The Last of the Old Ones

Amber

Chapter Five

It was early the next morning when the light peeking through the window woke me up. I decided to do a little exploring. I stepped into the en suite bathroom after sliding my moccasin-like slippers on, the hardwood floors were colder than I anticipated, to make sure I didn't look like medusa herself after my fitful sleep full of nightmares. Taking some time to brush out my hair and gargle some mouthwash, I noticed the IV in my arm, remembering Elizabeth had placed it yesterday, and the empty iodine bag attached to it. I turned the valve on the IV and unhooked the empty bag just like Elizabeth had shown me how to. I hung the bag on the loop of the IV stand then walked down the dim hallway and looked at all the doors, thinking those must be more rooms. One, two, three... eight, I counted eight doors down the direction I faced. All the doors were identical, a heavy looking cherry oak, no makers or indicators of what lay beyond them. Once I got to the beginning of the hall by the stairs, I saw an open door. From inside the otherwise dark room, I saw blue and purple lights glowing; I walked toward it cautiously. Stopping just before entering the room and taking a deep breath, I ventured inside. What I saw made me gasp, not in fear but awe, there was a projector in the middle of the room splaying images of stars and other rocky masses across the whole interior of the room, I had never seen anything so beautiful. And I had never felt so engulfed.

"It's awesome, isn't it?" A girl's voice startled me, and I turned to see a stout but beautiful girl with fiery, red hair, she had to be a few inches shorter than me. She donned leggings and a t-shirt, the most casually dressed I'd seen anyone yet. She stepped toward me and said, "Sorry to startle you Amber, I'm Astrid." She had a warm smile, the kind that makes you smile back.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you..." I guess in a place with 14 residents you know everyone's names and newcomers. I looked at the projection again. "What is this?" I asked, extending my hand and watching as the projected image glided over my skin.

"It's what our solar system used to look like before that awful nuclear war. The government doesn't want The New Ones to know so they keep it hidden but The Old Ones pride themselves in knowing the true past of our people." Astrid explained, I was in awe, I had so much to learn about the world around me and what everything had once been. There was so much that had been hidden from me, from all the people I had ever known growing up.

"It's incredible. Why would the government want us to forget?" I spoke, feeling small and insignificant but full of wonder at the same time. "Perhaps you can teach me all about it sometime?" I asked. Astrid nodded eagerly.

"Mostly because they played a huge role in causing the war to begin with. They don't want people to realize how amazing the universe was before they screwed it all up. And it would be my pleasure to teach you!" She exclaimed. I could tell she was passionate about this Solar System thing she spoke about. "Oh, we will be able to get breakfast any minute now, shall we go?" Astrid asked after looking at her watch, I nodded yes eagerly as my stomach growled in response, and she turned off the projector and led the way to the dining room.

"Man, I'm going to have to make a map of this place to ever remember where everything is!" I muttered as I sat down. I appreciated the restaurant style set up of breakfast though, you could kind of order what you wanted, and without complaint the staff was happy to find or make it. Astrid had suggested we got iodine drinks with our breakfast, so we didn't have to hook up to our IVs until later. I took a sip pleasantly surprised at the taste. Astrid looked at me and laughed.

"You'll learn your way around soon enough; it took me a while at first too." She said, thinking back to when she first found her way to the safe heaven herself.

"How long have you been here?" I asked.

"I have been here since Colin, and I were both 7 years old. I was barely old enough to understand what was even happening. My parents were being hunted by the Blank Faces, they were running a haven up north and almost lost their lives defending it. When I first got here, they were both in the ICU and I had to go through the adjustment process without them. Thankfully I wasn't the only kid here, and not the only kid with injured parents, but it was still a rough transition. Granted this exact location is only a few months old but the layout of each house has been relatively the same to make things easy on us." Astrid explained.

"I'm so sorry Astrid." I spoke, imagining what it would have been like for her. At least the parents I thought were mine were healthy and happy. I couldn't stand seeing those I loved hurt.

"I made it through, and I'll be here to help you through as well." Astrid gave me a knowing smile. Everyone here was so nice, but few had actually interacted with me on a deeper level.

"Hey, it's good to see you're making friends," Colin said, sitting next to me at the table. Almost instantly I was enveloped with the aroma of leather and smokey wood, the scent drew me in so much I had to fight my every instinct to lean into it. "Most people seclude themselves for at least a week when they first get here." He added, not letting on if he did in fact notice me shifting closer.

"Yeah, I needed someone to help me around." I said with a giggle, and we all began to eat our meals in silence. As I ate, I became very aware of Colin's body heat and the way his thigh ever so slightly brushed mine as he shifted in his seat. What the hell was wrong with me? I had never been so aware of someone's presence before.

Finishing the last of my food and iodine drink, I put my dirty dishes on the trolley. I observed how everyone was much quieter at breakfast compared to how they had been the night before and I welcomed the lack of curious faces wanting to know my story.

"If you need any help unpacking, I'd love to help Amber." Astrid said as Colin left us as suddenly as he had joined us.

"Actually, that would be great!" I realized I hadn't unpacked anything of my old items but my slippers and vanity items so far.

"Okay, cool, we can go do that and then I'll show you around the house more if you'd like." Astrid offered.

"Of course, this house seems like it's got lots of secrets and places for me to get lost." Astrid laughed and agreed at my remark. We headed back up to my room and started unpacking my luggage bags.

"Hey, this is beautiful!" Astrid exclaimed, coming across a white gold necklace with a shiny galaxy patterned geode dangling from it.

"Oh yeah, I've had that ever since I could ever remember. Hey, it kind of looks like your outer space projector." I said, remembering the room all lit up with stars earlier.

"It must be a stone to remember our heritage... from your birth parents." Astrid commented, I took the necklace into my hands and smiling at the thought that I might have some remains of my real parents that I could no longer remember. "They were great people you know. When we were younger, we learned all about their efforts to keep our people safe... They died for an honorable cause." Astrid added, tiptoeing around the subject, not sure if I was comfortable with talking about that just yet. I could see she meant well but I realized there would probably be a lot of that in the next few days, being treated like a wounded animal and trying not to provoke a bite.

"I don't even remember what they look like, or that they even existed..." I felt a sadness fill my body; this was the first time it truly occurred to me that I had birth parents that I knew absolutely nothing about. The necklace was the last thing I had of them. I put the necklace around my neck and held it tight. "What were their names?" I asked quietly.

"I'm sorry Amber, I didn't mean to upset you." Astrid said with remorse. "Their names were Jonathon and Margaret...I know it's not the same as having memories, but I'm sure I can find you some pictures of them in the study." She added gingerly.

"It's okay... It's kind of just all hitting me. And I would love that... Jonathon and Margaret" I repeated to myself as I finished unpacking and hooked my IV back up, noticing how it had been refilled. "Wait, where do we get these bags? I forgot to ask, well more like I never even thought to ask." It just occurred to me that I may have to replace the iodine bags when they emptied.

"Oh, I'll show you." Astrid walked over to the side of my bed by the intercom and pressed the button underneath the call button. A small latch opened in the wall, and she opened a mini fridge that was housed inside the wall. "They refill them every night, so you just put the empty bag in the fridge, and you won't ever have to worry about running out or anything." She added and with that she headed out of my room.