Chapter 3.5

I woke much later, clutching a pillow with a death grip against my chest, and tender scratch marks on my cheeks from where I attacked it. I tenderly touch it to feel the wound scabbed over.

"When were you going to tell us, you were sick?" Theo demanded with a loud voice that made me wince and recoil into the pillow.

"What are you talking about?" my voice sounded strained. My throat was raw and dry, I ignored the dull throbbing leftover in my skull and went to the sink for some water.

"You thought this was normal?" she pulled my sleeve up and the black marks had spread down my arms, almost reaching my hands. I'd never seen anyone's skin so dark, it looked… Dead.

"I don't know what it was. I didn't think it was important." I defended, but I knew it was a bad argument. I felt like I was getting scolded by Elliana.

"It's a virus that only affects people like us." Tommy comments, nervously hanging in the background.

"We think that's what's in the bangles." Theo explained with an irritated tone, releasing my wrist with a jerk.

"They could be after the kids who escaped with me or they could just be looking for new recruits. But it wouldn't harm a normal person, so they think there must be recruits for experiments here."

"So, the kid that collapsed the other day, do you think he had a shadow?"

"Probably, or just had an affinity."

I hesitated before asking "…Is it bad?"

"You mean is it deadly? We don't know. But we think Garlantia must have a way to cure it or they wouldn't bother infecting people."

Tommy gave a light shrug "When the kids got sick, they were taken away and we didn't see them again." I ignored how ominous that sounded.

"So what are we going to do?" Theo asked.

"Nothing. Stick to the plan, I'm not going back to Galantia no matter what happens. If they find out who I was, or that I have Shadow… I would rather die."

"You would rather die?" she asks doubtfully, thinking I was just being dramatic.

"Me too." He nodded, confident.

"There are worse things than death."

She looked like she wanted to argue, but with Tommy agreeing so readily, she swallowed her argument.

"Don't get me wrong. I'm determined to survive. I have no intention of dying. But I won't be manipulated by Garlantia again. There has to be another way. The FDD has a medical research subdepartment, maybe they could help."

She sighed, "I guess we'll just have to bet on that." She wasn't happy about it, but neither of us could see another solution.

"Promise me, no matter what, you won't go to Garlantia for help."

"Okay." She nodded.

"So what is your escape plan?" Tommy asked.

"We haven't really figured that out yet."

At that moment, it must have turned 10 am, like clockwork, a voice rung out demanding "Participants E1 to E100 report to the courtyard immediately." Thankfully I woke up in time for registration, otherwise, I'm not sure how we would have got out of it.

"Tommy, you've got to stay here, out of sight. Maybe you should even hide because we don't know if they check the rooms while we're gone. It's not likely because there isn't enough staff, but just to be sure, you need to stay out of sight."

He nodded, "I think I can fit in the bottom of the wardrobe."

"Get Rex to hide too. Just in case." I added.

When it was our turn, Theo repeated what she did the day before on the opposite side of the hall. With Tommy arriving without warning I forgot to ask her what she found, but it wasn't the time to ask. We naturally drifted to the other side, and when she was opposite number 51, she knelt again, to tie her shoelace which she conveniently left loose.

Outside, we fell into our routine. Stood in lines, the wind whispering around us, trying to avoid any eye contact. My mind is somewhere else, thinking about how we would escape, our bangles are scanned and I stare blankly ahead. Vaguely I remember the guard scanning the last of us when movement breaks out to my left. A boy, possibly a little older than us, standing in the furthest row to the left, near the middle, darts out and dashes for the cover of the far building. While he doesn't look back, he doesn't really get a chance to. He barely makes it a few metres before- BANG. The sound vibrates through the silence. Most of us are too numb to move, but I adjust my head just slightly to see the Captain haltering his gun. With deadly marksmanship, the Captain dealt with the potential runaway without a second hesitation.

He says nothing. We don't need words. The message is clear.