3 - A New Home

Hi All,

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Have a Great Day,
Jesse

Continued from 2 - Why you're here.

He was sharply dressed, changed from his jeans and jacket that he had worn before, in a pinstriped blue suit, yellow silk tie, and gleaming shoes.

“Ellen Runner, how nice to see you again,” he said with a predatory glint in his eyes. The smile on his face did nothing to lighten his dark eyes. It made him seem cold and calculating instead.

Ellie looked at him and smiled politely. “Hello Gavin. I wish I could say that it’s nice to see you again, but it truly is not.” She spat at his feet. “Go to hell.”

“Already been there sweetheart,” Gavin said smiling.

“What made you come back to the land of the living?” Ellie sneered.

Gavin knelt down “You my dear.”

That stunned Ellie. “Me?”

He nodded, his eyes glinting. “We need your talents. We need you to track.”

“Get someone else,” Ellie said. “I’m free.”

Gavin cocked an eyebrow. “You think so?” He lean forward, his hawklike features menacing. “Do you honestly think that the little stunt Warren pulled, freeing you, before we finally tracked him down, actually worked?” His eyes narrowed. “You’re not free now, and you never were.” He pointed a boney finger at her. “You can never be free.”

Ellie’s stomach plummeted. None of it was true, she was sure. He just wanted to get a rise out of her. But from the corner of her eye she saw Aaron hang his head. Then he looked up and nodded grimly at her. She had been told that once someone like her had been sold, and their talents had been honed, that they could never be free again. They were dangerous, trained, a weapon.
Gavin stood. Leaving Ellie reeling. He walked toward her fishing something out of his pocket. He opened a small box and withdrew a delicate gold necklace. He came up behind her, leaned down, and whispered in her ear, “You belong to me.”

Ellie chocked back a sob as he swiped her braid to the side and fastened the piece that marked her as property around her neck.

Gavin walked around to face Ellie. “Just so you know, you’ll never be able to run again. We put a tracker in you. Ironic that we have to track our own Tracker.” With that Gavin turned heel, opened the metal door, and walked out, heels clicking on the floor at a much steadier rhythm than Ellie’s heart.

She fought back tears as she stared blankly at the wall, tracing the lines of cinderblocks with her eyes, when a voice crackled over the comm. “Release her. Take her to her cell.”

Ellie looked at Aaron who was approaching her. “Touch me you die,” she said, tears threatening to come as she thought of her books, her old home, the time she spent just being. It was all gone now.

“Fair enough,” Aaron said.

He did his best untying Ellie’s wrists, then opened the door and walked her down the sterile hallway. Banks of halogen lights flickered on in front of them and off behind them as they walked down the hall. Aaron’s shoes clicked on the tile floor as Ellie’s bare feet padded softly against the cold ground.

They arrived at an inconspicuous door, similar to others they had passed.

“This is your room,” Aaron said as he pulled the door open and held it open for her.

Ellie froze on the threshold. The sight that greeted her eyes was not what she had expected.
Rather than bare cell she was anticipating, there was plush carpet on the floor, pictures on the walls, and in the corner was her green armchair from the library and it had her bag slung across the seat.

“It’s here,” Ellie murmured, still standing frozen in place.

“Yep,” Aaron said. “And that desk of yours is around the corner, but they’re willing to get you a larger one if you need it for research purposes.”

Ellie continued to stare, then darted toward her bag, wrenched it open, and sorted through the contents. It was all there. The white book. The picture of her family. The flower. The notebook. The letter.  The necklace. It was all still there. She collapsed on the chair, curled up, and began to cry, clutching the bag in her arms.

Aaron shut the door quietly behind himself and took a seat in the chair opposite Ellie. “Now do you want to know why you’re really here?”

to be continued...