The golden fall | Teen Ink

The golden fall

May 10, 2024
By Skye_thecoolwriter, Woodland, Washington
More by this author
Skye_thecoolwriter, Woodland, Washington
0 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Author's note:

this is one of my first books, my other book was really bad, but I hope to do more.

I stand on the wooden stool in my bathroom, looking at myself in the mirror. I notice how my brown hair sticks out since it hasn’t been brushed yet. Before I brush though, I grab the cup on my sink, along with a pill my mom and dad get me everytime they go out. I can't remember what it's for, so I just take it. I put the pink pill in my mouth then take a drink of the water so it goes down my throat smoothly. I set the cup back down, grab my hairbrush, and pull it through my hair so I smooth out all the knots. After I brush my hair, I go to my small room and get dressed, then walk into the kitchen where my mom makes a small breakfast. She turns towards me and looks at me, then smiles warmly.

    “Good morning sleepyhead” she says, her voice soft from a good nights’ rest.

    “Morning, mom” I reply with a raspy morning voice.

    “Want some eggs?” she asks, “they’ll help you wake up”

    “No, I'm fine.” I sound tired when I answer her, but I keep walking.

I walk past my two brothers gobbling down their breakfast to my bag. It will need to be fixed soon with how damaged it is, but, for now, it will be fine. When I get my bag in my hand, I turn around to Boston and say.

    “Better hurry up, or I'm gonna leave you behind. Then you won't have anyone to walk with.” I smiled at him teasingly. He grunts and rolls his eyes at me.

    “Can I please just eat in peace!?” he says, his face getting red with anger. I slowly start to back up just to play around. Finally, he stuffs one last bite into his mouth, rushes over to me, and starts to push me out the door. Before he can, I grab the door frame, stopping us in place and point to his bag. He looks over at it, rushes to get it then runs back at me.

    “Come on! We are going to be late!” he yells.

    “Okay, okay!” I reply back, lifting my hands up to let him push me out the door. Mom waves us goodbye.

    “Have a good day!” she yells as the door closes behind us.


+++


    We walk down a long narrow road, trees surrounding us everywhere. I turn around, still walking, to face Boston again.

    “Ready for our last day?” I ask with excitement.

    “I guess” Boston replies, “but I don't really want to work in the corn field after though..”

I see the sadness in his face and pat his shoulder. 

    “After school, to the cornfield with tim? You don't want to go? Come on! It will be fun. I promise.”

    “You sure? What if the other people there are rude and judge me, because I'm twelve?”

I turn back around to face the small houses in the distance.

    “If anything happens to you, I'll take care of it.” I replied to his question sounding protective.

    He nods.


+++


    Eventually, we arrive in the small village, people crowding the street, yelling and talking among themselves. Dodging every one, Boston and I stand at a long gate to our school. We walk to a guard and say our names. The guard let us in, and that is the start of our last day here. I look at everyone as we pass the other students with their groups. The groups of people are from different nations, since their nations don't have schooling. So everyone looks different unless they are related. I bring Boston in closer to me so he doesnt drift off.

    The first bell rings, and Boston comes with me to engineering class. I don't know why we have that class. But, we do. As Boston sits down I put my bag on top of my desk first, just to get stuff out like I usually do. Mostly out of habit. I get the stuff out that I need, then sit.the bell rings again for the class to start, everyone quiets down as the teacher comes into the room. She looks like she is being held against her will. People come in behind her. A girl. She smiles, her hair short and brown like mine. She doesn't wear any makeup that I can see. But she also walks in with two bodyguards next to them. Their faces covered with masks so I can't see what they look like. They all wear black uniforms. The girl wears a black, knee length dress. The arms are long on the dress, with a low collar. The teacher gets to her desk and sits down, one of the body guards at her side. He (or she) is holding something that I can't see. I am so focused on the bodyguard next to the teacher, it startles me when the girl in the black dress starts to speak.

    “Hello! Children!” She looks at each one of us as she talks. When her eyes land on me, her smile fades. 

