Caroline's Keeper

The second she and Bastien set foot in the dining hall, Caroline began to scope out the area for Simon. It was a challenging search, but she eventually triumphed, first spotting Kim's blonde hair and Ray's cold, dark face, then Simon, who was staring straight forward with an expression so intense it gave Caroline the chills. In all the time she had known him, she had never seen him look so... so...

"Caroline?" Bastien put a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up at him. The look in her eyes was unmistakably one of fear. "You're going to be fine," he whispered. "I swear." He squeezed her shoulder gently, then dropped his arm and turned away.

Caroline watched him for a few seconds before going to take her place at the table before someone else did.

Seeing Caroline approach, Simon immediately scooted over to make as much room for her as possible. She squeezed in between him and a girl with dark curly locks. The girl moved farther away as Caroline sat down, and the width of her slender frame was just enough to bump Kim, who had been sitting at the end of the table, onto the floor.

"Sorry," Caroline said, standing to help Kim up. Kim disregarded her and went to sit next to Ray and Liam on the other side of the table.

For at least three minutes, all was silent. Caroline wanted to say something to Simon, but it was as though something was caught in her throat. It bothered her that Simon hadn't at least tried to break the silence. It bothered her that no one had tried.

As if reading her thoughts, the girl next to Caroline turned toward her and said, "I don't think I've seen you before. I'm Shelley."

"Caroline," she replied.

"That's odd." Shelley frowned. "I don't think I've met any new people since my first week here."

"Caroline just joined us yesterday," Liam explained.

"Apparently, I've been unconscious for three months," I extrapolated.

"Three months?" Simon repeated. Finally, Caroline thought, he speaks. "Goodness. What kept you out so long?"

"That toxic gas they exhale," she answered. "Eivon overdid it. He said he almost killed me."

At such a short distance from him, Caroline noticed Simon's heartbeat quicken. Without thinking, she grabbed hold of his hand underneath the table. At first, he seemed to relax, but suddenly Caroline pulled her hand away, as Simon simultaneously dropped his. Blushing, she put her hands into her pockets where they could create no awkward situations.

Caroline's eyes widened as her fingers tightened around the syringe in her pocket. She opened her mouth to announce what she had, but the food arrived at their table. Caroline looked down at the stomach-turning off-white goop in her bowl. It took Caroline longer than everyone else to recognize the stuff as oatmeal. She hesitated a bit with the first taste, but soon she was hurriedly shoveling spoonfuls into her mouth.

"Caroline," Simon began to say as Caroline swallowed the last of her breakfast.

"Simon, look what I have," she interrupted, taking the syringe out of her pocket.

His jaw dropped, and he forgot was he was going to say.

"Where did you get that?" Kim asked.

Caroline shrugged, not wanting to tell the story. "Let's just say some people are really careless. I want to know what it's for."

Everyone fell silent. None of them had any idea what purpose the syringes served.

"I think it might be steroids," Liam suggested. "In case we revolt, since there are more of us, they need to be stronger."

"They don't look any stronger," Shelley said.

"They also don't look like aliens," Liam reasoned.

"Okay, so," Ray began, in his deep voice, "what you're saying is that the stuff in that needle makes you stronger?"

"It would appear so," Liam confirmed.

All of a sudden, Ray snatched the syringe from Caroline's hand. The group watched in horror as Ray drained the entire thing into his arm.

"Are you insane?" Kim exploded. "You don't know how strong that steroid is!"

"The stronger the better," Ray shrugged, dropping the empty needle onto the table.

"We don't know if it even is a steroid," Liam said. "It could be absolutely anything, and now it's in your bloodstream."

Ray tried to appear indifferent, but Caroline could detect a small degree of worry in his eyes.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it now," Liam sighed. "We'll give the drug a while to take effect, and meet again at lunch to see what's happened."

Everyone stood up and began to walk away. Simon stopped Caroline when the others were gone, and said to her, "Would you come to my room with me? I'd like to talk to you."

"Now?" she asked.

"Please," he responded.

Caroline answered, "All right," and they headed out into the tunnels together.