If this is death, I will go quietly. I only hope it takes me peacefully.
I let the exhaustion take me, the world turning black when all I’ve seen for weeks on end is white. In the darkness, I don’t feel the pain in every bone, I don’t feel the stabbing pain radiating through my ribs every time I breathe. In the darkness it’s safe, I’m free.
I finally feel free.
Chapter 29:
Darlia
Light comes back first, the blinding lights of the room breaking the hope that I had let myself gain. For once, I thought I was free of this world; of The Academy, the re-education site. My body doesn’t resist the movement as I push myself up into a sitting position.
I’m still in the white jumpsuit, only this one is clean, new, free of the blood from the guard. But everything else is gone; my knife, the blanket, everything that kept me alive.
“PX-3! Ah, you’re awake!” Doctor Langdon smiles, walking inside the cell. He doesn’t seem mad, only happy that I’m…awake? Confusion flows through me. Something feels off, very off. “See? You fought so hard to fight who you are, but you’ve just proved it. You’ve just proved exactly who you are. You are a killer.”
My blood turns cold. “I am not.” My voice lacks conviction.
“PX-3, listen to yourself. You are trying to fight what you already know. You are a killer, a trained assassin from The Academy. You are a killer, and deep down you know you are, it’s why you killed Thomas.”
“It was self-defence, you’re all trying to kill me!”
“Oh sweet, sweet child. You’re so blinded that you still can’t see the truth. This is who you are, PX-3. You must remember who you are. I have a present for you to prove who you are.”
“I don’t want your present.”
“You don’t have a choice, PX-3. They have one target: you. Only one of you will be leaving this room alive. Let’s see which one of you breaks first.”
The door closes as Doctor Langdon exits the room. Pushing myself up to sit with my back against the padded wall, despite the ache seeping into every inch of my body, I wait to see what he was talking about.
They aren’t just trying to kill me anymore, they’re sending someone to do it for them.
I find my knife laid out on the other side of the room. I crawl across the room quickly, picking up the knife and hiding the blade under my thigh against the floor while the hilt sticks out, just in case it is life or death.
I will never ever kill for The Academy again. I refuse.
The door opens, and a girl walks in with her head down, dressed in the same white jumpsuit. Her long, blonde hair hides her face, matted and dirty. Was this the girl the guards were talking about? The door slams closed behind her, followed by the sound of footsteps walking away.
“You don’t have to kill me, you know? We could just sit here. They will wait for us, the doctor said so himself,” I say softly, my voice still weak. But every plan I create goes out the window the second her head shoots up, and the girl’s eyes meet mine.
Lauren.
“Lauren, oh my God…you’re alive!” I go to stand, but my body reminds me why I’m down. I gasp as the spark of pain shoots through every inch of my body. I collapse with a sharp cry my hand instinctively going to my ribs.
“How are you…how are you alive? What did they do to you?” I reach my hand out to her, but she doesn’t take it.
Lauren doesn’t do or say anything, not showing any emotion at all. She just stands there observing me, reading me. Nothing like the Lauren I remember.
“Lauren, it’s me. Come on, you know me. It’s Darlia, your friend.”
“I don’t have friends,” she finally responds. “It is not permitted by The Academy.” Her voice is cold, distant. She’s not Lauren, she can’t be.
“Lauren, come on, don’t let them win. What happened to the girl who wanted to escape The Academy? Where has she gone? I like her better.”
“She was broken and needed fixing. Doctor Langdon reminded me of all the amazing things The Academy does for us.” She sounds like a fucking robot, and my heart is breaking. Slowly I force myself up, leaning against the wall for support. My legs tremble from not being used in weeks.
“You wrote in your diary that you wanted your mum to find you. Lauren, they took you from your mum. They never saved us, they never even cared. Everything was planned.”
“Liar!” She lunges at me, holding the same knife I trained her with. I only just manage to push her away, even her moves are different, stronger.
