A Veil Between Worlds

Chapter 4: The Second

Thursday Afternoon (November 3rd)

Due to Anastasia's rough day yesterday she decided to take the day off of school, she had told the school ahead of time and Alison promised to get the homework for her and drop it off. Whatever she saw on the drive home was really messing with her brain. She hasn't seen it since then, but she couldn't stop thinking about what she saw. It looked exactly like what she had seen at the crime scene, but this time she could see the rest of the body, if that was what it even looked like. She didn't know how accurate the body actually was, but if it was even remotely close to what she saw yesterday then she didn't know how the officers were working the crime scene.

Anastasia was working on homework when she started to get thirsty. She closed her textbook and stood from her bed. Anastasia walked down the stairs to see Maeve sitting on the couch watching TV. Whatever she was watching she looked very intrigued by it. Anastasia walked into the kitchen and grabbed a cup out of the cupboard and filled it up with water. Maeve looked over her shoulder and at Anastasia. "Anastasia, is it okay if I tell you something?" Maeve asked.

"Sure. What's up?" Anastasia asked as she walked over to the couch."Promise me you won't think I'm crazy," Maeve said and Anastasia was a bit worried about where this conversation could go. "I promise," Anastasia said and Maeve took in a deep breath. "I escaped from Saint Joseph's Mental Health Institution," Maeve said and Anastasia's eyes widened slightly as her body froze. The time she spent there began to come to mind.

"I promise I'm not insane or anything, I just felt like I should tell you because-" Maeve started as she began to panic at Anastasia's reaction. "I know, don't worry," Anastasia said and Maeve took a deep breath. "Oh, okay," Maeve said.

"Do you mind if I ask a few questions?" Anastasia asked as she began to scratch the pad of her thumb, Maeve nodded a bit confused, but she just assumed Anastasia was curious about why she was there. "Did the people in there call it The Institute?" Anastasia asked and Maeve's face contorted into confusion and fear. "Yes. How did you know that?" Maeve asked and Anastasia ignored Maeve's question for the moment. "What project were you a part of?" Anastasia asked Maeve was frozen in her spot.

"The Agent Project," Maeve said in a quiet voice, once she felt like she could speak. "You are one of them, aren't you?" Maeve asked, scared that she had revealed herself to the wrong person. "No, no, I would never be like that," Anastasia said as she felt bad since she noticed how stiff Maeve got. Anastasia could see Maeve physically relax. "How did you know about the Institute then?" Maeve asked as what Anastasia said processed in her head.

"I lived there for the first fourteen years of my life," Anastasia said and something seemed to register in Maeve's brain. "You're the Anastasia. You were top in your class and the first agent to complete a mission at thirteen. Your escape completely changed the Institute's security," Maeve said and Anastasia was a bit confused. "They talked about me after I left?" Anastasia asked.

"Yeah, you're kind of a role model for the girls in the Institute. The level you got to at thirteen is what everyone strives to get to by that age. I mean, it's completely insane, you had to have trained for hours every day to get that high in ranks," Maeve said and Anastasia was shocked by the whole role model thing. "Yeah, and I spent most nights in the infirmary for malnutrition and dehydration," Anastasia stated.

"What?" Maeve asked and Anastasia looked away from Maeve for a moment. "I trained so much from the ages of five to fourteen that I barely had time to eat and rarely took water breaks. So every night after training I would end up in the infirmary with an IV in my arm," Anastasia said and Anastasia decided to change the subject. "If my escape changed security in the Institute then how did you escape?" Anastasia asked.