Zipped

7: The Interrogation

Molly

The whole room went silent at that moment. Did he just say what I think he said? Ms. Ellison might know how to get out of this place? We could go home? “I’m sorry, what did you just say?” I asked softly, my eyes wide in surprise and my mouth slightly open.

“She was researching the origins of the zipper,” he told me, which didn’t help me all that much.

“But, I thought that the information about the zipper was long gone, if there even was any,” my brother pointed out, chewing on his lip a bit as he looked at him. That was exactly it. Any information anyone had tried to find about the zipper was just gone.

“Well, she had an in with the people who kept the records, you know, about the history of the town, in the restricted area for government officials only, so she was able to check out the things we couldn’t. Apparently they have information linked to that in there as well, which is interesting. I wish I could have read some of that stuff,” Mitchell admitted and sighed a bit himself.

“Why didn’t you tell us this when you came down here? Actually, wait, why didn’t she tell us when she came down here in the first place?” Neil asked, taking charge of the situation.

“I don’t know. I’ve been down here for only a few days at most, remember? At first I wasn’t even sure if she was alive. I met her in the mess hall only this morning when I got breakfast,” he said and shrugged. “I’m sorry. How about you just send someone to find Celia and then we can go? I feel like I’m being interrogated or something, and I don’t like it.” He got up and looked at all of us.

Neil sighed. “Okay fine. Come on, let’s get going,” he said and left the room quickly.

We stood and got ready to go, but before I left, I went to make sure my sister was still fast asleep. She still was, so I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Sleep well, Elsie,” I whispered.

She slightly stirred, but she stayed asleep. I smiled a bit and then left the room. As I glanced down the hall, I saw Celia walk towards me, flanked by Neil and Ethan. He gave me a wave, and I returned it.

“Hey, guys,” Ethan greeted. “So, you’re gonna talk to Quinn?” he asked us curiously.

“Yeah, Ms. Ellison might know some information on how we can get out of this place,” I told him. “Celia, you can take care of Elsie again while we go to talk to her, right?” I ask her.

Celia nodded with a bright smile. “Absolutely. I’ll take care of her. Now go ahead and go talk to her,” she said and then walked through the blanket to see my sister.

I turned to Ethan. “Hey, so are you coming with us? Or are you helping out Celia with Elsie patrol?” I asked him.

“I was hoping I could come with. When I was up there, and so was she, she was my babysitter when my parents were at work, or on date nights, you know, stuff like that. So maybe if she sees me, since she knows me so well, it would help her feel more comfortable with being there and talked to,” Ethan explained. It made sense, and I agreed. She probably did know Ethan better than the rest of us, so having him around may be more beneficial to our cause than not having him around.