    “My name is Mrs. Marshno. And as you guys know, this is your last day here”

    I look at Boston whose eyes are still on Marshno. She looks away from me and to another person in the class and smiles again. 

    “and on your last day here. I want to treat you to something special” Marshno says, her teeth showing now. Without thinking of it, words slip from my lips. 

    “But that didn't happen to the other people last time when it was their turn to leave. What's so special about us?” I blush so hard I can feel the heat at the back of my ears.

    She looks at me again and grimaces. 

    “Excuse me girl?” 

    I sit up straighter than I usually do.

    “If we want to treat you to something.. We will treat you with something” she says as she walks to me.

    I push myself back hoping it will help some. It doesn't. She signals for one of her guards to come with her and get me. When she points to me after she points to her guard, I stand up and look at her.

    “If you let your guards near me, I will ruin them” I say angrily.

    She just scoffs and steps aside to let her guards get me. I give them all the death stare, then look at Boston, who is also standing. I signal for him to sit. He does. I swerve away from the desks and aways from the guards as they try to get a hold of me. I run, jumping over desks to get to the door. Just before I get to the door, I am tased. While falling to the ground, i black out. The last thing I remember is the guards picking me up without effort and look on my brother's face.


    As I wake up next. I am in a chair. A bright light above me. Everything spins. I can't see much outside the light, but I know people are there. I see slight movements when I look hard enough. I look around more just to see more light. So, I looked up. The light is directly above me, and it's very bright. The next thing I know, I feel large cold hands at the back of my neck. I flinch away from them but they bring my head right back. I hear a sound that almost seems like someone speaking, but I can't make out what they are saying to me. My breath is heavy, the hands still on my neck doing something. It feels like they are wrapping metal around my neck with how cold it is.

    Blinking a bit more, I can finally see a bit more outside the light. And also hear more

    “Just relax, it's going to be fine. You’re going to be okay, we’re just going to  put something on you "I hear a male voice say. 

    I wiggle as much as I can to get out of whatever is around my neck, and scream.

    “Let me out! Stop it! No!” I see other people rush to me, they start to hold me down as much as they can. Hands on my shoulders, knees. Rope getting wrapped around my arms and legs.mi continue to wiggle as much as I can

    “Grab her tighter!” someone else says next to my ear.

After a few minutes, they finally have me. I can't move anything anymore. They use this to their advantage to mark me with something, just like a guy said before I started to wiggle around. The stuff is cold and it stings my neck. Something cold runs down my neck, to my collar, and down my side. I close my eyes and try to imagine my family, happy and all together. What happened to the old days?. I thought. What is their plan to do with us, to do with me?  

    Once they are done with marking me, they let all of the people off as well. They turn the light off above me, and I see a crowd of people just staring at me. I widen my eyes as I see this. My breath gets heavy and i start to struggle again

    “Let me out of this! Get me out!” I scream again. Two guys run to my side and unbind me, but force me up to my feet and start to drag me away. I put my feet on the ground to try and stop them, but they are too strong for me. 

    We get to these clear boxes, the door open on one of them. They throw me into it and close the door behind me. They both chuckle as they walk away.

    “Stupid girl” one of them says as they walk into the hallway.

All the lights go out but in the corner of the box I am in. I looked around the room more to find a white bed- well made- a toilet and a shower head with a curtain to go all around the shower head and toilet. I scoff as I see this. I look up at the ceiling to see if there are any cameras, not to my surprise, I see one. Rolling my eyes I look away. The bed is all the way to the ground so nothing can be under it. And clear water tubes run from both the showerhead and the toilet. I walk over to the bed and sit down on it, reaching over to the light. I turn it off and lie down. It takes me a while to sleep, my tossing and turning doesn't help at all. At some point i fall asleep, because the next thing i know. All the light in and out of the room and box turn on. It startles me but it wakes me up. Three people walk in and open the door. One person outside while the other two grab me and drag me out of the room. My head droops from how tired I am. They bring me to another room and tie my hands above my head. I pick my head up slightly to see what is going on. Two people in black again, next to another person in a white lab suit. The person in white looks up and smiles at me. He wears glasses and an earpiece.

