Experimental

Ronan

It wasn't raining outside but everything was wet. The grass under my feet was muddy and my feet sunk into it as I took each step.

The house in view was small with deep blue shutters alongside the windows. All the blinds were pulled down and closed. There was a downstairs light on but the rest of the house was dark. The front door was a light blue that nicely contrasted the shutters. A white car was parked in the driveway and a yellow and blue tassel hung from the mirror.

I walked up the porch steps and glanced around. The houses neighboring this one were separated by tall wooden fences, giving this house privacy. I was grateful for it.

I knocked on the door and took a step back, hoping my muddy feet wouldn't deter her from letting me step inside.

There was a rustling inside before the door swung open. A human with large brown hair and deep brown eyes stood in front of me. Her skin was a dark brown, covered by a thin blue shirt that matched the front door. She wore short pants that revealed her long legs. She, too, was barefoot. Though her feet were not dirty like mine.

"Can I help you?" She asked in a high voice, holding onto the door. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of me in the light from the room behind her.

"May I enter?" I asked, looking her in the eye. Maybe she would trust me more if I made eye contact. It would let her know that I respected her.

Her eyes widened and lips parted. "You look a little pale. A-are you okay?"

"May I use your bathroom?"

She swallowed and shifted her weight to her opposite foot. "I don't know..."

"Someone is after me and I need somewhere to hide."

"Who... what..."

"I am L7."

"That's not a name."

"That's my identification number."

"Identification number?"

"If they find me, they will kill me."

Her eyes widened and she stepped aside to let me in. "The, um, bathroom is upstairs. The second door on the left."

Without saying another word, I walked inside. There was a living room with several pieces of furniture and a television hanging off the wall. There was a pale human on the screen, her face turned away from view. The stairs were pressed against the wall on the right, hiding the next room from view.

I walked up the stairs and stared at the hallway. The floor was a light brown, made from wood. The doors were white and were all closed, hiding the rooms from view. In total, there were five doors along the hallway.

I opened the second door on the left and stared inside. The sink was white and cleaned very well. A green curtain hid the tub from sight. A toilet separated the two and had a green cover over it.

"Do you need any help?" The girl asked, standing in the hallway behind me.

"No."

She stood where she was for several more seconds before speaking. "I'll be downstairs if you need anything."

I closed the door then stared at myself in the mirror over the sink. My long hair was wet and clung to my face and shoulders. There were small bumps all over my skin. The mud had traveled from my feet and up my legs.

I pushed the curtain aside and stepped into the tub. Different bottles in various colors stood on a shelf. I turned on the water to the red side and the bumps slowly sunk back into my skin.

I grabbed a maroon bottle that said shampoo which I knew would help clean my hair. I opened the lid and poured the contents into my palm until a large pool had formed. I ran my fingers through my hair, coating every strand. I scrubbed at my scalp until suds had formed and my hair was lathered up.

When there was no more mud or dirt on my body, I turned off the water and stepped out onto the tiled floor. I took a towel from the closet and dried myself off.

When I opened the door, there was a stack of clothing sitting on the floor. Piecing through them, I found things similar to what the girl had been wearing. I put them on, struggling to cover myself. Did she like to show her body off all the time? Was that what humans did?

I walked to the top of the stairs and I could hear several voices but not the girl that answered the door. Confused, I crept down the stairs and looked over the banister. The girl was sitting on the large piece of furniture, watching the television. The voices I'd heard were coming from the screen. Two people were talking to one another and were out in the rain. 

I walked down the last few stairs and watched her. She was eating something from a bowl.

She glanced back at me and waved me over. "Have a seat. I'm just watching a movie."

"What's a movie?"

She scrunched her eyebrows together. "You've never seen a movie before?"

I shook my head.

"This movie's almost over but we can watch something else if you'd like."

I sat down on the furniture beside her and clasped my hands in my lap. The humans on the television were pressing their lips to one another.

"I'm Katie, by the way."

"Katie?"

"It's my name."

I nodded once.

"It's short for Katelyn but I don't really like going by that." When I said nothing, she cleared her throat and spoke again. "You said you have an identification number? What is that?"

"Where I... come from, that's what they call me."

"So everyone is L7?"

I shook my head. "I am L7. Others have different identification numbers."

"Why don't they give you real names?"

"It's easier this way." For all of my life, I had been called L7. It was my identification. My name. If her name was Katie, maybe that meant I had a... human name. I just didn't know what it was.

She pressed a button on a small device and the people on the television stopped moving suddenly. She set the bowl on a small table in front of us then turned to face me. "Do you want a real name?"

"I can do that?"

She laughed. "There's no rule for having a name." She went to the other side of the room and grabbed a computer. She set it down on the table and pressed a button on the inside. There were black tiles with various letters and numbers. I'd seen them at the lab but nothing as simple as hers. She hit a green G at the bottom of the screen and the screen turned white. She pressed several of the tiles before a pink screen appeared. She looked at me. "This is a website with a bunch of names. You can pick one and it will then be yours."

I leaned forward beside her and looked at the screen. I'd been known as L7 for my entire life. A change of a name, especially something different or unique, was sure to separate me from my life at the lab. It was bound to keep me safer.

I clicked on the R and started going through the names. Rachel, Rebeca, Rhianna, Rhea-

I pointed to one and looked at Katie. "Ronan."

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Edited 4-10-19