Chapter 11: Miss Zilya

NO!

My eyes snapped open as I suddenly rise from bed. Cold sweat was flowing down my face and I felt my heart pounding.

I felt out of breath as though I just ran a very long distance. I grabbed the nearest cloth to me and started to wipe off the plenty of sweat on my face.

After calming myself down and regaining composure, I assessed the room I was in. There were no little screens, test tubes, and other objects that are usually found within a laboratory. I looked around more and didn't see the four muscular men, the lady, and Miss – I can't remember her name – anywhere. No matter where I roamed my eyes, there seem to be no signs of their presence here.

If they are not here, nor am I inside a laboratory then that means everything that I saw wasn't real. It was all nothing but a dream, or rather a nightmare.

I let out a long sigh. It may be a terrifying dream but I am still glad that it was all nothing but a bad dream. I don't want to lose what's remaining of my fading memories. I might completely lose myself if I lost that memory.

I am aware of the capabilities of the elders to erase memories from us children. I had experienced it myself when I first set foot on this planet. Children were intended to forget about their memories and who they used to be, however, this process doesn't happen in an instant. Based on my experience once a child gets his/her memories erased, they stay at a dark place just floating for a while. I still have my memories of that time.

Inside that dark place, I had no grasp of time. There are no indications of whether a long amount of time has already passed. It's a good thing the man and woman from dream taught me how to count and read the time. The memory of what they taught me is a blur because it got wiped out along with the other memories. Before my memories got wiped out, I used to count the time that had passed. I can't remember the exact number but I am sure that a long time had passed before the great white light appeared and wiped out all of my other memories.

Maybe I was supposed to disappear just like my other memories but for some reason, I didn't. It may be because I was clinging to a single memory. This single memory of my parents helped me remember some parts of my past.

All the other kids in this place must have undergone this terrible process of getting their memories erased but unlike me, they weren't able to hold on to a memory. These other children must have a story of their own and memories before they got erased.

My train of thought was interrupted upon hearing knocks on the door.

"Children please get ready, we will fall in line after 15 minutes, thank you," a woman from outside the door instructed.

"Yes ma'am," the other four children in the room answered in unison. I looked at them and saw that they are already in their day uniforms. I haven't even taken my breakfast yet, there are a lot of thoughts going inside my mind that I didn't notice the time. I have been sitting on my bed for a while contemplating some things.

I felt my stomach rumbling as I looked at the food set on the table. I let out a sigh. I shouldn't have stayed in the bed for too long.

"I only have fifteen minutes to prepare, food can wait," I thought to myself before entering the washroom. I'll eat after I'm done cleaning myself.

***

Unfortunately, I had no time to eat so I just grabbed a protein bar before going out. I plan to excuse myself later during the lecture and eat inside the washroom. It sounds unhygienic alright but I need to eat. I missed the breakfast and I am starving.

Good thing I don't have the check-up today or else the lady with a long white coat would find out that I haven't eaten my breakfast. The other children have eaten theirs so I'd be in great trouble if they found out that I was different from them. I could even get my remaining memory erased because of it.

"Okay class starting this day you will be seating with your assigned partners," Sir Luke explained, "now and then I'd be assigning tasks that you and your partner would have to accomplish together."

"Yes Sir Luke," everyone in the room answered in unison, including me.

"Any questions?" he asked. This is the first time I heard the teacher asked us about our concerns or questions. I do have a question in mind that I had been bothering me ever since I heard about this "partner" thing: How would the two of us work together if no children ever interact with each other. I can't count how long I had stayed here but I'm sure of not seeing a single child interact with another child. The same goes for the elders, but not everyone, only the pale-looking ones.

I wanted to ask but I chose to keep my mouth shut. No other child would ask a question and so if I did, I'd be different. Not being normal is a sure way to get yourself in trouble in this terrible place.

I saw through my peripheral vision that Cyrus is heading my way with his female guardian. I can't look at him directly, it would reflect my inner curiosity so I have to look forward to the teacher.

He sat next to me while his guardian stood behind us, probably looking after Cyrus. The intense stares the guardian gives are enough to make one feel uncomfortable. When I was the one being closely examined I felt that if I did one wrong act, I'd be sent off to that lab and the single remaining memory would be completely erased. Even if I am no longer the one being examined closely, having a guardian behind me made me have the same feeling as being closely examined.

"Miss Asmia I can look after him myself, may I request you to leave," Sir Luke politely asked.

