NOVEL NEXT Chapter 14: Forgotten Memories
Looks like I'm back here, searching for answers deep within my monochromic memories. It's cold here; it's lifeless, just a void filled with floating pictures of my past. However, no matter how hard I try to venture into that past, I can't see anything past the photographs.
I've seen it once before. Unlike the countless people I've brought into this world, faded of color, my memories cannot be shown to me. Important memories of my past, the moments that shaped me into who I am today, stop before my 10th birthday, the day I was saved. Anything past that mark, the photos are faded; even I cannot make out what they are.
"Ansel…"
I heard a voice call out to me. I've never heard of it, but it sounds vaguely familiar, like an echo from the past. It was a voice so sweet that even my heart, which I thought I had lost, resonated with it. Within the void, I noticed a faint glimmer of light. A silver wisp flew towards me. It shined brightly as it circled my body.
"Ansel…wake up!"
The wisp flew towards a floating photograph whose image had faded beyond recognition. I followed as my curiosity was drawn towards the wisp. Normally, I am the one who creates the trails for people to follow in this space. Never once had one been created for me.
I approached the photograph and placed my hand on it. As expected, nothing happened. I let out a sigh, expecting something to happen, but I guess that hope was short-lived.
"You can't give up! One day, we will escape."
Upon hearing those words, I felt something wet fall onto my hand. Words that I had never heard before somehow struck a cord within me. I turned to face the photograph once again. Its glossy surface reflected a silver glow from the native resident who lived here. I could hear the faint buzzing of the wisp, impatiently telling me to touch the photo once again. The wisp was the will of the Omen that lived in this empty void. I had no reason to trust it, not after the pain I had to endure after using the artifact. I carefully edged my hand towards the photo, aware that something could happen should I let my guard down. But before I could make contact with the photo, the wisp, growing weary of my hesitation, abruptly darted behind me and forcefully shoved me into the photo. I was engulfed in a rush of unexpected sensations as I fell into the forgotten past.
"Ansel, wake up already."
"Hmpf!!!" I felt a forceful kick to the stomach that forced my eyes open. A room of white filled my vision as I looked around.
These are my memories. I cannot change anything; I can only observe from my perspective.
"Damn it, Lily, I told you to stop doing that!"
I turned my head to face a familiar face, a face that I see every time I enter the artifact—the face of the person who I despise the most. She was a young girl with silver hair that reached down to her shoulder. She wore a light blue butterfly hair accessory clipped to her hair, parting her bangs to the left. Her rounded blue eyes shimmered as they looked at me with eagerness. She wore a light blue medical gown with a nameplate on her left breast—Lilanna#003.
"Well, next time, wake up sooner." She grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the bed.
I looked down and noticed my outfit. It was the same outfit I wore the day I was saved. A light red medical gown with a small nameplate that said 'Ansel #037'.
"I will wake up when I choose to, too. It's not like we can do anything until after the tests are done," I said in an annoyed tone. I guess I have always been rude to those around me, even before I was rescued.
"Don't care!!! We can't look for an escape while you laze around." Lilanna grabbed my hand and forcefully dragged me out of the small room I was confined in. As we moved down the long halls, I felt the bitter coldness of the polished floors through my feet as I struggled to keep up with the eccentric girl. We passed several people dressed in lab coats, each of them giving us mixed looks of scorn and pity.
Her soft hands and cute humming made my childish heart beat fast. I could feel the feelings the past me had for the girl. They were nothing but pure love. But I could tell that this youthful love story ends in tragedy. That thought pains my soul, but I cannot shy away from the answers. I need to understand my past.
"Here we are!!!"
"Whoa there, Lilanna, I see you are brimming with energy this morning."
Lilanna stopped at the end of a long hallway when a door opened, revealing a tall, beautiful young woman. She had long brown hair that was tied back in a long ponytail. Her face shined with a welcoming look as her brown eyes were lifeless, as if she knew the dark fate of the two children she was talking to. She wore a white lab coat, clean and pristine. A badge hung from a lanyard around her neck, resting just below her ample bosom and above her gently rounded belly. The name on her badge was Lorry Kinder. A faint lavender scent came off the woman.
