"Rocco." A robotic voice echoed from the hallway. "Rocco." It repeated, over and over and over again, its voice becoming annoying and a blur of mechanical parts twisting and turning, reaching out for a thing to crush in its gears.
"Yeah. I'm awake you... lousy thing." I said, slipping out of bed and into my clothes. No school today, so I just have to eat, and retreat to my room until lunch.
"Rocco, your stress levels are... abnormally high. Did you dream?" It asked. I turned to walk downstairs, and made my way to the table.
I froze in place. Recalling what the robot just said. It actually asked a forbidden question, which even the bots weren't able to do without being dismantled... it was trying to gain my trust.
I jumped from my seat, and rushed up the stairs, where the bot waited, sitting on my bed with a photograph in hand. I looked down at the photograph... A mother... a father... no... my mother, my father... me... and another girl somewhat older than me. Next to my mother is another lady... one I recognized right away, Clarissa.
I snatched the photo away from the robot and questioned it.
"You mentioned the dreams." I said, my eyes squinted in suspicion.
"Yes. Rocco. I did." It replied. "I wanted to talk to you that night, but we never did." It stated, sounding quite sad.
"I forgot." I said, sitting in the chair near my window, which showed the outside morning sun. I looked outside to see if I could see anyone I knew, despite how unlikely it would be.
"Rocco. You can tell me anything. I will not share it with them. I have been granted permission to disconnect when needed. Please. Trust me, Rocco." the bot pleaded.
"Listen. The dreams," I got to the point right away, "How do I manifest them in the real world?" I asked, not wanting to wait until next week to ask Mae.
"I do not exactly know. I do know that music seems to control that, with words, it releases the stress and lets you manifest things easier."
So, it was just as Mae had said, keep listening to the music... and come back to her next week. Great... The only good part was the music... not the waiting.
"The thing you see in your dreams." It began, it's head turning with a clicking noise. "I've seen it while I charge sometimes. A dark presence. A figure with no defining features to it." It said, my heart sinking farther into my stomach.
"You've... seen it?" I asked, looking at the machine in its eyes. It seemed to have some liquid dripping out of its eye sockets, a transparent liquid. Water. Tears.
"Yes. Rocco. I have seen it. It has called for you, called to you." It spoke, wiping it's tears away, almost human like. The way it looked just like a human was a little disturbing, but it also comforted me somehow. "I know you are hurting Rocco. I know how you feel... because I feel it too."
Tap...tap...tap...CRASH...tap...taptap...taptaptaptaptaptaptap.
It was raining. Thunder crashed nearby, illuminating the sky and dark alleyways of this forsaken place. I turned around and could see it again. It stood still, staring at me with eyes I could not see. It's figure wispy, and smoke-like. Dark smoke... with red swirls of fiery embers inside.
"Rocco." It called, reaching out an elongated hand toward my face. Its hand brushed against my cheek, turning me pale with its cold touch.
"I-I-" I stuttered, taking a step back involuntarily. It was as if the fear had taken over my body, it began moving on its own, taking long strides down the alleyway, dodging trashcans and small strange shadowy creatures. I felt a strange tinge in my head, a sharp whipping noise from the sky. I couldn't help but turn my head once more.
"Rocco." It said in its raspy voice. Straight behind me. Its face pressed against mine, my breathing became unsteady. My body fell to the ground and I couldn't move. It began crawling onto me. I gasped for air, but there was none to breathe. "Forgive me... Rocco." It pleaded, climbing into my mouth and nose. I felt my body shake and shiver uncontrollably. My eyes began to roll back and I was able to let out one last scream as all sound began to fade away.
"Rocco!" The robot screamed, pulling me out of my bed and into its arms carefully. I felt tears falling from my eyes, it was hard to breathe, and hard to move my limbs. They all felt sore and painfully frozen in place. The bot carried me around my room, calming me down before putting me in my bed once again. Something trickled out of my nose. "Rocco. Your nose is bleeding. Please allow me to wipe it for you."
I reached my hand up to protest, but my arm was so sore I dropped it back down. It... no... he wiped my nose, cleaning up the blood off of my face. "Name?" I asked, my throat dry.
"Name?" he asked, "I do not have a name currently." He said, putting the tissue into the trashcan nearby, handing me a glass of water, which I chugged right away.
"Then you can..." I stopped coughing, "be... Ewan." I said, the name popping into my head somehow.
"E-w-a-n. That is my name." It stated. "Ewan is my name. I am... Ewan." It repeated, a smile covering its face. "Thank you. Rocco." It said, its head held low.
"Ewan. I'm sorry for always treating you... badly. I just never really thought you would have cared for me until now. You always did things against me." I said, trying to explain as to why I didn't like the robot that looked insanely human.
