I see Carmen crouch in front of me. "Amber-Corinne-whatever, get up. Stop doing this," she says as her brow furrows, her tone urgent.

I'm sitting on a floor somewhere, somehow, and I just want to close my eyes and let this nightmare they call Edit pass.

"The Black Hole has locked down, for goodness' sake, so please get up. There's one more thing we need to show you. If you're not coming, so be it," Carmen says, and gets to her feet.

I close my eyes. Those people down here are ruining their own lives every single second they live it. I understand that Edit wants the system to keep going, but this is a terrible, cruel way.

And I need to stop it.

Spurred on with this determination, I push myself up, running after Carmen. She disappears through a series of doors, twisting and turning down hallways with white and gray walls, no pictures but touchscreens, filled with codes and diagrams I can't comprehend. Carmen studies each one carefully before turning down some hallway and I follow her, glancing around me, trying to make sense of where I am, what I'm doing here...

I'm so thoroughly confused, stuck in the Black Hole. I've only been here for a day, but it feels like so long.

Finally, Carmen slows down, her dirty blonde hair falling out of her loose braid. A few people I don't know stand by a wooden oak door, guns held at the ready.

"Carmen," a man nods at her, and she returns the gesture, before looking over her shoulder and spotting me. Pointing at me with her knuckle, she says, "new one. Got to let her see what she's going to go through. Want to make her emotionally prepared." She winces. "I don't want the Adams case replaying."

All the soldiers-I presume they're that-visibly flinch. Adams? Are they talking about Chance? What happened to him? Why are the sirens blasting?

The guy nods, before pressing a flat button on the near wall and the oak door lifts, proving the knob to be useless, a trick. I'll bet there's an alarm on that.

"Come on," Carmen says, before walking over and ducking through the door. I follow suit, although my instinct tells me something is definitely not right.

"Oh stars-" I turn away once I get into the next room.

I know there's a glass panel separating us, and that I'm not the only one in that hallway, but...

"These are what we call drafts," Carmen says, not seeming affected.

Taking a deep breath, I turn around, and resist the urge to scream.

People, looking frail and weak, dressed in light blue scrubs stand on the other side of the glass panel. And they're moaning, screaming, the noise so terrifying that I want to curl up into a ball and yell. Their eyes are milky and some don't even have pupils. Those with hair look like dolls, and I'm so terrified I just want to get out of here.

Some of them have blue skin, some pink or purple, all different tones. Oh stars, is this what happened to my parents?

"The scientists test the first eye colors and hair colors here," Carmen says, "using blood. However, there's a high fatal risk, so we always need new drafts."

My blood runs cold. "What happens to those who stay?"

"They continue to be drafts until their time is up," Carmen replies like it's nothing.

Oh stars, don't they ever realize how cruel that is? Hate and rage and something that feels like pity blossoms in my heart. Right now, I want nothing but to destroy the whole Edit system.

"What did you mean by the 'Adam's case' that you mentioned earlier?" I say.

"Chance Adams," she says, and my heart freezes in fear, but I don't say a thing. Carmen tries to sound professional, cold, probably because the guards are watching us through some hidden camera, and if she calls Chance by his first name, there will be suspicions that will not result in an ideal ending. "He tried to experiment on two drafts, tried to take them away from here. They were Mister and Missus Evans."

My parents.

"However, Mister Adams' plan didn't go the way he wanted it to, and both the drafts lost their lives." Hearing Carmen call him Mister Adams almost makes me laugh, because it sounds so foreign and weird and unusual, and it sends tingles shooting up my spine.

And they're not good. Because I've just realized something.

That's what Dustin means by Chance killing my parents.

Oh stars, he tried to save them, but I took it the wrong way and thought he murdered them.

I can almost feel the drafts' eyes on me, on my back, tracing my every move, an icy cold finger on my back, like they know what crime I've committed. I've done something unforgivable. I just accused Chance if murder without even knowing the truth.

"Did Chance get punished?" My voice sounds so small, so afraid. Afraid for him. Afraid for me. Afraid for us.

"He was sent to be a draft himself, but somehow he escaped."

Chance escaped. It's possible. I can get out of this hellhole.

Then what? Find Chance? Even if you do Edit is still going to exist and take all these innocent people!

"Oh." Is all I can manage to say.

