Virus | The Darkest Minds Ψ

Going, Going, Gone

Chapter III

Clancy Gray was gone.

It had been two years since I arrived, and today Clancy was just — gone.

A woman came into the — what, rec room?— the morning he disappeared with a faux smile on her face. Nico and I were sitting tensely on a black couch next to each other.

"Good news, Psi!" She said cheerfully, glancing around the room at the blank faces. "Clancy Gray has been cured of the effects you all gained from IAAN, and I'm sure you will all start making a full recovery soon."

He broke his promise.

All fourteen of us glanced at each other. None of us bought it for a second. There was no way that Clancy had been cured of his effects. He hadn't been making any headway with his testings, none of us had. This was a ploy from the President. Even if I was only nine, I wasn't that naive seven year old who accepted things without a second thought, and assumed things would be alright.

He's gone, though. What if he doesn't care anymore?

No, Clancy was me and Nico's friend. He wouldn't have left without us on purpose. He couldn't have.

Weeks passed. PSF's played television, and all it showed was Clancy standing in a neat, starched suit, his dark hair slicked back, making speeches everywhere about how amazing the rehabilitation program was, how grateful he was for the opportunity to be in such a kind and healing environment.

Right, yes. Of course. Kind and nurturing was exactly what we all thought of stuck in this room.

Clancy was being forced to say these words. You could tell from the glazed look in his eyes and the strained, practiced smile. Although we both were better friends with Nico than each other, I had shared a room with him for two years. I knew when I saw the lies.

Nico was most affected by Clancy leaving, and was even more depressed than usual. Nico was all I had in this dark place, and I him, so I tried my best to be enough for him. I cracked idiotic jokes, and sometimes I was rewarded with his shy smile.

I made sure to keep up a mask most of the time. I was a blank slate around the PSF's, and let no emotion cross my face. Yet with Nico, my childlike silliness and cheerfulness peeked through the cracks. He was the only one in years now who had brought out that side of me. Nico was like a little brother, and he had even trusted me enough to tell of his attraction to Clancy.

A year and a half later

"What was it this time?" Nico asked warily after I entered our tiny room. I collapsed onto my cot, staring wearily at the blank, beige wall.

"Brain testing," I bit out, my head throbbing. "Again."

Nico reached out and rubbed my hand soothingly, the only way he knew how to comfort me.

"Is there anything I can do?" He asked softly, his dark eyes full of concern. He asked this every time, even though there was nothing he could do. And we both knew it.

"No, thanks," I answered with a smile, like I always did. "I'm tired."

"You should get some sleep," Nico said resolutely, and threw the thin blanket over me, tucking it in tightly. He reached over and gave me a hug, is head resting on my shoulder.

"Goodnight, Azzy," he said, climbing into his own cot.

"Goodnight, Neeks," I smiled.

The last one I would wear for a very long time.