*~7~*

Her Second Meeting With Them

 

Someone had to know.

Azure considered talking to her parents about the situation but without the knowledge of how they'd react to the news that their daughter had broken a law of the cty... Azure thought best not to let them know. She considered telling her friend. Anyone of them. But she didn't have any friends to tell. She thought about her teachers, but they were as cruel as the students. She was absolutely terrified of telling the OnLookers. She would be departed to the UnderGround immediately.

She had heard many stories of the UnderGround. Of course no one had ever been to the UnderGround and returned to tell of their findings. People just assumed it was this dark, murky, eerie place. The streets below were supposedly filled with awful smells of rancid horror. It was always dark in the UnderGround. And the people were barely people at all. They were misty shadows of men. Their bodies were all deformed. They were just... not human...

And anyone sent down there would become just like them. So Azure couldn't tell them. Or anyone. Azure felt so lost.

When the time came for her to start her day she wandered into the kitchen after her mother. And her mother noticed of course.

"Azure, darling, you're up late." She said in her usual tired voice.

"Sorry, mother. I guess I needed an extra boost to help my pill work faster. More sleep keeps me more awake for the day." Azure said. She had to make it at least sound like she was normal.

"Well, take your pill so you won't fall asleep in your food." She watched Azure nod in reply and put the pill in her mouth. She watched her sip her water and swallow it. At least, that's what Azure led her to believe as the cool water slid down her throat. When her mother turned her back to pay attention to the stove, Azure spit her pill into the glass and watched it disappear. She smiled and sat up straight.

"I'm good for the day!" She said, piping up her voice to a happier, more cheery volume.

"Please, Azure." Her father said, walking into the room lazily. "Use your indoor voice. I have a head ache." He sat in his usual seat at the table (across from Azure and next to her mother) and opened the daily newspaper. Azure noticed the front page.

Utopia 1 is as Crime Free as it Was in the Beginning! Thank you, OnLooker 1

Azure rolled her eyes.

"Take your pill, Roger. It will heal any ailment and help create the perfect day in Utopia." She said referring to the billboards near some of the buildings.

He did as she said and Azure watched him put the poison into his body. She stuck out her tongue in disgust only until he looked in her direction. "Remember," He spoke suddenly, already seeming more awake. "You're taking a different bus today. And you're not to go to school." He told her.

"Bus 37, right?" Azure smiled innocently.

"Correct. Now you should probably be heading down." He stared her down.

"But I haven't had breakfast yet, fath-" She started to protest but her mother interupted.

"Listen to your father, darling." She said only filling her plate and her father's. Without even touching Azure's plate she set the pan on the stove and sat down on her seat across from Azure's. Azure's stomach protested as much as Azure wanted to.

But she knew better than to disobey her parents. She stood up sadly and walked out of the apartment, her stomach growling the entire way there. She walked out into the hallway and noticed that the other students hadn't even opened their doors yet. "Probably enjoying the omelets their mothers cooked for them right now..." Azure complained walking alone. She didn't say hello to anyone because there was no one to say hello to. She stood in the center of the elevator, instead of being shoved into the corner. And she walked all the way outside into the morning air.

The bus driver was already waiting for her. He opened his bus door and glared at her as she walked on. Just as it was yesterday, it took ten minutes to get there. Once again, she wlked into a busy building, and once again she came face to face with the same secretary who buzzed her up. Today felt like the same deal. Azure had more things on her mind than she did yesterday (and less things on her stomach) but that was the only real difference.

She entered the room as timidly as she did yesterday, peering out at the entire room. 1 gestured to her as she walked in shyly. "Ah, here is our guest now. Right on time, as she should be." His voice was less harsh today, she noticed. She sat in the seat she sat in yesterday and stared at them all.

"Good morning, sirs." She put her hands in her lap.

"Good morning, Miss." 2 said smiling. The other five remained silent.

