The End - Cassidy Shay (essential reading .TXT) 📗

listen as he continues. “Aron and Belle both have this chemical. The amount that Aron carries is very small, almost insignificant. But we think that he might be able to see Memories sometimes.”
He folds his hands together. “Belle, though… Belle was interesting. We found the largest amount of this chemical in her blood than in any other Azulate’s in history.”
What?

“We’re not sure why this is so inconsistent. They both had two Azulate parents, so… What?” Without meaning to, I start shaking my head. “What’s going on?”
“Mathew isn’t Belle’s dad,” I say. “Her dad isn’t an Azulate. He’s a regular person.” The Warden frowns.
“I don’t understand what you’re saying. How could Mathew not be the father?” A creast runs down the middle of his forehead.
“Collin is her dad.”
He stares at me for a minute, still not understanding. “I don’t know who that is.” He wasn’t here nine years ago, so he has no reason to know who Collin was.
I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter. Ignore it.” But I know he won’t. “I just want to talk about Belle.”
I get a little scared. I feel like this visit has already backfired, and is going to backfire even more. He closes eyes for a second. “What do you want? And I’ll tell you what we talked about at the meeting.”
“I want a bedroom built for her. She only has a curtain. She has no privacy.”
“You don’t realize how spoiled she is, and how spoiled you are. She should be in a cell with another Azulate. Not in an apartment with her parents.”
I shake my head. He’s not really telling me this. Is he?

“We talked about it at our meeting a few days ago. We agreed to move them…” He looks at the paper, finds what he’s looking for, “next week.” His eyes meet mine over the top of the paper.
“No. She’s my daughter. I won’t let you take her away from me.”
He places his elbows on the desk, leans forward, and rubs his temples. His eyes are closed when he speaks. “Meagan. I don’t think you understand the situation. Do you have any idea how many thousands of parents have had to give up their children?”
I stand up and slam my hands down on the desk. “Most of those parents haven’t been through all that I’ve been through. Most parents haven’t been tortured for years. Most parents grew up in a home, not in this place. Most parents haven’t had everyone they love ripped from their lives. I need my daughter. I need her to help me get through the day. She’s all I have left.”
He shakes his head. “There’s nothing I can do. She and Aron must go to their own floor where they aren’t with their parents. That’s just how it is.”
“Do they have to go right away?” I know that if Belle is moved, I won’t be allowed to see her anymore.
He shakes his head. “No, not really. I can’t have them on a different floor and still have our team of scientists continue to observe them. I have to give them a chance to finish their stuff.” He pauses for a few minutes. “But once they are down there, they will be required to draw a Memory each day.”
He frowns. “Except for Aron. We’re not sure that he really does have the Memories. So unless he gives us a Memory before we stop with the observations, I don’t know what we’ll do with him.”
He goes on to list the options while I sit in silence. “We can keep him here, and treat him as an Azulate. Or we can send him out of the Academy. The only problem then would be finding someone to take care of him.” He clears his throat. “The third option that was proposed is that we treat him a Special.”
When they built the new Academy to make room for all the new Azuli, they added an entire floor for Specials . They perform the same kind of experiments on them, treat them just as badly as they always have.
I shake my head. “No. You can’t do that. You can’t punish these kids for being born a certain way. You already do it to hundreds of people every day. But I won’t let you do it to these kids.”
He nods. “I understand. I figured that you would react like this. But I must do something with them. What do you propose?”
I don’t give myself too much time to think. “You need to wait until I get pregnant.” He starts to nod, but I shake my head. “No. Wait until I give birth to a healthy baby.”
He nods and takes notes on a piece of paper. “Alright. I’ll have a meeting with the team about this. But I make no guarantees.” I stand up and turn around to leave. “Oh, and I’ll have you come by again later to talk about this Collin fellow.”
“What?” Collin? How does he know about Collin?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Did I say something about Collin?

He rolls his eyes. “You told me that Mathew is not Belle’s real father, that Collin is. You don’t remember this?” I shake my head. He shrugs. “Well, I want to hear this story. And why, in nine years, you never told us about this.”
I don’t say anything. I just step out and close the door. As soon as I hear the click, I lean against the wall. I sink down to the floor as the tears fall down my face.
I just lost two of my children. I don’t really have a husband anymore. They’ve taken away my brother, my parents, and the man I love. And now they want to take away my only living child?
And he knows about Collin now. If I don’t tell him the story, all he has to do is ask someone who’s been here a long time, or look at the old files. He’ll find out.
And then what will they do to Belle? What will happen to her once they know the truth about her father?

Imprint

Text: Cassie Hoene
Publication Date: 11-03-2012

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