2 - Why you're here.

Hello,

Feel free to comment on what I've written. I'd love to hear what you think. =)

Have a Great Day!
Jesse

Continued from 1 - Revolution

Ellie awoke, not knowing where she was. The room smelled dank and musty. She tried turning her head but the darkness followed her line of sight. Either, she had something over her head or there was absolute darkness surrounding her. Her hands were roped behind her back and tied to whatever she was sitting on.

As she sat, Ellie tried to calm her breathing. She took stock of her physical condition. Other than her scalp aching, knee throbbing, and arms tingling she felt fine. Whatever she was sitting on was cold and smooth. She wondered if it could be a metal chair, which brought unwelcome thoughts of interrogation to mind.

She squinted trying to determine if she had something covering her head or not. As Ellie squinted for the third time she heard the distinctive scrape of metal on concrete. It was to her right. She followed the sound with her blind eyes. The scraping stopped.

“Do you know why you’re here?” a deep voice said.
It was a man’s voice. Ellie was sure of it. She had two choices, respond or not. Ellie chose the latter.

“I’ll ask you again,” the man said. “Do you know why you’re here?” There was the sound of footsteps and a person sitting.

Ellie’s mind reeled. What did they want from her? Could they need her for something other than her Talent?

“Ah.”

Ellie could hear the smile in the man’s voice as he uttered that one expression. Her stomach sank to her feet. He was one too.

“So, you do know why you’re here.”

Ellie heard the groan of the chair as the man reclined and crossed his legs.

“Staying silent won’t help your cause,” he paused, “Ellen.”

Ellie groaned at her name.

“I thought that was you. Ellen Runner. Appropriate name.” The man sighed. “Turn on the lights,” he said more loudly.

Banks of halogen lights flickered to life. Ellie squinted against the brightness and attempted to make out the man’s face. He was reclining in the metal chair, like she had thought.

She frowned. “I know you,” her voice croaked. She couldn’t place how she knew him, but she recognized the shade of his shaggy brown hair, his straight nose, and his light brown eyes.

“I thought you might remember me,” he said. “You were a great Tracker then. I’m sure you’re even better now.”

Ellie tilted her head as she looked at him, trying to place his face. She mentally wandered through all the tracking missions she’d been on, people she’d been ordered to search for. He’d been there, in the very beginning, when she was eight. He’d been a couple years older. He’d looked after her for the short while she’d been there, but she’d been sold to a different master not too long after starting as a Tracker.

“You’re a Reader,” Ellie mumbled.

“And you can’t remember my name,” he said, a smile in his voice. “Aaron. It’s Aaron.”

“You used to do that,” Ellie said. “You used to finish people’s sentences and answer unasked questions.”

Aaron shrugged. “I don’t do that so much any more.”

Ellie leveled a stare at Aaron. “Except when you’re interrogating someone.”

He stopped smiling and glanced at the window behind him and back to Ellie. “Yeah. About that,” he said hesitantly, “they’d like to speak to you.”

Who are they? Ellie thought to Aaron.

He shook his head. He wasn’t going to tell her. It wasn’t long before the handle on the metal door turned and in walked her old master.

to be continued...