Restriction X X

Chapter 1: Moonlight

Chapter 1: Moonlight

I've been here since I was two. That was fifteen years ago.

My family sent me here because I hit my older brother Calvin.

I'm not perfect like him.

I'm just his used to be sister Colleen Anders.

They sent me here so that I could learn how to act properly.

They loved me.

They told me.

Yet, they don't come see me.

Maybe they're too scared.

I'd be too.

Yet again, Restriction XX Facility isn't in the USA. It's located in Europe. Far away from Georgia.

I never see any other people at all in the facility besides the workers. Strange...

'BUZZ'

I look up at my see through door, spotting Dr. Douglas, my assigned doctor.

Yes, my door is see-through. In fact, my whole room is. Its a small glass square next to similar glass rooms. But since nobody occupies the room next to mine, the room has no activity. I have a steel bed, a desk, and a bathroom. The bathroom isn't see through, only light comes through. The light I see comes from light bulbs or moonlight. I love when the moonlight shines above my head...

"Come in." I say.

"Good morning. How are you? Are you ready for your monthly examination?" He asks.

"I'm good, and that would be very good as well. I believe I'm ready."

"Good. Now, come with me, hold onto this."

Dr. Douglas hands me a bracelet with my name, number, and room number on it. The usual bracelet for visiting the hospital wing. All we have to do is pass the registration area.

"Let's go now, shall we?"

"Oh, yes." I say quickly.

He places a hand on my shoulder and latches a alarm around my neck. Standard procedure so I wouldn't 'escape'.

Then, he leads me out the door, with me going first and him guiding me with his hand on my shoulder.

Dr. Douglas is a old man with wispy white hair and a long nose. His green eyes always have such intensity in them.

We go down the corridor, a cold hard gray hallway that leads to an open space called the registration area.

I'm used to this by now, everything seems so normal. It's like a second instinct. We pass and nod to the workers, then sometimes check in with them. Otherwise, we keep going down the long hallway.

Dr. Douglas and I finally reach the end of the corridor, only to be greeted by loud arguing and thrashing of limbs.

A young man about a year older than me stands thrashing around in a guards arms, with guns pointed at his head. All the workers surround him, holding clipboards.

"Now now, Mr. Harris. Please calm down. We don't want to hurt you." Says a worker.

"Yeah right! You're just going to keep me in confinement forever, aren't you? Just take me to my 'prison' already! It's like waiting for my death just standing here!" The boy yells.

"Calm down", a worker says,"Officer Red, please take our new member to room... 294. Make sure he's comfortable. Check on him in the morning."

"Yes sir." Officer Red says.

Room 294? That's next to mine, in room 295.

All of a sudden, he locks his brown eyes on mine. As if he just noticed I was here. His hair is a short brown, disheveled from thrashing in the officers arms. Then, he speaks.

"What are you doing to her? What are you guys doing in this messed up place?!" He yells.

"Let's get moving, you shouldn't have seen that." Dr. Douglas says while urging me forwards, away from the scene.

"Hey! You! What's going on? What are they doing to us?!"He yells towards me.

But, I'm too late and too far away to answer. His voice echoes down the hallway. I wish I could've spoken to him. Another member, right in front of my eyes. I'm not alone.

.....

We reach the hospital wing, and enter into Dr. Douglas's research lab.

There's a big dentist looking chair in the middle with a large light above it. Machines whirring behind it and a box next to them.

Normal.

I take a seat in the chair and lean back, ready for my examination.

Dr. Douglas places sensors on my head, neck, and arms. Then, he does the usual sanity test.

"What do you see in this ink splatter?"

"A butterfly."

"What about this one?"

"A boy with a balloon."

After a while, he checks the machine and prints some paper out. Then, he unlatches the machines attached to me and walks me back to my normal hallway.

I can't stop think about the young man. How'd he get here? Does he know anything about the outside world?

My thoughts are interrupted by Dr. Douglas's voice.

"Your test wasn't normal again."

"Is it ever?" I reply.

"I'm afraid not, but this time, we think you may have to stay here for another five years before you can be... slowly introduced to the outside world. It's a very dangerous place outside... keep that in mind." He says hesitantly.

"I will."

We come to my room, and he lets me enter, then locks my door. Then, pulls down the 'shades' that are on the outside. They always do that to keep the rooms darker in the night for us to sleep.

I turn around and see a body slumped on the floor in the room across the glass dividing us. My intuition tells me it's that boy. He looks hurt...

He looks up at me. And I see that it is him. Now, we are left in the moonlight, staring at each other as if we were aliens. Maybe I am...