Chapter 6
666 Words
Chapter 4: The Taste of Air
She inhaled like she had been drowning all her life and only now remembered that air was supposed to be breathed in. It tasted like—raw, cold, and endless.
Numerous cars passed by, strangers strolled by… birds chirped in distance… She closed her eyes for a moment, letting their existence fade…
What mattered was she was tasting the freedom for the first time… No eyes watching. No orders. No restrictions… at least for that while… No one reminding her that she's breathing too much.
She didn't even care about the hot blazing sun above her.
When she opened her eyes and looked around, suddenly the thought that she had just lied to her teacher and escaped the school struck her. That alone would be breaching 50 of his protocols…
What would happen if he found out? He'd not let her out of the house for at least a year… Or blow up her entire school for letting her do this… Or worse, he would rip her from everything outside and start homeschooling her, in the suffocating silence or their walls.
As she began contemplating about the freedom and the consequences, a man passed by.
He wore a black suit, black polished boots gleaming like dark mirrors and sunglasses. For intance, he appeared as Aaron. The way his black coat swayed behind him, the way he walked… confident, unhurried, it was as if Aaron was in front of her…
She gasped.
It came out unexpected… Was this her imagination?
Another man walked by, carrying the same black suitcase he carried. She squinted her eyes, it was similar like his.
A man scolded his kid nearby… the tone slicing through the air exactly as Aaron's did when he spoke to her... cold, absolute.
Then, another man with the same hairstyle.
And another with the same blank, expressionless face.
As she turned around, every second person appeared like him.
She blinked her eyes hard, trying to force the illusion to shatter. Her legs no longer felt like they'd be able to carry her weight; they trembled beneath her. Her hands began to shake. Her body began to shiver.
For a moment she thought if it was really worth a trip to the park… She then quickly shook her head as if doing that would dismantle her thoughts. Yes, it was worth a trip to the park. This would be her first time in a park without guards around like silent wolves. First time With kids around her. Kids of her age.
It was decided that Kira and Dasha would take her to a park, play on slides and drop her at school just before the driver comes to pick her up. 12 is just the age to do these things.
But they were being late. And with her condition, every second felt like an hour… stretching like a hot toffee. To the extent that she began doubting the functioning of her watch.
A cold drop of sweat ran down her temple. Only then she realised that she'd been under the mid-day sun all this while. Yet she doubted was the sweat really because of it? Her hands wouldn't stop shivering, legs felt weak and watery like slime, body twitched as though she stood alone facing a storm…
A man at a distance noticed her. Probably in his 40s. He was wearing a blue T-shirt and a black jeans. She looked at him very carefully, thinking the last time she saw Aaron or someone working for him wear that. His golden watch sparkled in the bright sun.
Suddenly, slow and heavy steps gradually began moving towards her.
They were precise and careful. But to her, it appeared dangerous and predatory, like a lion approaching a vulnerable prey.
She instantly took a step back. He was a stranger and strangers are dangerous, right? At least because Aaron said this.
He came closer, hesitated for a brief moment then asked “Hey, are you alright?"
- Writer
