Forgotten

by Jessica Carbine

  “Cassie? Promise me you won’t leave before tomorrow at noon.”

  I keep folding clothes from the dresser into my suitcases. “Why?”

  “I just want to talk to Kyler. Find out what happened, what his problem is. And then I’ll come with you. He can stay here—alone,” She says spitefully.

  Smiling, I answer sadly. “I don’t think it’s just himself that he wants me away from.”

  “I don’t care what he wants! I love having you here! Promise me, please?” She begs, upset now.

  “Alright. But at 12:01, I’m gone. Are you sure you want to leave him?”

  “That isn’t my first choice. But he’s being abominably rude.” She is angry again. I think this is her embarrassed, which isn’t something I thought I’d ever see.

  “Well, I’d love you to come, but I don’t think he will be pleased.”

  “I hope not. But I want to talk to him first. In fact, I’ll go see if he’s in yet.”

  She leaves the room. I stay on my bed for a couple of minutes. Then, I stealthily move close to the wall between his room and ours. Curious, I put my ear to the wall.

  “She is literally my only friend! Why are you so determined to mess that up? I told you, she can be trusted!” I can vaguely hear Halle say, sounding angry.

  “I know, but how could you be so sure? Just because you’re friends? Do you realize how easy it would have been to plant someone at school to be friendly to you and become your friend, and then have her travel with you, to find out where I am?” He answers defensively.

  “Okay, seriously Kyler, you have got to get over your paranoia! Besides, it wasn’t like that, you don’t understand.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Halle ignores that. “Do you trust her now?”

  Silence.

  “ I can tell when someone isn’t who they say they are.”

  “I know. But everything about her could be real, except I thought she might be passing information along.”

  “Ugh! Do you trust her now?”

  “Yes.” I can barely hear him now. “She must think I’m the biggest jerk.”

  “What happened at dinner?” She asks, her voice still full of hostility.

  “Nothing, really. I just found myself trusting her. You know, talking too much. And even….” He stops. “Anyway, suddenly she asked where we were going next. It felt like she was trying to spring it on me. And I didn’t want to like her if….”

  “Oh.” Halle sounds surprised. “That’s all?” She asks, her voice hardening again.

  “Yes. That’s all. But I feel terrible now, if that makes you feel any better. Have you talked to her?”

  “Yes. She’s confused and upset. Not least because of that stupid stunt you pulled upstairs. She came to warn me to get out.”

  “I know. I was there.”

  “You what? You did it to me!”

  “I’m sorry. I just wanted to see what she did. Did she tell you she’s planning on going to the university tomorrow?” He asks, confusing me, since I hadn’t told him anything about that.

  “No. But it doesn’t surprise me. Her life’s ambition is to know everything.

  “I know. She told me. How ironic. She wants to be special, and all I want is to be normal” He pauses, then continues sounding as though he’s had an epiphany. “Wait a minute, is that what this is all about? You want her to be around us? To make her like us? Halle, we’re not special! We’re cursed.”

  “No we’re not. But if you keep acting like everyone we meet is out to get us then we might as well be. And I don’t know what this is all about. All I know is that from the first time I saw her, I knew she was perfect for you. If you’d just give her a chance.”

  “I wish I could… I don’t think she’ll ever want to speak to me again.”

  “I don’t know, you might be surprised. I’m pretty sure she likes you despite you being such a jerk all the time to her.” Halle laughs, happier now.

  “Really? She does?” He sounds shocked. He continues, irrelevantly, “She thinks I’m smart.”

  “You are smart.”

  “I know, but, she thinks I’m smart. She’s just so well educated….” He trails off. Then he asks, timidly, “Do you know if she’s even had dinner tonight?”

  “I don’t. But I don’t think so. You would know better than me. You’re the one who’s been following her all night.”

  “I really am sorry. I had to see what she would do when faced with the prospect of leaving us for good. And when she didn’t do anything, I decided to give her a catalyst. Like I said, I trust her now. Should I go talk to her?”

  I jump back from the wall and quickly head back to packing. I don’t want Halle to suspect, so I hurry to catch up and make it look like I’ve been busy the whole time.

  Cassie woke up feeling disoriented. The sun was low in the sky and she shook her head, trying to remember.

  There was another loud knock.

  “Hello?” A familiar nasally voice said angrily. “I don’t have all night!”

  Cassie got up, events flooding back to her. These dreams are getting out of hand.

  Their realistic nature left her mind jumbled, wondering which world she was in. She flung the door open just as the rapping had started again.

  “Sorry, I fell asleep.” She defended herself before the snooty secretary had an opportunity to chastise her.

  She grunted and bustled in past Cassie, carrying a tray of steaming food, and a bag on her arm.

  “Here’s your dinner.” She laid it on the dresser near the bathroom door, put the bag on the floor, and then turned to leave.

  “Wait!” Cassie said frantically.

  Diana the secretary turned to face her with raised eyebrows.

  “Uh, when can I go home?”

  “I don’t know,” She answered impassively.

  “Well when can I speak with General Ramford again?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Okay… when will I see you again?”

  “Tomorrow morning. Breakfast.” And then she turned around and walked out.

