The First Goodbye

A hard, wooden floor pressed against his back, the flaws in the grain irritating his skin through his thin clothes. Exhaustion was overwhelming his senses, forcing the world to fade away beneath closed eyes. A cold and barren realm spread out before his dulling eyes, the world of the sleeping mind.

Here, in this place beyond reality, the three dimensions seemed to blend and disappear. There was no light nor dark, no life nor death, a place beyond the boundaries of the universe. The place where his soul was squirreled away, drowning in memories long passed.

Waves gently washed against his unconscious mind, touching at his soul. From that ocean, he could sense two beings observing him. The first was quiet, watching with a slight contempt. He could recognise her as Lilith, as Theresa; as the soul of the girl bound to him through demonic curses.

The second mind was mildly amused, laughing strangely as it observed him. Grikith, the demon that was bonded to Lilith. It didn’t care to hide itself.

Floating freely within the sea of memories, a name flowed into his mind. A name that was tied deeply into his own soul, more precious to him than even his own. The name of someone he’d lost only a short time ago. Karen.

Ren.

Warmth washed over his senses as he recalled the passion that had burned within her and carried him along her wake. A vision returned to him, her hand reaching out desperately, growing hotter than human flesh as he took it in his own. The tighter he gripped her hand the faster she burned, eventually slipping from his grasp.

In mere moments, she’d turned to ash before him, and yet, he couldn’t find the tears to cry. Her voice still echoing in his mind, the last line she spoke printed into his mind with her blood, with the ashes of her soul. Spoken once in the distant past, and once again when his time froze.

Save them. Save them. Save them. Save them.

Guilt and pain tightened around his wounded heart, as he was reminded of his regrets. The pains of a past that cannot be changed. Even still, tears refused to wet his cheeks as his soul tore itself apart with the pain of endless regrets.

Hiding away from those pains, he lost himself in a memory of better days; a memory of when there was still hope. The darkness shifted, opening up into an ocean of colours. Light suddenly shining through the veil of night, and cutting through closed eyelids.

“Hey. Hey!” An excited voice called out with the full vigour of youth washing over his cold, numb mind. With the sound of her voice he was drawn out of the darkness embracing his senses.

“The red one goes….” His own voice rose, still filled with words from a long-lost dream.

“Oi! Wake up sleepy!” Hands roughly shoved him, still holding tightly onto his blanket, to fall from the bed he’d been sleeping in.

“Ooha!” The world spun around and he felt the full force of gravity slamming into his side. He sat up from the concrete floor, looking about the rooms chaotically painted walls, and neatly lined up bunks.

“Wake up!” Ren called out to him, sitting on the same bed he’d just been thrown from.

“Ren?” he mumbled, sitting up.

“It’s the day. Today’s the day!” Her voice was filled with a tenseness that put Matt on edge.

“The… day?” There was nothing pressing that he could think of that was supposed to happen today. As far as their adventures went, usually it was all suddenly strung together by Ren, and he couldn’t think of anything that they’d been planning for. Yesterday he’d spent just like any other day, running rampant with all of his friends, with no plans in particular.

After spending lessons with Miss Hinagawa in the mornings, he, Karen, and the usual gang ran around causing all sorts of trouble. Yesterday they’d set up some pranks on the town kids while getting supplies together for their home. He couldn’t think of anything important coming up, nothing that would get Ren this excited at least.

“Damien is leaving, he’s all grown up and he’s leaving! We have to set up the party!” She bounced in place as if she were unable to contain her emotions.

“Damien is? Damien?” For a few moments, he lied back in bed rubbing at his eyes before throwing himself upright with shock. “Damien’s leaving?!?!” Damien was the oldest member of their little group, so this had been coming for a long while, but Matt had put it to the back of his mind, not wanting to think of it.

“Remember he turns 17 today! He’s an adult starting tomorrow, so we have to have a reeeaaally big party today to say goodbye.” She was speaking loudly as always, Ren never really did know how to speak gently, and it was most painful of a morning. Her eyes were a little red and watering with excitement.

“An adult,” Karen was still bouncing around with more energy than was natural. All the while, he scratched at his hair, thinking, “I wonder what it’s like to be an adult.”

