Okay. So maybe in the mind things are different.
As I awoke in my dream, I saw my usual control board and sighed. I sat down and continued to work on my thoughts. However, all of a sudden, the board flashed and disappeared. I stood up and looked around in bewilderment; never before had I been interrupted in my thinking. Then, the scene flashed to a cave.
It was dark, incredibly dark. As I walked into the depths of it, I came into a small room. Inside,I beheld...
Jessica.
She was a bloody mess, red liquid dripping from everywhere on her body. Before her sat the hooded man, wrapped in his cloak, eye unwavering.
"Are you ready to talk now?" he whispered to her, almost in a fatherly endearing way. She just managed to shake her head. He sighed and went back to her torture.
It was painful to hear her scream and to watch her writhe in pain. I wish I was there to end her misery. Alas, in dream state, I was useless. I knew that all I could do was watch. After what seemed like ten years, the dream faded into another room. Bigger this time. This room was cluttered with multiple items and stacks of graphs were everywhere. I stopped, I knew this room.
At a desk slept a fourteen year old nerd. He was tall, wore glasses, and knew a lot. He was an inventor and engineer who designed a lot of weapons. I had been over to his house on business a couple of times.
"Larry, wake up!"
He bolted to his feet and grabbed a knife. Turning, he saw me and sighed, setting the knife back down. "Oh, it's you. Back for more merchandise?"
I shook my head. "I'm calling in my favor."
He shrugged and said. "Meh. Why not?"
I began to inquire on where I could find information, since I knew he supplied more than just me. He happily responded and we shook hands. I said goodbye and left.
Sitting up, I witnessed the sun rising. As I tried to block the sun from my eyes, I winced and cried out in pain; I had forgotten about my bandaged arm. Ashley rushed over and tried to ease to pain. I took deep breaths and had some ambrosia. To me, it just tasted bland. At the moment, nothing could make me feel better, after what I had witnessed.
As we packed up and started walking, I told Ashley about Jessica. Her eyes widened in shock with every word I said.
"You can't be serious. No way anyone could do that to a person.'
I sighed and looked at her, defeated. "I'm afraid, humanity won't get you far in this war anymore, Ashley."
After an hour of walking, I found the place Larry was talking about.
Shipton High was a strange place. Firstly, it was relatively small and was what seemed like an outdoor school. It had a strange aura that I couldn't place, and everyone was dressed differently. Never being in high school, I didn't know what to do. So, I put on my pack and motioned for Ashley to follow.
As we stepped into the school, things seemed to go all right. No one talked to us or questioned us on who we were. The only problem? I had no idea what room I was supposed to go to. Luckily, there was a group of girls walking behind us, chatting lively. Ashley turned.
"Hi, do you know where we can find Room 207?"
The girls giggled, then laughed. It was a sort of manic, high pitch sound that made the hairs on your neck stand up. "Why should we tell you, freak? You look terrible."
Everyone in the hallway laughed. Ashley looked rather taken aback. I tried to get her to leave, but she persisted. "You're not very nice."
One girl giggled. "And you're not that pretty, Trash Queen."
Again, everyone hooted and slapped each other on the back. I could see Ashley's face turn red, and the look in her eyes meant tears were coming. However, I also saw our sponsor, so I decided to interject.
"Okay. Break it up, let's go."
The girls stared at me and laughed even harder. "Wow. Shorty over here is getting friendly with our Trash Queen. I guess he's not that tough to find a real girl. I bet his mommy still changes his diapers and burps him."
Everyone laughed, including me, which seemed to surprise the girl who had said that. "That was a very interesting burn. Would it surprise you if you knew my mother was dead?"
The laughter died immediately.
"Or that I have to provide for myself by working two jobs? Or that I never knew my parents and don't have anyone to relate to?"
The silence was thick enough to cut through with a knife.
"Don't judge people on the outside, and be aware of what you're saying. You never know the life of your victim." I looked at Ashley. "Let's go."
As we walked away from the speechless crowd, I felt my heart plummet. I had a point to make, and I did make it, but what now? Larry walked out from the crowd and started leading us to the room.
"Is it true?" I turned to look at Ashley, head down. "Is what you said true?"
Larry smiled. "You don't know about Brandon's history? Aw man, it's crazy. Like-"
I cut him off. "Shut up, Larry. My past, I'll tell in my own way, and when I'm ready. Unless you want her to hear about what you've done in the past."
By the look on his face, I knew that I had won. No way would he risk her knowing about what he had done back then. "Come on," he finally said. "It's time to say hi to the big man.
Together, the three of us walked towards the room that could hold the key to everything.