by Jodie Kobe
While we wait for Megan, I start to understand how Rian must have felt like when he had to wait for me to get done with my interrogation two days ago. I can't believe that it's only been about two or three days that I've lived here.
“You’re not going to fall asleep again, are you?” I ask him.
I focus on the people wandering around the room, carrying flasks or whatever they are working on at this time.
“Of course not. I got plenty of sleep last night.” He slides his fingers across the screen of a tablet I haven’t noticed he’s picked up.
I indicate to it. “That doesn't happen to have anything about who we were in the past, would it?”
Rian shakes his head. “Janelle wouldn’t give us easy access to those sorts of things.”
“Welds had given me a document my first day here. He told me it contained some information about my past life. I didn’t get a chance to read it. What was written on there?”
“What makes you think I know?”
“You were the one who brought it to him. I figured you read it.”
Rian sets the tablet on the desk and reaches into his pocket. He pulls out the glass cube with the carving of a wolf head inside.
I gasp. “You’re returning it?” People’s heads glance our way, but I pay no mind to them.
Rian drops the object into an open drawer and goes back to the tablet again, acting like nothing ever happened. He continues the previous conversation. “I never read your document. I read mine. It had nothing significant. It had the year I was born, the year I died, my parents’ and siblings’ names. You get the idea. It didn’t have anything about the cause of my death or what happened to me while I was dead.”
“Mr. Welds said there’s a way to know who I was a long time ago. Do you know how I can access that?”
“Believe me, Vivian, when I say I don’t know. If I did, I would’ve torn that place apart looking for something about me. You’re not the only one who wants to know who you used to be.”
“Do some people here know who they were in their past life?”
“I reckon so. If they didn’t, they would’ve formed a riot and forced Mr. Welds to tell them.”
I lower myself onto the ground and let out a breath. What if I repeatedly ask Mr. Welds to hand this information over? Would he? Somehow I doubt it.
I stare at my feet. “Rian?” I say. “Are there any jobs available?”
“There are plenty of jobs available,” I hear him say. “Which one do you think would interest you?”
“Are there any where I can deliver packages?”
“Like pizza?”
I frown, shrugging. “Does pizza still exist?”
“If you like mush pizza, then sure. By the way, you don’t receive any money for working. Money is worthless here.”
“You don’t get paid in anyway?”
“You do. Free food.”
That doesn’t make any sense. “I haven’t worked yet and I’ve gotten free food.”
Rian lifts a shoulder. “They have extras. We have many people here that don’t have jobs.”
“Could you maybe find me a job?”
Rian smiles. “Yes, I could maybe find you a job.” He focuses back on the tablet and grunts, “The battery’s low.”
Just as he’s about to put it down, the door to the interrogation room swings open and Janelle steps out with Megan right behind her. Rian immediately jumps out of the chair before Janelle can see him.
Megan’s face is red so I figured she had burst into tears again.
“Mr. Welds would like to meet the living, breathing Megan tomorrow,” Janelle says. She leans in to whisper to both Rian and me. “Don’t mention anything about her parents or her sketchbook. She’ll start crying.”
I nod. I understand the feeling of missing your parents. But a sketchbook?
Megan gets her haircut and I watch as a scientist deposits the strands into a bag. Rob isn’t here to do it, but someone else is. Just the thought of drinking the hair disgusts me.
Who thought of this idea of putting hair in a chemical?
Megan goes through a few procedures of having her blood pressure taken, getting a few injections, and other things I don’t bother paying attention to. After all that, Rian and I lead her out into the vast hallway again. I can’t help but keep a close eye on her. She might take off running again.
I’m starving and luckily, we have finished in time for dinner. The cafeteria is crowded.
As we wait for our food, I notice Megan doesn’t stand still. She keeps hopping up and down. From excitement or nervousness, I don’t know.
I don’t like how crowded it is so I insist we head back out with our food and show Megan her room. Rian agrees but Megan has other plans. She actually wants to socialize with these strangers.
She doesn’t get the chance. Rian and I slip out of the room, forcing her to follow us. There might be no one willing to take her back to her room after dinner.
“So,” she breaks the silence that has been hanging in the air as we walk to the bedroom corridors. “Where is this room? Am I going to share with anyone else?”
“If you have a sibling, then you could,” I tell her, chewing on a what appears to be a bread stick.