"I understand. The day you were bleeding from the fork... something inside of me changed seeing that blood. I think you changed me, Rocco." He said, pointing toward my chest. "I'd better go give mother and father their water. Please remain here until I come back." he said, speeding out of the room.
The night remained quiet and still, with the occasional dog barking or an owl cooing or screeching. I slightly opened my window and smelled the night air, a scent of something burning was off in the distance, probably from the side of town that doesn't dream and has full freedom of their lives. I couldn't remember what life was like back then, but I'm sure it was full of happiness and fun memories.
I looked around with the space I had around my window, and could see the dark sky, with the clouds lightly drifting among the sky in front of the bright full moon and beautiful stars.
I think that a part of me wanted to go outside, but another part of me knew that going outside would result in me being arrested or shot, and by shot... I mean with the Lockgun. Or as you would know it, a tranquilizer gun.
The Lockgun shoots out small little bolts that lock into the skin, twisting until your spine is stuck in a twisted angle, resulting in a loss of movement for days to come. I learned that the hard way in my first year, which is mainly why they don't allow me to walk to the Academy anymore, it's also why my walks are limited to an hour at a time, since I had tried to cross over into the Safe-zone... I just wanted to see my old house and school.
I don't think I stayed awake too much longer. Curfew came, and I went to sleep. I could hear sirens going down the streets to find those who weren't sleeping, and put them to sleep. If we didn't take our medicine, it would be difficult to fall asleep, and we would dream more often. Tonight however, I did not take my pills. I had completely forgotten when I was looking outside, but I had slept anyway.
There was no dream this time, but that seemed for the best now with the creature seemingly causing real damage to me. Mae should know all about it, but I'd have to ask her tomorrow. Ewan never came back upstairs last night, and it made me wonder if he were alright, or if something happened downstairs. It wasn't until I heard metallic clanking coming up the stairs that I knew he was okay.
"Ewan." I said as he opened the door and walked inside. "Is everything alright?" I asked, seeing his face twisted in fear.
"The School administration wants to see you. Please go downstairs and..." He paused for a moment, as if reluctant to let them take me. "....greet them."
I reached for the handle, my hand pausing on it's metallic coldness. It was silent, my heart beat faster and faster as I began to slowly pull the handle down. The door creaked open and on the other side were three older men.
"Rocco . Please step outside." One of them spoke, his hair nearly all gone off of his head, and he also seemed to be the tallest of the three.
I stepped out into the morning light, which felt nice on my skin, but dreadful for my eyes. I had to adjust to the light as the tallest one began speaking to me once again.
"You will be receiving something in the mail. Please do not open it until you are alone in your room. Lock the door, and open the package carefully. Do not look inside. Dump it out onto your bed and open your eyes when you hear it beep. Do not open your eyes otherwise." He said, stepping back, allowing the shortest a turn to talk. "We... hope our gift reaches you and touches something deep within your heart. We hope you use it well and for the right reasons. Do not falter, do not waste time. Your time to excel is now." He stepped back as well, wiping some sweat off of his forehead. They seemed to be carrying lockguns on them, only... a different model. It was small and looked like a lockgun, but without the darts. Inside the guns were... yellowish little nubs.
"I... is that all?" I asked, redirecting my vision to them instead of their weapons.
"Rocco. We request to take the inspection of your medication. Please retrieve it for us." The last one spoke for the first time since arriving.
I turned to look back into the house, where Ewan was helping mom and dad with something. I took a step inside and rushed upstairs. I took the medication bottle out of the drawer and returned it to the men. They looked it over and put it into a machine. I had been taking my medications, so I was certain I was okay.
The machine beeped and the shortest one-handed my pills back, there was a slight glow to them now. I inspected them carefully.
"From now on, take your pill every day, and always make sure to take them too." The middle one said, turning around and moving away into a nearby alleyway with the other two men. I closed the front door just as a few loud blasting sounds went off, followed by a quick thud... three of them.
I ate breakfast, took my pills, and returned to my room to read some books on my phone.
Ding!
My phone made a dinging noise, the next thing I knew, there was a notification on my screen.
"New Message from: Mae Lilak"
Huh? Mae Lilak? How did Mae get my number, and why was she texting me now of all times? She's the one who told me to spend this weekend practicing for manifesting... I moved my thumb over the open button and the text message filled my screen, sending a bright white light all around me.
"The graduation ceremony is today. You should come. Chel is here as well."
The message made my heart skip a few beats. So Chel was okay? I took my phone and put it in my pocket, rushing downstairs, slipping on my shoes and bolting through the front door. Ewan was not too far behind, and wished me good luck with the rest of my day.
Once I arrived at the academy, I pulled on the front door, expecting it to be locked since it was now the weekend, but to my excitement, the door opened normally.
I ran through the halls, turning corners and scraping the soles of my shoes on the shiny flooring with a loud screeching noise. I saw the gym doors were open, and a loud crowd was waiting inside. I seemed to have made it on time.