    “Hello there” he says to me.

I just grimace at him.

    “Oh, don't be that way sweety”

    “Don't call me that!” I snap back at him.

He just smiles more, his teeth showing as he walks towards me.

    “Look at that.. She speaks!” 

The men behind him chuckle slightly. I scrunch my face as I start to feel a pull in my arms. My feet begin to come off the ground so I am on my toes.

    “I'll be running some tests on you, so. Just relax, '' the guys in white said. I'll need to give him a name if he doesnt give me his real name. The man brings his hands up to cup my face. I flinch away, but he brings my head right back. A light shines in my eyes, making me slightly blinded. After the light is gone, he turns my neck to see the mark. He licks his thumb and wipes my neck with it. I move away as much as I can to get away from what he's doing. Once he wipes my neck he cleans it with another wipe. One other person comes to my side and turns something on. I hear buzzing next to my ear and move my head to see what it is. Before I can, they turn my head the other way and out the thing in my neck. Pain shooting up and down my neck. Must be an ink needle.  Tears roll down my face as the pain gets worse. I scream till they are done with the marking.

    “There” the guys in white says. 

I drop my head and continue to cry. My feet go back to the ground so I can stand. I bring my head back up to look at the people with me in the room. They guys in white (i call him crazy now) writes down the marking on the paper that is on my neck and says

    “That’s three” 

He tilts the clipboard just enough for my to see the thing they marked on my neck

‘CI0003’ is what it says. He sets the clipboard down on a table and calls the two other men over to me again. As they walk a faint light comes through one of them. I cock my head to the side and raise a brow. Crazy looks at me then the men, and back at me.

    “Stop, she sees something.” he holds out a hand to them to stop. They do.

I look at Crazy and see a light reddish pink from him. He continues to look at me and slowly starts to walk towards me again. He opens my eyes more, one at a time, and shines a light in my eyes again. The two men in the back start to walk towards me as well, they look at me like I am an alien. The man on the right, from before. The light starts to glow more. I shake my head to make it go away, but it doesn't.  

    “Do you see what her eyes are doing?” Crazy says to the other two men.. They both nod their heads. Crazy quickly grabs another needle and injects me with something. My head drops and my vision goes black.

    When I wake up again, I am in another chair. My arms tied to  the arm rests, my legs and feet tied to the chairs legs. I open my eyes and look around the room. This time, the room is dark, no lights at all, so it takes me a little bit to get used to the darkness by blinking a few times. I try to get out of the bindings but they are too tight around my limbs. After a few minutes, or what feels like a few minutes, a door opens behind me. They walk to the corner of the room, I don't know how big it is. They grab a chair, pulling it in front of me. When they get in front of me, I see a light glow within them and furrow my brows. As soon as they sit in the chair a light turns on. When they do, the man looks me dead in the eyes and asks.

    “Do you know why you're here?” his piercing blue eyes looking into my brown and blue heterochromia eyes. I shake my head slightly. He smiles.

    “You're here for a series of tests, i was told you had some weird stuff go on with your eyes” he says

I just continue to look at him. Not saying anything.

    “Do you see anything?” He points to my eyes with two fingers.

I still don't do or say anything. He sighs and looks down at his legs.

    “I don't want to be talking to myself here-”

    “Why am I here?” I say as soon as he's done speaking.

He looks shocked when I talk.

    “So the girl does talk” he laughs as he speaks now.

    “Why am I here!” I say louder this time.

    “Feisty I see”

    “Shut up and tell me why I'm here!” I want to punch him but the bindings around my arms stop me. He shakes his head and frowns. 

    “You are the third person to speak up to Mrs. Marshno. So you are the third person to be kept under supervision till further notice. We will be doing some tests on you that we have not done with the other two, just because of what happened before you came here.”

    I scoff and roll my eyes.

