Alistair sat on the end of my bed as I took a deep breath. This was going to be a hell of a conversation.
"Okay, I'm going to start off with the easy stuff first. Well, I guess this isn't easy, but for us, it is," Alistair said scratching the back of his neck, "The doctors aren't sure what happened with you, but they think it has something to do with blood-loss. I don't know. I think they said something about-"
He kept talking but my mind started to get foggy. I felt something prick into my shoulder. My sight started getting fuzzy and it was like I could see bits of a different room. I closed my eyes and I could feel myself fall back into the bed.
When I opened my eyes I wasn't with Al anymore. I was in a different hospital. There was a screaming I could hear. It was insistent and loud.
That's what I thought before I realized it was me. I immediately shut my mouth and tried to get up. I was chained to the bed. What the heck! I started freaking out and flailing. Where was I? This wasn't The Town.
A women dressed in odd blue clothing entered the room. Her dark skin and hair complemented each other. But she was in the wrong colors. She looked about twenty, but she wore the colors of an eight-year-old.
"Will, you unchain me? I can't be outside the borders! Also, you are going to get in trouble for wearing the wrong colors. You know the colors for your age are green."
She gave me an odd look. Did I stutter? The women put something into the IV I was attached to. I started to feel tired and she smoothed back my tangled hair.
"Poor thing," she said, "We'll get you better soon honey. When you're on the right medicine you'll feel much better."
I heard her sigh she then motioned to some people outside, "You can come in now."
There was a man, woman, and two boys. They wore super weird clothes. Did they not know they would get in trouble? The older man and woman looked super worried. About what though? Did I do something? Oh my God! Did I break a rule? The two boys didn't look happy to be together, I'm not sure why.
Asides from their clothing they looked oddly familiar to people I knew. I felt so weird. I really felt like I needed to sleep.
The four people came closer to my bed.
The short woman had tears flowing down her face as she spoke, "My poor baby. You're gonna be okay. We're gonna get you out of here. I didn't know that they were this bad. Nobody knew they could get this bad. Please come back to me, baby. I need my little girl back. I can't live without you-" she was cut off as she started to sob.
The man held her as he began to speak, "Pumpkin, please come back to us. I need my kiddo back. Who's gonna listen to my jokes? Your old man can't go on without you, baby."
Sobbing together the man and woman walked out of the room. Why did I mean so much to them? I didn't even know them. Unless... Unless I did.
Where those two people my parents? What the fuck was going on? Maybe this was just a dream? Yeah, that seemed right.
The boy that looked like Cade stepped up to my bed.
"Shortie, I'm not gonna get emotional, but I miss you. You can pull though I know it. You always do shortie."
I felt a kiss on my forehead, then footsteps walking away.
An Alistair look alike stepped up to my bed.
"Eve, I can't do this alone. Please! How am I supposed to deal with Cade without you? How am I supposed to make fun of the president without you? How can I make fun of other people by myself? I need my best friend back."
I need to ask him what was happening! But how could I? I focused everything I had on forming words.
"What's going on Al," I asked weakly.
He looked at me like I had just punched him in the face. He looked so shocked I almost laughed. Well, for the record, I would've If I could.
He gave me the tightest hug I'd ever received. Avoiding my many machines of course.
"Eve! I can't believe you're talking," he shouted happily, but his face turned grim.
I was going to pass out soon. Spit it out, Al!
"You are in the hospital, Eve"
Duh.
"Because you've been having awful hallucinations."
My eyes started to close. No. Stay the hell open eyes! But I couldn't control my body as my heavy eyelids shut.
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I shot up and opened my eyes. I was in my room in The Town. What a weird dream. Not to mention I must have been moved while I slept.
I pulled myself out of bed and put on my clothes for the day. It was the day for the last test of course. After putting on my clothes I decided to pick up my room.
Discovering a small piece of paper on my bedside table I tried to read the writing on it. It was super blurry. I guess I needed to invest in reading glasses.
I sighed opening the door of my room. I started walking to the restaurant. Alistair joined me on the way. He explained to me that I had passed out, but the doctor said that was because I needed a rest. So he had carried back to my room. I thanked him and we kept walking until we reached the restaurant.
"Any idea what the test is going to be?" I asked hopefully.
We sat down with our food. Al took a bite before answering me.
"Nah," he said truthfully, "But I'm worried about it."
"Why," I asked, "you're not a bad person."
"Yeah," he mumbled, "not bad."
I furrowed my brow at him. I took a bite of my eggs. They kinda tasted weird. Like more salty and dry than usual.
"Do your eggs taste different?" I asked Al.
He took a big bite of them and shook his head. That's weird, maybe yesterday. Something weird happened yesterday didn't it? I could have sworn it did, but now I could remember if I tried. Oh, well. I had a test to get ready for anyway. Actually, you know what? Not oh well. What is going on?
