2 Chapter One

Rules are crap. Especially when the rules are so screwed up that just breathing is defying them.

Okay, I'm exaggerating a bit, but you get the point.

The only plus side to the rules is that they are easy to break, and when I do, I get the privilege of seeing her.

"Back again? How many times must you come here in order for you to know that putting false information into other's heads is against the rules, especially when it refers to the C.A." said a woman with the name of Amelia Marshall— the one that is in charge of everything.

Amelia is almost like a goddess around here. Everyone seems to love her and the crazy decisions she makes. People blindly follow her and never seem to see what's happening right in front of them. I'm not saying she's betraying all of us, but something is happening and I'm determined to find out what it is.

I tried to come up with a response but instead just sat there, making out the details in her face. Looking at her now, I realized that her jawline is so defined that it can probably slice through anything and even possibly kill someone. It might be just me, but I think that the universe is giving a sign.

Staring at her is starting to give me the chills so my eyes drift off and I examine the room where we are having this glorious conversation. Each time I break one of their rules, they drag me to this place. I call it the room of mirrors. There are no doors, no windows, no nothing. Just a small box with a table in the center accompanied by two chairs. To enter or exit the room, a small opening would appear that could only be activated from the outside. It creeps me out but I guess that's its job.

"Well I'm very sorry. I promise I'll never do it again. Can I see my mommy now?" I said with a slight smirk. I acted as if I were a little kid getting in trouble for the first time.

Every time I get in trouble, they seem to push it to the side and pretend that nothing happened. Who am I to complain, but I'm the only person that has had a one-on-one conversation with Amelia and lived to tell the tale. Usually by now my ass would be stuck in Bedlam, but I guess I'm special.

The world that I live in believes that the enemy is within us. It is the one thing that is capable of bringing us to our knees, just as it did in the past. This enemy caused people to turn against one another and refused to let them do what was necessary for survival. This brought the world into chaos which is called the Catastrophic Age, or the C.A. I disagree with it all and believe that the enemy isn't within but right in front of us.

If the government knew about my beliefs, then they would send me to the Bedlam. They say it's a type of hospital to cure us of our enemy. It's not often when people are sent there but when they are the government forbids anyone from speaking of the person or say their name again.

One of the main reasons why I don't go on a crazy rule breaking spree is because of Bedlam. Once you are sent to this place there was no coming back. There are rumors that if you venture out into the forbidden land and stumble upon Bedlam, just the screams can cause you to go insane. I believe that it's just a story to keep children, and even adults, out of the forbidden land. Often I wonder if there is even a place called Bedlam that lays beyond the trees, and if not then what happens to the people that fall off the deep end?

Truthfully, I believe that the government is keeping things from us and that the people that were sent to Bedlam were the ones that were close to finding out the truth. If I keep this up hopefully I'll seek out the truth without getting caught. But at the moment I only have one thing that proves they are hiding something, Amelia's eyes. The enemy shines through hers just like it does in mine.

"Sadly, no. I'm going to ask you a series of questions and if you don't answer truthfully then there will be consequences," Amelia said while interrupting my thoughts, and staring straight back at me while returning the smirk that I gave her just moments before.

Something frightened me then. It's not that this woman is the top bitch but something else. Like me, she possesses something that is rare. It's what the government tried to eliminate in us. She showed it before and each time it seems to get darker. The eyes always tell the truth and her brown eyes tell me that something is there.

I figured out that I was different when I did things that others didn't. When I was little I fell and broke my wrist. I was in so much pain but no one helped. They just passed by like I wasn't even there. But once I started to cry, they all noticed. No one cries, so when they saw me, they just stood there looking at me with eyes that showed nothing.

Later, doctors came and brought me to the hospital where they fixed my wrist within seconds. Moments afterward she walked into my room. It was the first time seeing Amelia and the first time seeing someone that looked towards me in a different way.

"What are you feeling right now?" she started with the first question.

"Peace" I answered back, knowing exactly what she wants to hear. It is always the same questions and I always give the same answers.

"Good. Now, what are you really feeling?"

"What? I said I felt peace," I replied in confusion. This is new. Usually the next question asks me if I'll do the same actions again. This time she is up to something.

Then it hit me. My head began to feel as if it were about to explode. I try to look up but my head is too heavy to lift.

Finally, some of the weight lifts off and I look straight at my reflection. The person staring back isn't me. Everything about her looks like me but the movements don't mimic mine.

She has the same golden blond hair, same ocean blue eyes, and the same smile. But what isn't the same is what laid beyond its eyes. Behind the blue is nothing, there is no person.

My reflection leaned forward and placed both hands on the table. "Do you want to know why I am here? Well I'll tell you, I'm here because you are here. I am you and you are me, so that means I know everything you know."

Mind blown, I looked towards Amelia, but she was still just staring at me waiting for the right answer. This never happened before and it took everything out of me not to flip shit.

I look back and my reflection and it started laughing. The sound of it chilled me to my core.

"She can't see me, only you can. She probably doesn't even know I'm here." It stopped for a moment to laugh some more. When it laughed it wasn't cheery, more like some evil queen. The sound of it is so creepy that it also gives off a jolt of power. If this thing is me then I wonder if I possess that same laughter, could come in handy.

I was in the middle of admiring it when it interrupted my thoughts. "She's weak. She doesn't know what to say in order to get the truth out, but I do. I know what just to say to make you squeal like a pig. I also know how badly you don't want her to find out our secrets," she said while leaning back and crossing her arms.

"Right now, you're thinking that I'm not real and that I'm just part of their technology to get you to crack. Sadly, I am real but I am also part of their tech. That's where they made a mistake. We're different than most so their system doesn't work on us. Lucky for you, I'm not going to that lunatic house. So here's the plan, you will smile at me and say you feel peace, then they will let us go. But if you play your game and we end up in here again, then there will be no going back."

This is the moment where I have to choose. I could either risk going to the Bedlam by saying something different or trust this creepy, slight kickass reflection. But who wants to get on my/its bad side?

I looked towards Amelia and say, "Peaceful."