After the four of us entered our house, we all immediately washed up and went to sleep. The next day, opening my eyes, I stared at our gray ceiling, and June's face immediately came to mind. Blinking my eyes, I willed away the image as I got out of bed.
Sitting up, I immediately noticed that Oliver had already long awoken and was sitting quietly on his chair, reading one of the research papers. Noticing I was awake, he stood up from his chair and placed his research paper back on the bookshelf. I glanced at the area he placed the paper back in, and it seemed as if he had gone through one-fourth of the papers on the shelves.
"Good morning."
"Good morning."
Sliding off my bed, I took my towel and clothes from the bookshelf and exited the room. Opening the door, I saw my mother placing several plates on the table. Turning her head, our eyes met, and she gave me a bright smile. Then, after waving at each other, I went into the toilet to freshen up.
Walking out of the toilet, I saw that Oliver was waiting outside for me. Passing by each other, I made a beeline towards the television in the living room. Grabbing the remote, I pressed the 'on' button and watched as the screen lit up.
"And now onto the latest update on the MDVA prevention act. Since last night, a rampant malicious rumor has been spreading around the public about the nature of MDVA as a mental illness. The government had said that they would be looking into these rumors, their validity, and where they originated from. In the meantime, a suspension of the MDVA prevention act has been decided early in the morning. Additionally -"
Staring as the news reporter spoke, I couldn't help but smile at the good news. It was exactly as Oliver had said yesterday!
"Thank goodness it worked."
Sighing from behind me, I heard my mother mummer as she took the remote from my hand and turned off the screen.
"Come, Oliver, it's time for breakfast."
I followed her towards the kitchen table and sat down next to Oliver. Looking down, I saw the delicious plate of food in front of me and couldn't help but swallow the drool in my mouth. It was obviously a celebratory meal, with a whopping three dishes per person. The main dish was an expensive one that we rarely had. Using pricey ingredients such as a small yellow-tailed fish and red chili, the two were steamed together to create a heavenly mix of spice and sweetness. The white fish meat was soft, practically melting in our mouths as we chewed, and the chili served to enhance the slightly sweet taste of the fish meat. Sitting in a cute little bowl next to the main dish was a yellow-white block steeped in salty black sauce.
Using my spoon, I scooped off a little piece of the yellow-white block and placed it in my mouth. Unlike it's gelatinous appearance, the soft dessert was slightly firm and didn't melt in the mouth. Instead, it gave a satisfying resistance to my teeth as they cut through it like butter with a hot knife.
Closing my eyes in bliss, I then opened them and took a bite of the last dish. This dish was different yet on theme with the other dishes. They were what my mother called noodles. The noodles were long, thin strands of yellow deliciousness. Taking my spoon, I dug it into the middle of the small pile and twirled it. With clever maneuvering, I managed to get the slippery food onto, or around, my spoon and put it into my mouth. The taste was plain compared to the other two. However, by combining this dish with the others, a never-before-tasted world of delicacy opened before my eyes.
"Tasty!"
Giving a large smile, I started shoveling the food into my mouth with no hesitation or shame. Beside me, I managed to see Oliver nod his head, spitting out a "Delicious!" before eating it with much more refined actions.
Laughing in front of us, my mother had a wide grin on her face as she scooped up a little of the white-yellow dish and fed it to my father. Smiling with happiness, my father accepted the food and took a little of the fish to share with my mother.
After polishing off the three dishes, my mother took all of the plates to the sink to wash them. Standing up, my father followed her while Oliver and I retreated back to our room.
"Have fun in school."
Waving at me, Oliver took a research paper off the shelf and settled down on his chair.
"Thanks. Have a fun afternoon reading."
I swung my backpack onto my shoulders and carefully exited our room door, making sure that my whole body blocked the sight of Oliver reading. Pressing the lock, I made sure to hear a 'click' sound before I moved towards the front door.
"Have fun at school!"
Hearing my mother's energetic shout from the kitchen, I shouted "See you!" back before opening the door. Wearing my shoes, I turned right and walked towards the Justice household. Reaching their metal doors, I was about to knock on them when they opened up to show a rudy-faced Camellia.
"Good morning, Camellia!"
"Good morning, Dan."
Bending down, she handed me the news book for today and gave me a blinding smile.
"How was the faction meeting yesterday?"
Receiving the book, I tucked it under my arm as I tilted my head to look into her eyes.
"You were there? How come I didn't see you?"
Camellia chuckled as she put a hand on my head and gave my hair a small ruffle.
"Daniel and I were on the other side of the warehouse, so it wasn't odd that you didn't see us. However, since the four of you were talking with Mark and James, it was easy to spot you."
Lifting her hand from my hair, the two of us waved goodbye to each other, and I watched as the metal door gently closed in front of me.
Smiling, I felt as if I could fly as I walked away from the Justice apartment. Skipping, I passed by my own apartment and flew all the way to Ralph's apartment. Looking at the cold metal doors of his apartment, I could feel my mood sink like an anchor.
Slowing my steps, I eventually stopped right outside the apartment door. Turning my head to look at the door, it was as if I could see June's panicked face from last night reflected on it. I took a deep breath, and after glancing around to check whether anyone else could see my actions, I leaned onto the door and placed my ears on the metal.
Closing my eyes, I slowed my breath and listened to the sounds inside the apartment. Surprisingly, unlike the other days, someone seemed to be inside. I could hear frantic pacing echoing from the left and right of the apartment, as if the person inside was deep in thought, oblivious to the sounds she was making. Then, as if she had made up her mind, the pacing stopped.
