Cain

 

“Any word on where the girl is?” I hear Elder Steven ask Elder William. I hide behind the wall, hoping they don’t come in this direction and see me. “The boy knows nothing, he would’ve said if he did.”

“I’m leaving again tonight to see if I can find something.”

“God damn it, William. We have to find her before she fucking ruins everything.”

“Keep your voice down,” Elder William replies. Although I can’t see him, I can tell by the tone in his voice, he’s angry.

“If she ruins everything, nothing will keep us out of prison.”

“Don’t you think I know this? I’ve been scouring pages on the net to see if she’s been found. Nothing, not a goddamned word. I’ve got a meeting with one of our sponsors. He has some friends high up in law enforcement. He’s going to call in a favor.”

“I’m not going to prison because of a little slut who figured out a way to get out of here. If anyone else…”

“Only the adults know, and they’ve all agreed to silence. It’s part of the contract.”

“The others might start asking questions.”

“We just keep on doing what we’ve been doing. Luna is sick, and contagious and she can’t see anyone. Keep to the story.”

Luna isn’t sick? They’re talking about Luna? She’s outside? Outside of the wall? What if she’s sick, or hurt? What if something’s happened to her? I have to figure out how I can find and save her. This isn’t right. I can’t let her be on her own out there. It’s scary, and dangerous. What if she’s infected? What if the devil has dragged her through the gates of hell, and she can’t find her way out?

My heart is beating hard inside my chest. I’m worried for her. I need to get to her. I know that by listening, I’m doing something wrong. But I have to know what they know about Luna. I try to silence the loud voice of fear in my head, and keep listening to Elder William and Elder Steven.

“I’m worried,” Elder Steven says. I let out a breath, and want to show myself to tell him I’m worried too. “I’m worried what she’ll say about us, William. The things she knows, the things we do to them. What I’ve done to her.” He stops talking, but I can tell he wants to say more.

“If it comes to it, then we’ll…”

“I don’t want that to happen.”

They’ll what? What was Elder William going to say?

“Neither do I, but it may have to be our only option. We’ll wait and see what the girl does and who she speaks with. Who knows, with any luck, she’s dead.”

I clasp my hand to my mouth, shocked they’d want Luna dead.

“And I didn’t get my chance with her,” Elder Steven says angrily. “We’ve got to be careful of the boy. He’s been asking questions, and we might need to take care of him. Little turd that he is.”

He’s talking about me, because I’ve been asking to see Luna, and they keep telling me she’s not well enough yet. Now I know they’re lying to me.

“Why do you hate him so much? He’s obviously not a threat to you.”

“Because she loves him, and anyone can see he loves her too. Love is dangerous, it can make people do stupid things,” Elder Steven replies. Elder William chuckles. “I’m always thinking with my cock, that’s why I’m in here.”

I look down and shake my head. I know they’re talking about me and Luna. But what does Elder Steven mean when he says he’s thinking with his cock?

“For now, keep an eye on the boy, while I do some digging around to try and find her. Like I said, one of the sponsors has connections and hopefully, he’ll find some information for us. We just need to get to her, and get rid of her. That little bitch is going to destroy everything I’ve created, and like hell I’m going to let some uneducated, rebellious fucking slut ruin what I’ve put years into.”

“You go down, we all go down. Every single one of us who knows what this place is,” Elder Steven replies in a slow, drawn out way. “Not to mention the sponsors. They’ll be destroyed. And there’s no way they’ll allow that to happen.”

“You worry too much, Steve. I’ll find the girl, and get her taken care of. You concentrate on the boy, and keep an eye on him. If he asks too many questions, we’ll get rid of him, too.”

What does he mean by “get rid of him too”?

My gut churns with worry for Luna. They’re going to hurt her. I know this. But, how do they not know where she is? How did she get out?

“As far as the sponsors are concerned, they’ve got blood on their hands too. They won’t want to have their names splashed across any news network. You know exactly what I mean, considering you were a sponsor once yourself,” Elder William says.

“This is a clusterfuck. It’s not what I pay for. Pussy is what I pay for. Copious amount of young pussy, not this shit. Fix it, William, because I’m not going down for this.” Then I hear footsteps and I run, run as fast and as quietly as I can because I don’t want them to know I was listening.

I head to the bathroom, close the door, and sink down behind it. So much is going through my mind. They were saying words I didn’t understand.

They’ve been telling me how Luna is too sick to see me, but as it turns out, they’ve been lying. If they’ve lied about Luna, what else have they lied to us about? Does death really live beyond the wall? Is there sickness out there?

The thing I know for sure is Luna isn’t where they say she is. They have no idea where she is. She must be so afraid, and confused. I need to find her and protect her. But Luna is smart. Real smart, smarter than me even. If anyone can find a way to survive out there, it’ll be her. But it hurts me to know she’s alone without me close to protect her. I have to find her, and soon…before the Elders do.