    “So just because I was asking a question you decided to bring me to a place I have no clue where I am at and just keep me here like I don't have a family? Yeah no. That's the worst thing a person could do. I have two brothers that need me, so I want out without the test or other stuff you might do to me. I. Want. Out!”

    He stands from his chair and leans toward me, his face inches from mine.

    “Don't ever talk to me like that again. You are not getting out until further notice so don't even try. And if you ever talk to me like that again. You will be punished” 

    I lean back some to get my face away from his, my eyes widen from him being so close. So I just nod, but as I nod, I cross my fingers. He stands back up and moves the chair so he can walk away. The door opens again and he yells out to someone. Him and another person untie my arms and legs, stand me up and put chains on my limbs instead. They both walk me to a cell and lock me in again. I sigh as I see a bench and a low sink, my brows furrow again and I turn around just before they walk away.

    “Hey!” I shouted to them.

    They both turn around at the same time but the guys before waves the other one away.

    “What?” he asks.

    “Were.. um. Where is the toilet?”

    He smiles, shakes his head and points to the sink. I look to the sink, then him again and widen my eyes. I grimace at him. He turns around and walks away. A door closes that I can't see, and I sit down on the bench sighing.

This will be a hard night for me.

The first test is at seven in the morning. I know this because of a clock I passed when I went by an office. We enter a white room with different objects, one is a chair for me to sit on but there is other stuff, boxes that are open with the different objects and other boxes closed so I don't know what is in them. I sit down in the chair that is in the middle of the room and wait. After a while they hook me up to this thing called a plardo-tester. I don't exactly know what it does but when it starts, I feel a wave of electricity run through my body for a split second. My body jumps in reaction to it, my eyes close as the lights start to dim down. They pull down a large white board and reject something onto it. It looks like a mirrored image of the board. I look slightly to the left and see the image move with my eye. I then realize, they can see what I can see, along with it being in front of me being able to see what I see on, and, on. The screen switches to a couple of people. pictures of people?. I think. Someone speaks behind me.

    “Yes, they are pictures”

    Those words startel me. I try to see who is behind me but my head can't go that far.

    “How did you know what I was thinking?” I ask in a concerned voice.

    “I'll tell you that later sweetheart.” the voice replies back. “for now, I'll tell you who I am, and what we will be doing with this test today”

    I shake my head and close my eyes. But when I do that, I feel another charge of electricity run through me, I jump again and open my eyes.

    “What was that about?” I ask. I get no reply back. clicking behind me starts for a few minutes before a door behind the board opens, a man walks around it. He smiles at me. I recognize him. He is the guy that was right in front of me in that small room before I went into the cell. The light in him is brighter today than yesterday. The guy in front of me pulls a chair out and sits in it.

    “My name is Manjore, and the person behind you is my coworker Enrod. This test will be about what you see, hear, and feel. We will see what you see, hear what you hear, and now what you feel. We will also test what is going on with your eyes when you see something we can’t” he says to me then looks at Enrod and nods. I don't know if Enrod nods back but Manjore looks back at me and smiles again. The glow in him is getting brighter. It looks more yellow-gold now than it did before, before, it was just a bright light. The people on the screen behind him disappear. And the next thing I know everything goes black again, but I can still feel my eyes are open, I can still hear Manjore and Enrod both talking to each other, I just can't see. My breath gets heavy with panic that I can't see. After some time, when I blink again, I am able to see more. Everything comes back slowly into sight. I see Manjore, and Enrod right next to each other, their backs facing me. I look around, I'm in the same room I was before everything went dark. In front of them is a large mirror. I can't see myself in it because of them, but they are both looking at something. I have gotten used to seeing the glow in Manjore, so it doesn't really bother me. But they both have their head down, looking at something, both their heads cocked to the side.

    “Is there something wrong?” I ask them. Only Majore turns around and faces me.

    He walks to me and looks at my eyes. I don't know what he sees but he sees something.                       Grabbing my chin, he moves my head from side to side, continuing to look into my eyes.

