Chapter 24 - Riggs

CHAPTER 24 - RIGGS

A fter toppling over and knocking my head, I must've feel asleep because I slowly wake up to the sound of someone clearing their throat. Immediately, and without opening my eyes, I know who it is.

"You're awake. Don't be a coward, Riggs. Open your eyes and look at me."

My father's voice is low and commanding. Like his words are law, leaving no room for discussion.

An old urge to rebel manifests inside me. Like muscle memory, the need to disagree just for the sake of disagreeing is nearly overpowering.

But I control it. To give in like that is weak. And it reminds me of when I was a prisoner in the tunnels. When I had no power and no other choice but to react.

I refuse to react. I might be a prisoner again, but I'm done bending to these people and their tyrannical ways. It should not be a crime to want something else. It should not be a crime to crave freedom. It should not be a crime to leave .

I open my eyes. Not because he commanded me to, but because I will not play the role of petulant child just because that's how he sees me.

I'm in a bed. Rather, I am strapped to a gurney. Hands and feet tied to the railings that run along my body. I'm also wearing clothes now. Gray scrubs. Prison garb.

Well, I guess I didn't fall asleep. Someone drugged me. It bothers me that I don't remember this. Do I have a concussion? Probably. But it's more probable that my lack of memory is due to some kind of drug cocktail, so I take a breath and let it out, studying my surroundings.

The room is small and square and General Russell is in the far corner to my right, sitting in a chair. He's leaning back and he's got one leg propped up on a knee.

He's in full dress uniform, which isn't out of the ordinary. One only needs to look at history books—fake or not—to discover that all tyrants love the dress uniform. The general's chest is adorned with medals and ribbons that tell a silent story about his past.

If you buy in to what the Colonies are selling, that past is filled with valor and decades of patriotic service.

But if you're me, well. It's just another lie.

His hair is nearly white, which contrasts his short, neatly trimmed beard. He's over sixty now, but the color of his hair is the only thing that gives it away. His face is surprisingly devoid of wrinkles, his shoulders are still broad enough to fill out the perfectly tailored uniform in a way that makes him look much younger, and his blue eyes haven't yet gone blurry. They are cold, calculating eyes that miss nothing. As he stares at me, his lips form a flat line depicting something between indifference and disgust.

"Where am I?"

That flat mouth lifts up, but in a sneer, not a smile. "Not in the tunnels."

"Then where?"

"No ‘hello,' Riggs? No ‘how are you, Father?'"

"You set me up. You set me up ."

He shrugs up one shoulder. "We all knew you would fail. I needed the evidence."

"Oh, I get a trial this time? How generous."

My father laughs. It's kind of a loud chuckle, which is completely out of character for him and makes the muscles of my stomach clench with dread. "A trial? That's quaint. Your treason is showing, Riggs. Trials are for up-tops. You know very well there's no such thing down here."

"So why? Why set me up like this? Was Hattie watching me the whole time?"

"Yes. But from afar and from the other side of a screen. As was I. And I'm not going to lie here, Riggs, I had money on you."

My eyebrows go up. "You bet on me to win?"

"No." His laugh, again, conjures up a sense of dread inside me. "Hattie had money on you to win. She hunted you down and brought you back, but she was a firm believer in your reeducation down in those tunnels. In fact, she's the one who put you there. I was going to have you hanged. She talked me out of it, insisting—bless her heart—that more than half a decade in the dark would rehabilitate you. She had picked out a house and everything. And, though she would never admit it, she was planning the wedding."

I'm so stunned, I don't even bother answering back. Hattie thought I would marry her? That I would, what? View her betrayal as… altruistic? As if she was saving me from myself?

I saved you .

In my head, these words come out in two voices. One is Clover's. One is mine.

And the irony is not lost.

"Hattie has always been delusional."

"Yes." The general laughs. "She has loved you since you were children. Always sticking up for you, and covering for you, and believing in you."

Now it's my turn to laugh. "Well, with friends like that, who needs enemies."

"As I was saying. There was a point there, during your reeducation test, where everyone was betting on you to win. And for a moment there, I was sure she had me. But you never disappoint, Riggs. You came from my seed. I know you better than anyone. And now Hattie knows the real you as well. You hate me, you hate her, you hate the Colonies. You hate everything we hold dear. You're like a sick animal. Something that needs to be put down."

This is when I glance at my arm and notice the IV.

"Yes," the general says, noticing my noticing. "There are a lot of drugs in your future, Riggs. But don't worry. That's not how you'll die. Drug overdose? That's way too cliché. You need a more fitting exit from this world. So…" He shrugs with his hands as a smile creeps up his face. And for the first time I think I really see my father for what he is. Evil. "Hattie came up with something very creative for you."

"I bet she did." The words are just a whisper, not even meant for him, just me. And that feeling in my gut is back. That feeling that I missed something very obvious here. And that whatever happens next, it was put in motion long before now.

"Hattie discovered a lot of things about you today, Riggs. A lot of things about that woman you brought down here as well."

"Leave Clover out of this. She had nothing to do with it. She didn't even want to come."

"Well, that's funny. Very funny. Because she was offered a way out and she said no."

"What?"

"That's right. Hattie offered her a deal. All she had to do was forget she ever met you. If she did that—and kept her word, of course—she would be returned to her quaint little town and Collin Creed would be none the wiser about any of this."