"Al," I said determined, "Am I crazy or am I having memory problems? It seems like whenever something weird happens to me, which has been happening a lot lately, I can't seem to remember what it is the next day. What the heck is that about?"
Alistair choked on his drink, "Uhm, I'm not sure Eve."
He looked up at the sky and mumbled something under his breath. He knows something.
"Al, what do you know," I asked
"N-nothing," he said weakly.
I narrowed my eyes at him angrily, "Tell me the truth Al! I deserve to know what's going on in my own life."
He looked at me pleadingly as if he wanted me to give in. I always gave in! I'm not giving in the time.
"Al, I swear to God if you don't-"
"Good morning everybody," the announcer started. It wasn't the women that let me off this time.
The women kept talking about what would happen after the test today, but I looked at Al. What was he hiding from me?
I leaned in and whispered in his ear, "I will find out what you are hiding from me."
His mouth formed a straight line and I began to listen to the women explain what was happening today.
"Today you all will be completing your mental ability tests. Some may say this is the hardest test of them all. This test will narrow down the list we already have compiled. You all know what this test determines, so why don't I get to what you all are waiting for. In past years, this test has been a simple paper test, but for this year we'll be bringing it alive. This year the test will consist of you making decisions, but not in a controlled environment."
The women surveyed everybody before continuing her speech, "This year there will be no rules. Any rule that The Town has ever put in place is void for today and tonight. You may do whatever you wish. I will not tell you what The Society is looking for. That is up to you. The only rule with this test is that you are not allowed to stay in this building. Good luck."
The woman walked away from the platform, and I got up. I knew what I was going to do. I was going to get some answers. It's a good thing there are no rules today.
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This time, I arrived at the formal doors of The Town walls. It was way different than knocking down a part of the wall. Much easier. They just let me walk through the gates. I was quite sure it wasn't like that on a normal day though.
I walked for a little bit before I could even make out an outline of the camp. It was odd being able to just walk wherever I wanted too. I hated to say that I liked it.
When I reached the outskirts of the camp I was immediately approached by the woman that tend to my wounds.
"Evelyn? Is that you honey," she asked walking towards me.
I nodded and smiled. She wrapped me in a bear hug that caught me off guard.
"I'm so glad to see you're okay," she exclaimed, "but why are you here?"
That was the million-dollar question, wasn't it?
"I need answers."
She nodded, "I knew you were a smart one."
She led through the camp. I got a lot of dirty looks, which I expected, but I also got a lot of smiles. That part surprised me. We stopped at a tent, where a smirking Cade was waiting for me.
"I knew you'd be back shortie."
I nodded grimly and followed him into the tent. It was sparsely decorated but seemed cozy enough.
"Cade, I've got a ton of questions and I think you're one of the only people that can answer them," I said.
He just nodded, "Fire away Ms. Evie."
"Why are you here? I mean Al told me that you killed somebody, but I'm not sure if that's the truth."
Cade just laughed, "So that's his little story now? Wow, what a dirty lair Mr. Perfect is. He is the reason I'm here."
I started playing with the ends of my shirt, "What do you mean?"
"Tell me all of what he told you first."
I cleared my throat, "He told me that because of your results you killed your other friend Lance. He said that you told him it was an accident, but he knew it wasn't. So then he told on you and then you got kicked out."
Cade chuckled darkly, "It's actually quite the opposite. Lance found out a bit too much and told the wrong people. He told Alistair and me that he was certain The Town was up to something and that we could do something about it. He was off by a bit, but apparently that was enough for Alistair. He started yelling at Lance. The one thing leads to another and soon Lance was dead on the ground. I didn't do anything to stop him so I felt like it was my fault too. I told him to distract everybody while I buried him and the next thing I knew I was being dragged here."
I took a deep breath. Nothing about his body language told me he was lying. That's because of he not.
"Is The Town evil," I asked.
"That's a loaded question," he said, "Yeah, but the real villains here are your bestie Al and Elder Ryann. They were itching for a way to get rid of me when I didn't fit into their perfect mold."
I sighed getting more worried by the second, "Are they going to kill me?"
Cade looked at me with worried eyes, "They'll have to kill me first."
"I'm guessing Bobby didn't really kill himself did he Cade?"
"No, shortie, he didn't," Cade answered.
I sucked in a deep breath.
"What am I going to do now?"
"That's one question I don't have the answer to shortie," Cade said offering me a sad smile.
What a great day this turned out to be.
"I have one more question and then I'll leave you alone," I said, "What results was he talking about?"
"Well, The Town takes out all the parts of our brains that make us aggressive. Only, with some people, it doesn't work. Like, with me and Bobby."
"And me," I added in a whisper.
His jaw clenched, "Shit."
"Yeah," I said nodding