    “Well?” I ask again, more demanding this time.

    He shakes his head and lets go of my chin.

    “Your eyes are doing that thing again. And it’s only when you look at me. Not Enrod.”

    Behind him Enrod records the screen, then makes Manjore step in front of me. Enrod takes photos of my eyes as they do what they say my eyes do when I look at Manjore.     They don't show me what my eyes do, but they do put it on a data saver. 

    This testing day lasts a few hours, then recording what my eyes do when they bring in different people into the room or show me pictures. 

    After the tests are done for today, they put me back into my cell. But they do come back and give me a plate of food and a plastic fork. The plate has mashed potatoes, peas, and gravy for the mashed potatoes. I eat it and try not to throw it back up. The next day's test is to see if I can see anything beyond the walls. They do the same thing they did yesterday. They put a plador-tester on me again, sending the electricity through my body, making me jump. Manjore walks out of the room and makes a sound when he gets to the other side of the wall. I can't see him or the glow. Enrod records what he sees on his screen. And tells Manjore to come back. When that testing day is over, that is when I start to make an escape plan, now that I have enough information on the hallways and what time people go in and out doors. 


+++


The next morning, when the lights turn on, Manjore already sees me sitting up. He scoffs and smiles, opening my cell door, he grabs my arm and forces me up.

    “What did you do? Stay up all night?” he asks, “you look horrible”

    As he drags me, I finally get to my feet and start to walk. Stumbling a bit with how wide his step is, going faster than I can walk. After him walking me halfway down the hallway, Enrod decides to join him in walking me. Enrod takes my other arm. That ends up making me glide across the floor. They’re both very much taller than me and also very muscular. Theri grip on my arms hurt to the point I started to struggle to get out of their grasp. They take me to the room we usually go in and sit me down in the same chair, putting the same tester on me. When they get all the stuff ready and on me, I cross my arms over my chest and roll my eyes. 

    “Looks like she is going to be feisty today, Enrod.” Manjore says to Enrod.

    Manjore then steps in front of me and crouches to look at my face. He smiles at me, but I just tip my head down so I don't have to look at him. He shakes his head, grabs my chin, and tips my head up so I have to look at him. I shake my head away but he just grabs me again.

    “Okay now, don't play this game with me.” he says in a demanding voice.

    I just push him away with my feet.

    “Stop struggling!”

    I just keep pushing him away. Soon Enrod comes back in and helps him get me tied up so I don't struggle against them. While they tie my hands I kick with my legs and yell.

    “No! Get off!”

    Manjore manages to get my legs once Enrod is done tying my arms. They both tie my legs to the chair so it's easier for them to deal with me.

    “Get me out of this chair!” I yell at them both again. My hair in my face from my head shaking and my body moving to get away.

    “Now see. Why would we do that? our tests aren’t done yet.” Manjore says to me from behind the chair.

    “I dont get why you need to do tests on me! I am just an ordinary person!” 

    Manjore comes around the chair to look at me again, Enrod across the room, is doing something else.

    “We are doing these tests to see what's going on with you, and to see what you can and we can’t”

    Manjore crouches by me and looks into my eyes trying to see if they still do that weird thing they say my eyes do when I look at Manjore. I look at his chest and see how bright the light is in him, it's brighter than all of the other times I have looked at him. I stare for so long, it looks like the light is coming to me. Why is it so bright? Is it coming closer to me? I furrow my brows when I look at his chest. He follows where my eyes are going and looks to his chest. The light comes closer to me, and Manjore starts to gasp for air like something is taking it out of him. He looks back up at me quickly and points to my eyes again. Enrod turns around and runs to us both, Manjore, falling to the ground, the light still coming from him to me. Some of the light enters me and I black out after Enrod steps in front of Manjore.

+++


I wake up, lying down in a white room. I try to get up but I can't, struggling to get up I start to breathe heavily. I am panicking. I am tied to something. And I don't know where I am anymore.

