A Beautiful Reflection From Firework Eyes

I Hope You Never Have To Go Through This Hell

Hello there. Hope y'all have had a good time so far. I'll be updating this pretty frequently, maybe a few times a week? Who knows.

 Also new character introduction! Who do you think it is?

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Kellin follows me down the hallway as the guard swings the door open. I can see his eyes flicking around, examining the white walls, taking in the rooms around us. The kitchens and a few offices are located on this floor and not much else. As usual, a few guards are patrolling the hallways, guns and batons hanging by their sides. I catch sight of a brown-haired boy standing in one of the empty rooms, but he's whisked away by a guard before I can get a good look.

The door to the showers sticks, so I have to shove it with my shoulder to get it to open. I stumble into the room, holding open the door for Kellin to slip in.

There are two shower stalls in the bathroom, flimsy cheap white curtains hanging in front of them. It would have been a private place, except for the fact that the rings are nearly torn off, the curtains barely blocking the shower.

The door slams shut behind us, the sound echoing through the room.

"Here." I hand him his fresh uniform from the shelf on the wall and a bar of soap before taking mine. My familiar number stares back at me. "Don't take too long. The timer shuts off after five minutes. If we're lucky, there might still be hot water."

I head toward the shower stall on the right, looking behind me to see Kellin standing there, not moving.

"You okay?" I call.

"Yeah," he snaps out of his daze, going toward the second stall. "Guess I'm still adjusting."

I give him a sympathetic glance. "I get that."

The curtain screeches as I pull it shut. I strip out of my dirty uniform, piling it on the bench beside me. The showerhead sputters as I crank the handle all the way to the right, a thin stream of water leaking out. I gasp as the ice-cold water bites my skin. I can hear Kellin do the same from the stall over. The shower sucks, but it's better than nothing. The timer clicks away as I scrub down, my teeth chattering as I do so. I'm shivering by the time I step out from under the cold water and dry myself off. The water from my hair drips into my fresh uniform as I lace up my sneakers and step out from the stall.

Kellin's still in his stall as I dump my old uniform into the bin in the corner. I partially can see him through the curtain and turn away, my face heating up. I run my fingers through my tangled hair, as I wait for him to be finished, trying to comb it the best I can.

I hear a gasp behind me and whirl around, letting out a yelp of surprise when I see it.

There's a brown-haired boy standing in the doorway. I stare at him, and he stares back at me, shock etched on his face. I can see from the number, M-16 printed across his back and the same blue uniform he's dressed in that he's one of us. I can only stare at him, speechless at the fact I'm standing face to face with another one of us. Then, not knowing why I do so, I lift up my hand in a wave, letting a spark appear on my fingertips, ignoring how cold I am. When he sees the small flame, he smiles before he disappears around the corner just as the guard walks in.