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Getting into the school was easy enough. The gadget that Crusoe gave me worked exactly how he said it would. But now that I’m here, I realise how underprepared I am.
As usual, I have no idea what I’m doing.
I tiptoe carefully as the floorboards groan tirelessly in anticipation of my arrival. I arrive at a fork in the corridor and look around to make sure that no one is following me. There’s nothing around me except some rubbish on the ground, and the pale green lockers lining the walls of the school.
I take a lucky guess and go left, putting one foot delicately in front of the other. I’m not sure why I’m doing it, it’s as if I think that me walking normally will send the CSO right after me, sirens blaring and guns blazing. I laugh quietly to myself; I only have to breathe for them to come after me. They wouldn’t be able to stand it if they saw someone who is Ransacked walking on the property of the Civilised, in the middle of the night, with no apparent reason to be there.
But I do have a reason. And that reason makes me continue down the corridor. I continue walking till I find myself at a set of large doors. I push my hands against the doors, forgetting Crusoe’s warning.
Suddenly, an ear-splitting noise, loud enough to wake even the dead, echoes throughout the building. How could I be so stupid? Crusoe told me that I wouldn’t be able to get through the doors located deep inside the school, and now I’ve just sent a fleet of CSO soldiers to my exact location.
It could just be my imagination, but it’s like I can already hear the sirens coming my way. I can already feel the force of the soldiers bashing me to the ground and taking me away. As soon as there is something to disrupt the CSO’s perfect society, they will immediately do whatever it takes to get rid of it.
I turn around to head to the other end of the hall. I may not be able to go down there, but I still need answers. I came here with a purpose, and I will not let the overwhelming sirens stop me.
I abandon my careful pace, resorting to a run. The eerie silence is being overtaken by the sound of my footsteps landing hard on the floorboards.
THUD.
THUD.
THUD.
I know that soon enough this place will be filled with a lot more noise than just my footsteps. It will be filled with the monsters that call themselves humans.
They will kill me or capture me. They will do whatever they want. I will be completely powerless to stop them. I feel around in my pocket and my fingers wrap around the syringe that Hayden gave me. No, I am not completely powerless. I still have this.
I stop to catch my breath and the world begins to spin. I know what’s coming, but I try to steady my breathing and focus on a still point on the wall in front of me. The wall keeps dancing around in my mind and causes me to lose my balance. I land on the ground just as the unceasing nightmare floods my mind again.
* * *
‘A young girl walks down the corridor, a ragged black backpack slung over her shoulder. I try to focus on her face, to get a glimpse of her identity, but as usual her features are blurred. She places her things in locker 303 and strolls outside to find her friends. I want to yell at her to stop, but she doesn’t know any better. She doesn’t realise that this is the last day that she will ever be free. This moment is the beginning of the end of her life.
Suddenly, the evacuation bell sounds throughout the school. All alone, the girl rushes to the door of the nearest classroom, turns the knob and pushes on the door with all her might. The footsteps sound like an earthquake. The men carry megaphones, calling out a single name in sync. I don’t know the name, but I do know that it belongs to the girl.
She runs and ducks under a table, squeezing her eyes shut as gunfire erupts around her. She is curled up in a tight ball, gently rocking herself back and forth as bodies fall lifelessly onto the cold ground. The people are dying. Children are dying.
The girl looks up as a guard opens the door, “She’s in here.” he calls and the gunfire stops. She slowly gets out from under the table, realisation creeping onto her face. They’ve stopped the gunfire because they’ve found her. They were shooting because of her.
More soldiers in dark clothes crowd around her, the evidence of their evil scattered around them. “What are you doing?” she asks, looking around at the damage they caused. The damage they caused because of her.
“Come with us.” One of them says. Two men grab her from behind before she even has time to react and inject her with a serum. The girl falls limply into the soldier’s arms and the men carry her away, leaving the pile of destruction behind them.’
* * *
“No!” I yell under my breath, breaking myself free from my nightmare. I’ve seen it before; I already know what happens. That’s the exact reason that I’m here. I need to know if this nightmare has anything to do with the Ring, or if it is just my mind messing with me.
Nobody really knows what the ring is. It’s more of a rumour that circles around Beast Eye. All anybody seems to know about it is that it’s powerful. Powerful enough to put a whole city under a single man’s control. To turn a whole world of completely normal citizens into brainless robots, following every command given to them. That’s why the CSO wants it. They want control. Like they don’t have enough of it already.
I feel the roar of the engines vibrating beneath my feet. The sirens are so close now that I can feel each note sending goosebumps along my skin. I pick myself up off of the floor. There is no time to dwell on the nightmare right now, I need to act.
My first instinct is to just keep going forwards. It’s what I’ve taught myself ever since my mum was murdered. Don’t look back. I could try and run to the locker and see if it shares any connection with the Ring. At the very least, finding the location of the locker might give me temporary peace from my nightmares.
But when I get to the locker, who even knows if it will be open? I could just be leading myself to a dead end. Plus, if they catch me, the last place I want to be is anywhere near something that might help the CSO hurt more people that I love.
I will not help them. Not after they murdered my mum. Not after they drove my father out of the house, because he was too distraught to look after me. They have taken everything from me; I will not give them the power to take anything more.
I start to hum to put my mind off the recurring nightmares that are forever trying to overpower my mind. Humming has become the safe place that I take myself whenever I am nervous or need to think. It is strange because humming in itself makes me nervous, but as long as I am alone when the sound escapes my lips, I feel like a completely different person. I feel like I could be anywhere except where I am right now.
