"She didn't die?" Teal asked, then looked at me.

"Why did she get to go to a clinic and not Gia?" I wondered aloud. "Maybe none of this would have happened then."

"Why do you say that? Was Gia angry about Mindy?" Alex asked.

"She told us she was dead. I don't think she was lying. I think she really believed it, so, yes, she was upset about her. When we returned from our picnic in the desert, we found her to be very different. She didn't talk to us very much. She slept a lot." I said.

"What did she actually do?" Teal asked.

Robin and I looked up in anticipation of hearing the gruesome details.

"Did she talk to you girls about doing anything?" Alex replied instead of answering directly.

"No," I said.

"All she did was work, eat, and write in her notebook." Robin offered, "Like us."

"Notebook?"

"Dr. Foreman made us write in notebooks." Teal said. "If we didn't do it, we lost privileges or were punished. After we had done so this time, we were supposed to get our mattresses, pillows, and blankets back." she added with indignation, as if she were locking a complaint with a hotel manager. "We handed them in and never heard a word."

"Did Gia hand in her notebook. too?" Alex asked.

"No. It's right there, under the pillow." I nodded at Gia's cot. Lieutenant Rowling, probably frustrated with just standing and listening and not applying some sort of electric torture, hinged at the cot and found the notebook. He opened it, then smirked with

disappointment and handed it to Alex. I don't know what he was expecting to find between the covers. Maybe a confession.

Alex read some of it quickly, nodded, and handed it to the shorter of the two well-dressed men. He began to read it with the other man looking over his shoulder.

Alex turned back to us. "Just give me a quick understanding of what went on here."

"Went on?" Teal asked, tilting her head as if she were talking to a complete idiot.

"You had classes you attended. You talked about good and bad behavior. You had therapy sessions with Dr. Foreman, who tried to help you understand why you were getting into more and more trouble. I imagine you had your chores every day, helped with the management of the ranch, the preparations for your meals. am I not correct?"

None of us replied. We all stared at her again,

Then Teal leaned forward, holding her head with that superior air as only she could and looked Alex in the face. "Your understandings are somewhat misdirected." she said in perfect, teacherlike tones.

Alex lost her smile, "Then help me understand correctly."

Teal looked at us. "Shall we help her. girls?"

"Look, Mrs.... Alex. whatever." Rabin said. ":`'all been given a lot of hogwash it seems. We didn't have any real classes. She threw books and

assignments at us and we were left an our own to do them, and if we failed, she gave us demerits, and if we got too many demerits, we lost privileges, and if we got even more demerits, we were sent to the Ice Room."

"Ice Room?"

The two men in suits closed Gia's notebook and turned to listen to us.

Neither Robin nor I was anxious to describe the Ice Room. In fact. Robin just wouldn't say much at all. I explained how I had revealed my fear of rats and how that had been used to torture me into obedience.

"Virtual reality," one of the men in suits said. He nodded at the other. "Pretty sophisticated equipment. Look into that as they sift through the ruins. See what you can find."

The man nodded and left the barracks. "Tell me about this desert trip," Alex asked.

Robin did describe that. When she reached the point when Teal got bitten. Teal started to cry silently. It was almost as if she didn't know she was crying. She sat there staring and the tears started to emerge from under her lids and trickle down her cheeks.

Tags: V.C. Andrews Broken Wings Horror
Source: readsnovelonline.net