Day 13| Part III

       Vince is dead since I was 15.

       This sentence was like a sailing, floating from one place to another inside my head. It was there, constant and insistent, hitting itself against drawers and opening piles and more piles of papers. I was trying to understand how Vince had waken up from the permanent sleep they injected on him. How he wandered through the emergency stairs and no one noticed. What Damon Collins had do to about it. And if Oliver knew his brother was free.

       Couldn't think of other thing as though I was a zombie isolated from what was happening around; and as crazy as it might sound, I think this zombie-like mind was partially because of my trust in Oliver; a trust I didn't know it was there hidden in my subconscious. My feet stepped on the same places as his — and this way he kept leading my way. Maybe Oliver's powers evolved and began to possess my soul as well as my body.

       "Are you okay, Angelina?" He suddenly stopped walking (again!) to look at me, and my face almost hit his back. Gosh. "Are you still thinking about Vince?"

       I froze. It's kinda funny to say "froze" when something is related to Oliver.

       "You don't need to hide, Angel. You can trust me. Do you know where we are going now?"

       I checked the schedule trembling slightly in my fists. "Hmm... Room 9?"

       "No, the lab. Haven't you missed your toys?"

       I had forgotten my toys. I knew they were safe with Dr Gene, the problem my head was trying to understand was more important than anything else.

•••

       Oliver left me by the lab's door. He mentioned Room 10 again, said that it could refresh my mind; and that I could eat there too. I heard it all staring down at our feet. He was wearing  gray sneakers with a blueish stream on both sides.

       Remember the chubby scientist, the one with the little scar above the eye? I caught him super concentrated in bandaging William's knee, which was all scratched. I wanted to forget all the past related to William. As we notice each other, I wouldn't recognize the beautiful actor who used to be the only sense in my life. His eyes went to the scientist and back to me repeated times.

       Want to talk? I thought.

       "Yes, please"

       Anything wrong? What happened to your knee?

       "Stumbled and fell right over a drain; nothing much."

       Are you okay? What did they do? I mean, the scientists.

       "Needles and more needles, it was kinda scary... I thought about you everyday, every hour... and- hm- want to apologize for what I proposed the day we met at the parking lot. About living forever. Shouldn't have asked something big like that, in such a difficult time of your life."

       I shook my head and changed the subject by asking him about Barbie. William reacted with an intensive cough, which cut our connection. The scientist suddenly put his hand on William's shoulder.

       "Well, Missy, why are you quiet over there? I think the big boy here is scared of inviting you in?" The scientist then turned to me politely, and informed that Barbie had had a seizure during the night and had been taken to the sick bay that same morning. He took his suitcase, that was lying on the table near William, and left with a nod. I stayed there watching the emptiness for some time instead of saying something. I suddenly had remarks about Room 10 and food, but of course, I had William now and Barbie was more of importance than food.

On the way to the bay, William kind of talked about what they'd been through in the past days. It was discovered that Barbie and him were not actually normal beings; they didn't need food, nor water, nor bathroom. The only thing they needed was me, so as long as I stayed alive, they would too. Barbie was lying in a bed next to Mom and Sr, all of them sleeping profoundly; yet Mom's face was now rosy and healthy with no trace of death. Barbie was also rosy and very beautiful, she looked like the sleeping beauty.

       William made me think. If they only lived because of me, there was no reason to Barbie's seizure. Maybe if I turned her into a toy again and then back to normal it would revitalize her spirit, as I was present there, by her side. With a few waves and thinking Barbie became Lego Barbie. I turned around to check on William, but instead I saw his Lego character on the floor too. Lack of attention, maybe?

       I sighed while picking my blonde friend from the infinite sheets she was in and squatting to get William too, then slowly took off my shoe and put the legos in the little bag hidden inside. I felt terrible, tired, and with the little energy left I threw myself onto the sofa I knew was over there. And of course I got hit by a thousand memories all at once, I couldn't help but immediately miss Sebastian's comforting warmth...

       Today you have Room 10. It is not actually an obligation, as we use Room 10 just for fun. — Oliver's voice floated (again) inside my brain and I got up abruptly with a pillow still stuck in my arms. Where else Sebastian could be?