“It’s like being an adult, I guess… we’ll finally be allowed to go through puberty… and be forced to work wherever they tell us…” A shadow passed over her face briefly, before it was replaced with her usual smile, “We aren’t going to know until we’re adults so there’s no use worrying over it now. We have a responsibility to be kids until then.”

She was saying things that he couldn’t really understand again, he could keep up with her in studies but for some reason when she spoke like this, it always went over his head. “I wonder how Damien feels right now.” He found himself speaking his mind without much thought.

Karen paused in her energetic fidgeting. “Lonely,” barely a whisper, “Anyway, we need to head out and meet up with everyone else.”

“Are they even awake yet?” It was still early morning and the sun was only just brightening the world outside the window.

“They’re all awake and lively, can’t you hear them? You’re the only one who could sleep in on a day like this.” Now that he looked around without the sleep blocking his sight, he noticed that all the other bunks in the room were empty. More than that, they were all neatly made, making his bed stand out from the rest of the cleanly lined up bunks.

It was unusual for them to be up this early, Ren and Matt were usually the first to get up so this was his first time waking up to so many empty bunks.

“Matt.” As she said the name, she looked down at the bed forlornly.

“What is it?” She wasn’t usually so serious, she was almost always sprouting some nonsense or another. At times like this, when she wore her serious expression, he couldn’t understand her properly though she seemed to be thinking about something important.

“Do you think he’ll be okay?” She fiddled with the sheets of his bed as she thought.

“Damien?”

“Yeah. He’s been with us so long now, but… after today.” She looked worried.

“It’s what everyone goes through. He’ll become an adult and work to help society, isn’t that a good thing.” Matt parroted the words from Miss Hinagawa, feeling little of the ideals behind them.

“Maybe, but it just doesn’t feel right.” She continued fiddling with his sheets while he walked away, thinking over her words.

His leaden feet carried him to a side room filled with showers and spare outfits, planning to change into a fresh set of clothes. The walls of the place were covered in scribble and painted pictures that they’d made over the years, many of them painted over older pictures and names. They were so thickly layered atop one another, he wondered how deep he would have to dig to find actual wall.

Beside the mirror, he noticed one particular marking painted in red. “Ren + Matt = Bestest Friends Forever.” For some reason, it made him smile, especially since he didn’t know who wrote it or when; but he knew it kind of had to be Ren.

He pulled out a set of clean clothes made from some artificial fibre that he couldn’t pronounce. He’d never managed to damage them, let alone wear through them. Pete sometimes complained about how impossible it was to cut through, when he redesigned them to suit his… questionable tastes.

They were coloured a light blue, with group badges attached to the shoulders, the same as they all wore. After changing into the clean clothes, he left the small room behind.

When he returned, Ren was fidgeting with the sheets on his now made bed. Everything was neatly in place, but she was still lining it all up perfectly. “Ren?”

She jumped when he called out to her, “Huh? Ah your shirts on backwards.”

“Eh!?” he reached for the collar of his shirt and found it sitting backwards just like she said. “Ah, oops.” He must be more tired than he thought, he wasn’t used to early mornings after all. Even for all the other mornings she’d woken him up, always at ungodly hours and almost every day, he still wasn’t able to adapt to it.

He tore off the shirt and turned it around. Ren didn’t pay him any mind, still messing with his bed.

“Why did you make my bed? I haven’t seen you make yours since elder Nana taught us how to do it properly.” Elder Nana was the name he and Ren both shared for Miss Hinagawa, since she was the woman who’d taken care of them for as long as they could remember.

“I felt like it.” Looking down at the beds lined up and made so orderly, he almost felt as if he was leaving his own childhood behind. “Anyway, let’s go meet up with the others!” She said throwing a breakfast tube at him.

The tube was filled with all of the nutrients and moisture that he needed but with absolutely none of the flavour. In a matter of seconds, he shoved the nozzle into his mouth and squeezed it dry.

Ren was already rushing ahead of him without looking back; having followed her for as long as he could remember, this was a familiar setting for him. “So, where are we having the party?”

She looked over her shoulder to speak to him without slowing down. “That’s a secret.”

“Huh?” He questioned her, while throwing the remains of his breakfast into the disposal unit.

