Grandfather (40 page)

The soldier seemed
offended but eventually moved out of the way, allowing us to pass
through. Wow, Olivia really had guts to talk back to the soldiers,
especially if they were with Grandfather. We followed Olivia. The
soldier watched me closely as I passed by. Once inside, the door
slammed behind us. I let out a breath of relief. We had made
it.

“
Come,” Olivia said,
motioning us to follow up a flight of stairs. We did so, and the
further we got up them, the more I could hear the large crowd
waiting for Cornelius. “I have the perfect spot,” Olivia
said.

“
You mentioned Mr.
Harrison,” Ashton grunted as we struggled to basically drag him up.
“Will he be here?”

“
I don’t know,” Olivia
said. “But using his name has gotten me through a predicament or
two.”

We went up a few more
flights of stairs until we reached another hall with doors spread
out across the wall to our right. Olivia led us to the third one.
She touched a square pad above the doorknob. It lit up, revealing a
keypad. She tapped a series of numbers too quickly for any of us to
remember. The screen lit up green and the door slid open. We
followed her into a small room with a couple of sofas, chairs, and
coffee tables. The wall straight across from us was glass,
revealing the large arena filled with thousands of
people.

“
Whoa,” I said as the door
closed behind us.

There was an empty stage
in the center of the arena floor. I assumed that was where
Cornelius was to give his address. A chain of soldiers encircled
the stage. Many also kept watch from within the audience. I assumed
they were there to make sure nobody in the audience tried to run
onto the stage. I don’t know why they would, but the people inside
the wall could be unpredictable.

“
This is Mr. and Mrs.
Harrison’s private box. Mrs. Harrison gave me the code a while
back. And the glass is tinted. You can see out, but they can’t see
in.”

“
So we’re safe,” I
said.

“
Exactly,” Olivia
said.

Me and Edgar took Ashton
to one of the chairs closest to the glass wall. After Ashton was
comfortable, we each claimed a seat.

“
Yes,” Olivia said. “Let’s
make ourselves comfortable. This address should be rather
interesting.”

“
Yes,” Belladonna agreed.
“It will be interesting to hear what he has to say.”

While we waited, I
couldn’t help but think about everything that had just happened. I
still couldn’t get it out of my head. And the same question kept
coming up. How many lives were lost? It would probably be a while
before that number was discovered. And even then, it would be
impossible to get an exact one. I picked at some of the dust on my
arm and dug behind my nails.

Olivia noticed this. “What
was it like?” she asked quietly. “Being near the explosion. If you
don’t mind me asking.”

I shook my head.
“Terrifying,” I said, the images flashing through my
mind.

“
It’ll make you want to
kill Cornelius,” Ashton said.

Olivia had a look of
grief. I saw a tear slowly roll down her cheek. “I’ve been trying
to not think about it, but I can’t anymore. So many people have
died today.”

“
It was rough for all of
us,” Edgar told her. “Lucky to be alive.”

She nodded. “So . . .
Cornelius is definitely a part of Grandfather? Or is that just what
you guys think?”

“
He’s their Grand
Imperial,” Ashton said.

“
The leader,” Belladonna
added.

I agreed.

“
Then is any of it true?”
Olivia asked me. “About your parents . . . about you being
kidnapped?”

I shrugged my shoulders.
“I don’t know about my parents,” I told her. “I’m still trying to
figure that out. But I wasn’t kidnapped. That part isn’t true.”
Great, now Olivia had me thinking about my parents again. I still
didn’t know why I was doing that to myself. It would’ve been so
much easier if I could just believe that Cornelius was
lying.

“
Where have you been then?”
she asked. “You weren’t at the orphanage when he went looking for
you.”

“
I was safe,” was all I
told her. She didn’t really need to know much more. The fewer
people that knew about our secret hideout, the better.

Olivia looked at
Belladonna and Edgar. “You were with them,” she said. “The big
question is what did President Cornelius really want with you. Why
did he go to the orphanage for you? Would make an excellent book,
now wouldn’t it?”

We said
nothing.

“
If Cornelius is the leader
of Grandfather, then I hope that – whoever you people are – you
have a solid plan to fix things.”

“Well . . . that’s the
plan,” Ashton said

It was people like Olivia
Fabray and the Harrisons that gave me hope; hope that not everybody
within the wall was the same. There were probably others who felt
the same way but didn’t mention it because they would’ve been
judged. For years, people were taught not to say anything about the
separation. I guess it just kind of became a habit.

We sat in silence for the
next ten minutes. Olivia had taken out some sort of device and was
typing something on it. Knowing her, it was probably something
about another book. But she quit when the lights in the arena grew
dim. A man approached the stage. Little by little, people in the
audience quit talking until soon, the whole arena was
silent.

“Today . . . we have lost
many,” the man said, his voice booming throughout the entire
private box. It was as if he was sitting right there with us, which
was a little bit creepy. I looked up to see speakers in the
corners. I diverted my attention back to the man on stage. “We will
never forget today. As I speak, people suffer. Heroes search for
survivors and doctors are doing everything in their power to save
as many as they can. Yes, we were warned that Grandfather has
existed. The only question that remains is who is the leader? Who
is a part of Grandfather. Well, we’ve all waited impatiently to see
what President Cornelius has to say. And I’m happy to say that we
have all the answers for you citizens. As one of President
Cornelius’s councilmen, I want to welcome him to the
stage.”

Very few people applauded.
I wondered if it was because they didn’t trust him or if they felt
times were too depressing to clap. Cornelius, who was dressed in a
white suit similar to the one he had worn to the fundraiser, walked
onto the stage. He didn’t smile or wave as usual. I guess he had to
pretend to be sad and heartbroken like everybody else. He shook the
councilman’s hand and whispered into his ear. The man nodded and
left Cornelius alone on the stage.

