Beyond the Boundaries

5

5 - A Final Stretch for Freedom

"We've been lied to. All this time." Charlie broke the seemingly everlasting silence. "You understand all of this as much as I do, right?"

"I wish I didn't." I admitted. "This is all too much to comprehend."

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Knowing that these are just paintings of what the world used to be, looking back at Utopia? I only see a messed up world not even an entire council can fix. A world they call perfect, and turns out, a couple of paintings can convince me that this world isn't as perfect as they call it.

"I'm getting out of here. I can't take this stupid place anymore! I'd prefer that stairway to heaven, maybe I'd see my brother again!"

Charlie grabbed my arm before I could run away. "Let go of me!" Tears streamed down my eyes. I was so conflicted at that moment, not knowing what was right and wrong. Having been lied to all this time, by both my friend and the world I live in. And I was just another person, falling for the facades of this place.

"You don't mean that, and you know that! I've only known for a few minutes, maybe, but that's enough time to get my mind to know that you don't mean those words! You have a life here, you know? Friends, family." Charlie cried.

"That's gone now! Don't you understand? I can't go back to that! I messed it all up, just because my anger got the best of me!" I screamed so loud I burst my own ears. The sorrow in the air, agony rushing through my bloodstream. Charlie's grip was strong, and I knew he wasn't planning on letting go. My eyes felt tired, and I could barely see, my vision blinded by tears.

I had only ever felt this way once, and that was when I was forced to see my decayed brother, barely living in our basement.

He's living a better life than I am. It feels like I'm in rusty chains. I can feel it, I'm so close to breaking out of these thick chains that bound me to this society. At this point, I don't even care about friends or family. I just want out of here. No matter what happens, no matter what way. All this turns out to be too much for me.

It's all because of Kyrell and his stupid mind games. Not able to physically hurt me, but somehow I let him emotionally play with my feelings! I let him get the best of me, and now this happens. The worst moment in my life, and only a moment ago I was smiling and laughing.

"Please, let go." I begged in tears.

In that moment, the weight of despair clung tight in the air, like a storm that never ended still lingered around. The markings of the real world—marked on the glass wall that was shaped like a dome and wrapped around Utopia—once a place to keep sanity and memories of what the world used to be in tact, now felt suffocating—the area around me seemingly closing in with every breath I took.

The dim light placed above the small area flickered weakly, casting long shadows that twisted and stretched across the painted grass, echoing the truth that I'd discovered in my currently blank mind. The silence that followed my words wasn't peaceful—far from—it was the kind that pressed on your chest with a suffocating pressure, as if the world itself had collapsed into you.

The once-bright promises of a perfect world now felt bitter and hollow. Promising a better world, saying "nothing's perfect" that day when I woke up, came to nothing.

My heartbeat echoed loudly in my ears, the only sound that broke through the unbearable silence. Even that felt wrong—like an intruder in this place of lies and despair.