Chapter Twenty Three
May Thirteenth
Juniper
After telling The Council her history with Ben, June sat at the end of a long table and looked across, seeing familiar faces, including Margaret’s. She stood after a moment of silence announcing that Ben would be leaving and June felt relief. “According to rules, we have another thing to address.”
Margaret looked at June, “And I hate saying this but you have a decision to make.”
She sighed, “Ben will forget everything about this island and will go back to his normal life before he came here. The only thing he won't forget is you.”
Margaret's face was dead with emotion like she didn’t know June.
June's eyes relentlessly pulled more tears to the surface. Her chin quivered as she heard Margaret. “So, you need to make a choice, you can either stay behind, but remember, he already found you once, or you can go with him. It will keep the island, the community, and the people you have grown to love safe. It is truly up to your decision and I will not be upset if you choose to stay.”
June dropped her head, knowing the choice she had to make, teardrops darken her dress in spots. She loves Wolfie, she loves the life she was given, she loves the people on the island; she never wanted anything to happen to them, and she knew she had to leave.
“I'll go,”
she squeaked without lifting her head.
Wolfgang
Wolfie pulled on the double door to the conference room. The lock pad repeated a flashing red at him over and over again, simultaneously while banging on the door. He didn't have the authority to change his access into the room. His mind raced and he stepped back, questioning where he could enter the room. If he could just just talk to the council or Margaret, and just convince them to let her stay.
After a moment of murmuring behind the door, the quietness cracked through his mind, deafening him. He heard shuffling and another door beep inside of the room. He knew where they were going. If she had made the choice he was terrified she would make, they were going to a room in that very back hallway. He was there last week for the maid with a door jam.
“Hey, this way.”
A woman's voice caught his attention behind him and he jerked around to see Whitney who had more access in the building than he did and followed her.
Juniper
“Let's be haste,”
Margaret motioned. As they stood, two men gently escorted Juniper through a back door where there was a long, white, hallway that fed into small rooms. Still in her dress, June sat on the single bed in the room and watched Margarets shaky hands assemble the syringe, tears rolling down her cheeks as well.
She heard Wolfgang in the distance screaming in the hall and her head lifted, wondering if she was going to get to say goodbye. Margaret handed the needle to one of the men, “Do it.”
She instructed. He grabbed the muscle of her arm and as he injected ML825 she locked her eyes on the small window in the door to see Wolfgang, his face expressing heartbreak. June’s vision went blurry until it went black.
Wolfgang
As Whitney cracked the door to the hallway, his legs carried him through the corridor and around the other side. He stumbled past the first door, in the window he saw Ben unconscious on a bed. He stopped at the next door window, empty, and the next one empty. The fourth door he looked in, and he saw Margaret watching over as Juniper received an injection and her eyes looked up at him, her blue eyes. “No!”
he wailed, as he pounded on the door watching her body go limp.