Erased

Chapter 7

I wake up sitting in a chair. I look around at the room, and there's no one present except for a bright light looming above me, and a metal table. What frightens me most is that the silver table is covered with dried blood.
I struggle to get out and I'm in for another surprise: I'm gagged and tied up to the chair.
I try to keep quiet and try to shake my arms out of their bindings, but behind me I hear the click of a gun.
I freeze. Then a man's voice sneers, "Smart choice, sweetheart. Don't move or I shoot."
I can hear the steady beat of my breathing, but I can also feel the rapid beating of my heart. I'm terrified. And where's Daren?
"Now, if you aren't gonna scream out or call for help, I'll take out the gag. If you do call out, I will put a bullet through your head," he says, approaching me.
The man has dark, combover and thickly gelled hair and a crude-looking face. He has traces of hair on his face, which means that he's recently shaved. He still holds the gun as he takes out my gag. Because I don't want to get shot, I keep my mouth shut.
"Good," he says. He throws the gag, which turns out to just be a clean handkerchief tied around my head, on the floor. "I still have my gun." The man says as a reminder, as if I've forgotten that it's still in his hand.
"Now, you've broken in-" he starts, but I interrupt.
"Hey! I have questions too," I say, sounding annoying because I simply want to annoy him.
"Shut it. I'm the one with the gun."
"And maybe I'm not afraid of the gun," I say, even though that may not be wholly true. But I can feel it right now. The thrill of being brave and fearless.
The man twirls the gun in his left hand. He chuckles. "You wouldn't be that much of a brave hero if I shot it at you right now," he says. This does scare me, I've got to admit. But I continue to glare at the man, but say nothing.
"Good. Now, I suggest you answer my questions as honestly as you can. Otherwise... Well, you most likely know what'll happen," the man says.
"Yeah, I kinda get it now," I say.
"Now, you've broken into the building famous for performing the Erasure. I don't see anyone along with you, and there isn't anything you have with you that's very lethal--except for the gun, which I have--and you haven't stolen anything. So what're you here for? Unless you're one of those poor teens that wish to take it in private?"
I stay silent for a bit. "I just..." I start. I know what to say, and thankfully I'm a great actress and liar. "My Aunt Grace doesn't want me to take it!" I practically flung the words at him. Oh whatever. I'm an effective liar.
"Oh really? And why not?"
"She... She...She's...against the Erasure," I whisper the last part.
The man's eyebrows are raised. "Oh? And why is that?"
"My mother--her sister--had strange effects to the Erasure. The doctors who administered it to her told her it was just her allergies acting up again. My mother almost always had allergy problems," I say thoughtfully. Right now, I'm pretty sure the man believes me. "My aunt didn't believe it. Which is why she didn't do it. She didn't want me to take the Erasure either. Said that there's something wrong with it. I didn't believe her. My mother and father are both gone, and now I'm stuck with her. That's... That's why I had to come. I had to do it. I'm sorry." I put my head in my hands, or I try to, and cry fake tears into them. When I draw away from my tied up hands, there are tears staining my cheeks. Yes. Mission accomplished. For now.
"Hmm... Would you like to take it now?" The man says.
"What?" I ask. I'm fully awakened and stare wide-eyed at the man.
"Would you like to take the Erasure? Since you seem so desperate to take it," he says.
Now I'm actually thinking. I do want to take the Erasure, forget all the bad things in my life. And plus, my cover will be blown if I don't. I didn't learn that much from the Anti-Erasure organization.
"Yes. Please," I say.
He looks a bit surprised for a minute, because I'm sure he thought that I'd turn down the offer, but no. He unties my bindings. "Remember, I've still got the gun," he reminds me.
"Yes, yes. I know. Just... Take me to the Erasure," I say. I'm not sure how I feel now. On one side of my brain, I want Daren to come and stop me from taking it. But I also want him to stay away, so that I can take it and be free.
We walk silently. He holds the gun close to my temple as we walk. I can feel the cold metal.
The man opens a door. There's nothing in it, except for a single machine. It's tall, and white. There's a door on it, and inside light is shining bright. He pushes me towards it. But he doesn't need to. I'm using my legs to walk. By now I've accepted it. I'm taking the Erasure. Right now. Hopefully it doesn't matter if I'm taking it 3 weeks before I actually turn 16.
Suddenly the man falls and I hear a boom. The gun comes off my head. I turn around and look behind me. It's Daren. "Enna! There you are! I was trying to find you," he says. I notice that he's shortened my name.
The man is on the floor, his head bleeding from a gunshot wound. I gape at him. "You weren't answering, and I had to go and find you. I heard you and started to follow you and this guy around. By the way, nice acting," says Daren.
"He's... Dead," I say.
"Yeah. Otherwise you would have the Erasure," he answers.
"I didn't even know his name," I murmur.
There's a small pause.
"Oh yeah," Daren says softly. "You've never seen anyone kill right in front of you."
I shake my head. "Come here," he says, holding his arms out. I look at him at first, but then I run into him and hug him tightly. I can feel him burying his head in my hair.
We stay like that for a while, with a dead man on the floor and the light coming from the Erasure machine-thing shining.