Fragments

8

Kellan leads me through the narrow passage behind the room, his grip firm and steady on my hand. My mind is a whirlwind of questions and revelations, the reality of what just happened crashing over me in relentless waves. The truth is there, raw and undeniable-Kellan was real, and the fragments of memories the Ministry tried to erase were actual pieces of my life.

The corridor twists and turns, its dim lighting casting eerie shadows on the walls. My breathing is ragged, my body trembling as we move further away from the room where I had almost been erased. Kellan moves with purpose, glancing back at me every few steps, his expression set with determination.

"We're almost there," he urges softly.

"Almost where?" I manage to ask, my voice a whisper, still rough from the panic and adrenaline.

"A checkpoint," he replies. "We can't stay in the Ministry for long. They'll figure out the deception soon enough."

We reach the end of the passage, and Kellan pauses, pressing his ear against a metal door. After a moment, he opens it cautiously, peering out into another darkened hallway. He gestures for me to follow, and we slip through, moving swiftly toward a staircase at the far end. As we descend, the air grows cooler, a stale, musty scent filling the narrow space.

He finally stops at a door marked with an old, faded symbol that looks like a triangle that's been crossed through-a symbol I vaguely recognize but can't place. Kellan punches a code into a keypad beside the door, and it clicks open. We step inside a small room filled with old machinery, pipes snaking along the walls. It feels different from the sterile corridors of the Ministry above us. It feels forgotten.

Kellan closes the door behind us, locking it securely. For the first time since he unstrapped me, he releases my hand. I lean against the cold metal wall, struggling to catch my breath. He watches me carefully, his eyes scanning my face as if searching for something.

"Lena," he says quietly, stepping closer. "Are you okay?"

I nod, still in shock that I had left, in shock that tonight would be the first night in my memory that I wouldn't be home, falling asleep beside Elias.

"I know you have questions. I wish I could give you more time to catch your breath, but we need to keep moving. If we stay here too long, they'll find us."

I swallow hard. My voice is shaky when I finally speak. "You were... you were inside the Ministry this whole time? Watching me?"

"Yes," he says, his voice edged with pain. "When they took you the first time, when they erased what they could, I needed to know you were safe, that you were happy. For a while you were, so I kept my distance. But everything has been falling apart lately, hasn't it?"

My lip quivered as I nodded again, feeling seen. "I can't live half a life anymore," I whispered.

He nods, his eyes sympathetic as he moves closer and embraces me. I'm surprised by his boldness, but even more surprised by how familiar it feels. I hug him back, pressing my cheek to his chest.

"They tried to erase you, Lena. They tried to make you think it was all just fragments, just broken pieces of nothing. But they were your life. Our life," he assured me.

The words hit me like a blow. "Our life." Not just mine. There's a weight in those words that I hadn't fully grasped until now. I stare at him, a thousand questions swirling in my mind. How much of my life had Kellan been a part of? How much had the Ministry taken away?

"You mean," I say slowly, trying to piece it together, "you and I... we were...?"

He meets my gaze, and there's a flicker of sadness in his eyes, a wishing that I could remember. "We were everything."