“You’ll see later. I don’t want to spoil the surprise.”

She burst through the double door exit, throwing both wooden doors wide open and filling the void with the bright orange light of dawn. She leapt down a couple of stairs, landing on the firm dirt of a well-used path, before calling out, “Gooood Mooorrning!”

Everyone was gathered a short distance away talking quietly until Ren made her grand entrance, forcing their sombre faces to turn her way. Matt quickly fell into place beside her, looking over the faces of all his friends.

Jane, tall and limber stood beside the much shorter Selene, together they loved to discover and create new recipes. It was no doubt that they had something special prepared for today, they’d been spending the past few days working on it.

Selene was the newest member to their group, having been with them for only a couple of years. It’d taken her some time to fully open up to them all, but she quickly attached herself to Jane; who was now her closest friend.

Harry and Pete stood to the side, talking in low voices with each other but were now re-joining the group upon Ren’s arrival. Pete’s glasses glinted in the light, as he pushed his hair back. He was wearing bright colours as usual today.

Harry, wore his usual split shirt, exposing his torso to the sun. Recently he’d let his blonde hair grow out, but it was still only down to his neck. As usual he carried a small beaten up data pad with him.

Then there was Damien, the boy that was turning into a man, though he’d had the muscles of a man for some time now. Beside him stood Alex, who was only a year younger than him, but stood a little taller. She had a smile on her face, though it lacked the same shine as it usually had.

“Have we got everything?” Ren asked everyone, many of whom were carrying various supplies.

“We have the food!” Selene called out loudly, while Jane to her side timidly lifted a tied bundle filled with, what he could only guess, was a collection of tasteful creations.

Harry passed around bottles of water, “The waters good to go, and I’ve got flashlights if we need them.” He hefted a bag up into the air, letting out the loud clanging noise of old metal.

Pete lifted a small bag with a short hatchet sheathed on the side. “The gear for the fire is good.”

Damien stared up at the old building that they called home. The concrete walls were coated in wear and colour from where previous generations had painted over it. The buildings two wide doors were just the same and even the inside was covered in same chaotic colours. The roof was peaked against snow and was stained by the years of wear.

“I guess I probably won’t be coming back here again, will I?” His voice had grown less and less enthusiastic the last few weeks. He was one of the liveliest people in their group, but over the past few weeks he’d started getting really quiet and today his voice was so low that Matt could hardly even recognise it as his anymore.

Alex turned and shared a few words with Damien, before turning to the rest of the group, “So where are we going?”

“We’re going into the forest for a bit, but the place we’re heading is a surprise.” Ren had been travelling around the forests for a long while, most of the time with Matt in tow. He knew better than most, the number of places out there that they could be heading. She’d been spending especially large amounts of time searching the forests for a place to celebrate with Damien lately.

This was going to be their first real farewell for someone in their group. It wouldn’t be the first time they’d participated in an official ceremony, but it was only ever for older kids that they’d never known before. Now it was personal.

“Let’s go!” Ren started with a small jog to get out in the lead, and everyone followed at their own pace. Except for Matt that was, who was always keeping pace with her, and always right at her back at times like this.

They left behind their home and set out along a familiar dirt track, that they’d carved out with their own feet over years. Around them was a lively scenery of green trees and grass, and just past the tree line to their right he could see another housing building.

No-one lived there anymore. This was too far out for most kids to want to live, most of them stayed in the closer community area. The kind of place where Matt and the others preferred to avoid, when not pranking the town kids.

Their group was a collection of eccentrics, the people who didn’t want to live side by side with everyone else. Over time they’d gathered here, seeking comfort and freedom alongside one another. Eventually forming the group that they were in now.

A large waterfall roared loudly to his left, feeding a river that flowed through the entire area, right through the town and to the edge of their land.

Ahead stood a tall forest, thick with life; insects, plants and occasionally a few rabbits or foxes. Matt had been wondering this forest with Ren for so many years now but still he came across something new each time he stepped into its shadowed embrace. This was his backyard, a part of his home shared with all the people that were now walking with him, no place in this world could be safer, no place in this world could be happier.

