The World's End | ONC 2024

ੈ✩‧₊˚ |𝟭𝟭| 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀

Wylan

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

As we made our way towards the huge institution blocks, the biting cold air of the North nipped at our skin. Conveniently, Axelle's mother had left us alone without noticing anything different. Thankfully, we were able to leave soon after, leaving my father with Alissa in her room where nobody would enter.

The journey to the North wasn't difficult. We had snuck into the back of a delivery cart that was taking goods to the institutions. Avoiding the Verids would've been the hardest task of all, but surprisingly there weren't many of them around today probably because of the meeting that Madame Henderson had gone to.

The institutions themselves were prison-like. The walls were tall and foreboding, casting long shadows that seemed to swallow us whole. It was confusing how even in artificial light, and almost darkness, they managed to cast such shadows. Despite the fear gnawing at my insides, we pressed on. Our answers were in this place.

Keira, Axelle, and I moved swiftly, sticking to the shadows as we approached the entrance. The entrance loomed before us like a gaping doom, swallowing the weak and the desperate whole. We immediately exchanged nervous glances, probably because we were thinking the very same.

"I'm surprised there's no guards at the entrance," Keira stated, her voice steely. "I'd have thought they'd have more people stopping us from getting in."

Axelle chuckled. "Well, I'm not complaining. They're just making our lives easier."

Or they planned on bringing us to our deaths. Very possible.

Of the three of us, Keira appeared the bravest, despite her ability to conceal her pain. It seemed she didn't understand that bravery often stems from pain. I followed her footsteps which echoed softly against the cold, hard floor, my senses alert for any sign of danger.

We slipped through the entrance easily enough, the air growing heavier and heavier, almost suffocating us. I knew that Axelle's house was the cleanest, but this place was worse than I had imagined. How did people survive here? I cursed myself for not bringing the air composition detector with me. The corridors stretched out before us, almost maze-like.

Our first objective was to locate Keira's brother, a task easier said than done in the maze of corridors and locked doors. Keira had the exact room and block that her brother was held in, but it was nearly impossible to know where the rooms even were without searching ourselves. No boards, no directions, nothing.

Finally, we reached the heart of the institution, a vast chamber filled with rows of machines and monitors, their eerie glow casting light across the room. There were several people around, some looking as well-dressed as we were in Axelle's shirts and trousers. There were also doctors or scientists in lab coats. We caught snippets of their conversation, words like "treatment," "procedure", and "compliance"

We managed to avoid all eye contact and walked through the halls like nothing was amiss. We ventured deeper and deeper, and our muscles tensed and I felt as though unseen eyes were watching our every move.

Suddenly, Keira came to a halt, her gaze fixed upon a nondescript door at the end of the hallway. "This is it," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the hum of the machinery. "This is where they're keeping him."

Her voice trembled horribly as she approached the door. I recalled our conversation from last night, where she confessed her wish for her brother's suffering to end. If she opened that door, she would never be able to erase that pain away.