The Seventh Year

Chapter 1

Seven is the magic number. While there is conflicting studies about it, one cannot help but notice that there is some fact behind the seven year itch. After seven years, the honeymoon phase is over. A partner might start to feel like they've made a mistake in their chosen partner. They decide it's better to get out the marriage sooner than later. John might start to understand why his mother was telling him that Sarah wasn't the right one for him. Then there's the responsibility of having children. People start to choose their work over their marriage and family. Some feel like they've been caged or have had their wings clipped. People stop being in love. People cheat. The seven year itch is noticeable. At least it was.

Ram Fam came out of nowhere. Before founding RF, Mitchell Ramsey was a very successful family law attorney. He decided to leave his attorney role to create RF, an experimental agency that conducts studies on different matters relating to the family. Ramsey's goal was to put an end to the seven year itch, literally. The experiment, simply named "The Seventh Year", would see partners split after seven years. The usual divorce process would not happen, it was the rule for partners to split after seven years. Ramsey made it so that only newly weds were eligible. Through this study, Ramsey wanted to check to see how several factors related to marriage potentially changed. After the seventh year ended with his first experimental group, Ramsey was not shocked by the results. Through countless check-ins and tests, Ramsey and his team found that partners experienced little to no depression or sadness in their seven years together. On the contrary, partners experienced extreme happiness in their years together. Partners knew their time was limited so they did more, saw more, loved more. However, there was one tricky situation as a result of this experiment: children. While it was risky to have children due to the outcome of the study, many wished to still have kids. Everyone was clearly made aware of the rules of having a child in the study. First, any children had during the study would ultimately have to take part in the study when they grew up. There was basically two options concerning children. At the end of the seven years, one partner had the choice to keep the child, but both cannot. If both parents decided to forego keeping the child, then the child would fall under the custody of RF itself. 

Now, there are different stages that RF offered each newly wed. The first was the most popular. The first stage simply had individuals take place in the study for seven years. Once the seven years ended, the individual must separate from their partner and never become involved with them again. To ensure this, individuals must move to separate states as well start a new career, all of which RF greatly pays the individuals for. Once this is accomplished, RF no longer has the right to mingle with the lives of these individuals. The only thing the individuals must respect is never going back to the same original job, partner, or state they were in during the seven year period. Stage 2 sees individuals be part of the study for fourteen years. The same rules apply, except after the first seven years, individuals must remarry someone else from the study where they will now spend their next seven years together. Stage 3 has individuals be part of the study for 21 years, stage 4 is 28 years, and so on. Ramsey was unsure at first about how many people would choose something like stage 3, even stage 2. But people loved the idea. All participants were paid appropriately by RF and people simply loved getting to meet new people. Members of the study no longer questioned what life would be like with someone else, they instead experienced it. There was no more wondering about the one that got away. 

Eventually, everyone knew about RF. It was popular, so popular that it became mandated in the United States for every newly wed to be offered the choice to partake in the experiment. Some families were drove apart, family and friends accused individuals of just getting married for the money. But in all honesty it was the truth, and those who took part in the study weren't afraid to admit that. The pay by RF made it possible for individuals to be comfortable in their marriage and to have children. Opponents of RF called their rules regarding children to be unethical. But at the end of the day, it was the individuals in the study who chose to have children. They knew the rules if they did. Overall, the majority of Americans were in favor of RF and what it was doing. Many even offered to be part of the experiment for the rest of their lives. 

One such individual is Ben Stewart. Ben Stewart got married at 21 to Joan Henderson who was also 21. Ben and Joan both came from rough backgrounds. Ben lost his parents at a young age and Joan's parents chose to not be involved in her life. With not much to their names besides the love they had for another, the two decided to take part in RF's study. Joan took the 3 stage plan while Ben took the plan for the remainder of his life. 

Joan is now 42. She's driving home from her job as a school teacher in Arizona. She figured that 21 years in the study would be enough for her. She thought she'd be set up well enough financially after that and she was. Out of the three partners she had, no one could compare to Ben. She missed him terribly. Besides the money, Joan stayed in the study for two more stages just to try to get Ben off her mind and be with someone else. It worked for awhile, she met two other great men, but they weren't Ben. However, she was grateful for her other experiences and had a great 14 years with the other men, deciding to even have a child with her third husband. But now that it was all said and done, Joan longed for Ben. But she would never be able to have him. Joan had stayed at the high school late, helping prepare the decorations for the dance. But she liked driving at night, especially with the windows down. She thought about the possibility of never marrying again. She was always eligible to come back to the study but at 42, she felt that she ought to just rest for the single life. If she were to get married again, she would find a partner who wasn't interested in taking part in RF. This time the marriage would be long-term. But these thoughts of marrying again were interrupted by a car that Joan realized had been following her since she left the school parking lot. Joan wasn't the type to get easily rattled but this car had been on her for awhile. She came to a crossroads and decided to put her right turn signal on. In reality she was going straight. She looked in her mirror to see the car behind her also put on their right turn signal. Once close to the turn, Joan turned her signal off and sped up to go straight, to her horror the car behind her followed suit, turning off its signal and staying attached to Joan. Joan pushed her car to higher speeds than she was comfortable going. Maybe she was overthinking everything, but this car was making her uncomfortable. The car kept up in speed with Joan. She was being followed. Thankfully, on the way to her house was a police station. Joan knew it was coming up soon and set her sights there, no longer looking in the mirror. When she finally pulled into the station and took a look behind her, the car was no longer there, or anywhere in sight. When had it trailed off? Joan wondered. 

Joan was now at home fixing herself up some dinner. While she didn't live in the middle of nowhere, it was still a good distance away from other houses so that the neighbors weren't breathing down her neck, which she preferred. As she was enjoying a movie, Joan's phone went off. As she picked up, all she heard were cries. The cries of a baby. She didn't know what to make of the call. There was no caller ID. Someone was playing a sick prank on her but she had no idea who would do such a thing. She ended the call. She wasn't feeling the movie anymore. She had always lost her appetite. First the car that was definitely following her and now the strange call. As she got ready to retreat to her bed, she received another call.

"Listen, I don't know who this is, but please do not call this number." Joan yelled.

"Do you remember me, mom?" A dark, sinister voice responded from the phone.