I sat in the back of the white dim litted van with my hands tied in front of me. I pulled my knees into my chest, and stared at the people around me. "What did I even do wrong? I know I snuck out, I'm sorry for that, but nothing I'd ever done had been so bad that I have to go to 'Rainbow Place' or whatever you call it. This is stupid. I wanna go home" I declared. "It's not about what you did. It's about what your future may hold. I'm pretty sure your great Grandmother didn't see her future coming when she was just a little girl, either, but she ended up trapped at Rainbow House for all eternity" a girl said. "My family and friends shouldn't have to go through the loss of me for a year, and excuse me if that sounds selfish, but they shouldn't. I am loved, and I love them. Why make anyone suffer?" I asked. "You know, you talk a lot, Ambrosia. Talking is how Stephenie ended up brain dead" She said. I swallowed, and suddenly my throat felt smaller. I didn't want to end up like Stephanie. But I wasn't even a bad person. She was. I would survive this. Suddenly, the van shook, and I heard a haunting melody. I looked up, expecting to see some strange explanation for the sound. "What is that?" I asked. "Sshh" the girl said. Suddenly, the van drove up a long, high hill. We were driving for hours, and it was still pitch black outside. The van came to a stop, and everyone stood up. A boy grabbed my arm and yanked me up and out of the van. I looked around. The grass was dead, the trees were bare. I was officially in hell on land. Behind me was a large house, and it looked pretty new. I was led inside the house, and I was confused when I saw what it looked like. The room we stepped into was filled with doors. What was this? A hallucination? I was pulled out of the room, and down another hall where it actually began to look like a normal house. There was a kitchen, a living room, the works. The girl pushed me down into a chair, and stood in front of me, leaning on the table. "I'm Talia, that's Ashley, that's Ty, and that's Scott" She told me. I nodded. "Nice to know" I said. "Here's the deal. Every week, you'll have to see a story of a different feeling. For example, happy. It sounds simple, but there's always a pretty dark reason behind someone's mood. "Um, okay. This sounds pretty stupid. Seriously. Couldn't you have found another way to teach Stephanie a lesson?" I asked Talia. "This way is much more......permanent" Ashley said. "Whatever. When do I start?" I asked. "Talia came over to me, and wrapped her hands around my throat. I could feel my airways closing, and I tried to get her off me, but she had a strong grip. "Listen to me. You need to take this seriously, okay?" She said. I nodded. "Yes?" She asked. "Yes" I managed to choke out. She let me go, and I put my hand on to my neck. "Take her upstairs" Talia said. Ashley grabbed my arm, and led me out of the kitchen, through the living room, and up a staircase. "You'll be staying in here" She told me, and led me into a room. It was small, with only a chair, a mattress, a blanket, and a window. "Thanks" I said. Ashley untied my hands, left the room, and closed and locked the door. I flopped down on the mattress, which was surprisingly comfortable. I grabbed the blanket, which was folded, and covered myself in it. I looked at the wall, and noticed tally marks on it, with the initials S.S.
***
The next morning, I was awakened by someone shaking me. "Wake up" a voice said. It was Ty. "You have to started now" He said, and pulled me up. I was half asleep. He dragged me down the stairs, and into the kitchen. Talia wore a pair of gray sweatpants and a blank white v-neck t shirt. Her hair, which was long and brown, was pulled into a ponytail. Ashley sat at the table, reading a magazine. She wore black sweatpants and a gray long sleeve t-shirt, and her long blonde hair down and messy. Scott was no where in sight. "Morning, sunshine" She said. "I'm hungry" I said lazily. "You can eat after you're done" She said. She grabbed my wrist, and started to pull me when I hesitated. "Wait. I really don't want to do this" I said, backing away from her. "You can't always get what you want. Besides, you don't have a choice. You're great Grandmother went through this, your grandmother went through this, and you're mother did. You have to. Besides, you wouldn't want Alice to miss out, would you, Ambrosia?" She said, smiling slyly. "Don't you touch Alice, or I swear, you'll regret it. None of you lay a hand on her" I told them. Alice was by far one of the most important people to me, even if we weren't that close anymore. She was not doing this. "Oh, but we will. And you can't stop us" She said. Talia dragged me back into the room with all the doors. Scott was there, beside a restraint table. Everyone else followed. "Pick a mood, Ambrosia" Ashley said. "No" I said. "Ambrosia, we're not playing games with you. Pick. A. Mood" Ashley said. I thought about it. "Happy" I said. "Wow. You picked one of the worst ones" Ty said. I sat on the restraint