Mind of Darkness

by Jes Drew

  “What? Of course I do! I’m just confused-”

  I aim the knife at him. “You don’t want me to defend myself against you.”

  “Why would you ever need to do that? I’d die before I’d hurt you. You know that! I almost died to save you!”

  “That doesn’t mean you own me!”

  Something flits past his eyes. Fear.

  But Christopher has never shown fear before.

  He hasn’t shown me a lot of himself before, though.

  “Emily, please, give me the knife.” He slowly reaches for my hand.

  Remember the bruises on your chest. Your face. That was just his fist. Don’t ever let him get the knife.

  I scream. Then I plunge the knife at him.

  He jumps back. “Emily!”

  Yelling bloody murder, I lunge at him again, and he just narrowly misses my jab by grabbing my wrist. Then he grabs my other. “Emily, please, you’re scaring me-”

  I lift my knee and kick him where it will hurt the most. He inhales deeply and I pull out of his grip. Then I knock my leg into his bum leg, sending him toppling.

  Jumping on top of him, I do my best to pin him down with my tiny body. The tiny body he’s never felt remorse for hurting before. I must not feel remorse either.

  I lift up the hand with the knife to make better impact.

  He grabs my wrist again, his eyes wide. “Emily, this isn’t you. Snap out of it. They’re in your head.

  “So are you. So is everyone!”

  “Emily-” His gaze falls to the writing on my arm. “I love you.”

  “Hmm,” Dr. Earnestine says, looking over my note. “That’s not what I wanted you to write. Other arm.”

  Trembling and unable to fight the hand in my mind any longer, I take the pen to my other arm.

  But I fight inside my head. I fight to think about the words on my head. God help me- let those words remind me when this is all over. Remind me of me. Of him. Of Him. God help me.

  My brain explodes with the pain and I drop the knife, just narrowly missing Christopher’s jaw. Then I collapse on top of him, all strength gone from me.

  “I’m so sorry,” I gasp, not sure if I’m crying of if it’s just the rain. “I’msosorryI’msosorryI’msosorry-”

  “Emily-”

  Lights blare on around us, and I look up to see Dr. Earnestine flanked by several of the campus security guards.

