Inside

by Kyra Anderson

  In the previous weeks, Dana had become harder and harder to predict and control. He had become obsessed with the Sandover family coming to Central. He would study the cameras in their homes, watch the security footage of Lily going to and from school, call and talk to anyone who worked with Thomas Sandover to get all information he could about his lost family. And as he became obsessed with the family, Sean found it harder to understand what it was he was about to do.

  Feeling overwhelmed by the reality of his situation, and the understanding that he could not fully control Dana, nor keep the Sandover family safe, Sean had finally hit a breaking point.

  His mind buzzing with the alcohol he had downed earlier, he sat on his bed in his room, staring at the gun in his hand.

  He knew it was the only way out.

  He hit the button that released the magazine from the handgun and looked over the bullets inside. He then released the bullet from the chamber, staring at it against the skin of his palm. He loaded the gun, cocked it, took a deep breath, and raised it to his temple.

  His door opened without a knock, which told him that it was Dana who had entered his room. Dana seem shocked by the scene he had encountered, but not concerned with Sean’s safety. With the heel of his foot, he kicked the door closed behind him and took a few steps forward.

  “What are you doing?”

  Sean stared into the golden eyes, unable to immediately respond, acutely aware of the cold barrel of the gun against his temple and the shaking of his hand.

  What does it look like?” he snarled darkly.

  “It looks like you have a gun in your hand, and it is pointed to your own head,” Dana said. “So, I ask again. What the hell are you doing?”

  “…I want to quit,” Sean choked, his voice breaking, his hand still poised to shoot. “I want to get out of here…”

  Rather than appear concerned about Sean’s safety or mental well-being, Dana barked a laugh.

  “Quit? You can’t quit. Remember? You still owe me for your sister’s hospital bills that I paid for, as well as her burial plot and her funeral service. You can’t quit.”

  Slowly, the tears coming to his eyes, Sean lowered his hand, looking like a broken man as he sat on the bed with the gun hanging limply from his hand.

  “…how much longer do I have to suffer like this in order to pay back that debt?” he whispered.

  “I’d say…ten more years,” Dana answered, arbitrarily pulling a number out of his mind.

  The declaration hit him like a kick to the gut. Sean doubled forward and let out a pained groan as if he had been struck physically. He shook his head and lifted his hands to his head, hiding his face is the tears overtook him.

  “Ten fucking years?” he sobbed. “Are you fucking serious? I can’t take this, Dana. I can’t take ten more years of this! Do you really think I can survive ten more years to pay back the debt? You’re killing me!”

  “Well, can you?”

  “…can I what?”

  “Can you survive that long?”

  Sean stared into Dana’s eyes, not sure how to respond or what it was that Dana wanted him to say. He felt as though Dana was toying with him again, trying to get him to say one particular thing before finally leaving him alone again.

  Sean knew that there was no way he could survive Dana’s mental and emotional torture for ten more years. He knew that it would not be much longer before he would have to put a gun to his head, because it would become too much to bear. He had not realize just how much Dana had already worn him down until that night—that was the first night he had ever pointed a loaded gun in his head.

  “…are you trying to see just how long it takes…before I break?” Sean whispered. “Are you actually expecting to one day walk in here and see that I’ve blow my brains out because of you? Is that what you want?”

  “Sean…” Dana said, taking another step forward. He gently took the younger man’s face in his hands, tilting it upward so that he could look him in the eye. “You think too highly of yourself. I don’t devote that much thought to you.”

  Dana smiled and pressed a kiss to Sean’s forehead.

  “I’ve decided to move tonight’s meeting with the scientists in the back to four o’clock rather than eight,” Dana said, circling away with a skip his steps as he went to the door. “I want to be sure that the meeting is wrapped up in time for me to watch the Sandover’s have dinner.”

  Dana opened the door and paused for only a brief moment to look back at Sean. “So, remember, four o’clock, conference room one.”

  With that, then the left Seann’s room.

  Sean stared at the closed door for a few long moments before letting out frustrated, angry roar and lifting the gun, firing several bullets around the room, some going into the ceiling while others buried themselves into the walls or the floor. He turn the gun on the door, and fire two more shots, frantic, feeling like a trapped animal in a cage.

  He then turned the gun to his head and pulled the trigger.

  Click.

  In his rage, Sean had forgotten that he had removed the one round from the chamber beforehand. He looked at the bed, seeing the single bullet resting on the blankets, mocking him for his belief that he had one more bullet that would end his suffering after the violent break down.

  Sean angrily threw the gun across the room, hearing it hit the wall with a thud as he crumpled to the floor and broke down crying.

  In the hallway outside, Dana had stopped, turning over his shoulder to look at the door to Sean’s room. Other security members were calling to one another, sprinting down the hallway to find the source of the gunshots, asking if anybody was hurt. But Dana remain still, barely able to hear Sean sobbing from within the room.

  With a smile, he continued walking away, knowing that Sean would be pull himself together for the meeting at four.