" What ? There must be a catch. Why the hell would she say no to that?"

The general laughs out these words. "Well… loyalty, of course. Isn't that hilarious? You kidnap her in her own house, threaten to kill her five, six different ways, bring her down here where her discovery would mean certain death, and still, she refuses to leave you behind."

"Let me talk to her." I try not to sound desperate, but I don't entirely succeed. "Let me talk to her and I'll tell her to take the deal. I can?—"

"It's too late." He waves a hand in the air like he's erasing my words.

"No. It's not. She'll take the deal. Let her go and she'll never say a word."

"Oh, I'm sure. She's weak and rather stupid. But she's got a rebellious streak in her. Hattie was being compassionate and nice and Clover insisted on insulting her. So." He shrugs with his evil smile this time. "She withdrew the deal."

"But Hattie's not in charge here. You are. You're the fucking general. All you have to do is make it so."

"True." My father stares at me, his eyes poison personified. Not even bothering to hide his malice. Not even trying to dress it all up in a pretty frosted bottle with a shiny satin ribbon. "But her replacement plan for Clover Bradley was even more fitting."

"Why do you hate me?"

The scoff he responds with is filled with disgust. "Why are you such a disappointment? Hmm? You were born into the highest level of privilege, Riggs. You were given the best education, placed in the company of the best children, raised up as a warrior for all that is just and right in the world and you threw it all away for what? Life up there?" His eyes drift up to the ceiling of the room and stay there for a few moments before returning to me. "It's filth. It's sin. It's corruption?—"

"And down here isn't?"

"You tell me. Blackberry Hill is the poorest Colony in the entire world and it's clean, and filled with polite people who are happy to do their part and live their lives to the fullest extent possible. They do not waste their days doing nothing. They all have purpose. Can you say the same for the poorest cities up there? No. They are filth. They are crime-ridden cesspools overflowing with people with the impetus of insects."

"At least they are free."

My father guffaws. "They're not free, Riggs! They're food for the spider who weaves an invisible web all around them. They are chewed up, and spit out, and used for… whatever. They are nothing but a bit of meat. You gave up everything I set in motion for you for that, Riggs. For a bit of filthy, rotten meat."

"That's not true. It's not even close to true. I just don't want to be here. I want to live in the sun. In the fresh air. I want to be free to go anywhere I choose. It should not be illegal to leave ."

"But it is." His smile is sad now. "Leaving is high treason and you are a traitor. We can't have traitors running around the Colonies, now can we? It's a problem. You're a problem, Riggs. And, well… if there's no you, then there's no problem, is there?" He stands up. "We're done here."

"Wait! What about Clover? Don't kill her. Please. None of this is her fault."

"Kill her?" My father scoffs as he side-eyes me from over his shoulder. "We're not going to kill her. Killing her would incite Collin Creed and send him careening down a path of revenge and retribution. No one wants that. It will all end badly. We're just going to kill you , Riggs. Actually, we're not." He smiles again. A pretty poison frog. " Collin is ."

It takes several moments for me to parse these words because I just can't make sense of it. Why would Collin kill me? I never betrayed him, he's the one who betrayed me .

As if he's reading my mind, my father says, "You're on a lot of drugs right now, Riggs, so allow me to elucidate. You see, everything that happened inside Clover's house was recorded. It was a test, son. We were keeping tabs on you the entire time."

"So?"

"So…" He shrugs with his hands. "We have all those threats you made. All those times you tackled Clover to the ground. All those times you tied her up and gagged her. All those times she begged you to let her go. And right now"—he looks at his watch—"Collin Creed is watching all that footage. And since his one true love is Clover's best friend, Collin is forming some opinions about how you might meet your true end, Riggs. He's also very confused about something. He's about to start putting things together and while he won't have all the answers, he'll have a start. He's a smart guy. So I have no doubts whatsoever that he'll figure it out. And when he does, that'll be the end of you."

"What's the point of that? You're acting like this is some great scheme, but who the hell cares if Collin kills me?"

"Who cares? Why, Clover Bradley cares, that's who. She said she wouldn't leave here without you, remember?"

Suddenly, I get it. My father is going to scar her. That's the point of this. He's going to hurt her in a way that cannot be fixed. And the worst thing about this is that I built it. I laid the groundwork for this pain he and Hattie want to inflict on Clover because I kidnapped her, and fucked with her head, and made her loyal to me, and it worked so well that when given the chance to save herself, she couldn't leave me behind.

This entire thing is my fault.

My father opens the door to the little room and a nurse comes in. "He's ready. Let's do this."

"You're sick!" I say, struggling against my bindings. "You people are fucking sick! She didn't do anything!"

"But she did, Riggs." I look past the general and find Hattie, the owner of that voice. She's smirking at me. Just as evil as the rest. "She's a prissy little bitch. But, somehow, you convinced her to love you. She insulted me. Threatened me. If I could kill her, I would kill her. But having you killed and making her responsible?" Hattie chuckles. Her smile is big and satisfied. "Well, I guess it'll just have to be enough."

My vision starts to go blurry and when I look to my right, I realize the nurse has pushed more drugs into my IV.

A moment later, there's nothing left to live for.