The Perfect World (The Perfect World Series Book 1) (20 page)

“And you? You’ll make it, right?”

“I plan on it,” Cyrus reassured her, even though he had doubts about the venture himself.

The pair moved quietly towards the entry way of the bathroom and watched as the armored guards slowly made their way around the corner and out of sight.

“Now!” Cyrus whispered, and the two of them walked hastily to Melody’s door, trying not to make too much noise. Melody slowly opened her door and went inside hesitating just inside her room as Cyrus held open her door. Her blue eyes darted down the hall, where the two guards were walking towards his room, and then settled back on him, clearly wondering how he was going to get back.

“Cyrus,” she whispered to him, worry clear in her tone. The footfalls were echoing down the hallway.

Cyrus smiled at her, an idea coming to him. “Stay back,” he told her and then slammed her door shut noisily. He listened for the briefest of moments as he heard the footfalls stop abruptly, then change direction.

Cyrus bolted down the hall as the guards made their way towards Melody’s door. Just before he reached his door, Cyrus made himself stop, open his door quietly and shut it so it wouldn’t make noise. The lock clicked in place, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Then he sat on his bed and waited.

He heard the sounds of the guards making several more trips around the floor before finally giving up and heading back to the stairwell. Cyrus, once again, had to wonder what they were doing on the floor, and why they had come at the exact same time he and Melody were planning to leave. He had been sick plenty of times before and never once had the armored guards come up to patrol the floor.

So why now? Cyrus wondered, lying back down on his bed. Did they figure out our plan somehow? Or are we being monitored and we just don’t know?

The second idea seemed more likely, though Cyrus didn’t like it one bit.

But if we’re being watched, why wouldn’t they have stopped me from meeting Scott or Melody? They would know we were meeting, wouldn’t they?

Cyrus lay on his bed and tried to puzzle it out. The only one thing he could decide on was that it was too dangerous for Melody and him to go to the Quarantine Dome the way they planned. At least, during this sick period.

His green eyes focused upon the ceiling, and he remembered the voice of that girl that used to live above him. Then he remembered that sharp bang that silenced her forever. He shivered involuntarily.

We’ll have to try again some other time. I don’t want to risk it right now.

After dinner, Cyrus heard the familiar whoosh of paper being pushed underneath his door. He picked it up hastily, knowing it was from Melody. He had wondered how the day’s events had affected her.

Cyrus,

Do you want to try and go to the Quarantine Dome tomorrow? I still have everything ready. Let me know.

Melody

Cyrus couldn’t help but admire her resilience on the matter. Still, he didn’t want to go. He didn’t want to risk both of them being caught by the armored guards.

They’ll be another chance, Cyrus thought as he wrote Melody a negative reply. We’ll wait a little bit for things to settle down, then we’ll go.

He slipped the note under Melody’s door and headed back to his room to sleep. His anxiety over the events of the morning had finally dissipated and he just felt exhausted. Though disappointed that he wasn’t able to go to the Quarantine Dome that day, he consoled himself by telling himself there would be a next time. He curled up in his bed and went to sleep.

The next two days of his sick period passed slowly for Cyrus. He had advised against Melody seeing him for the next couple of days, even though he really did want to see her. Cyrus could still hear the armored guards padding around the floor from time to time, and he felt it was best for them not to meet for the time being.

Cyrus was relieved when Friday rolled around and he was able to go back to school. He spotted Melody’s red hair from his place towards the back of the line and continued to steal glances at her every chance he could during their classes. Cyrus loved the way the sunlight bounced off her wavy hair. Occasionally, he would catch her taking glances at him before she quickly turned away. The action made the feeling he had inside for her much stronger. He didn’t know what to call it or why he had never felt it for anyone else. All he knew was that he liked it. 

His happiness lasted until social studies class, when a few words that their teacher told them caught Cyrus’s attention. Their frog-like teacher, Mr. Johnson, was droning on as he usually did when suddenly a small spark hit his dull eyes. He looked up at all of them and said, “Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. It is getting close to the Coming of Age day.”

Coming of Age Day?
Cyrus thought, not liking the sound of it.
What is that?

“It’s an event that was put into place by the Experts.” He cleared his throat noisily and went on. “In recognition that things do change for human beings after a certain age, a separation was enacted to ensure that equality and positive emotions are maintained for all students. Coming of Age Day should be taking place next week, if I am not mistaken.”

As their teacher continued to drone on about the benefits of this event, Cyrus’s mind began to race.
Separation? Separation from what or who? What is he talking about?!