  My twisted therapist gives me an equally twisted smile. “Looks like you didn’t listen, my sweet. How very, very naughty.”

  ~~~

  I wake with a start and find myself in a darkness in a sitting position. Blinking, I try to stand, but can’t. My wrists are tied to the arms of my chair by some kind of tie.

  “So you’re awake again, my dear?”

  The voice sends shivers down my spine and I turn to see the deplorable face of Dr. Earnestine stepping into my line of sight.

  “Then I suppose there’s no need to keep this in the dark.”

  Lights turn on instantly, and I have to close my eyes at the brightness of it all. But then I force them open. I don’t want to be anymore vulnerable before that man than I already am.

  The lights illuminate a large, metal-walled building with dusty floors and one door. I long for that door with all my might.

  “Where am I?” I whisper.

  “My office away from office.” Dr. Earnestine comes behind me, and my heartbeat quickens immediately. Then he turns my chair around.

  And I find myself looking at Christopher. An unconscious, bloodied Christopher. Tied to a monstrous machine that looks like something out of some bad Frankenstein movie that has two chairs connected to it. The other chair is being used by an also unconscious Dr. N.

  “Don’t hurt him,” I whisper. “Them.”

  Dr. Earnestine comes around my chair and leans on one arm. “You’re not going to ask me what I want to do with them?”

  “I don’t care. Just let us go. Christopher and I won’t cause any trouble. Just let us go home.”

  He laughs like this is so amusing. “Ah, but my dear, I would be so lonely without you.” He reaches to touch my face.

  I lean back, repulsed. “I’m not your pet. I will never be yours in any way.”

  “Unfortunately, you are correct. A higher power than myself wants you for herself. Which is why you cannot leave.”

  “Wait- what? What are you talking about? No, don’t tell me that. Tell me nothing and let us go!”

  He slides away from me and shakes his head. “I already told you- I can’t do that. But don’t worry. I’ll fix that.” He taps my forehead. “You won’t be so scared anymore. Neither will be you precious boyfriend, though in a slightly different way.”

  “Don’t touch him! Don’t you dare touch him!”

  “Like you did?”

  I feel all blood drain from my face. “What did you do to me?”

  “What I’m about to do to you again. It’s much more specialized than what I’m going to do to them.”

  My mouth goes dry. “Wh-what are you going to do with them?”

  “Oh, basic mental conditioning. That machine will sense their thought processes and intertwine the thoughts we want them to have in there. Make them better human beings.”

  “Christopher is already a brilliant human being...” Breathing is hard to do right now. Life is closing in. “So it’s like… mind control?”

  “Oh, no, no- much more organic. They still get to live their lives and make their choices. They just don’t realize that they’ve had their lives redirected the way we want and are more heavily persuaded to make the choices we want them to. We call them patsys. They will be the drone army of the new age.”

  “No!” I try to break out of my confines. Why don’t I have super strength? Where are the superhumans when I need them? “You can’t!”

  Dr. Earnestine looks confused. “I’ve done it plenty of times before. It is more than theoretically possible.”

  “That’s wrong-”

  He waves his hand as if morality is something beneath him. “This is the way of the future. Don’t worry- I have something better in store for you.”

  Sweat sticks to my back and I try to pull away from him. “No-”

  “You and that word. It’s so limiting. Just like this machine.” He gestures back at the monster Christopher is hooked up to. “No, this process is even more organic than that.”

  “Wh-what do you mean? What technique is this?” How on earth can I fight it?

  “Not any of this rudimentary government-issued technology, I assure you.”

  Even as he speaks, the machine starts to make noise, like it’s firing up. Christopher and Dr. N. start crying out simultaneously.

  “Stop it!” I scream. “Please- I beg of you- I’ll do whatever you want- be whatever you want- just don’t hurt him!”

  “Oh, you’ll be who I want just fine, my dear,” Dr. Earnestine says, stepping between me and Christopher, who is still screaming. Still ripping my heart out. “Because this technique I’ve been using on you is special. Taught to me by beings beyond us.”

  “Please stop hurting them. Please.” I lunge forward, but it does nothing. “In the name of all that is good and right!”

  “Those night terrors I spoke of. They weren’t night terrors. They were real.” His eyes get a twisted gleam in them. “The things that came into my room at night were more than phantoms. They took me places. Showed me things. Taught me their methods.”

  I can just barely see Christopher over Dr. Earnestine as he convulses in his chair. “It doesn’t have to be this way. You don’t have to be the lonely master of puppets. I can be your Pygmalion.”

  He smiles, amused. “Oh, I’m not alone. But you are.”

  “Jesus, help me,” I breathe just as he snaps his fingers.

  Chapter Thirty

  Violet Strokes grasps her knife when she hears her bedroom door open.

  Someone steps in. Emily.

  But that can’t be right
. Violet heard her on the phone with Christopher. She left for good…

  Emily quickly shuts their bedroom door and walks shakily toward her bed.

  “What happened?” Violet calls.

  Her roommate jumps five feet in the air and presses herself to the wall. “I-I can’t talk about it.”

  “What? Did you and Christopher-”

  At the mention of her boyfriend’s name, Emily releases a sob.

  Groaning, Violet sits up in her bed and reaches for the light switch. This is why she avoided friendships with girls. They were too emotional.

  She turns on the light and then starts when she sees her roommate, ink running down her face as tears wash whatever words were written there.

  “What the devil happened to you?!” Violet demands.

  Emily raises her hands frantically. “Quiet- the devil might hear you. He might hurt you too...” She glances around as though the great adversary himself might step out of the shadows.

  “Emily, what are you talking about?”

  She turns her wide green eyes to Violet. “He’s been playing with my mind. And now he’s messing with Christopher and Dr. N.-”

  “Who is, Emily?”

  “Dr. Earnestine- my therapist- the devil himself-”

  Violet nods, taking this all in. “And you say he’s playing with your mind?”

  “Yes! This ink- notes he made me write on myself to trigger me or something. I’m not supposed to remember, but I can’t forget trauma-” She starts all-out bawling at this.

  Shaking off her uncomfortable-ness, Violet approaches the weeping roommate. “What do you mean?”

  Emily tries in vain to wipe away the tears. “He makes me forget him so that I think the thoughts he puts in my head are mine. And it usually works. But I can never forget trauma.”

  She points at the ink on her arms. “I can forget what I was doing for periods of time. I can forget writing these.” She points to her chest. “I can even forget injuries I think I got accidentally. But not trauma.” She points to her black eye. “I can’t forget this.” She points outside. “And I can never forget Christopher’s screams. Ever. Or what he tried to make me to do him.”

  More tears come, and Violet wraps her arms around her. “We’ll figure this out. Somehow. I’ll kick his butt. You’ll publicize this. We can stop him.”

  “He has too much power. It would be a miracle to just escape him-”

  “Then we’ll do that. Christopher will be fine. You’ll be fine-”

  “I don’t know if he’s even still Christopher anymore. And I don’t know how to find out without revealing that I can remember. And who knows what he might do to Christopher. Maybe make him kill himself.”

  Violet pulls back. “He can’t do that.”

  Emily meets her gaze. “He almost made me kill Christopher.”

  For the first time in a long time, Violet feels fear.

  “And he wants me to pass the test. I need to pass that test. Please pass it with me.”

  Violet opens her mouth to answer.

  Just as something beeps.

  Both of them jump. Then Emily pulls her phone out of her pocket and stares at a text from some Hunter person. It merely says “Good morning. We’ll meet you tonight..”

  Then Emily looks up, a new gleam in her eyes. “There’s hope.”

  Chapter Thirty-One: Charisa

  “For a school, it sure seems pretty reluctant to give up information,” Kyle says as he works on infiltrating the Yin Program’s database. “This is the most secure website I’ve ever had the pleasure of hacking into.”

  “Or trying to hack into,” I mutter as I pace around the otherwise vacant back room in the Yin Program’s library that I’ve been in entirely too long. “You’ve been at that all night.”

  “Don’t doubt my talent.”

  “I’m not doubting you. I just think you need sleep.”

  “And risk rolling over on my side? Oh- I’m in.”

  I rush to his side. “About time!”

  “You weren’t really worried about me, were you?” He studies the laptop. “Well, Mulan Yin isn’t here- apparently she’s working at her Harvard based program. But Emily Rogers is here. In fact, she’s in room 175.”

  “At least we know where to go now. Does she have a roommate?”

  Kyle studies the screen for a moment before nodding. “Yeah; a Violet Strokes. She looks like someone who can take care of herself- I wonder why Emily didn’t go to her for help. Though-” He stretches. “I don’t blame her for wanting an excuse to see me in action.”

  I bite my lip. “A roommate complicates things. Well, I’m going to scope out the grounds for a good meeting place and leave a note in Emily’s room about the destination.”

  Kyle nods. “Sounds like a plan- but why are you going?”

  “Because it’s a girls’ dormitory. Now, to find a piece of paper…”

