The Deadly Truth

Chapter Four

A couple periods later, we were finally released from school. I had never been more thankful for leaving. It was torture enough having to sit in the “Facility of knowledge” learning nothing, but I also now had to watch death slowly creeping upon fellow classmates.

                Upon release I shot through the metal double doors as if escaping a prison. I tried to head somewhere, but where could I go? I started to pace anxiously in front of the entrance, much to the annoyance of the other students trying to leave the school.

                “Sarna, I think we need to research the Mones some more,” Len told me, grabbing a hold of my shoulder after a few moments of pacing. Len was always too polite to push through the crowd like me, resulting in an arrival a little bit later than mine. I nodded to his suggestion, relieved to have something to do. I was on the verge of a breakdown, just sitting outside like a caged animal. Although, I couldn’t help but frown in disappointment.

                “But where, Len? All of the information out there is bullshit. They probably say that Mones are God’s gift to the world to make life easier!” I exclaimed, volume rising in my voice with each word, flailing my arms around wildly. I kicked a nearby stray rock in my frustration.

                Len took a seat on a nearby bench in thought. I could tell he was really concentrating because he got that far off look in his eyes reserved for only his deepest thoughts. I stood, dumbly staring at him. His eyes really were beautiful. They were as pristine as a newborn baby’s untouched irises. The strange thing was my green eyes, which hadn’t seen much, were tainted and dark, while Len, who had seen way more evil and deceit than any sixteen year old should, seemed innocent and beautiful. Len suddenly returned back from his thought process and looked up, causing me to quickly look away with a slight blush.

                “The database downtown that the environmentalists use probably has true information,” he stated, looking down the road, rubbing his chin. “They don’t seem like the kind of people who would be too fond of Mones,” he continued, looking back at me. I bit my lip.

                “My dad won’t let me down to the environmentalists’ headquarters. My mom used to hang out down there,” I didn’t need to explain further for Len to understand. He knew all about my dad and his paranoia about my following my mother’s footsteps. Being that, he only nodded in agreement without the slightest hint of disappointment.

                “Who says you have to tell him?” he simply said, sitting up and starting to stretch out. I widened my eyes in shock and confusion. Len was always parading around preaching about being honest to your parents, and to not do drugs, etc. This was absolutely out of character.

                “But…” I started to protest, but decided it was best not to disagree. I mean, I wasn’t going to feel guilty about not telling my father. In fact, I’m sure I would never tell him if I were going anywhere if it weren’t for Len and his guilt trips.

                “Well, let’s go,” Len declared after he was sure I wasn’t going to finish my statement. He turned around and started for Grand Pike, the only road that led downtown. I stood back for a moment, soaking up what we were doing. Len and I were going to try to recall Mones, a creation that had complete control over the human race. We were going to probably uncover more truths than we could handle… we may even watch a few friends die before we could make a difference. I gulped.

                Suddenly I wanted to run. I wanted to run in the complete other direction, away from everything. I didn’t like digging myself into this hole that I knew would eventually cave in. I actually did start to turn around and prepared to sprint, convincing myself that it wasn’t worth it, but then I saw a little girl, no older than three, climb up to a Powerbox to charge her Mone. When she reached up for the charger, her sleeve fell down revealing her lesion. My breath got caught in my throat at the sight of it. I had to do this. Someone needed to stop the Mones.

                “Len, wait up!” I shouted, turning around and sprinting the right way.

                When I neared closer, Len was no longer walking. He was talking to one of our teachers from school, Mr. Larxan, who was holding a grocery bag. He must have actually gone shopping. It was a rarity these days, what with the Mones and everything, but Mr. Larxan was always old fashioned. He still wore glasses and wrote with pens.

I couldn’t help but let out an exasperated sigh at the sight of them; I wasn’t in the mood for small talk. “Oh, so how is school for you two?”, “It’s all right, I could be doing better,” No. I had a little three year old girl to save. The closer I got, the more heartbroken the both of them seemed. This was most definitely not small talk. It was strange seeing Mr. Larxan showing emotion. He always simply slept during World Geography.

                “What… what’s wrong?” I asked when I finally reached the duo, slightly afraid of the answer. Mr. Larxan’s face was actually tear-stained.

                “Lanai, she’s in the hospital. Critical condition,” Len replied monotone. I didn’t know whether to cry or scream. Why hadn’t she held on for just a little more? Len and I were going to save her and everyone else who wore those damn Mones!

                “It’s the Mone, isn’t it?” I asked, not even needing an answer. I already knew.  Len nodded slowly. Mr. Larxan cut in.

                “You should go see her. She really seemed to be fond of you two the past couple of weeks,” Mr. Larxan suggested. It was weird how he knew all this even though he slept in class. Len and I nodded in unison and had to turn back to the hospital, leaving behind the database, and our research.

                The walk there was silent. Both Len and I were trying to swallow the whole situation. If Lanai had gotten her Mone only a few days ago and was already in critical condition, how much longer did we have to fix things? Days? …Minutes?