"Yup! Here to take our tests for today!!"
"Speak for yourself, idiot."
"Don't be a spoilsport. The quicker we get this done, the more time we get to play."
"Whatever."
The woman chuckled at our banter. "So you two wanna be first today?" It was clear to me that the woman was putting on a fake smile, but the past me could not see that. "Come on in. Markrove dear, 003 and 037 are here for testing."
The three of us entered the room. Large machines made my young heart race. Looking back on this as the older me, I understand why 'father' took so long to breach this place. With all the high-tech machines in this room alone, finding this place would be a challenge, assuming that their security matched.
"Hoohoo." A large, well-built man sat at a table in the corner of the room. He turned around in his chair and looked at me and Lilanna. Like Lorry, he was dressed in a clean lab coat. He had short, messy brown hair with a small rat tail on the back of his head, tied with a strangely cute hair tie. He wore a bright, brimming smile to welcome the two of us. "Early bird gets the worm, I see." As he chuckled to himself, I could see the golden eyes of a man who could not stand to see the pain and suffering he was about to commit.
They reminded me of Ashley's eyes when I stabbed her. The eyes of a person who refused to turn their head and endure.
I was tied down to a machine. Leather beats strapped me in place while a metal collar locked my head in place. Several cables were connected to different parts of my body. I could feel my heart race with fear. Markrove held a large syringe filled with an unknown liquid in his hand. I turned my head to see that Lianna was across from me, with Lorry running the tests on her. She noticed my passing glace and gave me a cheerful smile that helped ease the fear in my mind.
"Be strong, Ansel," Markrove spoke in a low tone.
"Huh, since when have you started calling me by name?" I asked. It seems like during my time here, I was always referred to as a number.
"We have faith in you. However, I know you hate us. I even reckon that you might just kill us. But should that happen, I just want you to know you differ from the others. You have the will to fight. Should we meet again after this day, I hope you get the chance to meet them."
Before I had the chance to respond, Markrove injected me with the syringe at the same time that Lorry injected Lianna. A sharp pain filled my arm as I screamed in pain. My body convulsed as I felt something traveling across my skin.
"AHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
The pain increased by the second. Markrove stood back with a guilty look. The machines I was connected to beeped loudly, and the room flashed a bright red. A blaring alarm broke through my screams.
(WARNING: SUBJECT 037 VITALS ARE UNSTABLE. PREPARE FOR A BREACH.)
It looks like my mind went blank after that. Even these memories I cannot get back in full. As I sat within the blank void of nothing but the blackness of my mind, a sweet liquid trickled down my throat—a crimson liquid that I grew accustomed to consuming—the blood of a living human.
I opened my eyes and found myself biting deeply into Lorry's arm. I could see that Markrove was standing back, pinning Lianna to the table, where she was convulsing with pain. Lorry looked me in the eye as I lifted my teeth from her arm.
"It looks like you were able to fight it. I was right in for injecting my blood beforehand." Lorry smiled. This time, it was a genuine smile as her eyes glistened. There was a reignited hope in her eyes as she held back the pain that I caused her. Lorry was strong-willed, but how come I never found records of her or Markrove at the laboratory ruins? No work records with their names on them were found, and neither were bodies that belonged to them.
So that's how I signed my pact with the Blood Omen. The Omen I thought was a part of me since birth, like the others…I am nothing more than an experiment. I understand why Father was so keen on having me train under her. A man-made Omen—A human weapon that is what I am.
I started sobbing heavily as I sucked the blood off of Lorry's arm. It was sweet; it tasted unique, just like Ashley's. There was a gentle hand stroking my head.
"Suck only enough that you need to regain your senses. I still need that blood for the two inside me, too." Lorry's voice was soothing, and it brought my sucking to an end.
I stood up and ran back toward the corner of the room. My hands were covered in crimson veins, and they were shaking with fear. I tried to speak, but the crimson nectar in my throat prevented me from doing so. I turned to look at Lianna. She stood up from the table and looked around. Her once cheerful eyes were replaced with a cold, murderous glare. When our eyes locked, she smiled. There was no love in that smile, yet it was enough to ease my beating heart. How naïve of me.