It was silent for a moment and Azure's stomach grolwed noisily. She blushed brightly and tensed herbody to quiet the sound. But 1 obvoiusly had excellent hearing. He smiled. "She's hungry." He stated bluntly.

"I-I apologize, sirs. You see, I was sent out before I had the chance to eat and-" Before she could continue the door opened behind her seat and a man walked out with a large silver tray in his hands. He set it before her and removed the large silver dome lid. Revealed to her blue eyes was a mouth-watering dish. Better than any omelet her mother could ever make. A large, dark piece of freshly cooked meet was beside a spoonful eggs mixed in with spices that smelled amazing! Two slices of bacon and two pieces of suasages. A breakfast fit for a leader!

She inhaled the scent and her entire being lit up. Ignoring any manners she chewed as best as she could and hurried it down. She had never tasted anything like it before.

2 looked at her concerned. "Quite an appetite, miss. Don't your parents feed you?" He said watching as she forced down a piece of the meat she hadn't fully chewed.

She waited until she had no food left in her mouth before speaking. "Of course, sir. They feed me the meals that you assign them to make every day. But I didn't get to eat today. I was hurried out the door before I could." She explained politely.

2 smiled softly as 1 watched her movements carefully. She felt a lot better after she completely cleared the plate. The other man returned to the room and removed the tray from in front of her. Azure felt a lot more relaxed and comforted.

"Now," 1 started. "Let's begin with a few simple questions, Ms. Tates." His voice dropped back to the low pitch that sent shivers through Azure's spine. "First, Ms. Tates,"

"Do you know anything about the UnerGrounders?" Is what Azure heard. Her face suddenly became pale.

"Wh-What??" She asked.

"I asked how the students acted toward you on a regular basis." 1 scanned her suspiciously.

"O-Oh." She muttered. "Normal, I guess. They don't talk to me much. Of course... I do understand why that is." She looked down sadly. 2's eyes saddened too as he looked at Azure. It was so sad that she had to be rejected by everyone for her name.

1 nodded. "I do apologize for that, Ms. Tates. But after you were born, we felt it necessary." His voice was cold and it continued to lower Azure's mood. "Next question. How do your teachers act?"

"The same. My work is excelling but... My grades aren't." She knew that reports of every citizen were sent to the OnLookers. She was telling him information he already knew.

He nodded again. Questions like this pressed on and on for a few more hours. She doubted anyone would notice her missing. Her mouth answered automatically but her mind was focused on the UnderGrounders the entire meeting. Body-less shadows. Using the night to bring harm to the great city, no doubt. But what kind of harm? She wondered.

1 nodded as she answered. He didn't say much besides tha questions. And he made sure she was fed again when lunch time came around. The man from before brought out a big sandwich for her. Full of different, thin slices of meat and with two pieces of lettuce beneath the bread. Cheese and mayonais were hidden beneath the meat but Azure could taste it as she took that first big bite.

The way they fed her and talked to her, Azure made the assumption that maybe these weren't bad people at all. 2 was definitely not, she knew that for a fact. But the others, she soon figured, couldn't be too bad if they would feed a girl like her meals fit for an OnLooker.

The day once again began to come to a close. 1 stood up abruptly. "Well, Ms. Tates, I thank you for coming here again to meet with us."

She stood up too. "Thank you so much for bringing me here, sirs. And I promise I'll work as hard as I can from now on." She said cheerfully. He nodded to her reply again. She smiled and waved as she turned on her heel to leave.

"Ms. Tates," 1 said suddenly startling her. She stopped and turned to him. "Before you leave, I would like to ask you one more question." His words had stopped in the middle of his sentence. Like he was almost hesitating to ask her.

She turned her full body towards him. One more question? About what?

"What do you know... About the UnderGrounders, Ms. Tates?" He asked.

Her face grew pale.

Reviews

[GoodIntentiionz]

I think this chapter is just the "filling" for the book, not really necessary to the storyline, but necessary for transition between the important scenes. I wonder what Azure will say to that last question...