Blank Slates

Chapter 9

 "FACE FORWARD!"

It seemed as if everyone was exponentially more tense that day. She straightened her back and stared ahead as told. The Warden walked the between the rows of desks, eyeing each student. His stick slammed harshly on the desk behind her. She flinched slightly, but kept looking straight ahead. The Warden berated the tyro while she and the rest of the class sat and listened in silence. When there was no reply to admonishments, a harsh slap was received to the youngster's face. A brief "I'm sorry," slipped from her lips pitifully before the Warden moved on.

He came to her and his eyes scanned her up and down from her dark hair and across her white uniform to her white shoes. She sat perfectly still and did not turn her head to face him. Her hands were kept folded on her desk, and she stared blankly ahead, but inside, her heart was racing. He studied her closely. She could feel his warm breath on the back of her neck, and it made her hairs stand up.

"12505A," he muttered. She did not move. "Might you explain what that mark on your wrist is?"

She eyes slowly drifted to the long thin red mark cutting across her wrist. Memories from the previous night flooded in, and it took nearly all her concentration to keep herself from trembling. Her eyes shifted forward and she resumed to staring at the board in front of her.

"I just accidentally scratched myself on something," she replied in a quiet but firm voice. The Warden did not move.

"12505A," he said again. "You know the rules. Speak clearly and precisely. Tell me the exact circumstances by which you received that injury."

She took a deep breath. A flurry of thoughts raced through her head but none of it was true. She kept her eyes straight ahead. There was no way she could tell the truth. The punishment for self harm was very grave. 122305B proved that a few months ago.

"I was reaching over to grab a paper that had fallen between the wire fence last Thursday afternoon." she answered. She made sure to keep her voice steady and even. "I recoiled too fast and I scraped my arm on one of the barbs by accident."

The Warden looked at her keenly. "By accident? 12505A, there are no accidents here. What will have to do about that? If what you say is indeed the truth, then we have a major complication. Can you tell me the punishments for accidents?"

Her heart pounded harshly in her chest. "Labor all night, sir." she answered.

The Warden gave a crooked smile. "Thus will be your punishment. Be happy that is was merely an accident and not an intentional error. That would have resulted with a more severe punishment. Do you understand, 12505A?"

She didn't even nod. "Yes, sir."

"Excellent," the Warden said before moving on the the next "victim." She nearly slumped back in her seat, but she knew better. That would only warranted more punishments. As instructed, she kept her eyes facing forward. She did not flinch when the Warden yelled at another student. She just sat quietly, waiting for it to all be over.

The lessons that day were long and tiresome. The Pedagogue went through the normal procedure of reminding everyone about the paramountcy of obeying every and all rules before lecturing about arithmetic and language. The class was dead silent; the only sound was of the Pedagogue's deep, gravely voice and the occasional tapping of the stick on the board. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the person next to her, the one known as 31505A, turn to glance at the clock. Immediately, the Pedagogue stopped the lesson and turned to the unfortunate student. The Pedagogue's voice echoed loudly in the quiet room.

At last, the final bell rang. At that point, her head was oversaturated with all the information, and she couldn't take in any more. She stayed seated until the Pedagogue dismissed them. At once, she and thirty other pupils stood, gathered their things, and walked out the door. The footsteps echoed in the silent white halls. She made a turn to the left and walked silently to her dormitory, following the others from the same building. One by one, they dropped out of the line as they reached their door. She reached her room and entered. Her roommate was already there, watching her with her deep blue eyes. They exchanged glances silently. She then turned to face the door and waited for the announcements of the day. The list of offenders were high that day, and she was part of them. The first exam tomorrow, so they were encouraged to get enough rest. As always the Warden concluded by saying, "Thank you. Remember, We Are The Truth," and then the intercom clicked off.

She sighed quietly. It was going to be a long night.

***

Her first job was to sweep the leaves off the massive courtyard. She was handed a broom, and she got to work, silently as usual. The cool night wind blew around her, and she pulled her jacket tightly around herself. The silence of the night was interrupted by the sound of soft footsteps, pattering across the white pavement. She stopped sweeping and listened again. There it was, soft steps, like raindrops. She looked around herself, attempting to detect the source of the noise, but the courtyard was empty and as quiet as a graveyard. She took one more look and in a spur of the moment, took off toward the sound of the footsteps. She darted around the corner and ran smack into a boy. He was not dressed in the normal white uniform. Instead, the boy wore all black, from head to toe. His face was covered except for his shining blue eyes. She nearly let out a cry of surprise, but the boy quickly rushed at her, clamping his hand over her mouth.

"Shh," he whispered, his warm breath tickling her ear. "Don't make a sound."

At first, she struggled. It was her instinct to get away from this intruder who broke curfew and protocol. She squirmed and kicked to get out of his grip, but he held firm. Her eyes scanned around her, but the courtyard remained empty and silent.

"Come with me," he ordered and suddenly dragged her away with him. She struggled some more and eventually landed a solid punch to his stomach. His grip on her loosened, so she bit his hand that was over her mouth. The boy's hands flew off her mouth and she spun around and managed to rip off the mask covering his face. He looked about her age; his eyes were blue and his face was pale. He had a scar across his left cheek, but he was not unattractive. He took a step toward her, and she let out a loud scream. The noise echoed across the empty courtyard. Immediately, the alarms went off. The boy immediately shoved her to the ground, his blue eyes displaying pure and utter terror. Before she knew it, he was gone. The Sentinels rushed in and they surrounded the frighted girl on the ground. The leader of the Sentinels was a tall man with a full beard. He looked down at her with his dark eyes.

"What did you see, 12505A?" he asked briskly.

She opened her mouth, but she could barely form the words. The images of the blue eyed boy flashed before her eyes. He was probably part of the Insurgents. If he was caught, he would most likely be killed.

The Sentinel captain sighed in frustration. He hoisted her up as if she weighed nothing and placed her on her feet. "You better tell me what you saw or else we will have to discipline you for causing a disruption and being out of line."

She hesitated. "An Insurgent" she said simply, half wanting to keep the boy secret.

"Get back to your quarters and stay there until morning." he ordered roughly.

Without a word, she nodded and fled into the building. Sentinels ran around the campus in pairs, searching for the intruder. She entered her room and shut the door behind her. She turned around and saw 101505B's empty bed. She looked to the left and the the blue eyed boy was staring back to her.

"You're not going anywhere," he said. Before she could react, he sprayed something in her face, making her vision blurry. She felt herself start to lose consciousness and she crumpled to the ground.

"No..." she whimpered softly.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, his voice displaying an odd sort of remorse. "But I didn't expect you to be this much trouble."

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Might be a while before I upload the next part. Thanks for reading :)