When the White Light Splits

5.

“What do you know about the Killjoys Miss Ramirez?”

“Nothing” I said instantly. I was currently sat in a soulless interview room, somewhere in the bowls of a government building. They had blindfolded me when I got out of the van, so I wouldn’t know where I was going. It was as if I was guilty already. The man in the room looked as if he was bored, as if he’d done this many times before.

“Nothing?” asked the man sat opposite me. He was bald and like the other man who had brought me here (who had seemingly disappeared), he was extremely pale, “So you don’t know that they’re your enemies? That they’re a danger to the state and everyone in it?”

“You’re twisting my words,” I said to him with a frown.

“Am I?” he asked with a mocking smile twisting his thin lips. I didn’t say anything else until he spoke again.

“What do you remember of your father Miss Ramirez?” he said after a moments silence.

“My father?” I asked confused, “What’s he got to do with anything?”

The man shrugged, “I was merely asking what you remembered about him”

“Nothing” I said, “Except him going away”

“Not what he looks like?” asked the man.

“He had black hair,” I said, wondering on earth where this conversation was going.

“Much like yours,” said the man pointing out my black locks that crept down to my waist.

“I probably got that from him then” I said a touch dryly; something the man did not miss and caused him to smirk.

“You don’t lack courage,” he said looking me over.

“I’m not quite sure why I need it,” I said trying to get the bottom of it.

“Well you were caught fraternizing with a Killjoy,” he said looking directly at me. Even his eyes were grey.

“Fraternizing?” I asked, “Hardly! He knocked me out!”

“So you admit you were in the same room as him?” he asked

“Well of course I was, otherwise I wouldn’t be here would I?” I asked getting agitated by the man’s asking me of the simplest questions.

“Quite” he said with a nod and a smirk, “What were you doing in the same room as him?”

“I saw something untoward down the corridor and I was interested” I said

“What did you see?” he asked me as he leant forward.

“A flash of yellow clothing,” I said, “Which is a little out of the ordinary seeing as we don’t have yellow clothing”

“And you didn’t think to raise the alarm?” he asked

“I didn’t want to cause a commotion over nothing” I said. He nodded and pursed his lips slightly.

“Have you been taking your pills Miss Ramirez?” he asked suddenly.

“Yes” I said

“All of them?” he asked, “Are you sure?”

“What do you mean?” I asked him.

“Well, in the excitement of the past few days, are you sure you hadn’t forgotten any?” asked the man with a self-satisfied smile. I thought about it and tried to keep my facial expression blank as I realised that I had forgotten for the past two days.

“Did you know it’s against the law to not take your pills?” he asked

I did know this and my eyes narrowed slightly. If he couldn’t get me one way; as in for being in the same room and being with a killjoy, he was going to get me some other way. And do what?

“I did” I said with a shrug, “It’s an easy mistake to make”

He moved to speak and as he did so a loud noise erupted into the room, blasting through the speaker above the table and around the small room. I didn’t know what it sounded like other than a bone-shaking blast of music, as if it came from the middle of a song. Words pounded through a moment later proclaiming “You’re the only hope for me”.

It suddenly cut off and there was silence. The man across the table from me had blanched, if this was even possible and his eyes were wide. He glared at me as if this were my fault just before the door burst open and two dracs and the man who had arrested me burst in.

“This has something to do with her!” the man who had arrested me blurted.

“This has nothing to do with me!” I said instantly, “I have no idea what’s going on!”

The man ignored me and said to the dracs, “Take her down to secure holding”

“What?!” I shouted, “You can’t do that, I’m –

“-I’ll think you’ll find I can dearie,” said the man sharply to me as one of the dracs gripped me by the upper arm and forced me out the room. I tried to kick him hard in the shins but found this was a bad idea as he also gripped the back of my neck, steering me away down the corridor. I was pushed into a box room after going down a flight of stairs and round a couple of corners. It had no windows and only a grill vent near the ceiling.

How on earth had they come to the conclusion that this had anything do with me? I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I guess BL/ind didn’t believe that was possible and thought that everyone had a motive and a machination. What were they going to do to me? Fraternization with the killjoys meant death or exile and those were the exact words the guy had used back I the interview room. Did they have no heart? Up until a few days ago I had known no more about the killjoys than anybody else walking these streets. I still didn’t, not really. All I knew was that one of them wore a yellow shirt and had a face like thunder.

What did the words mean that had just come across the speaker? ‘You’re the only hope for me’? What on earth? What were they doing it for? Was it just a joke, a way killjoys got their entertainment, or was it something more? I thought about what mom had said when I’d told her about the first lot of words; she’d heard those words before. What did she mean by that? From who had she heard them?

I sat down on the floor in the corner and pulled my knees up to my chest musing over these thoughts. Why had the killjoys chosen now to put these messages about? Just to flex their proverbial muscles? I wasn’t going to get very far asking myself these questions because I simply didn’t even know where to begin looking for the answers; I knew nothing. Yet BL/ind seemed to think I did. They seemed to think I was connected in some way. What did they think I knew?

Well I guessed I was going to have sit tight and find out. There wasn’t much else I could do in the current circumstances. I bit my lip and hoped to the heavens that mom and Thea would be okay. They had nothing to do with this; this was all about me. Apparently.