King of Stars Volume 1 (An interstellar ATEEZ Hongjoong fanfiction)

Part Thirteen: In Which 10-24 Questions Who She Is

Somewhere between the real and unreal was where my mind could be found. A million colors and lights swirled behind my closed eyelids blending my world into a never ending kaleidoscope. The surreal landscape frightened me and I was powerless as I was dragged along, not able to shut my eyes to it.

This world was my mind. This whole world was inside of myself. Strange and terrifyingly beautiful I was taken against my will into the depths of what I felt it wanted me to show me.

With a ripple everything took on definition as a scene unfolded in front of my eyes. There were people, some of them were sitting in a circle while others watched on from the sides. The colors shifted into tangible objects that brought the memory to life. Some reds and whites morphed into wooden blocks scattered over a colorful rug on the floor. Another color that was almost purple became the foundation for a large dollhouse in the corner. A splash of green and blue was a child's crude painting of the sky tacked to a wall. Like the dream before I knew I was somewhere in my past. The past I couldn't remember no matter how hard I tried to when I was awake.

A home with no warmth in its walls.

The room was full of both boys and girls of every age. Some of them spoke in hushed tones to one another but more often than not they'd have their faces buried in books or staring blankly out of a window leading to the world outside.

As I did before I observed unnoticed as events transpired around me, like a ghost haunting the inside of a dream. Some of the younger children quietly stacked blocks without once looking at each other. The older ones were deep in concentration as they tried to paint pictures of animals that had only ever seen within the pages of a book.

A little girl that was different from the others caught my attention. She had a bright smile and a tinkling laugh as she played with two dolls. She made them slowly dance around one another, their feet tapping to a song that was playing in her head. Her eyes sparkled as her imagination ran wild.

Some of the adults in lab jackets jotted notes onto clipboards. They all seemed particularly interested in the little girl and observed her coldly as she continued to play.

My eyes rested on a small figure on the ground next to me.

The little girl sat with her back to the wall. She never made a sound, never reached for any of the toys to play with. She just sat with her legs pulled against her chest watching the room under a mess of dark hair through her oddly colored eyes.

Eyes that were one green and one blue.

My heart raced in recognition. I felt nausea well up inside of me as I turned back to the adults who were now gathered around the girl with the dolls. She giggled as she brought the faces of the dolls together.

A kiss, my mind supplied the answer.

All the nurses gave sidelong glances to the doctor who studied the child with an unreadable expression. The doctor shook his head once to whatever silent question they had shared between them. One of the nurses nodded her head in compliance and leaned over the little girl.

I noticed the playroom had suddenly grown quiet as all the children stopped what they were doing to watch.

The girl looked up with wide eyes. "Where are we going?" She asked fearfully.

"Away," The nurse added simply and grabbed the little girl's wrist.

Her eyes welled up with tears and she tried resisting but wasn't strong enough. The nurse yanked her to her feet. She began crying loudly and was escorted out of the room. Her wails could be heard echoing down the hallway until the slam of a door cut them off with finality.