Chapter Twenty-Seven

Delaney

Nessa was right; the new cells were nicer. Though still underground, they were larger, cleaner, and brighter. And, rather than being lined up in a row, these ones ran parallel to each other with a hallway in between.

I stretched back on the white cot bolted to the far wall, staring up at the ceiling. We'd been there for a while now, after Nessa left us with the promise that she'd be back with food the next day. With nothing to do, it felt like an eternity.

Rolling to my side, I stared through the plexiglass covering the front of the cell. Trai, who had the space opposite mine, sat on his cot, staring blankly at the wall and tracing listless circles on the mattress with his thumb. He didn't seem to notice me.

I don't know how long we were in there. After a while, the hours just seemed to mesh together into one never-ending span of time. Though I spent most of those endless seconds daydreaming, I also took the time to braid my hair into about twenty different styles.

No change came for a long time; not until I forced myself to my feet and dragged my lethargic body across the cell to the drinking fountain built into the wall. As I sipped the lukewarm, metallic water, a gruff voice called, "Lights out in ten!"

And all of a sudden, the ground shuddered beneath my feet. A pillar of water struck me in the face, and I toppled over onto my backside. There was a horrendous screeching sound, like untrimmed nails on a chalkboard, and I realized that the cell was moving. Slowly, my cell was inching closer and closer to Trai, who was watching, wide-eyed.

When finally—finally—the movement stopped, the hallway had disappeared, and the glass of the two cells were only an inch apart. I saw now that the air holes that dotted the clear surface of my wall matched up perfectly with Trai's.

We both stood up and walked shakily to the glass, so that we were, essentially, face-to-face. I scrubbed at my water-spotted glasses with my sleeve. There were no further announcements from the guard, but it was a moment before either of us spoke.

"You okay, Delaney?" Trai's voice was emotionless. I tilted my head and looked at him with blank eyes, my neck cracking in protest.

"Just lovely," I muttered, my tone coming out a lot less sarcastic than I had hoped for. Groaning, I leaned back against the wall, my hand clutched against my stomach. Out of the corner of my eye, I stared at the nondescript camera on the wall. It had taken me a while to notice it, but now I knew the thing was following my every move.

"How long do you think we'll be in here?" I had to force the question from my lips; a part of me was scared to know the answer.

Trai grimaced. "Until Miracle makes up her mind, I guess."

With my back pressed to the wall, I slid down to the ground.

"How do you think people are reacting? Back home, I mean."

He smiled wryly. "My guess is that they aren't reacting at all. No one likes it when things are out of the ordinary, so they pretend the abnormal stuff doesn't happen. I bet they've already forgotten about us. And you remember what Perfecta said." He glanced at the camera in his own cell, then lowered his voice. "About the so-called Capitol tour."

My stomach twisted. "But someone must have thought it was suspicious," I insisted. "Carlie, maybe. Or Lizzy might have told someone..." I trailed off, knowing the chances of that were slim.

"Is it not obvious to you that the Superiors have insane power?" Trai snapped. Then, more gently, he said, "They probably swore Lizzy to secrecy. And Carlie, well, even if she realized something was wrong, she wouldn't say anything. She's too smart—and even more than that, too obsessed with being Chosen to do anything that might put her chances at risk."

I couldn't help but hope that he was; surely at least one person had to have noticed our sudden absence. But deep down, I knew Trai was right. Even if one person gave the matter a second thought, they alone would be powerless. And as far as my parents were concerned—well, they were model citizens, and they wouldn't dare go against what the Superiors proclaimed as the truth. So blinded were they by their false faith in the government that they would never see the corruption in the system.

No matter what happened to their only daughter.

"You know what I want right now?" Trai asked, abruptly changing the subject. He was sitting now, too, with his legs splayed out in front of him. I was hugging mine to my chest. "I want a cheeseburger. A triple cheeseburger, with everything on it."

I salivated, imagining that. While Nessa's makeshift breakfast had helped, the satisfaction left by the meal had long worn off. "With a milkshake," I added, licking my dry, chapped lips. "And a cupcake for dessert."

Trai glanced at me strangely, then his expression softened. "Right, you like cupcakes," he murmured. "Remind me, once we get out of here, that I have to take you to Dulcet and treat you to one of their rainbow cupcakes."

I raised an eyebrow. "Rainbow cupcakes? I didn't know they had those."

"Secret menu," he explained, a mischievous light in his eyes.

Despite myself, I smiled. "That sounds great," I said genuinely, a warm blush settling over my cheeks. I refrained from mentioning that, given the circumstances, the chances that we would ever leave the Capitol were almost nonexistent.

"Great, then." Trai grinned absently, leaning his head back against the wall and letting his eyelids droop. "It's a date."

For a while, we were silent. I exhaled slowly, running a hand through my tangled hair.

"What do you think she'll decide to do to us?" I asked meekly, after a moment.

At first Trai didn't answer, and I thought he hadn't heard me. Then he shook his head. "I don't know, honestly," he admitted. "On one hand, I expect her to do something drastic, like, say hang us above a shark tank by our toes. But on the other hand, it seems that Miracle has a flair for the dramatic, so I'm thinking that she'll just publicly humiliate us, then let us leave."

I scoffed at that, but quickly sobered. "Yeah, right," I murmured sardonically. I'd seen that sadistic gleam in Miracle's eyes; there was no way that we'd get off so easily. Not after we'd defiled her precious government so thoroughly.

"It's getting hard to be positive, isn't it?" Trai asked, sighing.

I nodded. I had been trying, for both of our sakes, to keep cynicism out of my thoughts, but that was becoming increasingly difficult.

"It's okay. Everything will be fine." It sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than me.

