When You Die

Chapter Six

6:52 PM, Marie Curie Science Building (MCSB), April 23, 2019

The girl raced across the corridor, her heart hammering loudly in her chest. She needed to do this quickly, before anyone would discover her. A long, deserted hallway loomed in front of her, its polished marble floors reflecting her pale face back at her. Ok. Just go. She thought, clutched the locket tightly that hung around her neck, and ran.

She reached the end of the hallway and ducked into a room, breathless. Hopefully no one saw me. She thought to herself, and stopped in awe. The room was completely made of silvery-blue silk, with a huge dome that must of risen three hundred feet above her head. She guessed the silk was being suspended by the Floating machines.

A loud metal clang! Interrupted her thoughts. The girl cursed her own stupidity. In her moment of awe, she had ran into a cart of microscopes, which had clattered to the ground. She paused for a moment, listening to see if anyone had heard her. When she didn't hear anything, she didn't bother picking them up, they'd make too much noise. She made her way carefully to the technology area, careful to watch where she was going. She sat down quickly, careful not to waste any time.

There was a footstep in the hallway. Her breath quickened. Hurry up! She removed her necklace from around her neck, the only possession she was allowed to keep when she got locked up. She closed her eyes for a moment, clutching the gold locket, afraid to let it go. She finally had the strength to, and put it straight through the computer screen. There were many footsteps in the hallway, getting closer and closer to the room she was in.

She entered the commands into the computer, and shut her eyes, whispering the message careful to pronounce every word just right. "... Find the Letter... Find the Letter..." She finished the message just as the people entered the room. When they spotted her, her eyes went wide with fear. But she didn't hesitate. She turned back to the computer, and hit send. But when she looked up through her curtain of frizzy brown hair, all she could see was a blue orb flying towards her. It sunk into her head, spreading a feeling as if ice cold water was flooding her brain, then blackness.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

6:52 PM, layer 352, Apartment 6-b, Cattail apartments, April 23, 2019

Ada was famished. She had been sitting in the closet for three days, with barely any food or water. Although they couldn't talk to each other, the doctors had still been very kind to her. They had given her some of the very little food they had to begin with.

Ada was still very confused as to who she was. She remembered waking up from a long nap, talking to a woman for a few minutes, then— what did happen after that? She thought with a frown. She didn't remember at all what happened between the time when the strange woman came to her, and when that terrible man had kidnapped them.

The only thing she could feel was anger. It was a white-hot anger that ate up her insides, like a river of lava flowing through her. She was sitting on the floor of the closet, waiting for something to happen. But just then, something did.

She was just about to drift off to sleep, when her head started pounding vigorously. She put a hand up to her forehead, silent tears streaming down her face. She closed her eyes, trying to relieve her pain, but the moment she shut her eyes, a blinding light filled the space behind her eyelids. She jerked them open, breathing heavily. What was that?? She thought with a wince. The pain was almost unbearable now; her head felt as if it were about to explode.

She really was tired. Maybe if she could just shut her eyes again... mistake. The blinding light was there again. She tried to pry her eyes open, but they just wouldn't open. She clawed at her eyes, trying to force them open. After about a minute of this, she gave up, and sat there, her eyes now transfixed on the brightness.

It was coming into focus now, slowly. It seemed to be seeping through a fabric, a very large fabric that seemed to be in the shape of a dome.

She was still aware of the real world; it was blinking in and out of reality. She saw flashes of the doctors trying to get her attention, and she saw herself, but from a different perspective, as if she had escaped her body. It was very unnerving, she was staring into her own, cool, blank eyes, but she still felt the pokes of the doctors on her second, non-existing body.

She was back in the light. She seemed to be in a room full of sleek, metal microscopes, lined up in rows on work tables, as if they were an armed battalion prepared for battle. She turned around to see a girl about her own age, with long, curly brown hair, look at her with meaning in her eyes, and murmur something inaudible, but she couldn't hear what. Ada started to ask her what she was saying, but her voice came out in a strange, metallic way, as if she were speaking in a can.

The strange girl came up to Ada, took her hand, and pressed it against the smooth surface of the metal counter. Ada immediately snatched her hand up, as it was burning intensely. She looked at her hand, and saw there were several characters burnt onto her palm:

†˙'∫¬øø∂¥ ©øå†, ¶...£º πµ≤ åπ®ˆ¬ ™∞.

She turned to ask the girl what it meant, but she had disappeared. Ada looked back at her hand, contemplating the message. But when she looked at the symbols, they started swimming before her eyes, like they were being blurred together. She leaned in closer. When she did, she felt as if someone had pushed her from behind. She then seemed to fall into her hand.

Ada's eyes pricked as her nostrils filled up with the tangy scent of limestone. She sat up. She seemed to be sitting in the grass, next to a large castle. It was strangely familiar, but only a faded memory. She suddenly felt a small prickling on her bare feet. Then more, and more. There were hundreds of ants crawling all over her.

She tried to pry herself away, but now the ants were somehow lifting her into the air. They flew her over the castle, over half the world, until they got to a familiar building. It was Bill Herdel's house. She was walking through his living room, but it was more like something was steering her towards something. Her hand reached towards an ornate box, and she took it. Then her eyes opened.

What was that whole thing? She thought, but then did a double-take. She was actually standing in Bill Herdel's living room, holding the box. She pocketed it almost without thinking, and raced back to the closet, opened the door, and sat down, breathing heavily. "Where did you go?" Lara asked, a worried look on her face. "I have no-" Ada started, but was interrupted by a loud knock on the front door.