𝐙𝐄𝐑𝐎 - 𝟎𝟎𝟏 𝐅𝐀𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐂 ✔️

016

You've had the same recurring dream for a week. You're engulfed in nothing, all around you—an endless black void. Eventually, the rose makes its way into the light.

It's still dead, hanging on its side lifelessly. In the light, it calls for you to revive it and you try, but you can't. At least, not all the way.

For a second, you do, and it is living again before it writhes back into what it once was. Leaving you both in an indisputable amount of pain. Dead it had been and dead it was again. The rose was never coming back.

And then you wake up.

The same thing had happened today. Dreams were of no stranger to you, but you had never had the same one for a week straight. It was growing on your nerves. Earlier in the day, you'd tried to revive the rose, taking the dream as a sign, but you'd only gotten the same result.

Maybe it just wasn't meant to be.

001 laid beside you in the library, head in lap. It had long since become your little hangout spot. He held a comic above his head, reading the panels enthusiastically.

Months had passed—maybe more—and Alex still hadn't returned. But people here don't come and go. If they come they're here forever, and she'd gone... You guessed for her, the outcome was the same. Without her, the library felt empty, less welcoming, but that didn't stop you and 001 from coming often.

The two of you were hidden in the farthest corner of the library, in a nook behind the sections. It was the only place the two of you could ever really be alone. Where the cameras themselves could only get a clear glimpse of your feet.

With that in mind, 001 raises from his comfortable position. Papa had eased slightly from his previous rules and in that time, stopped cutting your hair. Now, it was too short to call a bob , too short to call much of anything, but it suited you and you were glad it was back. The hair decorated your head suitingly. The same was for 001, whose short inches were golden and silky.

You run your fingers through his hair, still not used to the sight or the feeling, but you loved it. 001 smiles and in return, leans in for a kiss. It was only when his lips met yours that you were your true, vulnerable self. The barriers that guarded your heart and mind fell back for a chance to let him inside.

"001," you giggle against his lips, "the orderlies—"

"I paid them off," he groans, hand stroking the tattoo on your wrist.

You roll your eyes. "They can still hear us,"

"Be quiet then."

This shuts you up and allows him to better lock his lips with yours. Twelve year old you would have never expected that in just a few years, you'd be kissing your best friend. Twelve year old you wouldn't have expected a lot of things.

The crumpled photo falls out of your pocket. Carrying it around everywhere had become a habit. Every time you saw it, it reminded you of the deceiving nature of this place. All the lies, the secrets, the fabricated memories...

It brought you back to reality when your delusions threatened to convince you that this was a "happy" place. The happy smiles on the photo reminded you that no one could be trusted. Nothing here was real. Nothing well, except for 001.

He pulls away to pick up the fallen paper. He'd never seen it before now. There's no expression on his face, no tone in his voice when he says, "Your mother."

You nod. "Yeah, Papa gave it to me after we got... caught."

"He thought a photo would answer your questions,?" he scoffs.