Cyrus glanced over at Melody, who was looking over at him. The look of fear in her eyes was the same as the fear in his. Reluctantly, he turned away from her, knowing that there was nothing they could do now. He could only hope they would have a chance to talk after school.

After their last lesson had finished, they were instructed to sit quietly in their desks and wait for their caretaker to arrive. Ms. Mary appeared a short time later and stood at the front of the room, her hands folded carefully in front of her.

“I’m here to inform you that the Coming of Age Day event will be taking place in the near future. For the next three days, school will not be in session. Your evening computer classes will also be canceled for the next three days. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Ms. Mary,” the class replied back with little enthusiasm. He didn’t know about the rest of the class, but Cyrus had a worried knot forming in the pit of his stomach. 

The walk back to their rooms was done with an air of tension. No one knew what this event or separation meant, but it was clear that none of them were looking forward to it. Cyrus watched Melody’s back with anxiety as she disappeared into her room. He walked into his own, his footsteps heavy as he desperately wished he could go see Melody. The door shut behind him and a familiar click locked him in.

Cyrus spent the time waiting for his lock to click back open so he could potentially meet Melody by switching between pacing in circles around his room or rolling back and forth on his bed. Occasionally, he’d take a break from pacing to tug on his door handle, hoping that his strength might be enough to force it open. He pulled so much that his hands slipped off the handle and he fell to the floor. He was rewarded with a headache for his efforts.

Rubbing his head, he went over to his desk and pulled out his notebook. Tearing out a small piece of paper, he wrote Melody a short message, his hand scribbling the words frantically across the paper.

Melody,

Please meet me as soon as you can. I want to talk to you!

Cyrus

Cyrus folded the note and placed it in his pants pocket before he forced himself to lie down on his bed. His green eyes went from staring up at the ceiling to staring at his door, willing it to open. After what seemed like an interminable time to the young man, he sat up on his bed and placed his head in his hands.

I feel like the lock should have opened by now, he thought to himself, rubbing his forehead. It’s never taken this long to open before, has it? Or am I just imagining things?

Cyrus’s head shot up when he heard a strange shuffling noise coming from outside his door. Practically leaping off his bed, he went over to his door and pressed his ear against it. Something was definitely moving outside in the hallway.

No someone. Lots of someones. But who?

From the sound of the heavy footfalls, Cyrus figured that a few of the people outside must be the black armored guards. The other footsteps though, he wasn’t so sure about.

Are they students from our floor? Are they new people I’ve never met before?
What
is going on?

After a couple of moments, the shuffling seemed to stop and the footsteps became more precise. He heard the noise of the stairwell opening and the sound of the creaky hinges as it swung shut. Then there was nothing but silence.

Cursing his inability to see anything on the other side of the door, Cyrus felt he had no choice but to go back to his bed and sit down. His desire to see Melody had increased tenfold, and it was all he could do to keep himself from throwing himself at his locked door over and over again.

Finally, well into the evening and after his dinner had arrived, Cyrus’s lock clicked open, and he was able to leave his room. He rushed out the door and into the bathroom, only to find it empty. He checked every stall to make sure there was no mistake before walking back to Melody’s room and sliding a note under her door. He glumly trudged back to his own room, hoping that he would see her tomorrow morning.

Unfortunately for him, there was no sign of Melody the next morning. Cyrus half expected to find a reply written to him before his lock clicked open the next morning, but he was disappointed in that as well. The afternoon and evening passed without a sign of the red-haired girl. Cyrus’s worry increased so much over this that he barely slept at all.

The last day of their imposed break from school came and Cyrus went to Melody’s door that morning to leave another note. When the afternoon came and he’d received no reply he went up to her door and knocked.

“Melody?” he called quietly through the door, tapping lightly. “Can you hear me?”

Cyrus waited, but there was no answer. He tried again in the evening, but there was still no answer. He lay awake all night, anxiously hoping to see Melody in line the next morning.

He sat up groggily as soon as his breakfast hit the food slot. A piece of toast with butter and jam were consumed without really being tasted as he shoved the brown bag they had come in onto his dresser. He pulled on his required clothing and hovered close to the door. Ms. Mary came and went while Cyrus’s impatience became almost palpable.

The lock finally opened again and Cyrus jumped to his feet, eager to see the beautiful redhead again. When he went outside to line up, however, he found a very different sight waiting for him. He noticed immediately that Melody was not present in the line. She should have already been there, and panic started to set in as he couldn’t see any sign of her.

