Grandfather

by Anthony Wade

We ran to the gate quickly, keeping an eye out for onlookers. It was completely quiet out. Thankfully, there was nobody around . . . except for a driver standing outside of a long black car. When he saw us, the door opened.

  I’m sure Marley and Ashton had thought about whether or not to trust the guy, but there was no time to discuss that. We risked it, jumping inside, not saying a word to the man. He slammed the door and sprinted around to the driver seat. Before his door slammed shut, he floored it, pushing my body against the back seat.

  Before we had a chance to try and get comfortable, a voice came out of the ceiling. My first thought was it was Cornelius and the entire escape was a prank planned by him and Mr. Harrison. But seconds later, I knew it was the driver.

  “Are you guys okay?” he asked.

  “Uh . . . yeah,” I said, my heart still racing.

  “Which way do I go?” he asked.

  We glanced at each other, not sure if we should answer.

  “Hurry,” he said. “Before they realize you’re missing.”

  “He can get us close,” Marley whispered. Then, she looked ahead. “Toward Columbia. We’ll tell you when to stop.”

  The man took a sharp turn, shoving me into Marley. She yelped as my elbow jammed into her side. I went to apologize, but Ashton was already speaking to the driver.

  “Stop by the nearest news station first.”

  Marley and I looked at him as if he was speaking an entirely different language. The driver didn’t answer straight away, so he must’ve been just as stumped.

  “I need to hurry and get you far away from here,” the driver said.

  “Take me to the nearest one,” Ashton demanded. “It’s important and will only take a few seconds.”

  The driver sighed. “Which one?”

  “The biggest one,” Ashton answered immediately.

  Another sharp turn sent Marley slamming into me, and this time, her elbow shoved into my side. Man, it hurt, but I didn’t say anything. I was too confused by Ashton’s actions.

  “What are you doing?” I whispered.

  “We need to get away,” Marley said in the most serious tone I had heard from her.

  Ashton shook his head. “I’ll tell you later.” He nodded his head toward the driver.

  Right, we didn’t know if we could trust the driver yet, even though he seemed pretty trustworthy. This entire escape didn’t seem like a prank, but we couldn’t take chances. Whatever Ashton was up to, he thought it best nobody else knew.

  I kept glancing back, afraid to see Cornelius’s white vehicle chasing us down. Once we reached the center, surrounded by vehicles, honking horns, and pedestrians, I forced myself to quit looking back.

  Soon, the vehicle pulled to the side, coming to a stop in front of a skyscraper. Just above the door was a sign reading News 10.

  Ashton didn’t move. He kept a hand in his pocket, searching the surroundings.

  “What are we doing?” I asked.

  “I can’t get out,” he said. “Cameras or something may see me.”

  That was true, but I wasn’t worried about that part. He took out a tiny black box and a neatly folded piece of paper, which I was worried about. It was killing me, being left in the dark, and Marley cringing in her seat told me she was just as eager.

  “I need to get you out of here,” the driver said again.

  Ashton ignored him, ready to jump out of the door. He pulled the handle, but the door didn’t budge.

  “I can’t let you out,” the driver said.

  Ashton’s face was getting red.

  “I need to get something inside of there,” he said through gritted teeth.

  The driver began complaining again but stopped when Ashton gasped. Just outside the door was a woman dressed in all orange, including her hair. She had a headpiece around her head, waving somebody in the distance to her. Seconds later, a man carrying a camera ran to her.

  That’s when I remembered that I actually knew who the woman was.

  Well, I didn’t know her know her. But I saw her several times on TV, reporting the news.

  Ashton crumbled up the piece of paper, and not giving us any warning, put the window down slightly.

  He took the black device and tossed it, hitting the news reporter in the chest. As she yelped, Ashton tossed the small wad of paper just as our driver floored it again. Ashton put the window up immediately, glancing at us with a sparkling smile on his face.

  I was ready to kill him, and Marley had already begun, punching him several times in the shoulder.

  “Ow!” he yelled, holding his hands out to protect himself.

  “They could’ve seen us!” she yelled.

  “It was worth it,” Ashton said. “Trust me.”

  I expected the driver to complain or at least ask questions, but he didn’t say a word. He did, however, drive faster.

  We left the city, soon going through the wall. Just as we were about to pass the road that led to the orphanage, I yelled at the driver to stop. At first he didn’t, but when I said it was our destination, he slammed on the breaks, sending the vehicle in fish tails. I thought for sure he was going to lose control of the vehicle, but thankfully, it came to a stop in the middle of the road.

  “This is it?” the driver asked.

