Washed away

Chapter 4

Hello.

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Ollie led Jennifer back to the circle of houses. She took her to the largest (comparatively) house.

The house Jen looked was shown was slightly different than the others. Apart from the similar plain white exterior,  dark wooden door and old-fashioned tiled roofs, this house had a negative symbol on top of the rugged roof.

Jen stared at the door. There was a open small box with a black depression in it on the wall beside the door. Ollie used sign language to tell Jennifer to place her thumb in the box, which was apparently a finger sensor lock.

Jennifer did. But the door didn't open immediately. Instead, a loud female automated voice rang  in front of Jen's designated house.

"Welcome Jennifer Armstrong to house number 1. From now on, your name will be One. You will respond to this name.
Remember that this is your designated house and if there is any disorder, you will be held responsible. Whenever the bell rings, be quick and ready for you tests. Actually, do you mind if we call you Jen?"

Tests? But before Jennifer could speculate any further, the door unlocked.

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The interior of her 'house' seemed to startle Jennifer. Her one-roomed house seemed like her own actual bedroom back home. The walls were painted a soft shade of blue, just like at home. Her little brown bedside table stood next to her bed, just like at home. Her clothes, astonishingly, were quite similar to the ones she owned at home and they were neatly hung on hangers in the cupboard that lost its doors, just like at home. Jennifer just kept turning round trying to find a flaw in this room that was supposed to be 'her' room. But everything was just so seemingly perfect, just  like she knew it.  

She knew something was up. If washing up on an unmapped island wasn't devastating enough, this make-shift room topped it all. Jennifer walked to the cupboard of clothes and rummaged through it. She found her go-to jeans and red tank top. They smelled like roses. Jennifer scrunched her nose and proceeded to take a quick shower to wash out the thin crusty layer of salt that had formed on her skin after being in the sea for to long. She wiped herself and jumped into the fresh, crisply ironed clothes that she had selected for herself.

She sat on the bed for sometime, just sitting in the quiet silence, listening to her own breathing and the ticking of the clock. Then a loud, obnoxious bell rang and tore through the momentary peace and forced Jennifer to get off her bed. The female automated voice from before spoke to Jenifer just as the bell subsided.

"Ah, great! You look fresh and ready for your first test! Jen- I mean one, please make your way out of the door and join the other numbers out in the compound. Further details will be explained by Professor Tat".

the house door clicked open. Jennifer warily made her way out onto the compound where a few other people she shockingly recognized stood in a circle around the painted man. There were a few she hadn't met before but there were people she knew. She saw Linda, her friend from preschool. She saw Tanya. She saw her classmate Barry. And she saw Dylan.

A small feeling of warmth crept into Jennifer. Maybe she could survive whatever this was with her friends. She made her way to the vacant spot between some girl with two red braids and a boy with a forest of freckles around his nose. Everyone in the circle stood eerily upright and erect and their eyes had a sort of faraway look in them. Professor Tat acknowledged her presence.

"Jennifer! You must've forgotten to inject yourself with that red serum we left for you on your bedside table.  Never mind, Ollie, can you please do-"

Before Jennifer could react, a sharp twang of pain occurred in her left arm and vanished almost as immediately as it appeared. She began to feel woozy. But the slurry feeling only stayed a few moments. She soon regained her consciousness. 

".....................so, today, your first test will be to get over the deaths of your fellow camp members. Over here, unnatural death is inevitable. People WILL die at MY whim and fancy. If I decide I don't like you, you die. But don't get me wrong, I do make exceptions IF i find you exceptionally useful. Today we will mourn the death of- who was it? Ah, Number 15. Unfortunately, I did not kill this particular camper. She was found in critical condition as she arrived and died before we could save her. Ollie, bring out the body and lay it down here.",  Professor Tat concluded his little speech and motioned for Ollie to bring the body out.

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 Her high pitched wails echoed throughout the island. Her screams were so loud, everyone's ears began to bleed. It was Jennifer. She couldn't control her emotions. They bled right through her heart. She placed her head on the chest of the inert body, hoping for her heart to magically beat once more. The body was Chloe's.

Everyone just stood around,blood pouring from their ears, the faraway look still in their eyes. Professor Tat just shook his head in disappointment, and his face lacked any sort of sorrow.

"tsk, tsk, see, this is what I mean by not making it a big deal when someone dies. People die everyday, so let them. My entire family died, okay, maybe because I killed  them,  but do I look sad or guilty? No, because I passed the first test. Ollie, give Jennifer the amnesia serum. Make sure she forgets everything, where he came from, blah, blah, blah. Then send her to my cabin. This young lady has some incredible powers. I mean, just look at how she made them bleed through their ears!  People, we are witnessing the work of a Banshee."

Those were the last words Jennifer heard before everything went dark.