    “Let me up! Please help!” I yell at the top of my lungs. But nobody comes to help. The lights in the room start to dim. I try to look around but my head is also tied to the thing under me. Tears roll down my face, and I start to sob.

    “Help.. please.” I say quietly. 

    As I start to sob quietly, I hear what sounds like voices, along with clicking noises.

    “..she…. Glowing..'' I hear if I focus hard enough. The sound coming from the other side of the wall above my head.

    “Hello?!” I shout again, hoping someone will come for me this time. And with just my luck. A door opens at my feet.

    “There she is, sir” I hear someone say.

    “Thank you Tuoyve” i hear another man say. The door closes again and foot steps walk to me. I look down with my eyes to see how it is, but all I can see is brown hair with some gray streaks.

    “Hello?” I say with a more fear filled voice. “Who's there? Please help me!”

    The man just laughs. He walks to where I can see him, he stands directly over me. He has a gray beard that goes up the side of his face, his beard mixing into his mustache, eyebrows thick gray. And his hair slicked back, brown with gray streaks like I saw at the top of his head. The gray covers most of the brown hair. 

    “Hello there little one” he says.

    “Get me out of here!” I yell back at him again, tears still streaming down my face.

    He puts a finger to his lips and says

    “Shh… no need to yell, I am right in front of you”

    “Where am I” I ask in a demanding voice.

    “You are in a safe place” he says back.

I scoff at that.

    “A safe place?! If I'm so safe then why can't I go home!”

    “You can't go home because we are still trying to figure out what's going on with you.”

    I roll my eyes. My anger to its climax . I can feel my hands get hot, then my legs where my hands are.

    “Get. me. Out!” I say again.

He looks down at my hands and widens his eyes.

    “W-what are you doing?!” He sounds scared, concerned. He rushes to the doors to get someone, but as he does I feel all of the things around my lungs and forehead fall off. I sit up and look at my hands. They are a bright orange red. They almost look like hot metal. I look back up to see him and two other people looking at me. The two people step aside and a group of people yell for them to move out of the way.

I set my hands down on my legs and scoot myself to the edge of the metal table they had me on. I jump to my feet and start to walk to the door. The man with the gray hair tries to get a hold of me, but I just burn in with my hands. Pushing him into the door frame. The other two people who stepped aside start to run, and the group of people lunge at me. I put my hands up, close my eyes and wait. After a bit of waiting, I opened my eyes and saw the people on the ground, burned half to death. I feel warm all around now. I look down at my arms and see they look like my hands. I look down more. My entire body looks like my hands and arms.  I start to walk again, my heart racing, people running away from me, and the people in black, running at me. I either dodge them, or burn them.

Suddenly, I hear alarms blaring, echoing through the hallway. Red emergency lights flash, casting eerie shadows on the walls. My heart races even faster as I realize the entire facility is on high alert because of me. As I run through the hallway. In the far distance I see a door marked "Exit." Hope surges within me as I push myself to run faster. Freedom is within reach—I can almost taste it. I look behind me, guards running after me, I look back to the door, slamming into it, cold air hits my face. The outside. I am outside. Yes! I think. As I get outside, I continue to run. I ran into the thick forest and onto a narrow pathway. Branches cutting and scratching me as I run deeper into the forest. As I run, I look back to see if anyone is following me. I am alone now. I start to slow down and sit against a tree to get my breath back, closing my eyes to feel like I am actually free. I hear cracking in the forest. it's just an animal I tell myself it's going to be fine. I hear footsteps get closer to me, so I decide to get up from sitting. I look around the tree to see if there is anyone there. Nothing. I look up. Still nothing. At this point I feel calm enough, thinking it's just a deer or a mouse. The noises stop when I look back at the tree. When I look down at my hands again they are normal. good. Never again would I want anyone to control me.  

The author's comments:

this chapter is still in progress, but I hope to finish it within a few weeks

It has been a few days since Marel got taken from school. I didn't know what to fully do besides stay in my seat when she told me it was going to be fine.



Similar books


JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This book has 0 comments.