Factory Reset | ✓

reset

I glanced around my room, looking for the door. I knew I couldn't see it but the fact that I've been escorted both out of this room and back into it meant there had to be a door somewhere.

But how would you find something that wasn't there?

There were no calls back on the tablet either, so I left it sitting face down under the bed. I didn't want to think about the voice right now or the things it had said to me. I just wanted to escape.

My backpack was gone yet surprisingly, I was lucky enough to keep one jacket with me. I reached into its pockets, trying to warm my hands, when I ended up finding something.

My fingers curled around the tiny object and I pulled it out, bringing it to the light. It was one of the seashells from the last room I was in, but I didn't remember placing it in my pocket.

I peered at it, turning it over in my hands. It was about the size of my palm and it resembled the color of sand. A few rotations later and I realized it was broken — jagged edges lined its exterior.

I ran my thumb along the surface, feeling the cool touch of the seashell. Maybe freshly picked like the seashells in the other room, but those ones weren't broken — this one definitely was.

Curiosity got the better of me and I let myself run my thumb over the edge of the seashell. It felt as sharp as I expected and it hurt just as much as I expected it to. If I felt pain, was I alive then?

The second I saw red, I let the seashell fall to the ground and I nearly fell backwards. It was just a tiny droplet of blood on my thumb but after seeing so much white lately, it scared me.

Yet it was so familiar. Where had I last seen blood?

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to keep my brain from traveling back to the past again, but I couldn't keep my grip on reality long enough. I couldn't stop myself from remembering.

Blood dripped down my legs and pooled down by my feet. I didn't expect to trip down the stairs like that. It was so embarrassing but when I was in a hurry, I could be clumsy. The cold air stung my injuries.

"Aura, is this what you really want? You know you can't come back from this, right?"

I looked at her — really looked at her — and she didn't seem to believe me. Our plan was reckless, sure, but we all agreed on it together. Why suddenly get cold feet the night before it would all happen?

"Yes... it's what we all want. It's what we deserve, actually."

Why were my memories coming back in pieces?

Pieces that I couldn't fit together — pieces that scared me and made me question who I really was. The more I was starting to remember, the more I wanted it to stop, but it wouldn't stop.

"What will you tell your parents?" I asked, trying not to sound as weak as I felt.

Lana stared at me as if she couldn't believe I was asking again."You know, the plan."

"Right..." I trailed off.

"Hey, Aura?" she suddenly said. "We can do this without you if you want."

"What life is there left for me here?" I said. "It's better to leave while I can."

I screamed, clawing at the white walls around me. I knew I was being watched, so why weren't they doing anything? Why were they just letting me fall apart like this, over and over again?

As if by magic, the wall across from my bed parted and a door became visible. A door that I couldn't see before. The door I was looking so hard to try and find. It was always there.

Was the same true of my memories? Were they hidden behind a wall in my mind?

Before I could think over it more, the door started to open, and for the first time, I could see who was waiting for me just outside. We made eye contact and my heart froze for a moment.

I couldn't remember the last time I had seen another person before. The first thing I noticed about the woman was that she was alone and that she wasn't making any moves to grab me. And then I noticed her clothes — just as white as mine while her black hair hung in a loose ponytail.

"Aura," she whispered as if speaking any louder would scare me away. "It is time."

I opened my mouth to speak but I couldn't find the words. I couldn't even find my voice. I had been so trapped in my mind before her arrival that I couldn't help but be frozen in place.

"Please don't make this any harder than it needs to me," she pleaded. "Follow me."

My feet moved on their own and I followed her out of my room. It seemed as if my time was here. There was no more use in fighting anymore. What chance did I stand against them?

She led me out into the open hallways, but unlike me, it seemed like she knew where she was going. She didn't frantically check each door like I did — she just kept walking straight.

After a while of walking, she stopped at a door with the label of FR4. Another label that I didn't know what it meant. Though, given what's happened, it couldn't mean anything good for me.

"I won't be able to go with you," the woman said. "You'll have to go alone."

▬▬▬

As much as I didn't want to, I opened the door and walked inside the room.

Whatever was going to happen to me was going to happen anyways. The sooner I got this over with, the better. Then I could go back to... what was I going back to anyways? There was nothing.

Just like the past few rooms I visited, I took a moment to look around the new room I found myself in. It was empty of people but I had a feeling that it wouldn't stay that way for long.

The door was still there — now locked, which was to be expected.

Other than the door, the walls were empty, not even a single window graced them. Though, unlike the other rooms, this one did have more furniture; cabinets with drawers and shelves. I could only imagine what kinds of things were hidden inside them, waiting to be revealed.

But the main allure to the room was the chair in the middle with a bowl-shaped metal attached to its spine. It looked like one of those chairs that people in salons would sit in to dry their hair.

Except this wasn't a salon and I wasn't here to get my hair fixed.