing. But like everyone else, I can get things wrong. Tobias looks at me, eyebrows raised.
"It's not a high school club," I say. "You want to be part of this, you've got it. It's all of us against them – even if Scot doesn't realise it." Katelyn grins back at me. Then, just like that, there were four.