The Thinning AU

14

One of the guards that wasn't holding me took out a little box from off his belt. It had a row of buttons going down the side. He pushed the one that was two from the top and I heard a click and then a pop. After that there was 5 seconds of silence until a huge crashing sound made the floor boards rumbled. The floor started to part until there was a huge hole that lead to a stair case. It seemed to go really far down from what I could see and I saw a very faint light at the end.

The guards started to go down the stairs and I snapped out of my daze. I started to wiggle to try to get free from their tight grip. They only held on tighter. I screamed, "Why are you doing this!? HELP ME! SOMEONE! ANYONE!" They put a small white cloth over my mouth and nose making it hard to breath. I gasped under the cloth and smelled a chemical scent. My eyelids collapsed and no matter how hard I tried to keep them open I couldn't. It went dark and I had fallen unconscious.

When I came to I opened my eyes. My vision went blurry and my head started to pound. I closed my eyes again and breathed slowly. I tried to sit up but I quickly realized that I was stuck. I had been strapped down so I couldn't move. I was laying on I e of those tables you sit on at the Doctor's. My hands, legs, and ankles were all strapped down, along with four straps across my torso. My neck was framing so I just looked at the ceiling. The lights were dim but from what I could see, the room was mostly white. I sat there for a minute until I heard footsteps. But they sounded odd, click clack click clack. They were getting louder, meaning someone was coming closer.

"Max." I heard a female voice say. I would've jumped at the sudden voice but I still couldn't move. "Do you know why I have brought you here?" She asked. I remained silent. "You, are in fact the first person to oppose the thinning. I know it was you on the broadcast, I knew from the beginning." I still said nothing, "Our organization has been keeping watch on all the people in the community-" I cut off her sentence, "What 'organization'?" I asked with an annoyed tone. Ignoring my question she said, "We have particularly been watching you, and your female friend. I believe here name is Elise." I quickly said, "She doesn't go by Elise anymore. Its just Ellie." She started to get annoyed with me but she continued. "It is clear that you have feelings for this, Ellie. And it is clear that you made that broadcast. So answer me now Maxwell, what did you think was going to happen when you came here today?" My blood boiled, "Its Max. And Mr. Sarden's announcement said I wouldn't get in trouble if I confessed early. I wanted him to let Ellie free, because its true, I love her." I hung my head and mumbled, "How could I be so stupid..."

She began to circle the table I was laying on and for the first time I looked up at her. She wore a light blue lab coat, Black leggings, tall black heels, and a pair of goggles on the top of her head. Her hair was brown, but clearly dyed and she looked to be in her late 40s.

She just kept circling the table until around the 6th time she stopped and nodded. What was she nodding about?

I heard another set of footsteps come in. It didn't sound like a woman's heels, so it might be a man. Sure enough, it was. In fact it was Mr. Sarden. Something was off though, he looked scared almost. He was hunched over when he walked and when he walked up to the woman he spoke with a slight studded, "I- I uhhh I finished doing the work you asked me to do dear." Dear?! Obviously she wasn't his wife, she looked nothing like her. And she acted nothing like her.

Mr. Sardens wife had been the nicest, kindest, sweet lady ever. She had brown hair with blonde highlights just past her shoulders. She is the stereotypical sweet southern woman except without the accent. She normally wore a plain colored blouse with a scarf, leggings, and brown boots that went up to her knees. She came to every school meeting, always visited Mr. Sarden, and all of the teachers knew her and loved her. And you could tell every time she was near Mr. Sarden he would have the biggest grin in his face and he would have the look of pure bliss. This was a long time ago though. I was only 5 at the time when she died. She died from a disease that started in one of her lags and spread throughout her body. Almost every faculty member, teacher, parent, and child from the town came to her funeral. At the time I wasn't old enough to understand that it was a sad time so I just sat with the other kids and was care free. But whenever she is brought up or I remember her I feel sorrowful. It was right before summer break when she died so Mr. Sarden closed school two weeks early. After that summer, he had completely changed. He never seemed happy like he used to. For a while he didn't talk to anyone or have any social interaction in the community. Everyone was worried about him until he came back to school and had been transformed into a heartless man.

Now seeing him with this woman, I felt bad for the guy. He obviously didn't love her. She was obviously not in live with him. And after Mrs. Sardens death I couldn't help but to shake my head when he walked in.

The woman ignored Mr. Sarden so he just stood silently at her side. She looked down at him because her heels made her much taller than him and glared at him. I understood now why he was so scared of her. Her stare shot daggers made of fire into his mind. And as if she had mentally talked to him and strangled his brain he quickly speed walked out of the room refusing to make eye contact with the woman.

The woman glared at me briefly and followed after Mr. Sarden out of what seemed to be the only exit in the room. I was left alone strapped to a table. I sighed deeply, leaned back, and closed my eyes. I eventually drifted off to sleep.