the house part 3

CHAPTER three in which we meet Brien May and Philip discovers something disturbing
Philip ran down the stairs until he arrived at Floor one. He looked around, hoping to see Ben September, the Vice President of the House. Everyone liked Ben September, he was young, kind, and good looking. He was everyone's favorite Foreman.
In the House there were too types of Administrators, the Foremen and the Teachers. The Teachers' job was to educate the young people of the house and to help run the government of the House. The Foremen were the ones who actually ran everyday life in the House. They told people where to work and what to do on a given day. The ruling council of the House was made up entirely of Foremen and Teachers. The leader of the Teachers and the current President of the House was a middle aged woman named Emily February and the leader of the Foremen was...
“October! Get over here!”
Just as Ben September was universally liked, Brien May was universally disliked. No one was totally sure how he had attained the position of Head Foreman. His adversaries had all dropped out of the race early on, so the current theory was that he had threatened them. Philip didn't like Brien very much, but John and Marcus hated him.
“He is pure evil.” Marcus had said when he was sworn in, “I swear to God he wants to kill us all.”
“With him in control,” John had continued, “The number of executions will triple, I guarantee it.” In fact the number of executions had doubeled.
“Are you leading me down, sir?” Philip asked politely. When dealing with Brien May being polite was a good way not to get arrested with Disrespect to Authority, a new offense that he had made up so as to arrest people he didn't like.
“Yes I am. Now let's get moving. I don't have all day.” The Head Foreman said, fingering the assault rifle which always hung off his shoulder.
“Right, sir. Straight down?” Philip said moving towards the stairs, like all those under 16 he had never been underground.
“No Straight Up.” Brien deadpanned, “Of course straight down.”
Philip bit back a sarcastic reply that would have earned him several days in jail and opened the door. He walked down the stairs, not knowing when to stop. Would Brien tell him or would he just let him keep walking till he hit the bottom.
They walked on for what felt like hours. Brien's thick boots sounded like gun shots as they hit the stairs. Finally they reached Floor -19.
“Stop.” Brien commanded as he walked forward. He pulled out a ring of keys and unlocked the door. “Go Inside. Look around, do whatever you want, then come back out and go upstairs on your own. I don't have time to sit around with you for hours. If you take anything out of the room I will have you arrested. If you share the information with anyone who is not a 16 I will have to arrested. I am having a really really bad day so I would not suggest annoying me. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes Sir.” Philip said, strongly resisting the urge to salute.
“Good.” The Head Foreman turned on his heel and strode off.
Philip sighed, opened the door and stepped inside.
The room was relatively bare. There was a table and chair with a big book set on it and that was about it except for a painting hanging on the wall and a cupboard that contained various food stuffs and beverages. Philip poured himself a glass of Apple Cider and opened the book. He read the first page and then read it again. Surely this had to be a joke. He read the page for the third time and then turned to page two. Again he read the page several times.
What was this? Some kind of hazing ritual for new 16s? Show them a book of nonsense? He decided to keep reading and play along with whatever joke was being played on him. By page 107 he decided that maybe there wasn't a joke after all, but this stuff he was reading couldn't possibly be true, could it?
He flipped to a random page in the book and almost had a heart attack. What? No, no this had to be a joke or he must've misread it or something. No, he did read it right, Good Lord! He had to get out of here and talk to Margret, how could she not have mentioned this? He threw the book down and ran out the door without bothering to close it.
Philip sprinted up the seventeen flights of stairs until he reached Floor one. He ran out the door and flung it closed behind him. It shut with a huge bang. Everyone turned to stare at him, but he didn't care. He needed to find Margret for her to tell him that yes it was a joke. That what he had read wasn't true.