The Restricted Room

The girl snoops in the middle of the night carefully trying to not wake up the boy. She stealthily grab an oil lamp that has gone out located beside her bed. She takes the lighter in her pocket and quickly gives a powerful motion with her thumb to move the spark wheel. Her left hand opens the globe glass while her right hand slowly ignites the wick with a ray of light from the lighter. She then holds the oil lantern bail and proceeds to go out of the wooden house.

She walks down to the lake heading toward blue spruce trees. Behind the trees, there is a wooden door that is covered in moss at random parts of it. If you don't look closely, it doesn't seem like it's a door. It blends naturally with the surroundings. She pushes that door and enters the room hurriedly.

===

The boy hears rustling sounds sharply. Every night he is aware that the girl is going out somewhere outside their wooden house. Usually, he brushes it off not wanting to invade all of the girl's privacy for the sake of both of them. Since they live together, he wants to respect her boundary the same way the girl respects his for not being able to tell her about his dreams.

Tonight is different. His curiosity reaches the top of his head. Not only curiosity descends on him but also worries. He knows that she couldn't die just like he is, but part of him doesn't want her to get hurt. Especially, when he is around. The boy gets up while still trying to collect his soul. He is determined to follow the girl.

The boy waits until the girl exits the house. He sneaks a peek through the window and turns the doorknob clockwise. He takes a single step and slowly closes the door behind him attempting to not make any sound. The air is chilly because it is already winter. He instantly regrets his decision not to wear extra clothing before he follows the girl.

"Gosh…it's freezing…" He rubs and blows his hands strongly though it's not helping him get warmer.

The boy sees the girl going inside the blue spruce trees. When he finally arrived there, he sees a wooden door that he never recognized before. The boy explores this place a lot of time, but he probably misses this spot because it can hardly be seen by the eye. Mainly if you don't pay attention to detail like the boy.

The boy sticks his ears to the surface of the door hoping that he could hear anything behind it. However, his attempt is futile. The door is thicker than it looks. It barely lets any sound from going out. He decides to go back to the wooden house and visit that place again later when he has the chance. It's probably better if the girl tells him first. But if she won't do that, he might need to find out the truth by himself.

===

The boy was having a conversation with an older man in a white coat. Yet, he didn't feel scared. He displayed a slightly tender smile. His eyes were radiant. They were sitting across from each other. But again, the boy couldn't see the man's face. Could it be that it's his father? How come he wore the same clothing like the ones who hurt him?

Is his father evil too?

Why are you smiling? That person could be bad.

You never know what lay within his foul soul.

Other men in white coats approached them and held the boy like a hostage. When the other men caught him he didn't feel right. His chest felt tight and painful, his body started to sweat, his head was cracked open, blood pressure rose rapidly, heart pounded ten times faster. He couldn't control his breath as he kept gasping for air but what he got was mostly carbon dioxide. His feet were numb.

The man across from him seemed worried.

The boy tried to sharpen his hearing to listen to the muffled sound from the conversation between the man and the others.

"Don't do this to him," The man said.

"Stop acting all nice! We're all in this together. You better get back there and finish the formula." One of the men who held the boy howled while giving the man a dirty look.

===

"Haa…haa…" The boy falls down from the sofa unable to get up on his own as he keeps trying to breathe in.

His whole body is trembling and his heart is throbbing. He is almost certain that he could hear his own heartbeat. His ears are ringing. He clenches his hand and begins to rise up slowly. His breath comes out in an irregular pattern. At times like this, he hopes that the girl is beside him.

But even he knows that he couldn't always depend on the girl.

He counts to five while inhaling the oxygen, and slowly lets out the carbon dioxide from his body. Just like how the girl taught him.

"I can… do this…" He talks to himself.

Just at that moment, the girl shows up from the door. She looks at the boy in his awful state and immediately sits beside him in the sofa.

"You're sweating all over your body," The girl places her hand on the boy's hair.

"Don't…I can do it by myself," The boy slaps the girl's hand accidentally.

For a moment, there is a tense ambiance around the room.

"Ooooh…is it because you're on your puberty? It's fine if you're shy I hug you myself," She giggles and continues to hug the boy without hesitation at all.

"Uuuhh…. alright," The boy awkwardly receives the hug from the girl.

He could never get used to how touchy-feely she is.

"You know we only have each other." The girl speaks gently.

"So you can tell me if you're having a hard time."

When the girl says that the boy's inner monologue replies to her. But you also don't tell me about that restricted room. We both are keeping our secrets to ourselves. I know that you still don't believe me.

A scrap of paper comes out from the girl's clothing and drops down on the floor. The boy's eye flashes. He slowly moves his foot and put the paper beneath his foot.

"Is there something wrong with your feet too?" The girl glances right at where the boy is hiding her paper.

"No…No!" He gripped his hand nervously on the girl's body pulling her closer to his body.

"Okay…okay, give me some slack I can't breathe." The girl's face is buried in his chest.

"Right…" He raises his arm quickly.

They both stare into each other's eyes.

"Sometimes, no…all the time I don't really understand you."

The girl's face flushes and she frantically runs to get out of that house and the situation.

To Be Continue