  This time Cassie heard the door click. It looked like her solitude was back. She sat down on her bed with her tray. At least the food was better: they’d given her chicken, a glass of milk, potatoes and a fruit bowl. It wasn’t amazing, but compared to what she’d been eating, it was cuisine. Even better was the bag of clothes they’d given her. For the first time in over a week she showered and changed. After which, she sat down on her bed with her tray and flipped on the television.

  Chapter 13: Instructions

  Three days later little had changed. The only person Cassie saw was Lieutenant Berg, and the ever-informative secretary continually answered Cassie’s questions with “no”, “I don’t know”, and the occasional “yes”.

  Fortunately, the food was tasty, and Cassie spent her time eating, sleeping or watching T.V. While boring, the three days weren’t completely unpleasant. The only change came in the fresh clothing brought by Lieutenant Berg on the third day.

  A week later, Cassie couldn’t take it anymore. She turned the TV off and didn’t turn it back on. She spent the following week pacing her room for hours at a time, mostly between meals. She would leave her blinds open and watch what little of the world was afforded to her. If something didn’t change she was going to go insane. She had heard nothing further from the general and she was starting to fear that they really would leave her here until they caught Kyler.

  This thought was intolerable. As much as she hated her captivity, she equally feared them catching Kyler. Her dreams continued, and she felt as though she was falling for him all over again. Dream Kyler was no longer hostile, nor was he as guarded as the real Kyler. He was… wonderful.

  Her dreams were the only thing that pulled her through her imprisonment. They made her think, and made her feel alive. They were the day’s highlight as well as the worst torture. She loved him, and loved dreaming of him. But at the same time, the dreams made he
r waking hours worse. She continually thought of him and how she wished things were. She dreaded hearing he was caught. Every time footsteps passed her door her heart would freeze. But she also felt a tinge of desire: maybe it was possible she would see him again.

  After another week she gave up thoughts of release and her mind turned to rescue. Her mom and friends would report her missing, and the police would… suspect Kyler. She thought in frustration. She wavered between hope and despair before despair finally overtook all her hopes. Of course no one would suspect a military general.

  And so finally, after weeks of imprisonment, and as hopeless as it seemed, her mind reluctantly began to consider escape.

  Maybe if I were to hit Lieutenant Berg over the head when she opens the door… Cassie thought with a faint smile. Her annoyance at Lieutenant Berg was more profound than she had realized. Then I could slip out and—

  And what? I don’t know where to go, and I’m sure there are guards. It’s a military base! There’s bound to be scads of security.

  She looked out her window again. A group of men walked from her left to her right along a path. But they could have been going any number of places. Home, the commissary, shooting practice, or whatever it is they do. It offered no clue.

  And she would only have one chance. She had no delusions about this. If she got out of her room once and failed to escape, they wouldn’t give her a second opportunity. Over the next few days Cassie changed the way she watched the people who walked past her window. She noticed there was never anyone in her view for about an hour after her dinner tray came. Presumably this was when most of the troops also ate. Did that make it a good time? Or worse than any other? Would there be more soldiers in her building?

  She devoted hours toward planning farfetched escape plans. But even if I do get out, how will I find Kyler? The only place she could think to check was the Cleveland hotel. But they knew about the Abri as well as she did. If she went home he could find her there, but obviously so could the General. Still, she daydreamed of discovering him, and of helping him.

  Six weeks after she first came into the new room she had a dream. It was different from her other dreams. It didn’t feel real, for one thing. For another, most everything around her was in mist. Only the object or place her eyes were focused on was clear. And she didn’t have any control over where her eyes went.

  In the dream, she was sitting on the bed when the door opened. Lieutenant Berg appeared, looking annoyed, perhaps because Cassie hadn’t met her at the door to take her food as she normally did. Lieutenant Berg came all the way into the room and put the tray on the dresser. Meanwhile, when her back was turned, Cassie quietly rose and came up behind her. Cass noticed she had an alarm clock in her hand, so she happily smashed it into the back of Lieutenant Berg’s head.

  Lieutenant Berg crumpled onto the floor. Cassie took a ring of keys from her pocket, left the room and locked the door behind her. She walked down the hall a few paces, then reached toward the wall. As her hand closed in on the wall she saw that she was reaching for a fire alarm. She pulled it. Red lights flashed and the alarm sounded; she was already off, down the hall, opposite from the way Lieutenant Berg had brought her from the General’s office.

  She headed to the stairwell and climbed down the stairs to the second floor, according to the signs. On her way she didn’t see anyone through the mist. She opened the door and walked into the first door on the right. There were uniforms hanging on either side of the long, thin room. Going against intuition, she walked past them to a closet at the back.

  Without hesitation, or checking the door, she withdrew her keys and inserted the smallest golden key in the lock. Inside were the black uniforms she’d seen on the men who came to her dorm room back at her university. She took the smallest one and put it on. It had a large silver watch in the pocket, which she also put on.

