Emeros X

Day 3.1

Before Erin could walk in the doors for her last day, Richard pulled her arm and started walking back to the parking lot.

“Richard, where are we going?”

“Park.”

“Why?”

“I don’t like the testing facility. That’s why.”

He stopped walking when he got to a shiny new car, tapping the door handle to unlock it. Erin stared at the car, unsure of whether or not the slight click was the passenger door unlocking or not. Richard leaned over the seat and opened the door.

“Come on, before they notice we’re not coming,” Richard looked back toward the building before turning to her, urging her to get in.

Erin hadn’t so much as put her seatbelt on when Richard was already speeding out of the parking lot and down the street.

“Don’t you think you’re going a little too fast?”

“What are they going to do? Call the police? My uncle is the chief.”

Richard kept driving until he reached the part of the town that was the least crowded. He pulled into the tiny parking lot of the only park in town, cutting the engine.

“So.”

“So?”

“How do you like the testing facility? It’s nice?”

Erin nodded, glancing out the front windows at the empty swing set.

“And your room? It’s nice too?”

“Richard, what are we doing here?

It was Richard’s turn to look out the window. He immediately stopped talking and pulled his legs up on the seat.

“I didn’t take them,” he stammered.

“Take what?”

Richard opened the center console and pulled out a small bag, rubbing the plastic between his fingers. Inside, Erin could see two little white pill capsules with little the letter “x” stamped on them in black. They moved to the corner of the bag as Richard slowly opened it, flipping it upside down over his hand. They fell onto his palms, sitting there as he looked up at Erin.

“You didn’t take your pills?”

“They’re too big to swallow,” he choked.

“That’s weird then. They should’ve made the male pills the same size as the female pills. Mine are only this big,” Erin grabbed one of the capsules and pinched it to show the tiny pills she took the past two days.

“What?”

“What? My pills are just smaller.”

“They’re not supposed to be. What do they look like? What else?”

“Well, they’re small, round and pink with a little ‘x’ printed on them. They taste like…”

“Erin.”

Erin looked up at Richard, whose pupils were large and round. Erin arched her brows, waiting for him to respond.

“You took the placebos.”