Matt took a drink of his water bottle to keep hydrated, the liquid from the breakfast tube too little to satisfy an exercising body. The morning sun had just fully broken the horizon, and he could feel the kiss of its light as it touched his skin. Today was going to be clear of any bad weather it seemed, which made him a little happy.

The forest was now only a few dozen metres away, the trees forming a distinct and clear line, dividing forest from open plain. The trees stood tall, at least 20 metres high with a few even taller than that, their green leaved branches reaching up for the sun and shading everything below. The forest could get thick in places, but here was a clear path between the trees, a track forged by human feet led into the forest before disappearing between the trees.

A few shrubs and berry bushes grew between the trees, and light green vines climbed along the trunks and branches of the massive trees making them easy to climb.

Ren pointed her finger through the swath of trees, “Onwards friends, to a world of happiness that awaits through this dark forest.” She dove into the shadow, plucking a few berries and throwing them into her mouth as she moved.

Matt followed along, spicing his breakfast with the sweet flavour that came from the red berries he considered his favourite. Everyone followed along talking more loudly now, trying to regain the normality that had been slipping from them for the past few days.

“The purple berries are the best.” Alex murmured while snatching some from the nearby bushes.

“Don’t take all of them,” Pete interjected, quickly taking some for himself before they were gone.

“The red ones are way better,” Harry cut in, plucking the few remaining red berries for himself, “Where did they all go? Last week there were still so many.”

“Sorry.” Jane cried out nervously.

“Don’t apologise,” Selene stepped in to her defence, “We used them to make cookies!” She cried out enthusiastically, holding up her own cloth bag of cookies.

“Ooooh,” Harry reached out for the bag Jane was holding tightly, “Gimme, gimme.”

Selene manoeuvred in-between them and slapped his hands away. “These are for the party, no touching them before we get there.”

“Awww.” Harry murmured loudly, “What am I supposed to eat then?”

“You can starve,” She said, pouting at him.

Sighing in resignation, Harry returned to taking what berries he could find in the nearby shrubs.

“Thanks,” Jane whispered quietly.

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll always protect you from those filthy boys.” Selene took her place beside Jane, keeping watchful eyes on Harry.

Pete walked up on her blind side, “here.” He offered his hand out towards her filled with red berries. “I picked too many, and I don’t really want to eat all of them.”

Selene turned towards him for a moment not paying him too much mind as she eyed Harry. “Thanks,” She took the burden off him, “but you really need to stop picking so many, you do this all of the time… At least you seem to bring me my favourites… but that’s no excuse.”

She shared some of the berries with Jane, who thanked her quietly.

Meanwhile Matt walked beside Ren without talking. It was unusual for her to be so distant from the conversation, but there was a detached, serious look to her eyes that made him hesitate bringing up just some trivial topic.

She spoke before he could, “Do you know why we can’t talk to people anymore when they grow up?”

“Well Miss Hinagawa always said adults and children shouldn’t talk to each other.” He recited his teacher.

“I don’t really remember her ever saying why though. Why shouldn’t children and adults talk to each other? I mean it’s perfectly fine for us to hang out with Damien, and do whatever we want today, but tomorrow, it’s suddenly wrong to do so? It just doesn’t make any sense if it’s just one day’s difference, right?”

“I guess so.” Matt didn’t really understand what she was talking about again, “But tomorrow he becomes an adult, so isn’t it kind of more than just a day.”

“But why is he an adult tomorrow? What suddenly changes in that day to make him an adult while we don’t change at all, still the same kids as we are today?” She was clenching and unclenching her fists, something she did a lot when she thought like this.

“Doesn’t it have something to do with puberty?” Matt recalled his lessons again, apparently when a person turns seventeen they are selected for a certain job or position within society. Most of these positions allow for them to go through puberty, which was currently inhibited, though he wasn’t told how.

“Why do we stunt our puberty so long? Why is it we can only go through it at seventeen? Why do we have to do what we’re told?” She petitioned the sky for answers, but only Matt was able to reply.

“Maybe we’ll find out when we turn into adults.” He mumbled, unsure about how to make her feel calm again.

“Maybe… but the truth is, I don’t want to change.” She reached out for his hand and squeezed tightly. “I want to be me. I don’t want to turn into an adult, and suddenly just work like they do.”

