The Enhanced

Chapter Fifty

The next day I had still not recovered from my argument with Jones. It still haunted me and every time I thought of it I got upset and angry all over again.

I had lessons again, and again I did nothing. The teachers were different now, I realise they have no other classes to teach, no other work to mark. All of their students had died, probably long ago. I wonder what they've been doing for all of this time. Sometimes I sense sadness, sometimes I look up to see them glancing around the empty room, where each girl would have sat and listened to them for hours on end. But every time I remember that they played a part in it, and I feel no sympathy for these people.

Every person in this building was a cold blooded murderer, and none of them seemed to realise it.

I arrive at my Combat lesson and feel my heart soften the moment I walk through the door. Aaron was the only person I seemed able to forgive. Somehow I just couldn't find it in myself to blame him for any of it.

The guards wait outside as usual and I take a seat on the bench to next to Aaron who was busy putting on his sparring gear.

"I'll stop you right there, I'm not doing anything in this lesson," I tell him.

He stops and looks at me for a moment, waiting for me to continue or explain but I offer nothing. And then he nods and begins to take it all of again, before sitting next to me again.

"What's the plan, Juliet?" he asks.

I laugh quietly. "There is no plan, there was a plan before, when I had a future. But now, I am just going to sit," I reply.

"And you're going to be the defiant teenage girl you refuses to do what anyone says and then what?" he asks.

I sit up. "Aaron I need you to understand,"

"Understand what?" he asks, meeting my eyes.

"This," I say, motioning to myself, "this is me giving up," I reply.

He doesn't say anything and we sit in silence for the rest of lesson. The guards come in and escort me out where I request a shower. We walk all the way to the shower room where they hand me a towel and a bar of soap.

I look at them expectantly. "What? No razor?" I ask.

He shakes his head, "you're not permitted to have any weapon, or anything that could be perceived as a weapon," he informs me.

I roll my eyes. "What? Scared I'll hurt you?" I ask.

Neither of them answer and they take their stations outside the room. The room was eerie, quiet. It felt strange for it to be in such disuse, no one used it but me now. Hundreds of cubicles used everyday by thousands of girls, and then suddenly abandoned completely.

I scrub myself under the warm water and hang back for a while, savouring the moments of peace and quiet. Savouring the time alone.

When a guard finally sticks his head and barks at me to hurry up, I switch the water off and wrap myself in a towel. I was ready to get back to my room and try and get some sleep. Taking a moment to step out of the shower and dry myself before getting dressed. It was a windowless room and quite musty now.

I wander around the room aimlessly, peeking in cubicles, some were mouldy and damp. Everything was so lonely in here.

Out of the corner of my eye, the small glint of metal catches my attention. I march over to the specific cubicle and pull back the curtain completely. In the lockable water tight box was a small object. I pick it up and study it closely before rushing to put my clothes on.