The Manipulation Room

Chapter 5 - He's Weird

Manipulation Room victim no. 14032
Name: Topaz Anderson 
Age: 37 years old 
Occupation: Stay-at-home parent 
Family Member: 62-year-old mother, Lilac 
Description: Blood gushing out through gaping blood vessels in the stump of his dismembered right leg. 

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"Who do you think created The Manipulation Room? Like, who came up with the idea?" Kierra asked, as we walked down the school corridor together. It was time to go home, we just needed to go to afternoon register. The day was long but my heart was still warm from the free period I'd spent with Ezra. The memory was still fresh in my mind. "God knows..." I mumbled, stopping at my locker to fill it with fat folders full of notes. I wrestled with a folder, pushing it into a tiny space in the top corner of my locker. She stared at my overfilling locker, "You really are the world's biggest nerd, aren't you? Lockers are for dirty sports kits and old sandwiches...not schoolwork." 
I gave her a confused look, "You're crazy." Sometimes I honestly wondered if Kierra knew she was at a school. 

The school hallway stank. The odour of the stale urine curled from under the restroom doors, depressingly mixed with deodorant and body odour in equal measure. I kept my head down and pushed my way through the sea of despondent faces. I scoffed as I walked under a banner: "The child in pursuit of knowledge, not knowledge in pursuit of the child." We all know who'd said that...President Thanatos. The hallways were dark marble floors and white walls, not a hand print or scuff mark anywhere. The doors were a glossy black, numbered with silver digits that matched the globe shaped handles. 

I followed Kierra towards our classroom and when we arrived it was already stock-full of students. Credence was sitting with a group of students that I rarely sat with as we arrived to our desks. "Hey girlies!" He chirped, hugging us both as we sat on either side of him. The other students said their hellos before continuing with their conversation. "What'cha talking about?" Kierra asked, putting her backpack onto her desk. Credence snorted, "We found something." 

He held up a ripped page, it took me a second to register what it was before I realised. It was a page from Ezra's sketchbook. Other pages were scattered around the group, all ripped from the sketchbook which was lying on the desk in between us all. I stared, horrified, as they all passed around certain pages and laughed. I had a flashback to when Ezra had so proudly shown me his work, and now it was ruined. Maddox, the world's biggest jerk, erupted into laughter, "What a weirdo..." 

I flashed Credence an irritated glance as he inspected one of the pages; a beautiful drawing of a girl in a yellow summer dress sitting on a wooden swing. "What happened to 'future boyfriend'?" I spat. He shrugged, looking suddenly guilty. "It's just drawings, Lyric. I still like him-" 
"-you have a weird way of showing it." 

Kierra suddenly seemed just as uncomfortable as I did. She was a social butterfly but she's also the kindest person I've ever known. Another girl, Trix, whined, "Ugh, what a shame. He's so hot too!" All the girls in the group, minus Kierra and me, squealed and nodded in agreement. What a snobbish, materialistic thing to say...he was handsome, of course, but that had nothing to do with his art. "Y'all are crazy. You're saying he's hotter than this?" Maddox, that self-centered git, flexed his muscles and all the girls giggled. 

Isaiah, another boy in the group, snickered, "All I'm saying...is he doesn't belong here." Everyone in the group nodded in agreement. "Touché." Karma added; she pretended to shudder, making me detest her even more. I've always hated these so-called 'friends'. They all strike me as completely fake, putting up friendly facades to hide their vile personalities. Hate and enmity welled up in my heart, fury itself burning me up. Hate burned in my heart so deep that it was ingrained in the tissue.