I walked toward a set of bleachers, only to see Mae in the same row I was going to sit in. I decided to sit with her for some strange reason, feeling myself grow closer to her somehow.
"So he actually arrived. Can you not sit by me?" She asked, not turning to look at me, instead of focusing her eyes on the stage where the graduates now stood, their uniforms on, and everyone looked happy. Chel was even smiling brightly as she waved to me from the stage.
"What? You know you want me to sit by you. I'm totally cool enough for that now, aren't I?" I tried joking around as I would with Chel, but Mae had no reaction... as always.
"It's a shame they are graduating already. Axel and I were so close." She stated, wrapping something into a cloth and stuffing it into her coat pocket. "Next time."
"Huh? Do you know Axel? Are you two friends?" I asked, facing away from Chel and looking at Mae's face, but not her eyes.
"I am not friends with anyone. He and I just sometimes talk, like you and I do. I am not friends with you, and yet here I am... talking to you." She stated sourly. I felt attacked like she was an animal clawing its way out of a cage.
The clapping ceased as the graduates all entered a room with a large metal door. Chel turned and smiled once more at me before she entered. I felt like it would be the last time I ever saw her... I was dead wrong.
Two Days Pass.
September 23rd, 2106
I woke up and got ready for school as always. Dressing nicely, and even washing my face in the sink for once. I took my meds and ate breakfast, helping Ewan deliver food to mom and dad. I found myself running back and forth through the house to complete smaller tasks before I left for school.
Once I was ready, however, I stepped outside and saw the van pull up next to the stop sign just down the street. I began my trek toward it.
Opening the door and peeking inside, I realized it was no longer Clarissa, but a man. I felt uncomfortable with the sudden change and began wondering where Clarissa would have gone. She dropped me off at school the day before, and now she just... vanished?
"Okay kid, get in. You've got to get to the Academy." He said in a deep, distorted voice. I didn't take another second, getting in and buckling up quickly.
"Where's Clarissa? My driver?" I asked, feeling quite confident somehow. I got my answer, but it wasn't logical whatsoever.
"Who is Clarissa? I've always been your driver Rocco. There was no one else." The man said, his eyes on the road as he began driving slowly down my road. I put my head down and didn't say another word. I didn't want nor need to be reported for arguing with the driver.
School started with Gym today, Zach was minding his own business and his friends were simply standing near him, two were playing catch with a baseball, while the others chatted or played on their phones. I moved my attention back to Zach, who was just chilling on his own when suddenly something hit me.
"Hey!" I yelled, turning my head in the direction of where the hardball came from.
"Oops! Sorry kid." The person said, a devilish smile on their face as they stared at my surprised reaction.
"Hold your damn ball. You wouldn't want to pick a fight with the wrong person... now would you?" I asked, smirking to counter his smile. He did not like that one bit and began to speed-walk toward me, dropping the ball and raising a fist.
"Victor!" A student yelled, but it didn't stop Victor from punching me in the face. It hurt, a lot. I fell to the ground and lay there for a moment while he taunted me, calling me weak.
I felt something burn inside me. It was more anger than ever. I was seeing red, and I was imagining the pain I could inflict on Victor. I was thinking of killing him.
I can remember someone screaming and before I knew it, Victor was also on the ground, in a far worse condition at that. His arm was split with a small cut leading to his elbow, blood dripped onto the floor and he screamed in pain. I stood up and wiped my nose, wiping blood off of my top lip.
"Learn your place," I said, stepping away.
I didn't understand how I knocked him down, and when I did... but whenever I did it, I must have done a good job because Victor would leave me alone for some time.
Turns out, the one calling Victor's name was Zach. He had tried to stop Victor when a "sudden" force took him and Victor backward, sending them off their feet and onto their backs. Victor's skin tore with a audible noise and Zach flinched as he landed.
What happend to Victor, you may ask.
He simply went to the nurse to get it bandaged up. He was severely pissed off and was holding an obvious grudge.
I yawned as I heard the bell ring, school was over for the day, and I could finally go home.
Or so I thought.
"Rocco. Here." Mae said, sneaking past the door, she motioned for me to follow and she lead me to the storage closest we were in once before. We waited for minutes, which felt like hours until she stepped out and crept past cameras to a large metal door. The one where Chel entered.
She pressed on the door and I remained silent. It didn't open, so she pulled out some kind of tablet and swiped it across the scanner, the door opened and the air grew cold, steam leaked out from behind the door and walking inside was worse. It was freezing cold inside, and there was a black bag hanging upside down from a hook, red liquid pooled under it.
Steam covered the little window to the black bag, but I wiped the steam off of the glass and fell backward in a panic. It was Chel. Her eyes closed, her skin cold. Her head was leaking blood and she was pale. Her scalp was cut into, but was still on her head.