Two Worlds, One Mind

Chapter 6

"Wake up, brats!" A voice, unmistakeably that of Mrs. Caritov, boomed into the room. Elliot's back muscles ached as he sat up. "What's going on?" He asked to his only acquaince. He didn't budge. Apparently, Mrs. Caritov's roar no longer affected him.

The boys groaned and shuffled. Mrs. Caritov circled the room like a hawk to make sure everyone was awake. She stopped at Patrick and Elliot's cot.

"Wake up!" She grabbed Patrick by his upturned shoulder and pulled him into an upright position. Satisfied, she started on her path again. Patrick blinked hard and picked his glasses up from off of the ground.

Elliot, making sure Mrs. Caritov wasn't looking towards him anymore, stood up. The boys in the cot next to him were bone thin. He wondered how they had the strength to pull the covers off of themselves let alone stand up.

"It's 7:30, if you don't go down to the washroom right now, you're stuck in your filth for another day!" Mrs. Caritov nudged a few kids out the door. Half of the remaining boys followed her out. The rest of them sat, cried, or didn't respond in the first place.

Elliot looked to Patrick for guidance. He slowly got up and headed towards the door. Elliot followed.

"Uh, Patrick?"

Patrick rubbed his eyes as he turned back. "Yes?"

"Where are they going?"

"It's routine. We follow a S-S-SCHEDULE here."

It looked painful for Patrick to talk, so Elliot nodded and didn't make him say anything more. His question wasn't answered, but he followed Patrick anyway. He didn't know where he was going, but he figured it was better than laying in the room with all of the crying.

He was careful to linger behind the masses as they all walked. Elliot noticed a lot more rooms, all of which contained people making noise. He spotted a few women dressed similarly to Mrs. Caritov.

The group made a left in the hallway, and Elliot was hit by a pungent odor erupting from the room Mrs. Caritov had opened the door to.

The boys filed in to the room, but Elliot remained still. Patrick stopped at the doorway and turned around, motioning for Elliot to come in. He shook his head no.

Mrs Caritov reappeared at the doorway to shove Patrick in. She made eye contact with Elliot.

"Run!" Elliot faintly heard a voice. He froze, hoping not to turn to stone by looking into Mrs. Caritov's eyes. She hustled over to him, mutterering something under her breath, took his wrist, and pushed him in.

He watched all of the other boys make their way across the room as he writhed in pain. Her grasp was unbearably painful, but the room was even worse. 

It was made entirely out of white tile, but mysteriously stained with dark brown and red splotches in its corners. The space between the tiles was crusty, it looked like pieces of shattered glass were taped together and barely painted in order to create this room. There was one small, silver, circular piece with holes located at the center of the floor.

The boys started robotically removing their clothes. Mrs. Caritov picked up the musty green hose attached to the wall. She turned the knob at the base and water poured out. 

Elliot watched in horror as the boys lifted their clothes above their heads. The shut their eyes tight as they were sprayed with the hose. They slowly stepped in circles, making sure each part of their body was sprayed. A few of them were crying. The rest had gotten used to this.

The amalgam of extreme pain, fear, disgust, confusion, longing, and shock brought Elliot to his knees. His stomach twisted into a knot which was untied by vomiting.

Mrs. Caritov lazily washed it away with the hose as the rest of the boys stepped backwards a little bit.

Elliot's knees and hands were soaked from the water. He slowly stood up, blindly reaching for the doorknob, and slammed the door behind him as he ran out. He stumbled around for awhile before plopping down in the main hallway. His throat closed and his eyes welled up. He quietly sobbed.

He heard the sound of heels echoing in the hallway. An unfamiliar woman, dressed like most of the grown women there, stopped when she came across Elliot. He lifted his head to see if she would help him.

She shook her head, stepped around him, and kept walking.