Walls

Ch 10: Felix

Felix put his fork down and smiled.

'I had a pretty normal life before being brought in here. I went to school at Urban High, not too far away from where you lived, Blair.' I remembered checking that high school out-everything was so much cleaner and nicer than my own.

'I got good grades in Shop and Art, and pretty good grades in Gym as well. I was a good student. I didn't have very many friends, but I had my boyfriend, and he was all I needed.' Felix drifted into what seemed like a happy memory. 'He was cute and smart and funny, and just.. Amazing. I used to call him Carrot, because of his hair. He had freckles and, for me, he was perfect.' Felix sighed.

'I was brought in here two years ago, a couple of days before I was supposed to graduate. I had it all planned out-after graduation, my boyfriend and I were going to move to a quieter area of the city together, maybe open a small shop or something if the government would allow it.

'My parents wanted me out of the house as fast as possible-they didn't really agree with my.. Lifestyle. And my boyfriend was totally ok with that, his parents weren't happy with us either. It was just us against the world for a little bit.

'Then came the government. By that time, I had guessed that they'd wanted something from me. I was being trailed everywhere I went.' Felix stopped smiling.

'It was about six o'clock at night. I was at home with my boyfriend when somebody knocked on the door. I lived in one of the better protected communities, so I didn't think it was a big deal. He definitely didn't. Until he answered the door and was shot and killed.' Everyone at our table had ceased all noise-all eyes were on Felix, who was looking down at his plate solemnly.

'I got out the back door and ran. I ran for an hour before I was sure that I'd lost the psycho that killed him. That's when I ran into Darius with a team of some other people from here. He explained what he was doing and asked me to come with him. He said I'd be safe.

'So I took off. I disappeared. And since then, I've kind of been.. Here. Just here. And not once, have I ever seen a 'missing' poster.' Felix sighed and went back to poking his food.

I was guessing that no one else had heard this story before, because they were all just as surprised as me.

I reached forward and grabbed Felix's hand consolingly. 'What was his name, Felix?' I was whispering, as if anything louder would cause him to explode.

'Cal,' he mumbled and smiled weakly, 'his name was Cal.'