"Yeah. Everything will be fine," I echoed dismally. "Of course it will."

Just then, the same scratchy voice of the guard growled, "All right, lights out! If I hear a word out of any of you before morning, you'll sure as hell regret it!"

Trai and I glanced at each other swiftly—then we were plunged into darkness.

Caleb

They came for me late in the night. I was lying on my cot, drifting in and out of a restless sleep, when an icy hand slapped over my mouth and dragged me onto the floor. I squirmed as my back hit metal, but my assailant was surprisingly strong and easily able to pull me across the room.

I heard the faint swish of a door sliding open, then I was slung forward. I hit the ground hard and lay there, gasping, as my breath slowly returned. In the slanted shadows of the room, I saw a masculine figure hulking above me, his face invisible. Pressing my hands into the cold floor, I stared at the faint outlines of the walls, trying to borrow their solidity.

It felt like they were closing in on me.

"Well, don't just sit there," the man barked. "Get up. Mira wants to see you." If anything, that statement made me freeze up even more. Seeing Miracle was the last thing I wanted to do. I'd never admit it to anyone, but I was genuinely afraid of her.

"Do I have to?" I asked, hoping he'd have some sympathy and leave me alone.

"If you want to stay alive another day, then yes, I'd say you do," he said bluntly. Sighing, I picked myself up off the ground and followed him through the darkness, my steps like lead. Briefly, I wondered where we were; my cell had been at the very end of the block, and I was pretty sure we hadn't gone into the room next to mine, which was Trai's.

The man walked briskly, seeming to have no problem with the lack of light. As my eyes adjusted, I realized that we were going through a series of hallways that wound in a dizzying path. We kept moving until, all of a sudden, the man came to a complete halt. I barely stopped in time to keep from running into him.

He touched the solid wall in front of him and it slid away, revealing a dimly lit room whose only furniture was a desk with a chair on either side of it. Already, one was taken, and there was no mistaking the figure who occupied the seat.

"Hello, Caleb," Miracle greeted, "why don't you come in?"

"Go," my companion urged, practically shoving me into the room. As soon as I crossed the threshold, the door slid shut behind me.

"Take a seat," Miracle said. She sat with her long legs propped up on the desks' surface, fiddling with the glasses that once again shielded her eyes. I obliged, and she smiled at me. "I'm very glad to see you again."

"I'm sure you are," I replied smoothly, masking my fear with a smirk. "Now, why am I here?"

Her mouth slid into a delicate frown, the deliberateness of the expression reminding me of Carlie. "You're very forward," she observed, almost to herself. "Fearless. Good, very good."

"It's a gift." I shrugged modestly.

She lowered her shades slightly and peered at me over their rims, her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "Yes," she agreed. "I suppose it is. You're very interesting, Caleb."

I raised an eyebrow. "Am I?"

"You are. Think about it: you were top candidate for Superiority at your school. You had the perfect life, and, had you stayed loyal, you would have had even more. So what I wonder is this: what caused your distrust of the Superiors?

"Don't bother answering, dear. I already know why. It had come to my attention that you had a brother. But he was Chosen, wasn't he, Caleb? Two years ago, your brother Christopher was in the same position you were, and he was brought here, along with his girlfriend, Joanne."

I stiffened in my seat, wiping all emotion from my expression in an attempt to keep my face as unreadable as possible. Among the memories that flooded my brain, I saw my parents' proud smiles, Christopher and Joanne beaming, their hands entwined as they posed for the camera. I remembered congratulating my brother as he climbed onto the plane, his arm around his beautiful girlfriend. In my mind's eye, I saw his face on the TV screen in a crowd of fifty, all of them featured in a news segment about that year's candidates.

And that was where the memories stopped. After that, there was nothing.

By the way Miracle smirked at me, I knew she had seen through my false composure. I wasn't fooling her; she was completely aware of how much the subject of my brother bothered me, and she was going to use that to her advantage. How, I didn't know. But there was simply no way that she was going to overlook my weakness.

"The reason you don't trust us," she continued, carefully kicking her legs down from the table, "is because you haven't had contact with your brother for nearly twenty-four months. And no one else seemed to notice, did they? Not your parents, nor your teachers, nor your brother's friends. They all went on with their lives, already preparing for the next year. But you noticed. Because you're different, Caleb. You're a special brand of Popular, just like your brother."

I felt a flash of annoyance at the way she was analyzing me so carelessly, yet so correctly. My blood boiled with rage at her light, condescending tone. "What you want, Miracle?" I asked through gritted teeth.

Steepling her fingers in front of her face, Miracle flashed me a tight-lipped smile. "What makes you think I want something? I only want to make a deal."

I leaned forward without thinking. "I don't want a goddamned deal," I hissed. "I want to go back to my friends."

"Oh, Caleb." Smiling in a sad, pitying way, Miracle placed a hand on her arm. "I'm afraid that's not possible."

My stomach did a flip. "What do you mean by that?" I demanded.

She blinked. "I mean, it's not possible. Even if you don't agree to my deal, we'll be seeing it through. It's your choice whether or not you'll go along willingly."

I swallowed down the feeling of bile while I contemplated that. Essentially, I was cornered. There was no second option, no alternate decision. The only thing I could do at that point was listen to her proposal.

"Alright," I said faintly, finally betraying my apprehension, "let's hear it."

Miracle whipped off her glasses in a quick swipe and leaned toward me, so close that her flawless face was inches from mine. She smiled, and I'd be lying if I said my breath didn't hitch for a moment. I leaned away, desperate for air, but she only edged closer, resting her chin on her hands as she looked me in the eye.

"How would you like to see your brother again?" she asked in a whisper.

~~~

A/N: What could Miracle's deal possibly be? ;O