This Reality

10: The Past

Hello!
It's midnight but oh well WHO NEEDS SLEEP?
Here's another chapter! As always, thank you so much for reading and votes/comments are always appreciated.
Enjoy,
Kori.

It's late at night, about 10pm or so. Astrid is sitting in her room alone. She is thinking. Thinking over the events of the day, and the events that tomorrow will bring.

This could be her last night here. Tomorrow night will be spent in a van, on the overnight journey to the Leaders' government building. Who knows what will happen in the days and nights after that?

She has been given a supply of clothes to pack, and a rucksack to pack them in. She is folding some t-shirts when there is a knock on the door.

"Hello, Astrid? May I come in?"
She knows the voice. It's Tiger.
"Yeah, sure," Astrid says, and Tiger steps in.
"Hey," they grin, "how's the packing going?"
"Good, good," nods Astrid. "You?"
"Yeah it's going okay. Hey, can you believe this could be our last night here?"
Astrid sighs. "Yeah, I know. Better make the most of it and sleep well."
Tiger only laughs in response.

"What's so funny?"asks Astrid with a suspicious smile.
"Nothing, it's just that I don't sleep. Not well, anyways. Never more than a few hours, and those hours are usually horrible," explains Tiger.
"Oh, you have... nightmares?" Guesses Astrid.
"Yeah. But the doctors call them 'night terrors'. Makes me sound kinda psycho, huh?"
"No, not necessarily. Do you know... why, why you have them?"
Tiger sighs. "Just... stuff... that happened..." they trail off, leaving their sentence unfinished.
"D-do you wanna... t-talk about it?" Suggests Astrid, fearful of saying the wrong thing.
"Not here."

Five minutes later they are in both sat in the recreational room. So much for getting lots of sleep. There's a balcony with a view over the street. Except there isn't, because the Permitters' headquarters is underground. It's not real, but is made to feel like it is.

"My parents..." begins Tiger, as Astrid listens attentively. "My parents are part of the Leaders."
Astrid is shocked and surprised, but tries not to show it. She doesn't say anything, but looks to Tiger, hoping they'll say more.
"I used to love writing," says Tiger quietly, with a small, sad smile. "I loved making up stories about new people and new places. I never saw anything wrong with it. I remember one story in particular, about a sailor who's boat sunk and they lived underwater with the fish."

Astrid laughs at this, thinking it's cute.
"Hey don't laugh, I was only seven! I was really proud of it. So proud, that I... showed it to my parents."
Astrid's face falls. She knows what happened next.
"They were so mad. They ripped up my story and th-they..."
Tiger can't finish their sentence.
"It's okay, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Astrid tries to comfort them.
"No it's okay... well... they hurt me, to put it gently."

There is a pause.
"Do you still love them?" Astrid asks softly.
"Yes. No. I don't know. I should love them, because they're my parents and all, but they really hurt me and they did kick me out. I came to the Permitters because I knew they would help me. They took me in and I became part of them."
Astrid doesn't believe this. "They really kicked you out for writing stories?"
"Yes. They didn't care that I am agender but they really cared that I liked to write. They really seemed to care."

Tiger stops speaking and there is an uncomfortable pause.
"I can't remember a night that I haven't remembered... it..."
Astrid moves to sit closer to them.
"Is there anything that helps you forget?"
Another pause.
"Just being with people, I guess," Tiger says softly.

Astrid sighs softly and leans back against the wall. She looks at the screen in front of her, showing a city skyline. It looks surprisingly real.
The purpose of the recreational room is to make people think they're not trapped underground. Otherwise people tend to go a bit crazy.

"You never told me about your story," says Tiger. "Your real story, I mean."
Astrid takes a breath. "My parents, they wrote stories. For my younger brother, who was very ill. They wanted him to have something enjoyable, you know? They knew he would live long. He died when he was six."
A pitiful look appears on Tiger's face. "I'm sorry to hear that," they say quietly.
"It's okay. I don't even remember him. I don't even remember my parents," Astrid says sadly. "They were taken away and I was taken with them. They separated us and I woke up in this room."

"How did you get out?" Asks Tiger, intrigued.
"There was this computer device thing. It asked if I knew anyone. I just typed some stuff about the gun and the password and the necklace and these screws fell from the ceiling. It was really weird actually-"

"What? You told a computer about us?" Tiger is worried. If the Leaders store that information, they would know who Astrid knows.
"Yeah, I don't understa-"
"No! Now they know that you remember something! And they know that you know us!"
"Oh. I didn't think of it in that way." Astrid now realises how this may have caused a problem.
"Have you told Milla and Jax that you told the machine about us?"
Astrid shakes her head.
"We have to tell them! Come on!"