What happened to Lenina?

"John!" an echoing yell could be heard across a sunny, green field. "Please, talk to me!" It was Lenina, begging after the blond-haired pale-skinned man running with a whip in his hand. It was as if her cries were silentbecause he did not stop. The frantic girl dropped to the ground, reaching her hand out to touch him, but he was too far. "John!" she cried one more time, to no avail, he was already gone.

The room was silent. Not a single sound could be heard but Lenina's shuffling with the bedsheets. The soma was wearing off, and the pain from her last encounter with the boy was coming back to her. She woke up with a jump, which caused pain to her bruised legs. That ache was the reason that she was taking a soma holiday. The strange feelings that were coming back to her were getting overwhelming, and the thought of taking another soma holiday came to her. Something was wrong with her, but she could not express it. The feeling of longing for someone who did not want her was killing her. If only John had accepted her, she thought, while sobbing into her hands. The confusion set in, overpowering the uncomfortable feeling of depression. The new sentiments stabbed through her like spears, which sent her running to the bathroom in a panic. The only remedy to her lovesickness was to talk to John. Decidedly, she was going to see him at his lighthouse. As she walked back to her room to take her coat, a loud knock suddenly came on the door. Upon hearing the noise, she stopped in her tracks and the room fell silent.

"Lenina? We must speak now, you have been missing for too long," it was a man's voice, she recognized it as Henry's. What could he possibly want? Another knock, still no sound came from her. "Where are you?" he asked again, impatiently. A moment passed and footsteps could be heard walking away from the door.

She did not want to speak to anyone but John. Finally, with a little bit of courage, she walked to the door, and out into the fluorescent-lit hallway. It was empty, like she felt at that moment. Taking a long breath of air for courage, she marched toward the elevator. Someone was coming out, a tall man with blue hair and brown eyes in a lab coat, an alpha. At first glance, she thought it was John, the only person on her mind, but she quickly realized she was wrong. The man gave her a cheerful wave and a smile that turned from shock to concern upon seeing her frowned face. She ignored him, stepped into the elevator, and pressed down on the 1st-floor button. The ground floor was almost empty, except for Henry, who was halfway out of the lobby doors.

Lenina panicked at the sight of Henry and was alarmed at the thought of being seen by him in her condition. She quickly pressed the button to the third floor and let the elevator doors close. The lift started back up to the third floor and the doors opened. All this panicking was bringing her courage down and draining her. She slowly slid her back down the wall and sat on the carpeted floor and sobbed.

"John...!" she cried but she was offered no answer, for John wasn't there. If only she knew the terrible news that awaited her outside those lobby doors.

After a few minutes, she stood up and pressed the elevator button again. Once she made it outside of the empty lobby, the crisp and chilly outside air hit her in the face like a brick. The streets were deserted because it was early in the morning, only a man lighting a cigarette in front of an apartment across the street could be seen.

A black and white inked poster caught her attention on the building's window. "SAVAGE FOUND DEAD" the poster read, "The famous savage was found hanging from the ceiling of the lighthouse by some visitors" it continued. She didn't read more, she couldn't, for the words were making her head spin.

"Hanging... from the ceiling...?" She dropped the paper on the ground and closed her eyes to erase it, to make it as if she never read those words. What could it possibly mean? Her conditioning told her that it was normal, it was good, but she knew that it was false. The world around her spun with questions like: how will she tell John to accept her if he's dead? A passer by shook her back to reality by taping her on the shoulder.