SMOKE (The Aurum Trilogy Book 2)

Chapter 3

THREE

Lauren

I wasn't able to get a wink of sleep again. And I didn't see Lia leave the room. She was still on my bedside, sleeping, her head resting on my sheets. She insisted on watching over me in case I had another nightmare or another episode. Apparently, she has been observing me in the simulation for as long as she can remember. We were almost of the same age. I was seventeen, she was eighteen. I watched her sleep soundly, undisturbed and untouched by the world's monstrosity. Good for her, she wasn't haunted by her past or plagued by her nightmares.

I was made to be a weapon but look how fragile I've become.

I stare at the white ceiling, now in a shade of black due to the darkness of the room. Shadows lurked everywhere although nothing was in motion. The cold air lingered against my warm, sweating skin which caused me to bolt upright.

I looked over my right, checking if I'd caused Lia to rouse from her slumber. She was still sleeping, her lips curling into smile as she murmured the name, 'Lawrence'. I was guessing that Lawrence was a boy. But he was no ordinary one to Lia. The way she smiled in the middle of her sleep gave her off, telling me that she was in love with him. I smirked at the simple thought of that.

My hands fell to my face as I lay thinking, Had I been murmuring Jonathan's name? He has always been appearing in my dreams buttonightwas the first dream wherein he tried killing me. He pushed me off the cliff right after kissing me. It must've meant something. They say that dreams are secretly our deepest wishes and desires, the things that we want to happen to us. But did I really want it? Yes, I wanted to kiss him. I would give everything to go back to the simulation and never wake up. I would give everything to turn back time and not fire that bullet. I would give everything just to save him from my own hands. But did I want to die in his hands? Maybe, I did. Because if I hadn't waken up from my simulation, I would keep on loving him even if it kills me. He would kill me. He would watch me die.

I jumped out of the bed, shaking the horrible thoughts away. Jonathan loved me. Jonathan wouldn't trick me. I fired the bullet. His love was pure betrayal. Jonathan isn't real. He's part of a test. But I loved him. I still love him. He wants to kill me. He will kill me. I must feel nothing. I must feel nothing.

I shut my eyes and realized that I had been stiffly standing there for quite a moment. I need to get out of this room.

I walked towards the sliding door but it didn't open. I glanced towards it right and saw that it needed an access card, just like the ones they use in my simulation for security purposes. I looked at Lia, who was still fast asleep on the bedside, thinking I was there, still murmuring the name "Lawrence". I spotted a protruding ID card from her back pocket and slowly yanked it out, careful not to wake her up. My muscles still burned from every move I've been making. I was shut down for seventeen years. I hadn't been in motion since I was created. I tried to become as quick as I can and swiped the access card. The sliding door immediately opened and I was surprised by how loose their security was. I was an experiment. I am P-0001, a perfect soldier, a killing machine and I can be a threat to their society. I stepped out, slipping Lia's ID card inside the pocket of my somewhat hospital gown. A small ache suddenly sprouted from my legs as I started walking. Dr. Carter advised me to stretch in the mornings but I refused to do so. I did nothing but lay down and think things over, sorting out what's real from what's not. That was how my days went. Wake up. Think. Distinguish. Eat. Sleep. Nobody really came for me. Nobody except Lia.

Who was Lia anyway? Why did she take so much interest in me? Why has she been observing me in my simulation? Why does she want to be friends with me? Why can't she just stay away and leave me be? Why? Why? Why?