Shadow

Chapter 4

  It had been a day after my first Reconditioning and it was now time for my second. I shivered, scared of the pain that would be inflicted upon me, but more so scared of what other change would happen to my body.

As per custom, I was laid out on the table. I was told to shut my eyes and I did, I didn't want to see what they would be doing. The pain came quick and hard, I shut my eyes tighter and tried my best to prevent myself from screaming by clenching my jaw.

It hurt more than the first time because this time there was no memory to act as an anaesthetic for me. I was left to my own thoughts. My own cruel, vicious, wandering thoughts. I thought that maybe I would turn into a demon. Which was sort of true, because I knew that they were turning me into a Raleshka. Whatever that was.

They weren't actually turning me into a Raleshka. I had always been one. They were just reawakening it or something like that. At least that was what I had gathered from eavesdropping on small talk.

The pain burned my body. And I tried to use my thoughts to distract myself. I sang my favourite song in my head but ended up screaming it in my head. I eventually gave up and thought of the pain. How I would torture and kill that obnoxious lady with that obnoxious smile. She deserved more pain than The Reconditioning could bring. I wanted to inflict so much pain unto her and see if she could still smile that irksome smile.

And just as I was burning her alive (in my head), the pain stopped. I let out a shaky breath as I let the faceless robed people help me up. I stood up, my legs still trembling, and staggered towards the mirror.

I spotted the effect of today's Reconditioning immediately. My once completely brown-black hair now looked as though I had undergone a dye job. It looked as though I had gotten white highlights in them.

I turned to face the lady but she kept mum and simply smiled.

I staggered out of the room.

Once The Reconditioning ended, I was free to do whatever I wanted. I went to the kitchen, got an apple, sat down and munched on it. I would explore the place more later. My body still hurt too much for me to do much.

From yesterday's exploration of the place, I realised that this unit was linked to the entire apartment. As in, there were stairs that led up and down and passageways that led right and left. It was as complicated as an ant's nest.

Despite how professional the connections looked, I knew that it was not part of the original apartment layout. Firstly, it didn't make sense. Secondly, there was no paint in the passageways and the stairs were not identical, some stairways were wider than others. I also noticed that this apartment was like a hotel of sorts. There were units that were converted into storage rooms, pantries, libraries and even a garden. I loved the garden. There was always no one else there. It was so calming and quiet and reminded me of the garden I used to have.

After I finished my apple, my body didn't hurt as much so I made my way towards the garden. I sat down on a rock, by a slow stream. The garden was artificial but looked so real. There were many pine trees and many other plants. The garden was made up of many units, up and down; left and right, to make space for all the plants. The plants were supported by an artificial sun, a powerful light that hung from the ceiling.

There even was a mini waterfall that would spray cold water droplets at my face whenever I went near it. The waterfall opened into a steady stream. I watched the water of the stream flow, so fluid yet so steady. I closed my eyes as I let the cool water splash my face.

Maybe I didn't have to explore today. Maybe I could just take a quick nap...

I woke up abruptly. It was already the day of the third Reconditioning. I dreaded The Reconditioning. I didn't even realise I had slept for an entire day. I also didn't realise how tired I had been.