Wiped | The Trapped Trilogy

Seven

SEVEN
Brynlea
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Images pass before my eyes at an alarming rate. I can barely grasp what is happening, but I can see images of the girl in the white dress. She's there in all of them. She's not in the white dress in every one of them, but it's startling how much she's weaved into each image. Some of them are disturbing, while others are sweet and serene.

Suddenly, I see a woman with long blonde hair and blue eyes squatting down in front of me. The abrupt calmness alarms me, but then I begin to calm down, begin to shift and change. I can't tell if it's mentally or physically, but I change.

I'm only four.

I don't know how or why I know my age, but I do. And the calmness suddenly seems to wash over me...

I don't know who the woman is, but I call her mom...

Her face twists into a face of concern after I tell her something... I can't understand it-I'm speaking gibberish. Words come out that don't sound like words and my mouth moves at funny paces as the colors in the room swirl together and melt into each other.

I see the girl in the dress stands behind her, watching me.

...wake up...

I see a woman in front of a moving screen.

A teacher.

We're choosing. We're choosing our jobs. I wanted to be a Mechaneer... No-no, wait... that was my third choice. Wasn't it? Or... But I'm a Mechaneer now-I've always wanted to be a Mech-but-but-maybe... No. No...

But I don't recognize this classroom.

I want to be a-a Mech-a Hunter?

A little boy is standing before me, yelling at me.

I'm yelling back, my voice sounding as if I'm shouting under water. Not a word can be made out, but the little boy understands. I know he does. He does because he jumps towards me.

My eyes move to the screen at the front of the room just before his hands push me to the uninteresting floor-

The girl is on the screen.

I make a promise.

What was the promise?

I always keep my promises...

...wake...

A swing.

The ball of light on the sky lid.

The swing is breaking above me, sparks flying everywhere.

I fall to the earth, stars overhead, fire around me, explosions ringing in my ears. Out-of-place explosions. They aren't supposed to be here. Not here... I'm inside the Dome...

Hands and sanitarily masked faces swarm above me, blocking the night sky from my vision. Suddenly, stardust falls on me, melts down to where I lay as light takes over my vision, seeming to transform into the girl in the white dress. Who is she?

...up...

And then, suddenly, there's a girl. A familiar girl with short, dark hair and brown eyes stands up on a ladder, and I stand looking at her. In my heart, I feel like she's me.

But she's not me. I'm me.

I'm looking down at the blonde haired girl from up on the ladder.

I'm looking down?