“But the only reason we can live like this, is because the adults work so hard.” Matt didn’t exactly disagree with Ren, but he was unsure about how to make sense of those feelings with regards to what he’d been taught, “When we grow up, we should make it so other kids can be happy like this.”

“Is that really the only way?” She thought aloud, reaching her hand out to the brief shine of sunlight through the thick canopy of leaves.

“You’ve read the history books, every other way made people get hurt. War, Famine, and suffering were all the old ways ever gave us.”

“I don’t think I’d mind.” She said looking back down at her feet. “I don’t think I’d mind hurting, or starving if it meant I wouldn’t have to say goodbye.”

“But people would leave anyway, people died a lot in those days.” He felt her hand holding tightly to his.

“Maybe they don’t have to, maybe there’s another way, other than the old ways and the new ways. Maybe we can be happy and free.” She looked up at the canopy, but no light was shining through anymore.

“We are free.”

“But it doesn’t have to be.” She held out her hand, trying not to let him go but unable to help it as her path grew more and more narrow.

The trees around them whispered as the wind took the branches. The others behind them had lost their voices in this place of nature, surrounded by life, by freedom. They were slowly heading down an unfamiliar path, where the ground was still flush with grass, the trees and life around them became unfamiliar.

Even having travelled these forests for so long with Ren, Matt was losing his sense of direction as he followed after her; his only landmark, her back by which to follow. The rest followed her at a slightly greater distance.

“Ren.” Matt found himself raising his voice as concern rose in his chest.

“What is it?” She said without turning back to him.

“We’ll always be together, won’t we? Even after we grow up.”

“Since we were born on the same day, we might, but we don’t know where they’ll take us after. They might take us separate places.”

“I… I think I understand what you meant before.” He wet his dry lips as he spoke, “I don’t to be told that I’ll never see you again. I’d prefer to starve or… or fight… maybe even die.”

She didn’t reply straight away, walking forwards quietly, she returned to clenching and unclenching her fists. The humid air was starting to chill around his skin as they dug deeper into the forest, they’d been climbing up a steep path for a little while now and he could feel the sunlight starting to break through the trees again.

“You can stay by my side as long as you want to. I’ll make sure of it.” Her words weren’t filled with certainty, but passion, desire. She wasn’t sure she could make it true, but she was going to try anyway. She’d always been like that, pushing herself harder and harder to achieve something, often something that was just outside of his understanding.

“I… I’ll help.” He whispered more to himself than to her, she nodded in reply.

“Of course you are.” She smiled slightly, “You always do.”

He felt a wave of regret and pain wash over him as he watched her turn back around, a whisper in his mind spoke up. I didn’t help, in the end I couldn’t save you. The thought and emotions washing away quickly as he returned to the dream.

The trees before them broke open into a flowing river, sunlight flowed down from the sky irradiating the scene in a beautiful light.

I didn’t help you when you found this place. He couldn’t help but think as he watched the water flow gently downstream. This would be the river that flowed into the waterfall but it wasn’t very familiar, usually the shrubs and trees became too thick to be able to get this close to it, but right here the ground was covered in thick stone. The area lightly shaded by the trees was truly a beautiful sight to behold.

Already the sun was rising into the sky, he noticed, looking up to where the branches parted. It was only a few more hours off midday he’d guessed from the position of the sun.

“Is this the place?” He asked looking across to Ren, who was running her hands through the flowing water, playing with it.

“No, just a little further.” She stood and started walking down the river as the others stood in awe at the sight before them.

Matt quickly shook off his own surprise and walked beside Ren, as she made her way to a clearing up ahead. For some reason, the trees seemed to suddenly stop growing just ahead and a distinct roar could be heard from only a short distance away.

He quickly understood where she’d taken him, the trees cleared away and in front of his eyes he could see the whole world. The plains where the flowers grew in spring, the clutches of buildings forming small towns throughout the area and a long river snaking through it all.

At the edges were tall grey buildings lining their world, forming the borderlines of their freedom. The same place that they were destined to go to when turned into adults, were the walls holding them in as children.

The bright blue sky shone with a vigour that was unfamiliar to him, and the roar of the waterfall brought a moisture to the air that was incredibly refreshing.