  “Yeah,” I said, opening the door.

  He had already unlocked them, and we piled out quickly. We stood on the side of the road as the driver turned the vehicle around. Just before heading back to the city, he rowed his window down. “Are you sure you want to be dropped off here?”

  We assured him we were fine and waited until he was out of site before making the long journey back to the forest. I was actually excited to get back. I didn’t feel the same about having to listen to Edgar yell at me, but you know what, I would be safe again, and that’s all I wanted at that moment.

  “What was that about?” Marley shouted, slapping Ashton on the shoulder. “Don’t keep secrets!”

  Ashton couldn’t help but laugh. “I found it on the first night we got our fancy rooms. I didn’t know if Cornelius was listening so I kept it a secret.”

  “Kept what a secret?” I asked.

  “Grandfather is going down,” he said. “You have no idea.”

  “What did you do?” Marley shouted impatiently.

  Ashton flinched, expecting her to hit him again.

  “I snuck out and found my way to Cornelius’s office late the first night. And I found proof.”

  I had no idea what Ashton was talking about. I was even more puzzled how he even made it to Cornelius’s office. “What kind?” I asked.

  “Well,” he started. “A recording talking about setting off an explosion in the city.”

  “What!?” Marley and I shouted together. “Cornelius’s voice?”

  “No,” he said. “The men talking don’t give Cornelius’s name, but they do mention Grandfather.”

  “Which gives people proof they’re back!” Marley shouted even louder, throwing her hands up in the air. “This is great!”

  Yeah, it was great. But it was also bad. “So there’s going to be an explosion?” I asked. “That’s not good. That just means people will die.”

  Our excitement left quickly.

  “Did they say when?” she asked.

  Ashton shook his head. “No. But hopefully they can be stopped before it comes to that.”

  I nodded. “And what about the piece of paper you had?”

  Ashton looked as if he had forgotten about that. “It mentions Vice President McCall as a member of Grandfather,” he said. “Just a note to the Grand Imperial from him, saying that the plans for the explosion are almost complete, and that Grandfather will have complete control soon.”

  Things had taken a turn. I just wasn’t sure if they were for the best or worse. Yeah, it was great that we had proof of Grandfather and could expose them. But there was a planned explosion. What kind of explosion? Where at? I thought about wha
t the press would do when they listened to the recording. They had probably already listened to it and read the note. If they made a big deal out of me, they would surely make a huge deal over this. People would begin to distrust the government. Finally, I grinned. “You did it,” I told Ashton. “Mr. Harrison is right. Something big is about to happen.”

  “And it’ll be starting any minute now,” Ashton added in a tone of excitement. “They’re going down!”

  We reached the edge of the forest and continued walking. I was afraid that somebody in one of the passing vehicles would’ve recognized me and stopped. But they didn’t, thankfully. We passed the time talking about what we thought would happen when the press revealed the recording. We all agreed that if a few people were starting to reconsider the wall because of what I said, people would really start to reconsider Grandfather’s return. I wondered how Cornelius would get his way out. That was the only problem. I had no doubt that Cornelius would do everything in his power to get out of the situation. If he succeeded, a lot of people would continue to follow him. I guess that didn’t matter because all we needed was a large number to distrust and go against him. It would be hard for Grandfather to succeed with the rich fighting the rich. A civil war within the wall? Now that could change things. I just couldn’t wait to tell Belladonna, Edgar, Robert, and Mae. I couldn’t wait for everybody to figure out what Ashton did. Perhaps that would be enough to cancel out their anger with us.

  I hoped.

  I was actually surprised when we reached the tree with the arrow engraved on it. The walk had gone by so quickly. “This is it,” I told them. It was now completely dark I didn’t see any headlights in either direction, so we entered the forest and walked slowly.

  “I hate it that I lost the dress Momma got me,” Marley said. “I don’t like this one. Cornelius had me wear it.”

  I didn’t blame her. Everything that we had experienced the last couple of days was nothing but stylish. But unfortunately, it was given to us by Cornelius. That took everything good about it away.

  Soon, we approached the trap door and climbed down the ladder. Dark and muggy, just as I remembered. And just our luck, we didn’t have a flashlight. We stayed side-by-side, walking slowly down the passageway. Ashton and I stayed to the left and the right of Marley, feeling for the walls . . . knowing they would guide us to the meeting room.

  It was rather difficult and took more time to reach the door where Belladonna normally was. Light shined from the cracks of the door. Marley lifted a fist up and hesitated before knocking twice.

  No answer.

  Ashton knocked twice, and when there was still no answer I wiggled the door knob.

  Locked.