Curious, I leaned my body closer and focused on the sound. However, to my great surprise, the footsteps started approaching the door, and I bolted away from it. Standing still so that the person on the other side couldn't hear me, I turned my body, ready to pretend that I was just passing by. Hearing the lock click open, I tensed my body, one foot on its toes, prepared to swing in front to take a'step'.
However, the awaited confrontation never happened. After the click, there was nothing.
I waited for one second, five seconds, and one minute. And when the door stood still like a tall wall, I took a deeper breath and leaned on the door. This time, I didn't have the mind to check whether anyone was looking at my actions.
Closing my eyes, I focused on the sounds inside the apartment. The sound of footsteps was softer, further away. They seemed to be walking away from the door, but not far enough to be in the kitchen. The sound 'turned' right, most likely heading into one of the bedrooms. And by the distance of the sound, it didn't seem to be the room nearest to the door. Was it the master bedroom?
Listening further, the footsteps turned barely audible, and I strained my ears to hear them. The person inside was walking around her bedroom. Was she packing her bag for work? The footsteps then stopped.
Straining my ears to their limit, I waited with baited breath for a sound. Any sound. As long as it indicated that the person inside was still moving. Still alive.
After what seemed like forever, I finally heard a sound. But this one sound made my heart drop. It was a big thump. As if something—someone—fell to the ground.
Feeling my heart rate increase as fear flooded my veins, I twisted the knob in front of me and flung open the door. Every apartment had a similar layout, so I threw off my shoes and bag and immediately went for the last two rooms. This feeling of ice flooding my veins, the air rushing past my ears as I ran, was so unsettlingly familiar that my brain felt entirely rational. Even if it shouldn't be.
Yanking open the door of the master bedroom, a familiar sight appeared. Dangling in front of my eyes, reality and illusion mixed together. A timid expression surfaced in front of me. His downturned eyes, the heartbreaking expression on his face, his mouth hanging open as his eyes bulged from the pressure around his neck. The two images superimposed on each other. I then shook my head to clear my mind of the hallucination.
Taking a deep breath, I felt my lungs burn, as if there was insufficient air in the room, and lunged for the chair near her feet. Hugging the chair on the floor and dragging it onto the bed, I balanced it precariously on the soft mattress. Forcing my jelly-like legs to stand on it, I squinted my eyes to look at the cord that hung around her neck.
The object used was an electric cord. Thankfully, it was an old and tattered one, with the insulation around it worn through until it was thin enough to see the wires in some places. Crawling down the chair, I didn't dare to take my time and pulled open the drawers in the room. Anything was fine; it just had to be sharp. Luckily, there just so happened to be a pair of small scissors lying around.
Grabbing it, I rushed to the top of the chair and leaned forward to reach the wire. Because it was too long for my short child's hands to reach, I was forced to fully place my weight on the wire to reach the thinnest part I could see and cut it.
Putting as much strength into my fingers as I could, I forced the two pieces of metal down on the thin strips and watched with blood pumping through my ears as the thin wires broke. Sending the two of us tumbling down.
I threw the scissors away, just in case they did any damage, as we fell and they landed hard on the floor, bruising my elbow and knees. However, I didn't pause to feel the pain. Crawling to my knees, I quickly placed my finger under June's nose and held my breath. Then tears came rushing out of my eyes. I could still feel the soft but weak airflow. She was still breathing!
Wobbling to my feet, I hobbled out of the house as fast as I could and headed towards my own apartment. My keys were in my bag, so I could only weakly pound my fists on the door, hoping that anyone inside could hear it.
As I heard the door unlock, I took one step back and used the back of my hand to wipe away the tears obscuring my vision.
"Dan? What's going on?"
Once the tears were gone, I came face-to-face with a confused Oliver. Narrowing his eyes as he accessed the many red spots that no doubt lay across my face and limbs, I pointed towards the open apartment door, the huge amount of relief blocking my throat from making any sounds.
Whipping his head towards where I was pointing, the moment he saw Ralph's apartment door wide open, his eyes widened, and a shocked look came upon his face. Without any hesitation, Oliver ran towards the kitchen. And not even a couple of minutes later, the two adults ran out with panicked faces.
As soon as my mother saw me, her already widened eyes popped out, and she brought me into her arms. Leaving the two of us, my father nodded to my mother, and together with Oliver, the two ran into the apartment.
"Are you alright?"
Caressing the top of my head with a gentle hand, my mother held my freezing body close to her chest. However, feeling too cold to answer her, I snuggled deeper into her chest and buried my face in her warmth.
Breathing in the sweet and familiar smell of her, I took deep breaths, waiting for my nerves to stabilize, before wriggling out of the comforting embrace.
"June!"
Shouting one word, I got to my legs and pulled at my mother's arms. Desperately pulling at her hand, I saw my mother slowly get up and allow herself to be led by me.
Making our way towards the apartment, the two of us had just reached when my father burst out of the apartment. Spotting the two of us, he gave our situation a quick glance before announcing that he was going to find Dara.
Practically flying down the stairs, I watched blankly as my father's figure disappeared under the metal railings.
"Come."
Scooping my small body into her arms, my mother brought me into the apartment. However, she stopped just out of sight of the bedroom.
"This is as far as we can go."
She placed me on the floor and gestured for me to stay. Then, with one last smile, she disappeared into the bedroom. Leaving me all alone.
Staring blankly in the direction of the room, I slowly felt all the energy I once had leach out of my body. Then, once it had all dissipated, I slumped down onto the floor, like a puppet that had its strings cut.
As usual, there was nothing a child like me could do. Nothing.