“Woah,” Alex murmured dragging Damien along by her side, “This is incredible.”

“I didn’t know it would look this stunning from up here.” Selene said, Jane at her side, eyes sparkling as she looked over the scene with awe.

Pete took a place beside them looking over sight wordlessly, his face didn’t express anything.

Harry was looking down over the edge of the waterfall, “Quite a fall from this height.” He backed away trying not to show his anxiety.

Damien’s eyes were watering as he looked over the scene, “Thank you, Ren.”

She had no reply, her eyes were looking somewhere different from everyone else. She was focused almost completely on the grey buildings walling them in. Her hands clenching and unclenching, her jaw firm, and eyes tense.

She quickly turned away looking back at everyone gathered, she opened her mouth, but froze. Her eyes glazed over as her jaw hung loosely, whatever she’d been about to say having fled from her.

“Ren?” He called out, but she didn’t seem to hear him.

“I’ll get the fire started,” Pete said walking to the edge of the clearing searching for dead trees. He dropped his bag, having already unsheathed the hatchet, that he now held carefully out to his side. Its edge sharp enough to separate a man from his limb if you weren’t careful with it. Matt was always too frightened to even touch the thing.

The others settled in, gathering together on the smooth rock surface by the side of the river and the waterfalls edge. Selene and Jane were unravelling their packages of food, the cloths unfolding into a camping mat for their specialties. Sitting in the middle of the mats were a collection of sweets and snacks that both Jane and Selene worked hard to make.

They researched foods that were made in previous eras, and did what they could to recreate them with what they had. It wasn’t an easy feat, however, and they often produced things that were barely edible; today though was a feast of all their best recipes. Cakes, and cookies with berries seeded throughout, alongside many other treats that were purely their creations. Apparently, by cooking some of the food pastes that that they were given, they produce some interesting things.

Matt walked over and stole a biscuit from the pile, Ren had once said how she loved the mixed berry biscuits, so he made sure to take two from Janes pile. She tended to make them crunchier than Selene. “Thanks.” He whispered to her.

“Is Ren feeling ok?” She asked in return.

“Yeah, she’s just got a lot on her mind right now.”

“If there’s anything I can do…” She left the rest unsaid.

“Thanks.” He turned back towards Ren who was still frozen, her fists pulsing as her jaw hung open.

He snuck a biscuit into her mouth, shocking her back to the world of the living. “Don’t forget that you’re not alone.”

She chewed on the biscuit snapping it apart and holding the rest. “I’m not alone? I guess everyone is with us, aren’t they?”

Pete was already dragging dead branches of wood into position and was starting to light them on fire with a long lighter. Harry was trying to steal some of the food that Jane was still setting out, while Selene was defending it.

Damien and Alex were quietly standing at the edge of the waterfall, looking over the place they called home. His arm was resting on her shoulder and hers around his waist. They often stood like that over the last few months.

Ren walked over to the fire, now starting to burn, and looked over every one of their faces, before speaking loudly enough for all of them to hear her. “What is an adult?”

“Huh?” Harry returned her question with a dull, nasal sound.

“What do you mean?” Alex asked quickly, her voice filled with a serious curiosity. The same topic must’ve been running around her own mind a lot in the past few days.

“What is an adult? What makes an adult so different from us that they have to live a completely different life? Why do they have to leave?” The last part Ren whispered.

“Because if they don’t, we can’t live like this.” Jane replied more firmly than usual. “It’s just the way it is. Trying to change it just makes things worse.”

Everyone was frozen for a moment, this was a topic that had a silent taboo to it. No one talked about it, no one thought about it, it was an unspoken rule that had just been broken.

“It doesn’t have to be like this. Things can change for the better if we try hard enough.” Ren was speaking with a force of her own, her voice backed by the roar of thousands of litres of water crashing down.

Their sunlight was lost behind the canopy briefly.

“You can’t change it, none of us can. What do you want to do? Rebel peacefully? Destroy things? Fight? Kill? It won't change anything, it can’t change anything.” Jane was now staring down at the cloth she was sitting on.

“We can, if we really try. We have to.” Her voice was getting more and more quiet. It was strange to see the usually quiet Jane in an argument, but to see her louder than Ren; he felt like he was seeing an all new side to the girl.

