Chapter 1: Dissonant Beginnings
They told her they were coming at 10 yet, at 9.30 she heard the dull crunch of the tires under the gravel in the driveway. However, having already packed Emily only felt a strange sense of disbelief. It was really happening. Sure enough, but a moment later she heard the slam of a car door and the sound of footsteps on gravel. Giving a final check to ensure that everything in the house was in order, she went down to unlock the front door, hauling a large garbage bag with her.
Outside stood two female officers, prim and proper in their navy uniform, their hair neatly tied back. Emily herself felt rather under-dressed, wearing only a band tee and sweatpants, her sole pair of semi-decent worn converse sneakers and a much too large second hand down jacket. As she greeted them and opened the door into the house she couldn't help but notice her reflection in the door panel. She then reflexively tried to smooth down the stubborn piece of half-grown out fringe that stuck out above her right ear.
One of the officers asked, "All packed?" Emily just lifted up the garbage bag in response.
The officer nodded, "Then we should leave now so we make it on time. As for your house, we will have people come to inspect it occasionally while you are away. If you have any concerns you will be able to contact us from the centre and we will do our upmost to resolve them imminently."
Emily nodded silently and they made their way to the vehicle.
As they pulled out of the driveway, she took a final glance at the house, expecting to feel some semblance of nostalgia. As they drove further away it became apparent that those feelings were not going to emerge. And so, she just stared out the window, listening half-heartedly to the occasional bouts of casual conversation from the two in front.
After some time, one of the officers started trying to strike up a conversation with Emily. Almost any typical "ice-breaker" question became unaskable, simply because they risked evoking any unpleasant memories that currently lay dormant within her subconscious. And so, after receiving a few vague responses from Emily, the officer instead decided to shift the conversation to today's endeavours.
Emily had briefly researched the centre before but, seeing as the project only came to fruition within the last decade, information about the nuances of its conduct still remained relatively unknown to the general public. The few articles she had found, although useful to an extent, were more focused on praising its innovation and results.
From the officer's general overview she came to learn that out of the many 'residents', but a mere handful were entirely voluntary admissions, the rest coaxed into going there in the hopes of reducing a sentence or correcting any undesirable behaviours or attitudes.
She herself was one of those 'few'. She could only hope that this didn't make her a target.
She also knew that there existed a 'hierarchy' within the centre's inside and that there was a designated 'leader', predetermined in the initial intake. As for the rest, as far as she knew they were all to be treated as equals.
Curious, she finally mustered the courage to ask them, "Um, excuse me, may I ask if you know anything about how things work? Just so I know what to expect..."
Surprised she had spoken, the two exchanged a look before one spoke, "Of course! Naturally we can only give a brief overview but once you get there someone'll be there to guide you."
"How things work...well, first of all within the group of participants there's a 'leader'. Don't be alarmed, its mostly just for title's sake. To my knowledge they mostly do admin-related tasks although they have the authority to propose any new rules and policies where they see fit."
The officer's partner added "That's right, although I heard this year's leader is quite something, she's already taking things quite seriously.'
The other officer nodded, "That reminds me, we should probably inform you this generation's leaders' new policy then shouldn't we?". Seeing Emily's apprehensive look she quickly followed up "Don't' be alarmed if anything going its only going to benefit you. It's pretty much just a verbal "privacy policy", you know like all those major companies have. All in all, it's her attempt to try to reduce people being forced to reveal any well... details that might be a little too private for those they only just met which was pretty common I heard." She gave a small smile.
Seeing that it wasn't anything radical or absurd she relaxed a little, returning a slight smile back to the officer. Thanks to this it looks like they won't have to know I'm a voluntary admission, that's one less thing to worry about.
She propped her elbow on the arm rest and turned to continue looking absent-mindedly out the window, only half-listening to the conversation of the officers in front which had drifted away from discussing the centre.
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They had agreed to meet to sort out the documentation and prepare for the new participant's arrival over brunch at 9.30. It was now 9.47 and there was no sign of Cassandra. After impatiently scouting the dining hall one last time, Meghan grabbed some pastries from one of the tables and, placing them on a tray she made her way over to her room.
She gave one firm knock before loudly declaring "I'm coming in". Only a split second later she turned the handle and walked in, closing the door behind her. Unsurprisingly she found that Cassandra was still asleep. Placing the tray of pastries on her bedside she sat down on the edge of the bed and shook her closest leg a few times.
Startled, Cassandra woke up and, upon seeing Meghan she sighed and asked groggily "What time is it?".
Meghan replied "9.50. I brought you breakfast." She held up the tray.
Cassandra didn't react at all, instead she just grabbed the closest pastry and started munching on it.
Meghan grabbed the cinnamon scroll she had brought specifically for herself and started eating. "Trouble sleeping again?" She asked after a couple bites.
Cassandra nodded, "yeah...haha...I fell asleep pretty quickly but then I woke up and couldn't fall back to sleep until it was virtually morning-...". Her eyes widened, "Meghan what time did you say it was again?"
"9.50".
"Oh my god, the new participant's coming at 11.30 aren't they. I have to get ready- There's still that stupid report to finish" she tried to get out of bed but was stopped by Meghan.
"Don't stress, you still have time, I only came to wake you up because we had agreed to work on the 'stupid report'". She raised an eyebrow and Cassandra had no choice but to slump down in defeat.