The arena was silent. I
imagined it was just as silent outside. It was probably silent
throughout the entire city and even the entire nation as the poor
listened to the announcement on their radios and the rich watched
it on their televisions. I watched as a camera hovered in the air
above Cornelius, capturing the large audience.

“These past twenty-four
hours have been rough on all of us,” Cornelius began in his deep
voice. “We’ve been told that Grandfather exists once again. There
has been proof that our very own vice president is a part of it.
For the first time since the war, many of us have felt unsafe. We
all have found ourselves unable to trust anybody. We’ve found
ourselves afraid that something terrible could happen at any
minute.” Cornelius paused.

Olivia was taking notes on
her device. The rest of us focused on Cornelius.

“Many people have lost
their lives today,” Cornelius continued. “Our nation’s capital has
been attacked. We have all possible officers, fire fighters, and
doctors out there looking for survivors. As I look at you all, I
see people covered in dust. I’ll never be able to imagine what you
have just gone through. The images you have seen will never leave
you, unfortunately.”

Wow, Cornelius actually
said something that I agreed with. That would probably never happen
again.

“
Let us have a moment of
silence for those lives lost today and for those struggling to keep
their lives.”

There was a long pause of
silence. Some people bowed their heads and closed their eyes. Edgar
and Olivia did this. Belladonna focused on Cornelius, who turned to
examine the entire audience encircling him.
After thirty seconds had passed, he continued. “These next
few days will be the roughest we have ever seen. I understand that
Grandfather’s attack – which was predicted in the letter reported –
will make it difficult for any of us to trust again. But . . . I
want to remind the entire nation that things will get better, even
if it doesn’t seem like it. Now, I understand that a lot of people
doubt me right now. People think that perhaps I’m involved. And you
know what, why wouldn’t you think that? I understand. I’d think the
exact same thing. But today, I want everyone to put their distrust
away. I’ve been able to use these past twenty-four hours to track
down the masterminds of Grandfather. I’ve been able to get a hold
of the members most responsible. I tried to stop these explosions,
but I failed. And that, I’m not proud of.”

It was starting to sound
as if I was right. Cornelius had a plan.

Cornelius turned around
and waved somebody to him.

Fifteen people walked to
the stage in a line, each wearing blindfolds, each led by two
soldiers. They didn’t resist. Edgar, Belladonna, Ashton, and I
leaned forward to get a better look. They were led onto the stage
and lined up behind Cornelius. Cornelius nodded, and one by one,
the blindfolds were taken off. Ten of them were men and the other
five were women, all in their old age. I recognized one of them as
Vice President McCall. Cornelius stopped in front of him and stared
into his face. I couldn’t see Luther’s face, but I was sure he
wasn’t too happy. What was Cornelius up to?

“
Our government has been
infiltrated. It’s true, Grandfather is back. And half of my
councilmen, which you see here, are members of this infamous group.
I thought I could trust them. But when they harm citizens in this
nation, I cannot.”

“
You think they’re actually
members of Grandfather?” Ashton asked.

“
No,” Edgar said with
confidence.

“
Only the vice president,”
Belladonna said. “His name was mentioned. Cornelius has no choice
but to eliminate him.”

“
I don’t know how large the
vile group is,” Cornelius continued. “But I can guarantee each and
every one of you that these fifteen councilmen and councilwomen are
the leading members. These fifteen are responsible for planning the
explosion that has killed so many loved ones today. And something
like that cannot go unnoticed. Something like that cannot go
unpunished.” Cornelius paused for a second. “These fifteen members
that I thought I could trust have committed treason. I think they
shall receive an appropriate punishment.”

Each of the soldiers took
out what seemed to be a syringe, which they held up close to the
man or woman closest to them.

“What are they doing?”
Olivia asked in shock.

“He’s getting rid of his
councilmen and councilwomen that don’t follow him,” Ashton
answered.

“So that he can replace
them with his followers?” I asked.

“Right,” Edgar said
nervously. “This is his next step. Grandfather’s power is
growing.”

That’s exactly what I
didn’t want to hear.

“I’m not a part of
Grandfather!” one of the councilmen screamed. A soldier drew his
fist back and swung it at the man, knocking him face down onto the
ground. Each of the other members were forced onto their knees. The
man who was punched rose up until he was on his knees.

“
We didn’t do anything!” a
councilwoman screamed. “Cornelius is –.\”

The soldier punched her
too. She fell onto the ground and didn’t budge.

“
They’re
taught to do everything in their power to protect Grandfather,”
Cornelius announced. “They’re taught to do everything in their
power to keep Grandfather’s plan intact. They want you to believe
that they aren’t members . . . forcing you to question me.
Confusion is what they like, having citizens unsure of who to
trust. Why? When a society is unable to trust its own leader or its
people, it becomes weak. And a weak society is vulnerable to
attacks from Grandfather. We cannot let that happen.” Cornelius
turned to the soldiers and nodded. “I
won’t
let that
happen.”

Each of the soldiers
brought a needle to the neck of a councilman or councilwoman. As
they injected whatever was in the tube, the bodies began twitching.
The audience was silent as they listened to those on the stage
gasping for air. Soon, whispering rippled around the arena as each
of the councilmen and councilwomen fell over, motionless. Luther
held off the longest before giving up his life.

“
The death penalty was
necessary,” Cornelius told us all. “Death for them was inevitable.
And if anybody else wants to harm people of this great nation, they
will receive the same punishment. Because that’s what they deserve.
And they . . .”