Dream Simulator {Discontinued}

CHAPTER 7 - Not For Long

"Arabelle Clarke, please stand up".

Her head whips towards the door to find three Officials in a snow white uniform and Micah standing behind them. Panic rose in her, making her blood roar. Seeing the Officials by the door made her head spin, and black dots clouded her vision, threatening to take over until all she could see was pure nothing.

But she couldn't pass out. Not with everyone watching. She felt dozens and dozens of pairs of eyes land on her, inspecting her up and down. It was exactly almost like it was at lunch, when Archer was inspecting her through and through.

Pushing the stool back with a screech, she stood up straight, and stared directly at the Officials. Right now, she needed to act as brave as possible. Meeting the Officials bored eyes, something made her heart skip a beat. Now, the discomfort of having to make eye contact with Officials felt all too familiar.

Whenever someone held their gaze, it was like staring into a deep and never ending hole. Their eyes had lost their shimmer and humanity. Even the lifeless androids had more lively eyes than they did.

Right now, she couldn't afford to be afraid, and she couldn't afford to show it. Not in front of her classmates, not in front of the Officials, and especially not in front of Micah. He was deathly pale, and had ridiculously wide eyes. She had to resist the urge to run across the classroom, push through the Officials, and hug her brother with all her strength.

The day we need each other most. Has it come again?

She kept a straight face, but a million thoughts and questions blazed through her mind.

Did they find us out? Did I do something that got us both in trouble? What did we do? What did I do?

"We need you to come with us, Arabelle," said the female Official, her voice gentle and reassuring.

Quiet gasps from her peers filled the intense silence, and she bit on her own tongue to keep herself from having the same reaction. Now was no time to look like a complete idiot with the rest of her peers. Peeking over at Micah ever so slightly, she saw that he had none of his school supplies with him. His hands were stuffed inside his pockets, and she guessed that at this moment, they were shaking so violently that he had to hide them. He had to hide them from the rest of the world the same way he hid everything else.

She placed a hand on her notebook that was scribbled with fresh notes.

There was no turning back now. They came for her, and she had to go with them.

Goodbye, notebook. Goodbye, textbook. Goodbye, pencil.

It was absolutely ridiculous of her - childish even - to say goodbye to inanimate objects. But judging by the three Officials standing by the door wishing for her to go with them, she only had to guess that this would be the last time she would touch her school supplies. This would be the last time she ever stepped foot in this very classroom.

In those few seconds of silence, she couldn't go to peace with that. She couldn't accept leaving this place, only to never see it again. Her stubbornness kicked in before she could even stop herself.

"Why?".

There.

The worst question anybody could ask an Official.

She immediately shut her dry mouth out of surprise. The word hadn't even registered through her brain before she said it. It seemed like it was almost natural.

The students around her sucked in a breath, and turned their heads back to their half written calculus tests. They obviously weren't prepared for the once in a lifetime spectacle about arise. Right now, they needed something else to focus on, just like she desperately did. At any moment, the Officials would scold her, yell at her for being so ignorant, or arrest her.

Instead, they just stood there, the two males looking shocked, and the female looking smug. She looked almost a little impressed to be escorting away a rebel.

Tension rose as no one made a single noise. It was if everyone was holding in their breath, waiting to release it the second she left the room. She looked over at Micah, and the fear had left his face, only to be replaced by annoyance. He rolled his shimmery grey eyes, and she imagined what he would say if no one else was around.

"You're such an idiot," he would retort the second it was just the two of them. Then, he would imitate her voice and ask her idiotic question over and over again until she was ready to tear her hair out. That was what he had done when they were kids. When things were less. . . serious.

Why? Why? Why? Why are you so stupid?, his voice echoed throughout her mind.

The male Official with buzz cut black hair opened his mouth to speak, but the female Official cut him off.

"We just need you to come with us. If not, I have the right to arrest you on the spot for disobeying Government orders. Your choice". Her voice had turned from gentle to hard as stone.

My choice. My doom. My end. What's the difference?

Micah gave her a stare that sent shivers up her spine. In that death stare, he was silently saying "if you refuse to go with her, I'll kill you on the spot before they lay a finger on you".

She took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes, ma'am. I'll come with you".

Although, getting arrested would look like a much more dramatic exit.

The thought almost made her giggle out of hysteria, and she bit her tongue again, feeling the faint taste of iron.

"Does this seem like a joke to you?," the almost bald Official demanded.

Her bones turned to ice. "No, sir".

"Then get on with it already," commanded the old Official, looking bored.

Forcing her breathing to steady, she began to walk as confidently towards her doom as possible. With each step she took, her heart started beating faster against her sternum, sending a dull ache throughout her chest. It was almost impossible to control her breathing now, and she was surprised that she wasn't hyperventilating.

Stopping in front of the Official with very little black hair, she watched him pull out a grey scanner and hold it out. She pushed the sleeve of her cardigan up her pale arm, and was glad that her chip was in her human arm. Something about her mechanical limb always made her self conscious. No one could judge her out loud; it was against the rules. They could judge her silently though. She hated silent judgement the most.

A short beep of approval filled in the silence, and a monotone voice followed afterwards.

"Arabelle Clarke, identified".

Placing a reassuring hand on her back, the female Official leads her out of the warm classroom and into the cool, empty hallways.

Goodbye classroom. Goodbye doorway.

Lockers the colour of Arabelle's eyes surrounded them as they walked in a single file line. First came the female Official, and behind her, the old one. Then it was Micah and Arabelle, and behind them, the Official with the scanner.

Knowing Micah, he would have tried to run if hysteria got the better of him. Somehow, without Arabelle, he had managed to stay impressively calm throughout the entire thing. Micah was smart, though. He knew that there was so escape. The two of them were surrounded by Officials who weren't visibly armed, and even if they made it outside, there would probably be more of them.

Part of Arabelle screamed at her to run. It shrieked at the top of its lungs telling her to take a chance.

But she couldn't.

If she had to face imprisonment now, there was nothing she could do.

If she and Micah had to die for their injustices against society and the Government, there was nothing they could do.

They were powerless.