"Fine. I need the bathroom first though." She then stretched and slowly stood up, making her way to the room's adjacent en suite.
Meghan grabbed another pastry and made her way to Cassandra's desk to have a look at the file. However, no matter where she looked she couldn't find it. After sifting through it all a few more times she gave up and called out, "Oi Cassandra."
"What?"
"Where's the report?"
"On my desk"
"Where on your desk?"
"Should be on top"
"On top of what?"
"On top of the desk of course where else could it be." Cassandra walked out of the en suite, looking slightly less dishevelled. She walked over to the desk and after a couple brief attempts she was able to locate the file.
"Unbelievable" Meghan scoffed. "How do you even find things in this mess?".
Cassandra just shrugged and went to locate her clothes.
Meghan then went to go get a chair from the dining hall. Although Cassandra's room had a few chairs, they were all much too large and not worth moving just for this discussion.
Luckily, Cassandra had the foresight to pick out an outfit the day before and so, within a couple of minutes she was at least dressed appropriately. She went to grab her hairbrush and settled on a simple braid. I can always fix it later.
Once Meghan got back the two sat down to discuss the report.
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After some time Emily opened her eyes and realised with a start that she had fallen asleep. She looked sheepishly towards the officers at the front but seeing as they didn't say anything she turned her attention back to the window.
The countryside she had admired earlier had shifted into a slightly more urban area. On a passing sign she saw "CIPY Centre 5km" and she knew they must be close. A few minutes later the car approached a large arch with "The Centre for Independent Problematic Youth" etched into the cobblestone.
Being in such close proximity and looking head on, she couldn't yet ascertain what the premises themselves looked like. But she knew clearly from the sign that they had arrived.
As they drove in she observed that, as expected, the perimeter appeared to be surrounded by a tall, barbed wire fence fitted with security cameras. From what she could tell, this fence spanned quite a long distance. The road which they were using was also surrounded by this fencing, although she could still see relatively well through the gaps.
She asked the officers in front, "Um, excuse me. How large are the grounds here?"
"Well, the boundary fence is shaped like a circle, I think around 10km perimeter."
Emily was beyond shocked, she was expecting a more cramped, building-heavy prison-like place but instead there seemed to be an abundance of free space, likely because of its isolated location.
A couple of minutes later they reached the main building, obnoxiously labelled in large white letters "Administration".
The car pulled into a small carpark and the officer driving turned the car off and turned around "We have arrived. I'll take care of your bags, please follow Officer Davis into the building."
Emily got out of the car, briefly stretching her stiff limbs before following Officer Davis into the building.
"Sorry, we arrived a bit early, there was virtually no traffic on the way here." Officer Davis said.
The woman at the administration desk just smiled, "No problem at all. Mackenzie said Cassandra should arrive just before 11.30 to take care of the tour. She shouldn't be too much longer."
Officer Davis nodded before saying, "we will head off shortly, have a nice day." She smiled at Emily before leaving the building.
Emily just stood around awkwardly. The woman said, "please take a seat while you wait, help yourself to a cup of water if you would like."
Emily walked over to the cooler and poured herself a cup of cold water before sitting on one of the chairs and flicking through one of the old magazines that lay on the nearby table.
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After they had finished discussing the report, Meghan left Cassandra to complete the final section, offering to go ensure that the preparation for the new participants arrival had been finalised. On the way to the administration building she saw two officers, one of which was carrying a large black garbage bag.
Meghan walked over, "Good morning officers, are you delivering the new participant's belongings? Do you need any assistance?"
The two officers looked at each other before one of them spoke, "We are having a bit of difficulty trying to locate the room, I believe number 23..."
"Right this way" She gestured, and she led them to a different building and pointed to the second floor. Once they had arrived the two thanked her and went off to the room.
Seeing as the residential area was near the dining hall, Meghan decided to make a pit stop for some coffee.
Just as she had finished pouring the coffee and was turning back to walk to the administration building she heard a voice call out "Meghan?". She spun around to see a youth in a blue uniform walking towards her.
"Jake? What's up? I thought you went to fetch Cassandra."
He puffed, "She didn't show up to the administration office so the receptionist called me and told me to go find you."
Meghan exclaimed, "She didn't?"
"She didn't. Its almost eleven thirty, and the participant has arrived, its best not to keep them waiting."
Meghan sighed, "Fine. I'll go. Let's go then." The two walked towards the administration building, Meghan trying to sneak in a sip of coffee wherever possible.
When they walked through the door she glimpsed a girl sitting in one of the chairs who looked up upon hearing the door chime.
The lady at the administration desk said, "Oh Meghan, Jake, thank you for coming! I have no idea why Cassandra didn't show up but I'm sure you can take care of the tour" she smiled.
Meghan smiled reluctantly before turning to the girl "What's your name?"
The girl replied, "Emily."
"Great. My name's Meghan I'll show you around. Shall we?" She gestured to the door and Emily stood up to follow her out. Jake followed them outside before saying, "As much as I'd like to join the tour, I need to head off". Meghan waved him off before turning back to Emily.
"So, tour time I guess." She said blandly. Suddenly her face lit up and she turned to Emily excitedly, "First, do you mind if we make a little detour. I need to go get something on the way."
Emily just nodded, "that's okay, I don't mind. I'm sorry you had to waste your time escorting me instead of the other girl...." Her voice trailed off.
"Don't mention it. Its her fault for not being here. Let's go."
The pair then walked towards the residential building.