Chapter 39 - Eleanor

They are always watching.

" A ttention!" We were settling in to watch another movie in the recreation room when they were interrupted by a red-faced warden. "Milton was found this morning. Impaled on metal poles on top of the tram ride at that Risky Rush Park you all love so much."

Gasps rang out, including one from my own throat. What? That was where I had been supposed to meet him.

"It looks like he was murdered and we have reason to believe someone here knows something."

I swallowed and stood up. Tears ran down my face on their own volition."When? When did he die?"

"Weeks ago. His body has decayed quite a bit."

I squeaked and sat down quickly. The times lined up.

"Eleanor, do you know something?" the warden asked.

"No, sir. I'm just upset. I'd like to go." I stood back up and ran out of the room, despite knowing how suspicious it looked. Boots stomping echoed behind me, but I didn't look back. I didn't need to.

"Eleanor!"

"Leave me alone!" I shouted at Callahan and darted down a side hall. And then another, and another. I went left, and right, and left again, trying to lose him, but he was too good at his job and he caught up with me. He spun me around and shook me until I looked at him.

"Eleanor, please," he pleaded. "Let me explain."

"It was you. You killed him. Why? What did he ever do to you?" I hissed.

Callahan took a large breath before speaking."Milton, along with your original Daddy and some other Daddies, had planned to kidnap and rape you that night. They were going to kill you when they were done. I caught them discussing it and..."

I tore myself from his grip and shook my head in horror. "You killed him and then took his place."

He put his hands up in innocence. "Yes, but not on purpose. I didn't want to take his place. I just wanted to save you."

"You're lying. My Daddy would never."

"He would. Every generation has a Young Lady they choose and this group had chosen you."

"That makes no sense. Why?"

"I can't answer that. I don't know." He hung his head.

"Eleanor!" The warden's voice boomed from a different hall and found us a moment later. He smiled tightly at us, but it didn't reach his eyes. "We'd like to talk to you about Milton."

"Why?" I looked at Callahan for a split second. "I told you I don't know anything."

"Yes, you did say that. I'd like to dive a little deeper. Come. You too, Callahan, she needs an escort."

We followed behind the warden, but when we reached his office he wouldn't let Callahan inside.

"You stay here."

Callahan tried to protest but the door was slammed in his face.

"Sit, Young Lady," he barked the moment we were alone. I did as I was told and stared down at my lap. I wasn't sure what to do. If he'd caught us two minutes before Callahan had told me the truth, I'd have no issue confessing what I knew. But now... did my original Daddy and Milton deserve justice? Or had it already been served?

"Did you have sexual intercourse with Milton Hapschatt?" he asked, plopping down on the other side of his desk.

"What? No, of course not!" I exclaimed.

"Be truthful. Eleanor, I know you were sweet on him."

I shook my head furiously and dripped the arms of my seat. "I swear I never did. Just a few kisses." A door to the left opened and Dorothy and a nurse came in and stood behind the warden. The warden sat back and shook his head.

"Your story doesn't fit what we found at the scene."

"I don't understand." I looked at each of them, trying to figure out what they wanted from me.

"A pair of pink panties with your name on the backside were found on the tram, Eleanor. Along with your shoes, also embroidered. So either someone is stealing your underclothes, or you were there when he died," Dorothy explained.

I blinked.

Oh no.

"I--"

The warden leaned forward and then stood. "If you just told us the truth it would make things so much easier, Eleanor. We know he'd made promises to you. He was going to talk to me, about marrying you. But he was lying. That upset you, didn't it?"

"How do you know what he had planned?" I asked softly. It felt intrusive, them knowing these things.

"Milton often mocked your innocence in the DIT bunkers. He would brag about how he was stringing you along, giving you false hope for a life you both knew would never happen. You signed a contract, after all. Young Ladies don't get to do such frivolous things like that."

Tears stung my eyes at the truth of that. How dare we want those things? All of our media, books, Television, movies, and magazines, told us the dream was a happy husband, children, and home. But we were allowed none of it. It was cruel.

"This is what I think happened." The warden came around the desk, sat on the edge of it and clasped his hands.

"You went out to find him. You were still lovesick. Milton was already in the process of turning into a creepie. We tested what was left of him and found his DNA altered. He wasn't quite there yet, but it was enough to tell. And you saw it."

I shook my head. "No, that's not what happened at all. I never saw Milton on that platform."

He continued, ignoring me. "You tried to back out of the situation, but Milton, delirious from the radiation poisoning, refused to let you go. He raped you, didn't he?"

"No!" I cried out.

"He raped you, and when he was done you tried to run away, but he caught you and in fear of your life you pushed him off the edge and he was impaled. Tell the truth! Isn't that what happened Eleanor?" The warden screamed in my face. I cried. I shook my head and covered my face.

If I had known Milton was there, dead or alive, I wouldn't have just left him. How could they think that?

"Eleanor, we know the truth. The evidence is all there," Dorothy said in a much calmer, but still stern tone.

I looked up from my sobbing and wiped my tears.

"If you confess to everything, leaving no details out, it will save us time and effort."

"I can't confess to something I didn't do."

The three adults exchanged looks and shook their heads as if disappointed.

"Fine, if you refuse to tell us what happened, we will have to investigate deeper. Go to your room, Eleanor, and report to the medics office first thing in the morning," the nurse snapped.

"Why?" I demanded.

"We will be doing a pelvic exam to see if your hymen is intact."

I blinked. My hymen? As in... oh my god.

"And then, once we've proved that you are no longer a virgin like we have very good reason to suspect, we will be issuing a pregnancy test."

I stood up, clenching my fists.

"I didn't have sex with Milton and I'm not pregnant."

"We'll see." Dorothy and the warden looked at each other. "It would actually be in your favor if you were carrying Milton Hapschatt's child, Eleanor. His genes are very important to the success of our bunker. You could be carrying the next warden."

There was no getting through to them. Tomorrow they'd see I wasn't pregnant. They'd also see I wasn't a virgin and it would be easy to put two and two together. I couldn't let them find out the truth.

"What if I'm not?" I asked.

Dorothy, the woman I considered like a mother to me, had never been this cruel before. I didn't understand where this was coming from all of a sudden. A slow, haunting smile slid over her face, and I froze.

"Then we'll perform the lobotomy sooner, rather than later. Goodnight, Eleanor."