"Ty!" she screamed. "Ty, hurry!"
I abruptly sat up, wide awake. "Zoe?" I asked no one. Nothing in the darkness answered but the limited light. A light flicked on. My eyes were fried again.
"Akai?" a man's voice asked. I clicked. It was the doctor.
"Are you okay, Akai?" he asked. He was worried.
"Yeah," I replied. "Just a dream. Sorry about that. Can I go home now?" I asked.
He hesitated for a moment. "I'm sorry, kid. Not quite yet. Your family is not quite ready for you yet." He walked briskly out of the room and turned off the light.
I ran through the darkness, screaming for my little sister. But, as much as I yelled, no sound came from my mouth. Then, I stumbled into a dim-lit room. There was just enough light to make out Zoe's silhouette, hunched over into the fetal position. A large man, unknown to me, stood over her, whip in hand. The whip was dripping with blood…
I screamed for help. I must have made some very loud noise, as I was shaken awake. I opened my eyes in a cold sweat and saw Roger.
"Ty!" he exclaimed. "Are you okay?" The light was bright but I didn't care. I was glad to have woken up.
"Yeah," I replied. "Just –" I cut myself off. I barely knew this guy. No way was I going to tell him anything. He was involved in the 'wealth. He would eat up anything I told him and regurgitate it in front of the media, government, and the rest of the world, just so the Topsiders would be afraid to move down here. They're all convinced that the water pressure messes up our brains. The Topsiders think that those of us born subsea have 'Dark Gifts', so they call us Dark Life.
"Ty?" Roger repeated.
"Sorry," I said. "I just can't say anything."
"I can fix that," said a voice. Roger and I looked up simultaneously. The doctor was standing in the doorway.
"Dr. Swayze," Roger said breathlessly. I glared at the doctor.
"Patrick, Roger. Doctor Patrick Swayze," he frowned.
"What do you want?" I asked angrily. Dr. Swayze looked surprised at my question.
"Why, Akai, you can't think you don't know what I want, can you?" No one replied. "Well, it's simple. You have information. I need that information. You need to tell me that information." He smiled like Dr. Seuss's Grinch character. I slowly realized what he meant. I would never tell him, though. It would put my family into danger. Like, huge danger. And, please note I said would, not could.
"No!" I exclaimed. Roger tried to cover my mouth, but he was too late. I had already spoken. Dr. Swayze did his "Grinch Grin" again.
"Very well," he said. Then he went to his computer again.
