Daddy [Mommy Sequel]

Chapter 15: Roommates

My heart dropped as I entered the room, the door shutting with a click behind me. I slowly faced my surroundings.

I could feel my skin prickle with horror.

In the rather large room I was in, there were eight beds, four on either side of the room, facing each other. The room was completely dark other than two lamps on nightstands at two corners of the room—diagonal from each other. A bright white light radiated off of the bulbs, illuminating the rest of the room.

The beds were covered by thin, white cloth as a blanket, and the room was extremely cold. And on seven of the beds, were seven other children.

Some of them were leaning off the sides, some of them were on all fours on the thin mattress—one of them was standing up. My heart pounded in my chest as I noticed how real they all were.

They weren't just lying on their beds—the same as everyone else. They looked like they were talking to each other—actually talking and moving around before I walked it.

Before I interrupted.

The way they were scattered and in various places and even standing on the beds, I knew it wasn't allowed. I knew they were supposed to be getting ready for bed—or at least in a perfect position.

I knew that it was against some sort of rule—and that made me grin from ear to ear.

When the men in suits and the women in uniforms weren't watching—they were normal. They were normal children— and they acted that way as well.

They weren't mindless dolls anymore.

I nearly laughed, watching as they stared at me with shock, as though they have been caught red handed. There were both boys and girls in the room, all around my age.

My heart fluttered in my chest at the sight of real emotion. Something that wasn't fake or made out of injections and metal. I was so excited, I nearly screamed.

"I didn't think—"

"Dormitory rooms should hold all the appropriate children, and the halls should be evacuated now. Any missing children shall receive a mark. Proceed with roll call."

The door locked with a click, the children who were missing from their rooms stuck outside.

The children all scattered to their rightful beds, and I copied them—heading to the empty bed nearest to the door. I didn't know what was going on, but I remembered what Transfer 342 said, and I knew I had to mimic their actions.

I looked around frantically at the children—but they didn't look at me. They stared towards the door with anticipation—and I could only assume that they expected someone to take roll by the announcement.

I sat on the bed like them, their legs tucked neatly under each other and their hands crossed in their lap. They still had their clothes from supper on.

I watched the door anxiously, expecting someone to come in—when all of the sudden, I heard a hiss from beside me.

I ignored it at first, assuming it was a figment of my imagination—before I heard it again—snapping my head in that direction.

Across the room from me, on the bed facing mine—was a very thin girl. She had thin lips and a small nose—but everything else resembled everyone else. She pointed to the bed.

"Your shoes."

I raised a brow.

"What?"