Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil

three

{ Elidi }

I woke up just 5 minutes from lunch.

Sighing, I sat up and looked over at my new roommates bed. He seemed to be sleeping soundly, a dreamless sleep. I have yet to learn his name. Hopefully he'll be able to talk now.

I got up and went to shake him awake. His eyes opened and he stared at me confused. Looks like the memory loss came in nicely. He opened his mouth to talk, but when he made a sound he immediately began to cough. I walked over to the bathroom and got him a glass of water.

He took it cautiously, smelling it before he brought it to his lips for a sip. When he decided it was safe enough to drink he chugged it down. I chuckled. He handed me the cup when he was finished and I put it back in its place.

"Who-" he cleared his throat, "Who are you?" His voice sounded like he had been screaming for a while. I smiled, "My names Elidi, but you can call me Eli if you'd like." He nodded, "Where am I?" I looked out the window sadly, "You're in Dema."

Before he could respond an alarm went off, signalling it was time for lunch. He looked around frantically, confused and slightly alarmed. I breathed out a laugh through my nose, "Calm down dude, it's just the lunch bell. C'mon we'll talk more while we eat."

He seemed to perk up at the word food. I walked to the door, with him following behind me, and headed towards the cafeteria. It was pretty big and had several different levels to it, but it more or less looked like a school cafeteria. Lame, I know.

Like I said before, this places sucks.

We didn't say anything to each other while we stood in line. In fact, no one was saying anything. The whole room was quiet and lifeless. It was a little unnerving. I could tell he didn't really feel comfortable.

His eyes kept flicking around and he seemed anxious, his hands fiddling with each other. He just couldn't seem to stay still. "You wanna eat in our room?" I whispered to him. He looked at me, eyes wide for a minute. Like I had just caught a little kid doing something he wasn't supposed to.

He nodded nonetheless, a grateful look on his face. I gave him a small smile in return. We quickly got our food and I led the way back to our room. He let out a sigh of relief once we got there. I raised an eyebrow, "Don't like crowds?" He shook his head, "Not really, I just didn't like the energy."

I looked at him confused, but I didn't ask anymore. His knee bounced up and down while we sat on our beds and ate. It wasn't quiet though. He hummed while he ate. A tune that sounded familiar, but I couldn't quite place. Soon enough he started to sing words, though it was raspy and didn't sound too great.

"I chimed in with a haven't you people ever heard of, closing the goddamned door? No, it's much better to face these kinds of things, with a sense of poise and rationality," he kept switching from humming to singing. I didn't mind.

When we finished eating I took our trays and placed them on the return rack just outside the door. "So, you haven't told me your name," I sat on my bed, watching him expectantly. "Oh right, my bad. My name's Brendon," he tipped a nonexistent hat.

I smiled, "Nice to officially meet you Brendon." He frowned, "How did I get here? And how come I feel so... Ok with everything? Why am I not freaking out?" I shrugged, "I don't know exactly, Dema effects certain people differently."

"I don't understand," he pouted. "No one ever remembers anything from before they came here, at least no one I've talked to. I remember bits and pieces, like my sister and the color yellow." He still didn't seem to understand, which is fine, no one really does. Dema's confusing.

"What do you remember?" I asked him. He stared at the ground, thinking for a moment, "I remember the color yellow too, and some names." I tilted my head, "What names?" He chewed on his thumbnail, a concentrated look on his face, "Dallon and Ryan."

"Do you remember who they are to you?" He shook his head, "No, not really, just that it hurts when I think about them." I nodded, "That happens with me too, if I try to remember anything else it gives me a migraine." He shook his head, "No, it's not physical pain, it's more... Emotional. They hurt me I think."

I frowned, "I'm sorry." He waved it away, "It's fine, I can't remember anyways." I nodded, "I guess you're right." He looked at his hands, then at mine and my neck, "What do these marks mean? How did we even get them?"

"The Bishops gave them to us, they're permanent. At least, that's what I've heard. They hurt every time you do something that the Bishops don't like. I know that," I explained, looking at my own hands. He frowned, "That's.. that's messed up."

I looked at him confused, "Wait you realize what they're doing is wrong too?" He looked at me like I was dumb, "Uh, yeah?" I blinked, there was someone else like me. "I thought I was the only person..." I trailed off, looking at him with wide eyes.

"Really? You mean no one else here realizes it?" He asked. I shook my head, "They're oblivious and numb to it." He huffed, "Whoa, that's wild man." I nodded in agreement.

"What else should I know?" He asked. I frowned slightly, thinking about it, "They torture us... I'm not sure what they do or how, or why, I just know they hurt us. You'll go to sleep and then wake up 2, maybe 3, days later in immense pain with no memory of the event."

I looked at some scars that were on my arm, running my fingers over them slightly. Brendon looked a little horrified. "I.. that's..." He couldn't say anything, but I already knew what he was thinking. I nodded, whispering, "I know."

We were quiet for a moment longer. "How long have you been here..?" He asked. I frowned at the ground, "I can't remember exactly... But it's been a long time." My eyes started to well with tears, "I want to get out of here.. I miss my sister." My voice faltered and suddenly I was curled up in a ball, crying.

I felt my bed dip next to me and arms wrap around me, pulling me closer. Brendon. He didn't say anything, just held me while I cried, rocking slightly. It was nice.

Finally I pulled myself together and apologized. He told me not to apologize for feeling things. We sat like that for a while, me curled up in his lap, head on his chest, with his arms around me.

If the Bishops saw us, they'd freak. Things like this weren't allowed, here. Things like comfort. I sighed, closing my eyes and curling into Brendon more. He tightened his arms around me and rested his head on top of mine.

"Thank you," I spoke softly. "Don't mention it," he spoke just as soft.

Idk about y'all, but that's cute as shit. We stan platonic cuddles.