The guardian which name is Miss Asmia seemed to be surprised by what the teacher just said. She then bowed to him and replied, "I apologize, I do not mean to cause class interruptions but I cannot leave."

Sir Luke stood his ground even after being rejected. He repeated, "I understand that you're just following orders. Both of us are the same; however, I can't accomplish the task sent out for me with you here."

The situation right now piqued my interest but I did my best to not let it show. I am facing the teacher in front just like the other children so I can see the teacher's facial expressions. He seemed to have a misunderstanding with a fellow elder but no emotion can be traced on his face. No squinting of the eyes nor even furrowing of the brows can be seen. If I were him I'd feel irritated towards the female guardian. Either he was not capable of feeling emotions or he can keep his emotions well hidden.

I felt a hand grasp my shoulder tightly, it was Miss Asmia. Her grasp was so tight that it hurt.

"Okay fine I will leave," the guardian finally gave in, "but just know that I will be by the door watching." She finally let go of my and Cyrus's shoulder. I wanted to massage my shoulder but they can't know that I have emotions left, so I decided not to.

"Thank you," Sir Luke replied while holding the door for the guardian.

Miss Asmia gave a suspecting stare at him but his face was void of any emotion. If he was hiding his emotions, he's doing very well at it. He closed the door and went back in front to continue his lecture.

In my peripheral vision, I can see the guardian continuing to watch over Cyrus but this does not make me as uncomfortable as I did a while ago. The atmosphere doesn't feel constricting anymore all thanks to Luke.

Something feels off though, why would he ask the guardian to stay out of the room? Was he planning to do something?

"GRRRRRR"

Oh no, I hope Sir Luke didn't hear that.

The teacher stopped from writing something on the board and looked at us, "Did someone skip breakfast?" he asked.

Shoot! He heard it! What do I do now?

"I apologize, Sir," a boy answered. I looked at whoever said that and saw I was surprised to see that it was Cyrus, "I didn't skip on breakfast but I have been feeling gassy."

What was he doing?

"Is that so, do you need some medical assistance?" Sir Luke asked. His question reminded me of the dream I had so I began to feel nervous for him.

"There is no pain, I just needed to get some gas out and it's already done. Please proceed," Cyrus answered. There was no emotion traced on his face.

"Okay then I will now conti-"

"Sir I need to use the washroom," I asked. My heart is beating very fast and I'm afraid he would figure me out. I did my best to sound as emotionless as possible and hide any hint of emotion on my face.

"Go ahead," he replied as he handed me the Washroom Pass.

I stood up and walked towards the door. I passed by Cyrus and I took a glance at him. His face was void of any emotion, or so it seems.

If he were an empty shell then why would he do that? My hunch may be correct that there might be a poor soul trapped inside that poor boy.

An idea crossed my mind.

I can make use of this opportunity as his partner to learn more about him. Once I do find out that there is a soul trapped inside him, I would help him to get out of that dark place. I know this won't be easy so I'd have to think about it more. I also should be extra precautions, we can't lose both of our remaining memories - if he did have something left.

***

I walked inside the washroom and saw nobody else was inside. The inside of the washrooms that they have in this place has divisions of smaller rooms which are called a "cubicle". I chose the cubicle farthest from the door.

I can now finally eat, I'm so starving!

I opened the protein bar and began to munch on it. I was making a noise but good thing there was nobody else here besides me. I need to finish this fast or else Sir Luke might send muscular men to look for me.

The protein bar was small so I managed to eat it very quickly. I wiped the crumbs off my face with a cloth and opened the door to my cubicle. I washed my hands at the sink and while I was at it a tall woman came inside of the washroom.

In my peripheral vision, I could see that she was wearing the same uniform that all teachers at this place wear. So just like every 'normal' child would do, I faced the lady to greet her.

"Good morning Miss-"my eyes widened as I saw who was standing before me, "Zilya". She was my guardian from before Cyrus came.

"We meet again young one," she said with a smile on her face, "how are you doing?"

This is weird. They're well aware of the fact that all children in this place do not have any emotion, so why ask a child how she is doing. Something feels real off here.

But she might find it more suspicious if I don't answer back. She might think that I am avoiding her so I replied coldly, "I am good Miss Zilya. I apologize but I have to go back to class, it is nice seeing you."

I dried my hands with a cloth and walked towards the door. The atmosphere here is suffocating me.

"Have you seen anyone else come in here?" she asked, "there are crumbs all over the floor."