  I placed my ear against the door to hear nothing.

  “Maybe they’re in the dining hall,” Marley said.

  We lined up as before and walked further down the hall until we reached the familiar hall lit up by torches on the wall. I saw nobody. I glanced at the door to my room. It felt like it had been months since I had seen the place. I was actually glad to see it. I’d be able to sleep comfortably, unafraid of what would happen to me, Ashton, and Marley the next day.

  I could hear a faint noise as we approached the dining hall. The three of us listened but were unable to make out anything. Once we reached the doors, I could tell that it was the radio.

  “Here we go,” Ashton said, taking a deep breath.

  “Momma is gonna be mad,” Marley said, being the first one to walk in.

  Everybody was sitting at the tables, whispering amongst themselves. Belladonna, Edgar, and Mae were gathered around the radio, discussing something. I looked around for Robert. He wasn’t there. I definitely wasn’t going to be the one to interrupt. Ashton and Marley didn’t say anything, so I’m guessing they felt the same, so we listened to the man on the radio speaking.

  “It’s proof,” he was saying. “And now we’re all left here, not knowing who to trust and who is involved.”

  Ashton was the happiest I had ever seen him. And Marley was back to herself, showing off the dimples. The press had listened to the recording and was already reporting Grandfather’s return. Everybody had gathered in the dining hall to hear it.

  We stayed put at the doorway, listening to the radio. The beautiful Belladonna was locked onto it. Mae grinned at the news, but it was weak. I could see the bags under her eyes. I knew she had probably spent most of her time worrying about Marley.

  Edgar glanced away from the radio, and he examined the crowd, smiling at their excitement.

  “It does appear as if Grandfather has returned,” a woman was saying over the radio. She didn’t sound happy at all.

  Edgar eventually saw us. His eyes grew wide and started chuckling. He stood up, gently pushing on Mae’s shoulder. She looked at Edgar, who pointed a finger in our direction. Mae’s face lit up when she saw us. Her weak smile immediately turned strong.

  “Marley!” she screamed, running in our direction. Belladonna quickly turned around, spotting us. Immediately, her happy facial expression turned dark and cold. She was not happy. Marley ran to meet Mae half way, and they embraced each other.

  Whispers turned into shouts.

  “He’s back!” a man screamed.

  “What are they wearing?” I heard a woman whisper. Yeah, we looked just like one of the rich people.

  Belladonna and Edgar rushed in our direction. We met them next to Marley and Mae.

  “What were you thinking?” Belladonna asked in a harsh tone far from her normal soft voice. “We’ve been worrying. You put yourself in so much danger.”

  “I’m sorry,” was all I could say.

  “Yeah, we’re sorry,” Ashton added.

  “We’re fine,” Marley said, Mae’s arms still wrapped around her. “We’re back now.”

  “Should have known,” Edgar said, shaking his head. “Should have known you’d do something stupid. Actually think I did know. Just didn’t believe it.”

  “Stupid?” Ashton said. “It may have been stupid, but look what we started.” He pointed at the radio. Belladonna and Edgar looked at it and back at us.

  “It was you?” Edgar asked.

  “Ashton did it,” Marley said. “It was amazing!”

  “But you could’ve gotten yourselves killed!” Belladonna yelled, her eyes hardened, her lips tight, her body trembling.

  Wow, I was actually surprised. She looked like a completely different person. I had been expecting Edgar to be the angry one But no, he was more happy that we were alive than anything. Out of all people, Belladonna. Wow.

  “Belladonna,” Edgar said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “They were safe.”

  “Only because Cornelius had to keep them safe,” Belladonna said. “Imagine if Cornelius got the safe opened. I can’t even imagine. The entire plan would be ruined.”

  “But it didn’t happen,” Edgar snapped. “Hell yeah it was stupid. They’re back now. Safe is still locked. Time to put it behind us. We don’t even have a plan yet.”

  Belladonna still didn’t seem too happy, but she didn’t say much more.

  “You guys know about the interview I had to do?” I asked, assuming they did since they knew that Cornelius had no choice but to keep us safe.

  “Yeah,” Edgar said. “We’ve been listening to everything.”

  “You guys are celebrities now from the sounds of it,” Mae said.

  Belladonna seemed to let some of her anger go after taking a few deep breaths. “What you did was dangerous,” she said. “It was absolutely ridiculous of you.”

  “And it had better not happen again,” Mae said. “I’ve been up every night worrying.”

  “Yes,” Belladonna said. “But with that said, I do have to agree that things are changing for the best because of your visit to the city. And now, Grandfather has been officially exposed.”

