Intrusive

/inˈtro͞osiv/

adjective

causing disruption or annoyance through being unwelcome or uninvited

My eyes opened, but not to the usual announcement that was said over the intercom daily. Not to the morning sun as I had been dreaming of waking up to either. Instead, it was to a stone ceiling and nothing to tell me the time. At first I was scared to find out what my punishment would be for being late to the control room, then I remembered what happened yesterday.

I was not at the lab. I was in an enemy camp.

Which one? I was not a hundred percent sure, but from the clues I had gathered it was a Raiders camp. If the large 'R' design wasn't enough to give it away, I was not sure what would be better.

My, now bare, feet slid off the single sized bed elevated from the ground. I instantly retracted them and pulled them back under the sheets when the cold cement comes in contact with them. Couldn't they at least make it warmer in here?

Finally, I decided to scurry into the bathroom to take a shower, giving up on my original plan to never touch the cold floor ever again. I stripped off my clothes when the door to the bathroom is closed and locked before stepping into the shower. When the warm water flowed onto and down my shoulders, all stress and unease follow with it: down the drain. My shoulders fell from their rugged positioning and I felt like I was able to breathe for the first time since I've arrived here.

I was finished quickly and dressed as I opened the door to enter my living quarters. I dropped the towels and my previous clothes I was using into a basket near the out of place wooden door surrounded by stone and concrete. My lightheartedness was instantly replaced with fear as I turn around to spot the familiar blonde haired, blue eyed boy wearing an amused grin on his face. My body jolted toward the door in an immediate reaction as he laughs at my apprehension.

"Hey, it's alright, I just came to give you these," he stood up and handed me a pair of black boots to me. I walked forward and took them from him, giving him a questioning look. He let out a snort of laughter. "Don't worry, even if I could do something to hurt you with a pair of boots, I'm not allowed to."

"How reassuring," I responded, rolling my eyes at him when I looked down to inspect the boots.

"That's what they call me. Well, besides quiffie boy, that's a new one." His hand was on his chin as he pretended to ponder, scratching his little bit of peach fuzz that was barely noticeable since it was all blonde.

I laughed, heading over to my bed to put some socks on before putting the shoes on. "No, thank you?" he asked. Again I rolled my eyes at his immature behavior, but decided to be nice and thank him.

"Thank you quiffie boy," I smirked deviously, knowing me saying that annoyed him.

"I feel that wasn't genuine since you still used it as an outlet to make fun of my hair," he pouted, crossing his arms over his grey shirt and his legs positioning so his weight was on one of his hips. His black jeans looked tighter than before when he did that.

"I feel that what I just told you is the most genuine apology I can give to a guy in tighter jeans than me Mr. Quiffie," I retaliated, standing up when my shoes are finally laced and I am ready to go.

"Offensive," he joked, putting a hand on chest and a playful glint lighting up in his eyes. But as quick as it was there, it was gone, and all joking was diminished as he returned to a normal standing position. "I was sent here to collect you and bring you to the interrogation room."

I nodded and followed him out of the room, still confused by his sudden and drastic change of mood. Both of our boots squeaked against the solid flooring as we went down the same hallway as last night, this time it was better illuminated. We took a right turn, leading away from the main entrance where I had seen all the computers set up.

At first I was confused as to where we were going as we passed all the hallways leading through the catacomb like colony they had built. Then we approached a glass door. All the walls around it, unlike the computer room, were solid rock-chiseled from the underground where we were.

My nerves skyrocketed as quiffie boy pushed the door open, surprisingly holding it open for me. Apparently I gave him a surprised look because he leaned down and whispered that he was in fact a gentleman to me, sending chills down my spine.

"Melissa, I presume?" an overweight man asked from the other side of the steel table. The little bit of hair he had left from balding was grey and his head was covered with freckles. Dots of perspiration ran down his face as he blotted them away with a handkerchief.