  Inside Information

  Clark was sitting quietly in one of the meeting rooms of the Commission basement, as he always did after school. At that point, he had created a perfect system of using school work to block out everything going on in his mind. He kept his head propped on his arm as he read his advanced biology textbook, losing himself in the new information and getting a euphoria out of starting to understand the subject matter.

  When he was at home alone, he realized how sad it was that the only happiness he seem to find during the day was when he was able to wrap his mind around a new subject in school.

  Other than that, his life was like hell.

  He dove into his textbook, devouring the information, hoping that one day, he would be able to get into a college that was far away from Central, far away from the Commission of the People, and far away from Dana Christenson.

  The door to the meeting room opened, and Clark looked up without thinking too much of it. He jumped when he saw the unveiled, unnerving golden eyes of the leader of the Commission of the People.

  Dana smiled, clearly seeing the tense muscles in Clark’s body. He closed the door slowly and stalked over, putting his hands on the other side of the table and leaning forward.

  “How’s the studying?”

  “…fine.”

  “I need you to do something for me,” Dana said. Clark stared at him for a long moment, wondering what it possibly was that Dana could ask him to do.

  “What?”

  “There’s a new girl at your school,” he said. “Lily Sandover.”

  Clark could already feel his stomach twisting into knots. He knew precisely what Dana wanted before he even said it. There was a look in the older man’s eyes that Clark understood all too well. Having been raised in the Commission, going down to the basement ever since he could remember, he had come to understand the subtleties of Dana’ every expression.

  The look in his eyes that night was the look that told Clark that there was a new family Dana want to brought into the Commission of the People.

  “Are you thinking of bringing her family into the Commission?” Clark asked, already k
nowing the answer.

  “Oh, I have no doubt that they’ll all be invited into the Commission. Her father is quite brilliant.” Dana smiled to himself. “However, as you know,” he continued, “it is the entire family that is brought into the Commission. And the young people of the Commission are the ones that will ensure its survival in the coming decades. Therefore, I need to be sure that all of them are qualified to be brought in. If his daughter is in anyway unfit, then I can’t bring in her family.”

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “Tell me what you can about her,” Dana instructed. “Ask around, hear what people have to say,” he continued, “and watch her at Archangel. In fact, take a few pictures for me.”

  Clark leaned back in his seat, looking at Danna suspiciously, unnerved by the request.

  “Take pictures of her?”

  “When people don’t know that they’re being watched, they tend to let their real selves show,” Dana said. “You should know that all too well.” He drummed his fingers along the top of the meeting room table. “I want to see what she looks like when she’s having fun on the dance floor at Archangel. I want to see what she looks like when she’s in class. I want to see how she looks when she’s talking to her friends. I want to know what she looks like when she is alone in her home, feeling the most comfortable.”

  “…you want me to stalk her?”

  “Clark,” Dana started, taking on the tone of a parent about to give a lesson to their unruly child, “I have great hopes for you. You know that your mother is indispensable to me.”

  Clark barely managed to suppress the urge to roll his eyes.

  “And I do expect that you would take her position with time. You know the ins and outs of the Commission of the People in ways that many do not.”

  “I thought you wanted me to consider medical school so that I could work in the lab,” Clark murmured.

  “Oh, I do think you should consider medical school,” Dana agreed, nodding. “However, it is not so that you can be a scientist working in the lab. Oh, no, no, no.” Dana’s smile took over his face. “No, what I want is for you to able to understand the medical jargon that gets thrown around in the lab so that you can advise me, or any other future leader of the Commission, the best course of action to take when performing our experiments.”

  “What does any of that have to do with me stalking this girl, though?” Clark asked, worried that Dana had not even denied that he would, in fact, be stalking Lily Sandover.

  “The fact is, if you’re going to be an advisor to the Commission, or perhaps even a leader of the Commission yourself,” Clark could not stop the expression of horror that invaded his face, “you need to be willing to get your hands a little dirty.”

  “But why do you want me to do it?” Clark asked. “You have a lot of people who are actually paid to spy on people for you.”

  “I want you to get to know her. I want you to be her friend when her family comes into the Commission.” Dana’s smile grew even wider, clearly reading every change of expression on Clark’s face.

  “Does that mean…” Clark trailed off, unable to strike up the nerve to ask the question he really wanted. Dana cocked an eyebrow, his head tilting slightly, waiting for Clark to speak.

  “Doesn’t mean what?” he prompted, his voice cold and dark.

  “…nothing, sir.”

  Dana was still and silent for a long moment before straightening.

  “You have Archangel tomorrow night,” he said. “I want you to take a few pictures of Lily. I want to see who she hangs out with, who she dances with, even what she drinks. This is your assignment for tomorrow.”

  As Clark was opening his mouth to protest, Dana turned on his heel and walked easily out of the meeting room. Clark stared at the closed door, horrified and nervous about creating such an extensive stock of information for their leader of the Commission of the People.

