stared up at the ceiling. It was white and empty and gross. Stains were splattered across it, leftovers from what this building had originally been. A school. An old, old, OLD school. It'd been abandoned in the… 70s, I think, maybe 80s. Then they cleaned it up and repurposed it when people like me showed up.
People like me… Invertos, the name coined by the government, were people who had been transformed into monsters when the barrier broke seven years ago. Special people, I'd been told, with special souls, and monster ancestry, in a fifty mile radius from the mountain were turned.
I hummed along to the music blasting from the headphones next to me. My hands were crossed behind my head and I was idly tapping a finger against my skull. Taking in a deep breath, though I technically didn't need to breathe anymore, I closed my eyes as I shifted on my bed. The twin mattress was stiff and lumpy and dreadfully cold. I had one quilt as my only blanket. When the quilt lady first came, she had presented everyone still in the facility with a quilt of their choice. Mine was big and thick and heavy, helping to keep me warm at night. Because, god forbid they turn on the heat at this facility, even in winter!
There was a knock on my door before it was pushed open. No locks allowed. I sat up, pausing the music as I went.
"What's up?" I asked the facility employee, who was, in fact, glaring at me.
They all seemed to do that, nowadays. Because I was the only one left. All the other invertos had been hosted out almost immediately, with the kind of monsters that they'd turned into, to learn how to control their newfound magic. After a year, it'd just been me. And now, after six more years, it's still just me. Even the quilt lady had stopped coming.
"Get up. You've got visitors," She said tersely.
"What?" I asked, "You've got to be kidding me. After all this time?"
"Get. Up. Now."
"Geez, geez, okay, bossy." I scrambled to put on a less pilly sweater and pulled on my boots. The sweater was my favorite shade of green and I deemed my jeans nice enough to meet my mystery visitors. Though I did cinch a belt around my waist.
I gasped as I felt something in my chest and grasped at my ribs in shock. I had kinda forgotten what hope felt like. I cleared my throat as I followed the facility worker past rows of unopenable windows. Geez, when was the last time they had let me outside? I sighed and just kept walking.
The feeling in my chest made it feel like my nonexistent heart was going to explode from my ribcage. I hadn't felt such a violent hope in a really long time. Were my visitors monsters? Here to host me? Was I finally getting out of the facility? After almost seven years? These questions rattled around in my skull as I walked the long hallways to the doors of the cafeteria. I didn't really come in here anymore. The last time I had, there had been lots more people. People like me, though they had looked down their noses, if they had them, at me. Sure, it's lonely now, but at least I don't have to deal with their disdain.
All thoughts of the other invertos flew out of my mind as the left door to the cafeteria was opened. The facility employee went in ahead of me and I peeked my head around the corner.