I nodded subtly, looking at the three other people standing behind him that were looking at me. All of them looked like they were sizing me up, as if to see if I would be a threat to them and their society's safety.

"Well take a seat Miss Jennings," he kindly invited me, sticking his hand, motioning to the chair on the opposite side. I looked at quiffie boy for conformation. Although I may have not known him that well, I did know him better than this new figure, and I could trust him more than this elderly man gesturing to a metal seat.

Quiffie nodded at me, noticing my uneasiness, and pushed me towards the seat softly. The man smiled slightly at the gesture and straightened his posture when I sat down, holding out his hand to shake. I shook it with a strong grip, trying a little too much to prove that I wasn't scared, when it was obvious that I was a little bit out of my element.

"I'm Benjamin Rouge. The leader of this community, colony, if you will." I nodded my head again, staying silent but still noticing his introduction.

"I would introduce myself, but it seems everyone already knows me," I responded quietly.

"That we do Melissa, but do you know why is the question," he leaned forward, looking into my deep navy blue eyes.

"No," I stated simply.

"No?" he asked incredulously. "That's strange because we know for a fact that you do." His eyes burned into mine. The feeling that I was being threatened filled my body.

"Ben, lay off. She may not know," a deep tone interrupted his questioning.

"Shut up, Michael! I need to get all I can out of her," his voice cut off the boy-Michael's request. "Now, Melissa. Don't lie to me," he growled.

"Look, I don't know where I am, much less why." I struggled to control my temper, trying not to yell at an, apparently, very high up personnel member. But as he continued to harass me with questions it gets harder.

"Ben, your scaring her!" the same voice as last time interrupted. Stepping out of the shadows, I could see his towering stature and flaming red hair in the dimly lit room. My body was shaking from the questions all being thrown at me. After he gave up on asking if I knew why I was here, he started asking me pointless questions that I didn't know the answers to; nothing was adding up. And the questions didn't even flow together to give a clue away.

"Stop interrupting Clifford!" the raspy voice of the man boomed. I jumped in my seat, on edge and scared of the man across the table from me.

"Sir, I don't know why you are asking me these questions." The practically bald man let out a snort of laughter in distrust. "But I can tell you what I do know," I finished. All of a sudden the red haired boy's jaw drops in disbelief, possibly thinking that I knew nothing, and the old man leaned forward in his chair in anticipation.

"Well, let's hear it," he motioned for me to carry on speaking.

"I know my twin was killed here," I began, a chorus of foul words slip out of the four boys' mouths and Ben's gaze on me turned from happiness to a grim, disgusted look in seconds. "I know that this is an enemy camp. I think I know which one, but I'm not one hundred percent sure," I was rudely cut off by Ben.

"Which one do you think this is?" he asked, amazement taking over his features.

I adverted my eyes to Michael and quiffie, who were standing just outside the shadowed area, and the other two who's eyes I could only see. Michael had a look of victory, like they had found the key to Olympus or something and the blonde I had yet to know the name of had a grim look on his face, not giving anything away or telling me to shut up. I took a deep breath in, and turned back to Ben who had been waiting patiently.

"This is the Raiders camp," my eyes again turn to them. Quiffie slightly nodded, confirming my suspicions, and Michael only looked at me with a grin taking over his face. Ben was sitting back in his seat looking as smug as ever, looking at me with confusion, yet hope in his eyes. "A colony, if you will," I repeated what he had told me at the beginning of this questioning, causing a smile to erupt across his face.

"Well Melissa. Would you like to know why your here now?" he asked, sitting forward and resting his arms on the desk.

"Why?" I questioned him, getting in the same position.

His smile became wider, which only confused me more. "Have you ever heard of The Code, Miss Jennings?" My eyes widened, and I looked over to the blonde boy I've begun to trust. This was what he was telling me about when he took me from the lab.

"No," I replied, trying to seem as honest as possible.

"It is an inscription," he said sitting back. "And your going to help us find and decipher it."

Edited: 2 October 2016