  Cassie quietly slipped out of the room and joined the now thronging hall. She followed the other black uniforms back to the stairs. The stairs were crowded with people all in different uniforms. She hurried with the crowd to the exit at the bottom. Then she broke off from the group and stepped through a door. She was outside where she hadn’t been in months. She found that the shining sun was hot and unpleasant in her long-sleeved uniform.

  A few people glanced at her curiously as she hurried toward a distant building, but they quickly ducked their eyes when she returned their glances with a glare. She eventually reached the building and walked quickly behind it. There was a fence with several boxes pushed against it. It looked like the border fence of the base.

  Under one of the boxes Cassie found a thick blanket, taking it, she climbed carefully up the boxes. Using the fence to steady herself, she threw the blanket over the top of the barbed wire at the top. Then she expeditiously climbed over the fence, only gingerly touching the blanket. And then she was out. It couldn’t have been more than twenty minutes from when Lieutenant Berg had come into her room.

  Cassie smiled. She quickly walked over the barren ground. There was nothing in sight. She walked for another fifteen minutes before anything changed. And that change was from the distance behind her. The fire alarm stopped. There was only a brief second of silence before a different alarm sounded. Shortly thereafter, the ground in front of her opened, she jumped into a large hole and immediately everything grew dark.

  And then she woke up. It was still dark outside. Cassie tried to stop herself from crying. She wasn’t outside of the military compound in a dark, hidden hole, but in her soft prison bed. She cried and cried, wishing it were that easy. Wishing she could just walk out the door and not be stopped. She cried as the sun rose, slowly forcing herself to stop as the time drew near for her breakfast to arrive. She washed her face in the bathroom, refusing to give Lieutenant Berg the satisfaction of seeing her break down. She couldn’t define how she knew, and certainly she didn’t understand why, but Diana Berg seemed to delight in Cassie’s predicament.

  Cassie spent the day in fantasies. Escape was the primary theme, but knocking Diana out certainly featured frequently. She even thought of hitting the General. Perhaps this was why, that night, she had the very same dream. She woke feeling waves of déjà vu. Shaking her head, she decided she needed to do something else that day.

  She turned the television on for a while, but quickly tired of it. With nothing else to do, she took a nap, but woke after having the same exact escape dream. She sat on her bed thinking. Was it possible that the dream was real? That it could actually work?

  A few minutes later Diana tried to open her bolted door, Cassie quickly went and unlocked it, then threw the door wide. As Lieutenant Berg came in Cassie glanced curiously down the hall. She’d never noticed any fire alarm—and yet! There it was! Exactly where it had been in her dream!

  She backed away from the door quickly, not wanting to alarm Lieutenant Berg. But Lieutenant Berg seemed beyond suspicion now: Cassie hadn’t given her any trouble for weeks. In fact, even conversation between them had petered out until Cassie didn’t ask anything. She just silently opened the door, took the tray from Lieutenant Berg and then closed the door behind her. She didn’t even listen for the click anymore as the door closed. Though she did occasionally check, it was always locked.

  As Cassie sat down to her breakfast she thought about the dream. Maybe pulling the fire alarm was the answer. But when should she do it? She remembered it quite well, as she’d dreamed it three times, and yet when she thought back to her dream; only a few things were clear of the mist in her mind. One was the window. She tried to remember exactly... the sun! She could see the setting sun through her window in the dream. In real life there was a large building in the way. But that meant it was her dinner meal Lieutenant Berg was bringing in. Not that knowing really helps. I still have no clue where I am. Now that I think about it, though, with the shadow of that building moving as it does, that would be west.

  Cassie ate slowly, thinking. Could her dream be the answer? Perhaps even a premonition. She
remembered the details of her “escape”, most of it seemed logical. But if she did get out and pull the alarm, shouldn’t she just run for it? And not count on there being a dream-closet with uniforms, nor conveniently placed boxes with a blanket. But she could bring her own blanket….

  She stared out the window over her empty tray. There were soldiers walking by, most in green or camo-colored uniforms. But two or three went by in black. They didn’t talk to anyone; they seemed different, apart from the others. Looking closely, she saw that they did have large silver watches on. She thought back to the men back on campus who’d barged into her bedroom brandishing guns. Try as she might she couldn’t remember any watches. She thought their sleeves covered their wrists.

  This, more than the fire alarm, convinced Cassie that her dream was more than just a dream. She began looking for more confirmations. She leaned against the window and looked as far to the left as she could. With her face pressed against the glass, she could almost make out where the fence should be. But she could see the first of three boxes stacked against it.

  Chapter 14: Deviation

  Cassie spent the remainder of the morning going over the details of her dream. How much of it could possibly be accurate. Unsure of how much she could follow, she decided she would follow it loosely, and change whatever didn’t seem to work. Having decided this, Cassie found herself wondering about the source of the dream. She wished it was from Kyler, and indeed, this seemed the most probable. He’d lived here. He would know where things were. If it was from him, it probably wasn’t a premonition, but instructions. Which meant that it could be wrong. Especially since he hadn’t been here in years.

  While the thought of him being behind it excited her, (she might get to see him again!), it also disturbed her a little. If he could control her dreams, what did that say about all of the dreams she’d been having lately? And how much had her dreams affected her feelings for him? Had he manipulated her emotions as the General had said?