“Do I have siblings living here?” she asks hopefully. I shrug and her hope shatters.
Earlier, she had asked if her sisters were here, so she must have siblings. I just don’t know if they’re alive or not.
She’s silent the rest of the way until Rian asks her, “What’s your last name?”
“Alman.”
“And how old are you?”
“F-fourteen.” She sniffles and I’m afraid she’s going to start crying again.
Rian doesn’t ask her how to spell her last name so I’m guessing he’s just going to try to sound it out. I hope it doesn’t take us too long to find her name on the doors.
Fortunately, it doesn’t. Megan’s door is closer to the beginning of the hallway. I stand back as Rian shows her how to open it. She remembers the tattoo on her hand again and opens her mouth to ask about it. Before she can go too far into her sentence, her room door slides open and reveals her room. She gasps, completely forgetting about her question. “Oh, cool! I’ve never had a room to myself before!” She’s about to step inside, but stops herself at the last second. “May I come in?”
Not sure why she's asking for permission, I nod. With a large grin on her face, she sprints inside, practically diving face-down into her bed She giggles and invites us to come inside. Rian seems to hesitate, but I pull him inside.
Megan hops off the bed and explores the small closet. Her face brightens up as she sees a few white t-shirts hanging inside. “Why is everything white?” she suddenly asks.
I have to laugh. “That’s what I'm wondering.”
“It’s still a mystery, “Rian says. “None of us know.”
Megan frowns and slowly sits down onto the soft carpet. “I still don’t understand this. Why am I staying here forever?”
I scoot down to her and say as gently as I can, “Look, kid. I’m new here too. I’ve been here for about three days.”
Megan stares at me. “You have? How about that guy?” She points to Rian.
I answer with, “Rian’s been here for two years.”
“Rian? That’s his name? What’s yours?”
“Vivian.”
“I’m...Megan. But you already know that.”
I nod and look around the room, wondering if there’s anything important I need to show her. I spot the silver cube we use as a phone and bring it over to her.
“What is that?” she asks, not letting me explain first.
“This,” I begin, “this is a phone. It helps you contact other people’s rooms. I’ll give you Rian's and my number if you want.” I turn to Rian and ask, “What’s my room phone number?”
He tells me.
I continue explaining to Megan. “Anyway, you pull this panel out. You’ll see a keypad. It’s just like a re
gular phone...”
While I continue explaining things, I’m surprised that I even managed to figure them out on my own. We eat the rest of our dinner in her room while I explain. Rian just stands by, sometimes cutting in to add a few words.
But it's strange. I've only been here for three days, yet here I am, telling Megan about this place.
Megan gets comfortable enough to want to sleep. I’m glad my lecture has bored her. I want to leave already.
Rian flicks her light off as I step out into the corridor. He follows me, looking like he’s about to collapse onto the floor.
“You’re tired?” I ask him. I’m not. My eyes aren’t getting heavy so I’m not going to go to sleep just yet. I want to go see if Welds is still awake. He might help me find a job.
It’s late but I want to do something before I go to sleep. Just like the other two nights, I doubt I would be able to fall asleep.
Rian rubs one of his eyes. “What do you expect, Vivian? It’s late.”
The hallway is completely empty except for a couple of people here and there.
“Would Welds or Janelle be asleep at this time?” I ask Rian.
He scratches his head. “Why would you need either of them?”
“I’m looking for a job.”
Rian doesn’t bother reacting to what I say. He just starts shuffling down the hallway toward where his room should probably be. I walk in the same direction he’s walking but my goal is to find Welds or Janelle.
“So are they asleep?” I ask Rian.
I barely understand him as he mutters, “Welds stays up really late. I don’t know about Janelle though. Are you sure you’ll be able to find your way there?”
“Yeah. How hard can it be? I just have to keep a lookout for the right door.”
Rian lets out a tired chuckle. “You could practice using those glasses.”
I remember I’m still carrying them so I pull them out of my pocket. “What if I get lost?”
Rian reaches his door and scans his hand against it. It slides open. Before entering, he tells me, “You could always sleep out in the hallway.”
The door slides closed and I’m left staring at it. A kid walks by me and gives me a look. I stare back at him as he passes. He enters through a couple of doors down from Rian’s.
Taking a deep breath, I break off into a run through the corridor. Off to find Welds.
