Born to Die

Chapter 2: The Struggle to Stay Healthy

Weeks had passed, and I seemed to be the only one plotting a way to escape. Oddly, Chandler had been my roommate along with a girl from school that had looked familiar, but I had not talked to; Grace. She seemed completely awed and still unaware of what was truly going on, what that madman had been really planning for us, like we had all been wondering.

I awoke from my dream, which consisted of me getting out of the hellhole that psycho man called home. I planted my feet on the cold tile floor and slipped on some slippers. At first, I was afraid of people seeing me without being dressed up and with makeup applied perfectly, but after realizing you would spend the rest of your life with these people, you get used to it. I put on my robe and it took me a few moments to remember why I had such a booming headache; I got drunk the night before with a few friends of mine. I proceeded to the cafeteria where I opened up the fridge swiftly and grabbed a Monster Energy Drink from the top shelf. The madman tapped my shoulder, making me jump almost spilling my Monster.

He cleared his throat and put his hand on my chin, "So does your mouth still open, Camilla?" I nodded and smiled widely, making sure he would leave me alone. I had become his favorite, because 75 percent of the other kids just treated him with disrespect and became sickened with various diseases. I knew right away that possibly if I treated him unlike everyone else, I would have a chance at being released from this chamber.

I stuck a large piece of bread into the toaster and turned around to see my boyfriend, that I didn't know was a resident at Mr. Madman's Cavern, which a lot of people had been calling it. He looked shocked to see me here, and wrapped his arms tightly around my neck. I felt bad that I had only thought about him a few times since I became a resident, partly because he looked like he was worried sick about me. His face and lips turned white, and he fell to the floor. I knew he had been injected.

Various nurses came running in with a stretcher and they all had made a slight effort to lift him onto it. His eyes looked lifeless and that moment would scar me for life. I hadn't a clue what my skin was looking like, and it was paler than I had ever seen it in my whole lifetime. I walked down while sipping the remainder of my Monster to the wall of mirrors that had been placed in the gym. Under my eyes were dark purple, and out of fear I ran back to my dorm.

I sat down next to Chandler on my bed and decided I wouldn't take it anymore. Not this sickness, I was too young to die. He looked over my shoulder at my phone while I dialed in 911. I pressed the call button and the call wouldn't go through.

Chandler breathed deeply, "Camilla, they blocked out that number for everyone. Stop trying to get out. We're all going to die, accept it already."

I shook my head and lit a cigarette. A single tear leaked down my face and I knew there wasn't one thing I could do to change the fact that my schoolmates, my friends, my past friends, my fellow peers, and I were going to die. Not one single thing. My vision became blurry, and my eye sight weakened. The darkness swallowed me, and the only thing I could feel was the faint warmth of my cigarette between my fragile fingers.