table, and let Scott strap me down. The table was wheeled into a room 5 doors down from where we were, and he put me in the middle of the room. He put helmet on my head, and turned a knob. The helmet was getting tighter. I shrieked. It hurt like a bitch. He backed out of the room, and closed and locked the door. What was supposed to happen. Suddenly, the room glowed red, and I saw a classroom It was like a movie, except I didn't buy tickets. When it got closer to the back of the class, I saw a girl, who looked about 14 or 15. She looked zoned out, as she read a book. Suddenly, the named Vicky was called, and she looked up. Everyone cheered for her as she stood up, but as her back was to the class, everyone pointed, laughed and whispered. She held a paper. Vicky started to read a speech. I couldn't hear anything. She must have said something funny, because she was hysterically laughing, and so was the class. When her speech ended, she walked towards her desk, and everyone whispered about her again. Two boys were looking at her and laughing. She laughed back, because she didn't know what to do. After the class, she rushed to the bathroom, and sat in a stall. She pulled a razor out her back pack, and started to create jagged, bleeding lines in her arms. Suddenly, it hurt me. I felt her pain, and screamed. I tried to sit up, but it wouldn't work. The cuts were forming in my arms as the formed on her, and my arms were caked in blood. I screamed, and begged for her to put down the razor like a nut. I knew it was just a vision, and she couldn't hear me. But I could feel and see cuts on my arm. This was what Ty meant when he said this was one of the worst ones. I didn't expect this to happen. She winced as she dropped the blood razor on the floor, and started to cry. Tears formed in my eyes, too. This was awful. She put the razor in her bag, left the stall, washed her hands, and left the bathroom. The scene skipped to the end of the day. When she went home, a big man appeared at the door, and slapped Vicky in the face. My cheek burned. He grabbed her harshly by the arm, and I felt it, and winced. "You were supposed to clean the dishes this morning!" He screamed at her. My ears rung. "I-I'm sorry, dad. I forgot" Vicky said. Dad? What kind of father would do that to a poor child? She already had plenty to deal with, going to school and pretending to be happy and perfect to her classmates. Wait. Happy. That was the mood I had picked! That's why Ty had said this was one of the worst ones. While I thought I was picking a mood that was seemingly okay, there was more to it than I thought it would be. Those who always seem to be happy usually aren't. I knew that plenty of children all over the world were being abused, but to actually see it was awful. I wanted to reach into the vision, and pull Vicky away from everything. From a bad childhood, from herself. Vicky's dad yanked her into the kitchen, and over to the kitchen sink. "Look at this mess! Clean this up, or I swear to god, you'll regret it" He said. He let go of Vicky, pushed her, and went into the other room. Vicky looked at her wrist, which was purple. I looked at my own. It was swollen with marks. Yet it was nothing compared to the gashes in my arms from Vicky's razor. I watched as Vicky picked up a plate smeared in a white sauce, and cried as she started to clean her dishes. The water ran, so she cried so no one could hear. Poor girl. The world was so cruel, and some were so unfortunate to have to deal with. things like this. I didn't really have much to deal with up until I encountered Rainbow house. I had a good life, safe from harm's way, and I risked it all just to go out to a party. Things would have been so different if I had just stayed in that night. I had a good family, friends, food, shelter, education, and for the most part, happiness. I missed my family so much. I wanted to go home. Suddenly, I had zoned out, and the vision was coming to an end. There was a tombstone, with Vicky's name on it. Oh, no! Had I missed that much, that I missed her death? Why didn't I feel it? What had happened to her? The red screen faded away, and I found myself sitting in the room, alone, depressed. There were thousands of thoughts in my mind. I began to cry. If I couldn't handle this, then I wouldn't be able to handle the absolute vision. I heard the locks on the door being fiddled with, and the door was opened. Scott walked in. "Now do you understand?" He asked. I nodded. "That girl, Vicky. She pretended to be happy so no one could see what her life was really like. Everyone was terrible to her. God, I hate people sometimes" I told him. Scott took the restraints off of me, and the helmet, and I sat up. My arms were still covered in blood, and I was surprised no one had sad anything. Then I remembered they had all seen it before. The cuts were burning, and my wrists still ached from Vicky's abusive father. I hopped off the table, left the room, and Talia closed the door behind me. I planned to never go back into that room.
