When I wake, there is a moment of calm before I can feel the full weight of my injuries. I try to move, sending a wave of pain over my body. I decide not to move again for a few moments. There are footsteps in the hall outside. They stop outside my door. A series of beeps sound out as someone types in the code to access the room. I roll painfully off the bed, searching for a weapon of some sort. I drag myself up slowly, using the edge of the mattress to pull my body up. My side screams in protest, I shouldn't be up yet. My eyes scan the dimly lit room, I'm struggling to identify were I am. The room is bare except for the bed and a chair. I see the dark outline of something on the otherwise empty chair. Automatically, my feet shuffle towards the door, it opens before I can reach it. It opens slowly, light from the hall pooling at the feet of the figure and spilling into the room. It has a strange hue to it, not the same sharp, cutting light it was before. Maybe we moved to a new location, I don't remember moving after they pulled me out of the blast rubble.
As my mind struggles to piece together the situation, the figure standing in stunned silence moves across the room in one fluid movement. I stiffen as I feel someone's hands on my shoulders, unsure of their intent. Their arms tighten around my body, I grimace in pain as the embrace tightens. After a few moments they pull away, looking down at me. My eyes adjust to the light and I see it's Jackson. He guides me gently towards the bed, pushing me to sit on the edge of the mattress. I pull him down to sit beside me, curling my aching body into his side. He wraps an arm around me, pulling back slightly when I move. I remember the last time we were together like this, before everything spiraled out of control.
My mind takes me back to what has happened since my Forgetting. On the day you turn seventeen, the Government scientists bring you in for testing. There, they wipe your memory of your childhood. You forget everything, your family and friends, who you are. Some of us are partially resistant to the serum, causing us to retain part of our memories or, like in my case, remember some things based on what we touch. You have a year to conform to the training you undergo after the wipe or else they kill you. Part of the testing performed causes you to change, providing the perfect opportunity to test you for the Gift. If you have it, they ship you off to one of their hidden laboratories were you are experimented on until you are no longer useful.
Jackson is talking, bringing me back to the present. I move, my body screaming out in protest. It only intensifies as I force myself to sit up, trying to see just how badly I'm injured. I think it's mostly soreness and bruises, though my side throbs in firey pain. Jackson rolls over and I see he's still sleeping. His face wears a slight frown, chestnut brown locks tousled and askew. A smile plays across my face, he looks boyish and worryless in his sleep. I wonder what we could have been if we weren't constantly looking over our shoulders, never truly safe. For what seems like the first time, I feel at ease. I nestle against his side again, tugging his jacket tighter around my shoulders. Jackson slides his arm under mine, carefully pulling me closer to him.
A light knock on the door somehow carries a note of urgency, someone wants in. I reluctantly slide out of Jackson's arms, trying to ignore the pain I feel with every movement. My knee buckles when I put unassisted weight on it, sending me crashing to the floor. Jackson springs up, looking for the source of the noise. His eyes settle on me, sprawled across the hardwood floor. He slides out of the bed, pulling me to my feet. The door is knocked on again, sounding louder and more urgent. Jackson makes me sit down in the chair before he turns to open the door. The light cuts through the dim greys of the room, rendering me momentarily blind. I pull my feet up onto the chair, making myself smaller. Angie and Dan spill into the room, Will in tow. Jackson flips the lights on, locking the door behind them.
I fight the panic that is starting to settle in, I can't afford to lose it in front of everyone. A look at jackson confirms this, his gaze is pressing me for an answer. I nod slightly, “Yes, I'll manage.” He looks away from me, now asking silently what we are all wondering, why are we here at this hour. It goes on like this for a few short minutes, no one speaking, but us all thinking the same thoughts. I finally break the growing silence.
“What's going on?”
Angie responds first, her usual calm way of speech replaced by a series of failed starts. This adds on to the feeling of unease that has been building since they arrived. She finally manages to tell us what's going on.
“We need to leave, now.”
I stare at her in disbelief, not fully comprehending this. She explains we need a spot to meet, outside the compound, to discuss plans of getting out
YOU ARE READING
à la folie (To Insanity)
RomanceRaven was born with The Gift, instantly marking her as a target. A threat to the government, she lives as an outcast for most of her life. Jacksons life was normal, a calm oasis in the shadow of the Outlands. Then, his sister is born. She has The G...