It then struck him that not only was Melody not in line, there were no girls in the entire line, anymore. The girls who had stood in line with him for as long as he could remember were gone. They had been replaced by a new group of boys whom he’d never seen before. In fact, standing right in front of him was a new boy. He was stocky, with dark black hair and dull brown eyes. His face was long, and it looked like his mouth was stuck as a permanent frown. He stood where Scott used to be.

Ms. Mary passed him by on his right, and he reached out a hand to grab her arm. She swatted his hand away at the touch, looking very affronted that he had dared to reach out to her.

“Melody,” he said desperately, ignoring the fiery glare he was being given, “where is she? Why isn’t she here?”

“Mr. Wright, how dare you ask questions that none of your classmates have? You understand that unless everyone has a question, there is no question asked. Why do you insist on being difficult?”

He ignored the growing anger burning inside of him at the idea that he was being difficult just for asking about Melody’s obvious disappearance. “But Melody …” he tried to press on, but was cut off.

“Enough!” she snapped at him, a knowing look in her eyes. Cyrus froze a little bit at the look, wondering if she was aware of his meetings with Melody. His heart suddenly froze in his chest at the very thought. Ms. Mary stormed away from him, and the class marched themselves to school without another word.

The line of boys entered their first classroom as they normally did with all the girls having been replaced by male students. Ms. Mary shut the door loudly behind her before stepping purposefully to the front of the classroom. She put her hands in front of herself and spoke to them all in a harsh voice.

“The Coming of Age Day event has come and gone,” she announced to the silent room. “This event was deemed necessary by the Experts to maintain a healthy society. It shall not be questioned, and any mention of your former classmates shall be seen as a sign of sickness. Do you understand?” Her dark eyes looked at every person in the room as they told her they did. “Very good. Your classes will resume their normal schedule.”

Ms. Mary left the room without another word, and Ms. Neva took her place shortly afterwards. Cyrus felt absolutely numb after the short speech. He kept looking over at Melody’s chair, looking for that glowing, wavy red hair. He imagined her blue eyes and her big smile from across the room. He remembered her imitations of their boring teachers and her lively facial expressions. He realized he would never see any of them ever again.

He touched his fingers to his mouth, remembering the warmth that had lingered there after he had pressed his lips to hers. The happy feeling that had filled his body and had stayed with him for so long afterwards. The simple joy of just seeing her and hearing her voice would never be his again.

Cyrus gazed longingly over at Melody’s former seat and felt like this was all his fault somehow. Ms. Linda and Scott had disappeared after being around him. Melody had just become close to him, and now she was gone too. He crossed his arms over his chest at the cold fear pressing against his skin. Cyrus spent the rest of the day staring lifelessly at his desk, feeling like something inside him had broken.

When Cyrus was back in his room, he stared at the white wall surrounding him. His eyes were unfocused, and his mind was racing. His hands wandered to his hair as he pulled at the strands in frustration. He was shaking a little, his whole body feeling numb.

Images began to appear before his eyes. Ms. Linda coming into his room with her hands on her hips, telling him to quit dawdling. She faded into Scott, whose eyes shone with the rare energy of having learned something new from their secret dictionary. The energy turned to fire and Scott disappeared into a sea of red. The red turned wavy and bright as Melody turned to face him. Her hair flowed gracefully behind her as she came towards him, leaned forward and pressed her warm lips to his. He felt the briefest touch against his lips before she faded from existence. Then he was left with nothing except four cold white walls and a deafening silence.

I just wanted to find others who felt the way I do, he thought desperately. People who proved I wasn’t alone in how I felt. Was that wrong of me? Did they disappear because we were alike and they were important to me?

Desolation filled his being, and he dug his fingernails into his hand to ease his pain. The pain in his hands eased the pain in his heart. After a moment, he opened them and stared down at his aching palms. Red blood started to appear on his hands, dripping from the cuts down his fingers and falling to the floor.

Pressing his bloody hands together, Cyrus hung his head heavily. His hair fell over his eyes as he made his decision.

If it is my fault, then there’s only one thing I can do. No matter how much I want someone else to understand me or talk to me, I won’t drag them into my life. I’ve got to get through this life alone. That way, no one else will disappear because of me.

Sighing, Cyrus got up and washed his hands off in the sink. The blood washed away, the swirling water turning red as it went down the drain. The decision hadn’t made him happy, but he felt like it was the right one. Once he had dried his hands on his pants, he sat down heavily on his bed. He closed his eyes and buried his face in his hands, cursing his life and the way he lived.