  * *** *

  Clark did not like Archangel as it was—it was too loud and crowded and he felt he needed days to recover from it. He liked it even less since he now had to spy on Lily. When he saw her sitting at the table with her friends, he hesitated, allowing Todd and Devon to approach the table while he loomed in the back, staring at the girls nervously.

  But as he drew closer, he saw Lily’s entire body perk up when she spotted him. She likely already heard that her family was being considered to join the Commission of the People and wanted to ask him about it.

  He panicked.

  “I have to go,” he whispered, trying to weave his way into the dancing students so that he could disappear.

  He heard Lily say something behind him, but he tried to ignore it, focused entirely on getting into the middle of the crowd. However, a hand on his arm caused him to jump and whirl around, coming face-to-face with Lily.

  “Lily,” he said lamely.

  “Clark, hi,” she said quietly. “I know that we don’t really know each other, but I need to ask you something.”

  “I’m sorry, Lily, but I really have to go,” he said, trying turning away once more, finding it harder to face her knowing that Dana wanted him to stalk her.

  “No, wait!” Her hand grabbed his elbow, halting his retreat. “Clark, I really want to talk to you.”

  “About what?” he asked, trying to avoid her gaze.

  “My family…and the Commission.”

  “I can’t tell you anything about that,” he said quickly, his heart picking up pace as he thought about Dana asking him to stalk her. “I can’t reveal anything that happens in the Commission meetings. Those are the rules.”

  “I know,” Lily said, appearing confused. “But…Clark, are you always this nervous?”

  “What?” he gasped, his eyes going wide. He was acting suspiciously and he was worried that Lily would immediately realize what he was up to.

  “You look terrified,” she noted, looking him over as his breathing became panicked. “Why are you so nervous all the time? Is it because of the Commission?”

  Clark’s eyes moved upward, looking everywhere but at Lily. However, that meant that his eyes fell on the balcony, where he saw Melissa looking at him with a pointed look, surrounded by her friends as they surveyed the club from above. He could tell that she was monitoring him, and he took a deep breath, straightening and staring back at her, telling her silently that he knew what he was doing and she had no right to look down on him in such a manner.

  Melissa slowly backed away from the railing.

  Clark knew she wanted to talk to him. He would have to go up to the balcony. For the first time, he was not anxious about doing so—at least he could avoid Lily and the task that had been assigned to him for a little while.

  Once Melissa had turned away, though, Clark was confronted with being alone with Lily once more and his panic returned. He saw the way Lily was looking between the balcony and him, worried and nervous.

  “You should not be talking to me,” he warned, hoping that that would force her back to her friends.

  “What the hell?” she gasped. “What was all that?” She motioned between the balcony and him.

  “You wouldn’t understand.”

  “I might soon.”

  Clark sighed, turning his eyes to the ground and adjusting his glasses, horrified to find his hand was shaking. With the way the school talked, he was not surprised that she had heard rumors of her family becoming part of the Commission of the People, but he had not been prepared for Lily to approach him and ask questions about it.

  “I know.” He heard the pain in his voice, though he hoped Lily did not. “I’m sorry, Lily. I understand that you have no influence over this situation…” He wanted to tell her everything, tell her to run away while she could, tell her that she was about to become prey to a very dangerous man…

  “Wait, Clark. Please, can you just tell me if it’s true that the Commission has been talking about letting my family in?” she pressed. Clark debated with himself about answering her, not wanting to adm
it the truth aloud.

  “Mr. Christenson has taken a great interest in your family,” he admitted. “And I mean a great interest…”

  “Does that mean…”

  “I don’t know,” he said, refusing to lift his gaze and look at Lily. His was voice quiet, so he hoped Lily would not hear him over the thrumming music. “But, generally, if you have Mr. Christenson interested…you’re in.”

  He saw her close her eyes and sway a little on her feet, her face going pale. Not sure what possessed him, he spoke again.

  “Lily,” he said slowly, immediately looking away from her gaze when she met his eyes, “for your sake, I hope that Mr. Christenson’s interest is only in the work your father does.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Clark felt his nervousness grow, not sure if he should have told her the information. He was trying to find some way to warn her, particularly since Dana had already asked Clark to spy on Lily, telling him everything he needed to know about where the interests of the leader of the Commission were focused.

  “I wish I could tell you,” he said. “But if Mr. Christenson’s current fascination is anything to judge by…you and I are in the same boat.”

  He had said too much. He used her stunned silence to disappear into the crowd before she could ask more questions.

  However, rather than go up and talk to Melissa he lingered on the dance floor, being sure to keep a close eye on Lily so that he could flee from her again if she tried to pursue him. He felt his heart racing, his throat tightening and apprehension, feeling his skin crawl as he moved through the dancing students, always keeping an eye on Lily.

  He reached into his back pocket and extracted his phone, remembering the dark expression on Dana’s face as he asked Clark to take pictures of the new girl.

  The phone felt heavy in his hands and his palms began sweating. Everything about what he was doing disgusted him. He tapped his phone against the palm of his other hand in time with the beat of the music, trying to decide if he was going to go through with it or not.