"Let's get back," Carmen says, and the door lifts at the wave of her hand. I follow her, walking briskly, feeling like the air inside that hallway can suffocate me. It's like something dark and eerie, brushing my bare arms and soaking through my pants to tickle my calves. I don't like the feeling, but I can't shake it off.

Once the door lowers again, vigorous pounding starts somewhere in my head. I press my hand to my temples, trying to massage away the pain. It subsides, but doesn't fade completely.

"What's wrong with you?" The guard outside the door raises his eyebrows, gun held at the ready.

I shake my head. "I'm feeling a little nauseous, that's all."

The guards eye me suspiciously, and Carmen laughs.

"It happens, guys. Don't you remember our very first time? The moment we got in there Laura fainted." She chuckles at the memory, and the guards do too.

"Alright then, let's go," Carmen motions for me to follow her, and I do,

"Why aren't you a draft if you've been here so long?" I hide at her after we've left the building.

"Because the Black Hole needs me for greater things than being an unresponsive nincompoop." She says, rolling her eyes.

"It's not their fault they're stuck down here."

"Neither is it mine," Carmen says, slowing down slightly. I match her pace.

"You chose to come down here," I say, and Carmen stops, swiveling on her heel to look at me.

"Yes. I did. I thought that my body would be torn apart. I thought that the rumors were true and I could just let go of all the things people said, all the terrible, horrifying things. And I was proved wrong, but I managed to survive down here.

"I've learnt not to talk back, not to rebel, only in my own small ways. Communicating with Dustin was a mistake. I told him about the drafts and he wanted to put an end to the cycle, so he got you down here." Carmen says.

"But you could do something about it, if they trust you that much!" I yell, waving my hands around to emphasize my point.

"You think it's that simple, huh?" Carmen grabs my arm, stopping me short. She stares at me with that kind of intensity that can burn through someone, and I can't tear my eyes away from hers, her gaze pinning me in place.

"There are consequences for things we do, Evans, and I don't want to be that person who has to bear them. You can go and try to be heroic and die for your pathetic cause for all I care, but I need to live. I'm afraid of death, Evans, and you may not be, but as long as I'm concerned, I need to live on." Carmen says, her tone icy and menacing as she uses her finger to jab my chest with each word she stresses, making me move backwards unconsciously.

"But there are more important things out there, Carmen. You could change the world by standing up for the drafts, for the weaker ones." I say, but Carmen scoffs.

"Well, you can go do it, but I'm not going to sacrifice myself. I'm doing all I can to live, I have been doing everything I can to survive all these years down in this messed-up place, and I'm not going to throw it all away just because of you. You're just an insignificant stranger that, like all the others, will soon realize the consequence of breaking the rules down here." She says, and it takes all I have in me not to make a snappy comeback or get hurt by what she says.

Instead, I take a deep breath, and say softly, "You know what Chance would have wanted you to do."

Carmen straightens up, like she's been electrocuted. "Don't you dare," she says, using her finger to push my shoulder, making me stumble backwards slightly. "Don't you dare tell me what Chance would have wanted. That chapter of my life, when Chance was here with me, is over."

"It's not. You know it's not." I say, although it sends a stab of pain through my heart. For all I know, I'm the third party in Carmen and Chance's relationship.

"He's not here," Carmen closes her eyes to hide her tears, but the minute she chokes on her words completely reveals the true, raw her.

She misses him, and she's fully aware of it, but she's going to deny it, until someone really breaks her, to the bone, to the core. She's trying to be strong so that she won't be walked over.

"He may not be here physically, but you think of Chance everyday. Don't you dare deny that." I say, jabbing her shoulder with my finger.

Carmen shakes her head, and a tear falls out of her eye. She swipes at her eyes, and takes a few deep breaths.

"So what? There is a fine line between reality and imagination, Evans, and the reality is that Chance will never love me the way he loves you because you are his world. It's always been like that."

And then I make the most rash decision anyone could've ever made. "Carmen," I say, "if you'll help me stop Edit, I'll leave. I'll leave Chance, and you can have him. Love can't be forced, but he'll think I'm dead, and slowly, slowly, he'll grow to love you. As long as you promise to help me, and to treat Chance right, I'll do whatever it takes to let him love you. I promise." I say, crossing my heart, and Carmen smiles, heartwarming and beautiful.

•

Hello! The ending of this chapter may be a little weird, but still I hoped you enjoyed it!

Dedicated to @jonaliow for her amazing follow that made me smile.

-NeverEverGiveUp-