  ~~~

  I keep my head down as I make my way to a remote-looking part of the wall that borders the school. Then I use my super hearing to ascertain that the other side of the wall is equally as remote. Despite my headscarf and sunglasses, I still don’t want to be caught doing what I’m about to do.

  After backing up some, I run, and then jump, soaring over the wall. I land dangerously close to a mud puddle.

  Straightening up, I take in my surroundings. There are two large buildings facing each other on opposite sides of a path. Dorm buildings, no doubt. Now, to figure out which one is the girls’ dorm building…

  A group of boy football players exit one dorm.

  Well, I guess that answers that.

  I approach the other dorm building, open the door, and then dash past the receptionist super fast. I might accidentally send a pile of papers flying. Oh, well, the receptionist looks like she needs something to do. She was glaring at those papers anyway, so I doubt she had any strong attachment to them.

  I come to a stop in an empty hallway. Then I take the elevator up a floor and track down Emily’s room easy as pie (mmm, pie… It’s been too long). Once I find it, I put my lock picking skills Kyle taught me to the test and let myself in (well, this is a school- you're supposed to take tests).

  Thankfully, the room is empty. I place my note next in the top drawer of the dresser.

  Then I dash away super fast.

  ~~~

  Kyle leans calmly against a tree next to the school’s running track, reminding me a bit of Tim...

  I glance around the dark landscape, feeling both excited and nervous- and sad.

  “Why did we decide to meet her by the track?” I ask. “It’s bringing up some seriously bad memories.”

  “It was your idea,” Kyle counters.

  “No; I’m pretty sure it was yours-” I pause when I hear two people approaching us.

  One solitary figure appear in the distance. They casually make their way to us.

  I strain my eye to make her out. Long, brown hair like I remember it being. Large green eyes. A sort of nervous air.

  “Is that-?” Kyle asks.

  “Yep,” I answer. “Emily Rogers. That girl just can’t stay away from trouble.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two: Emily

  I stare at myself in the mirror to ascertain that not a trace of ink remains on my body.

  “God, help me,” I whisper, placing the beret on my head, preparing to play the perfect puppet to protect what is left of my mind. “God, help me.”

  ~~~

  I run into Christopher outside the cafeteria as he leaves, and the food flies everywhere while I fall backwards.

  Christopher grabs my arms and rights me. “I’m so sorry.”

  “I- Christopher?”

  He studies me. “Yes?”

  “Do you… remember me?”

  “Of course I do, Emily. You’re my girlfriend.” He gives me a half smile. “Why are you talking that way?”

  “Do you remember last night?”

  “I remember crashing for the test all night. Why?”
/>
  I lick my suddenly very dry lips. “Why are you taking food outside the cafeteria?”

  “I was going to study some more. We can hang out after the tests.”

  “Oh- okay.”

  His smile widens and he kisses me on the top of my head.

  Then I watch as he walks off without his food and without me.

  ~~~

  I glance around my science classroom, where I’m taking the test. Mickey, Donald, and Destiny are here with me, but Christopher is taking his test in his history classroom and Violet is taking hers in her literature classroom.

  And Professor N. is standing at the front of the class, looking calm and happy and the very model of a perfect science teacher.

  For a moment, I search his eyes to see any remnant of last night. But there’s nothing I can detect.

  I force my gaze down at my test. The gaze I will pass not to please Dr. Earnestine or whoever he works for. But to buy Christopher and me time until help comes.

  Until I get something more tangible than hope.

  ~~~

  When the time is up, I hand over the test I finished early on and read through multiple times. Then I stand up to follow the rest of the class to the athletic section of our class.

  I will literally have to swim for my life. Again.

  Because that worked out so well the other times.

  A mental list of times when my life depended on swimming:

  (1.) When my cruise ship went down… but Christopher was there;

  (2.) When I fell into a river… but Christopher was there;

  (3.) Now… when I have no Christopher;

  When we line up at the pool, I try to catch Christopher’s gaze.

  But he never looks at me.

  When we finish, I go to draw for our lives.

  ~~~

  “Christopher.”

  He pauses in the hallway and glances back. “Emily.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “I heard they got some early results in the office. I wanted to go find out.” He moves to walk away.