Mars slowly opened her eyes, her body halfway submerged in an inch or so of liquid that rippled with her every movement. As her eyes adjusted to her environment she could make out her surroundings...
A flat plane covered in about an inch of orangish gold liquid surrounded by similarly colored clouds and a fog obstructed her vision, making it hard to see more than 10 feet in front of her.
"Hello?" Mars called out into the distance
No response.
Mars, without anything else to do, began to walk into the fog.
She walked for a while before the fog cleared revealing a building,
It was large and made from stone, its massive pillars holding up a triangular roof with the words "MEMORY BANK" chiseled into it.
"Memory bank?" Mars said in confusion surveying the building before curiosity got the better of her and she walked in...
The "bank" was huge, seemingly bigger on the inside than it appeared on the outside.
As Mars walked around the building a large collection of file cabinets caught her eye.
Mars walked to the cabinets and looked at them closely, each had a date on them and nothing else.
She picked one from random and pulled it open.
***
4/12/18
***
Mars was curled up in the corner of her room sobbing, her hands pressed tightly against her ears desperately trying to blot out the noise of her parents yelling and fighting in the other room.
She just sat there shaking and crying as she heard the sounds of indistinct shouting and the sounds of things being knocked over and broken.
Tears were streaming down her face and she wanted nothing more than for this to be over...
***
"Oh..." Mars said teary-eyed,
"These are my memories..." She said as she looked up at the rest of the cabinets
Mars walked over to another cabinet and pulled it open.
***
12/10/23
***
Mars was walking through the halls of the school, keeping her head down when all of a sudden she saw something shiny fall to the ground.
A silver bracelet made out of fake pearls and a silver crescent moon charm.
"hey uh, someone dropped their bracelet!" mars shouted into the crowd.
"Oh hey! That's mine!" A girl with blonde hair said, pushing against the crowd, walking to mars
"Thanks for picking it up, I hadn't even realized I dropped it!" the blonde said
"Y- Yeah uh here ya go," Mars says trying to avoid eye contact with the other girl.
"Hey, you're new right?" The blonde asked
"Yeah I uh just started going here..." Mars said occasionally letting herself glance at the girl.
"Oh cool, well feel free to sit with me and my friends if you want to! We sit at the table near the art room!"
"Oh uh yeah, cool I might um..." Mars says nervously struggling to finish her sentence
The girl chuckles softly and smiles "See you around new kid!" She says as she walks off to her next class
"Y-Yeah... see you too!..."
***
"Ah! There you are!" A familiar, and honestly slightly annoying voice calls out
Mars slams the cabinet shut in a panic and quickly turns to look at the person who called out to her and sees Ajax.
"Ajax? What are you doing here!? Actually, where is here?" Mars asks from across the room
"Ah, well I'm not quite sure, this has never happened to me before but I think we're inside your mind," Ajax responds as he walks up to Mars.
Mars was about to say something but then she stopped herself "Actually, that kinda makes sense..."
"Yes, it appears that because the both of us are trying to control your body at once coincidentally neither of us can do anything until one of us forfeits our place here..." Ajax says
"So are we just stuck here then?" Mars asks
"Yes technically but I've been thinking..." Ajax starts
"You... deserve to keep going, it wasn't right of me to do what I did and... and... god why is this so hard to say..."
"Look mars..."
"I'm sorry" Ajax says
"So, does this mean you're giving me back my body?!" Mars said excitedly
"Yes mars, I... I suppose it does..." Ajax mumbles
"So wait, what's going to happen to you," Mars asks.
"To be honest, I'm not quite sure but, I know that it's the right choice to make."
Mars was stunned. She just stood there for a while until Ajax held out his hand.
"You deserve to be happy after everything you've gone through... please, this is my final offer, shake my hand and you can go back to normal," Ajax says sincerely.
Mars hesitated, it wouldn't be unlike Ajax to trick her but she could tell that he wasn't lying...
She reaches out her hand "Okay... Deal." she says
"I wish you well Mars," Ajax says before grabbing her hand and shaking it...
and then,
Mars wakes up.
YOU ARE READING
When I Reach The End
Teen FictionWhen a depressed 9th grader named Mars is offered an ominous deal she has no choice but to take it. (TW: Swearing, implications of suicide)