  “People are questioning the walls,” I told them. “I saw it on the TV.”

  They loo
ked a bit confused, so I figured they hadn’t heard anything about that, which made sense since they didn’t have a TV. I told them about the man on TV wondering about the outside and the man and the woman being arrested at the fundraiser for asking me questions about the wall and the outside.

  I was sure to speak loud enough for everybody in the dining hall to hear. Everybody’s mood lifted, including Belladonna’s. A sly grin appeared on her face.

  “Perfect,” she said. “The rich turning against one another.”

  “Like a civil war,” Edgar whispered.

  “And a civil war would make it harder for Grandfather to rise up,” Belladonna said.

  It was exactly what I had been thinking.

  She looked at Edgar, her facial expression becoming very serious. “This is our time,” she said. “It’s time to act while they’re weak.”

  Edgar nodded. “Got a hell of a lot of planning to do.” They sure were right. Something needed to happen soon, before Cornelius had a chance to switch things up in his favor. We all took a seat so that we could catch our breath. Belladonna and Edgar stayed standing, discussing what an advantage they had.

  Glancing around the hall, I still didn’t see Robert. “Is Robert not here?” I asked them.

  Edgar shook his head. “No,” he said. “We’ll talk about it later. Got to get going.” With that said, Belladonna and Edgar left to discuss their plans while we stayed to listen to the radio.

  The press was saying exactly what we wanted them to say. The news team talked about how an unknown source “handed” them the recording and letter. I laughed when they didn’t mention it being chucked at the woman.

  All that matters was that people were questioning Cornelius’s trust and the previous president’s death. But nobody was sure if Cornelius was involved. One woman stated that she believed Cornelius was involved since the vice president was. “How could Cornelius not know what his own vice president was up to,” was her argument.

  “The kids are missing now, too,” a man added, turning the focus to the fundraiser. “President Cornelius has been notified as to what’s going on. He’s refusing to talk to anybody until tomorrow evening while he ‘figures out what’s going on,’ as he put it.”

  “And he has no idea where the kids are?” a woman asked. “Kidnapped again?”

  “They could be with Grandfather for all we know!” another woman screamed.

  “Which could mean they’re with Cornelius.”

  “It’s working,” Marley whispered into my ear.

  I patted Ashton on the shoulder. I knew he wanted to take Grandfather down more than anybody. He may have just started the revolution. We listened to several other stations. The different broadcasts were all saying the same thing. None of them knew what to do other than wait until Cornelius spoke to everyone.

  We also heard the bad side of everything. The explosion was mentioned, and everybody was scared. “People are already rushing to their homes, afraid to leave,” the reporter said. “We’re hoping we can shed more light on things, and perhaps whatever this explosion is can be stopped.”

  But eventually, the excitement caught up with me. I was exhausted. I hadn’t been able to sleep in peace for days. I departed the dining hall for my bedroom door. Edgar rounded the corner just as I was about to enter my room. He stopped me. “Busy few days you just had,” he said.

  I agreed, hoping he wouldn’t keep me much longer.

  “I had a feeling you might go,” Edgar said. “After the announcement of your parents.”

  The excitement of getting away from the city and the news over the radio had distracted me from the whole reason I went into the city: to find out about my parents. “I still don’t know,” I told him.

  He looked disappointed. “Carsyn,” he started slowly, placing a hand on my shoulder. “I hate this for ya. I really do.”

  “I was just hoping he actually knew something about them. I knew it would be dangerous, but I thought it would be worth it.”

  Edgar was silent for a few seconds. I reached at the necklace around my neck. I had nearly forgotten about it. I took it off and showed it to Edgar. He had, of course, heard about it through the radio. He took and examined it.

  “We’re gonna find out sometime,” Edgar said, smiling. “I’ll help you do it, too.”

  Edgar continued to surprise me with his sincerity. I only expected that out of Belladonna. I looked at the space where his tooth used to be. He still looked a bit creepy, but I was starting to see him as normal. That was a huge step for me.

  “Thanks,” I told him, actually meaning it. If I was going to figure out about my parents, I was going to need all of the help I could get.

  Edgar left me alone to go in search of Belladonna. My room was old and plain, just as I remembered. It was just so different than the room I had been staying in. Here, there was no television, no marvelous view, no nothing. Well, the room did have something.

  Safety.

  I got out of my suit, wondering how angry Cornelius was. I imagined his nostrils flaring and his eye twitching worse than ever. That thought satisfied me.

  I held the necklace in front of my face, watching the light sparkle off it. Would I ever get my questions answered?

  Chapter Fourteen