“Umm, I don’t really know what you’re talking about but if it means Damien could stay with us then I want to help.” Alex spoke up, a little timid because of the weight of the conversation.

“Me too,” Selene spoke up, avoiding Jane’s gaze as she stood against her opinion.

Pete joined the conversation as he prodded at the fire, “How though, if he tries to stay, they’ll come for us.” Jane shivered as she heard Pete.

“We have to do what we have to do.” Harry quietly joined the conversation. “We can’t just run off and decide for ourselves, this is the way things are.”

“If we did, they would stop us, others would have tried that before and they aren’t here anymore, are they? So where did they go?” Damien spoke seriously, it was his future that they were talking about.

“They’re taken,” Pete cut in, as the fire he was prodding sparked up heatedly.

Jane turned to him, fear bright in her eyes, “Don’t!” Her voice broke as she called out in fright.

“It doesn’t matter,” he turned to her and put a hand on her shoulder, “We don’t have to do what they say anymore. We wanted to live free, right? That’s why we came out here, that’s why we found people who thought like this again.”

“What…. What’s going on?” Selene broke in.

Pete stared into Jane’s eyes for a moment forcefully, “Before we came here we used to live somewhere… similar.” He rose from his position at the fire and pointed off at the horizon towards where the river ended at the edge of their home.

Where he pointed, Matt could just make out a small white building much like their own home. The land around it was strangely clear, while the building was paler than any other, all of which were covered in paint.

“Some people in our group had the same idea and we all, kind of, agreed… Then the day after he became an adult, they, came.” He stood at the edge of the stone, close enough to fall off the edge should he stumble.

“Corrective Services, they called themselves. They separated us, I don’t know what happened to anyone else, but when I was alone they locked me in a room and played videos. Day and night, I was locked in the room while they played them over and over again, I don’t even know for how long.”

“I don’t know who left that room but it wasn’t me. He answered their questions like they wanted and then played the student with all the kids in town. Until I met with Jane again, somehow, I regained myself after that. Then, we came here. I can’t stand the town since then.”

Jane was frozen in place shaking.

“If you want to do the same thing, it’ll happen to you too. So, what were you planning?” He turned to Ren, talking specifically to her.

“I…” She stood frozen, her hands pulsing, her eyes focused on the distance unseen.

“You’re the one to decide, you’re… our leader. So, what are we going to do?” Pete walked up to her.

“I… I don’t know.” She looked down to her feet, “we’ll just keep trying until something works,” her voice forceful, but quiet.

“If we do something without thinking it through first, nothing good will come from it.”

“I know.” She whispered.

“What can we do?” Damien said, joining the conversation. “We can’t really do anything.” He stood at the edge of the cliff, staring down at the water falling to the earth below.

“Something! We can do something!” Ren replied vehemently.

“No, we can’t.” Damien walked closer to the edge, “If I stay, they’ll take all of you, like Pete was saying.”

“We can figure something out,” Alex called out to him, reaching out to him, but he remained slightly out of reach. “If we work together everything will work out.”

“It won’t, there are some things you can’t beat, some things you can’t even fight against.” He stepped right up to the edge of the rock, his hands were shaking, “I don’t want to leave. I don’t want to become an adult and think like they think, do what they do. I don’t want that.”

He lifted one foot forwards over nothing but air. Ren reacted quickly, like she usually did, stepping forwards hand held out towards him. Then she froze. “I don’t want that.” He said again, the words sending a visible shiver through Ren.

She stood frozen behind him, hand slowly falling down to her side, as she stared at his back and he started to fall. She could still reach out to him if she stepped forwards, but she didn’t move. Matt was completely hypnotised by the scene.

“Damien!” Alex called out racing into the scene and dragging him back from the edge of the cliff. Bodies falling to the ground.

For a few moments, nobody moved but Alex, desperately clutching at Damien and crying.

“Ren.” He called her name, as she moved to the same cliff edge where Damien was standing a moment before.

“We can do more than this.” She whispered as Matt took to her side.

“We will.” He replied, not knowing what else to say as he stared at the walls of their prison.

“I didn’t” He thought as the dream faded away, out of reach from his conscious mind.