The Scarlet Knife

Realization

Dedicated to typokween aka Nina for helping me out and giving amazing advise

Romeo's POV

I left her cell and ran to my dorm, quickly slamming the door behind me. Was she mad? A world with actual air? Trees? That's all a big fairytale. My father had told me for years that things like peace didn't exist. And he could never be wrong.

I sat on my bed for quite some time. Such a pretty girl, it's too bad that she had to be crazy. And a killer.

Like you some part of me whispered but I brushed it aside. I was nothing like Aura. And to prove it, I was going to get some answers.

After straightening myself up a bit I walked down to my father's office. He was another employee here at the facility. I knocked four times. After a moment he called me in.

"Ah Romeo, to what do I owe this surprise?" My father greeted me as he lounged back in his chair.

"Well I have a few questions"

"Ask away." This was one thing I always enjoyed about my father. He was always such an open man.

"How do we know that these experiments are any help?" Father froze and looked confused, then amused.

"We don't." Huh...?

"Come again."

"We don't. Our little experiments have no consistent success rate. Because of that we can't risk allowing outsiders to know what we are doing. That would be dangerous to all of the facility employees."

"But, we must be doing something good. Or else we wouldn't be killing kids for the sake of ourselves." Surely he didn't mean what he said. Surely there is some sort of mistake here.

"Do you know why we use kids? Because no one will miss them. Sure their families will grieve for a few weeks but there's no husband or wife or children to be heartbroken over them. What's a few hundred lives compared to growth and success? Besides, it's not like they are our children. They are strangers who happened to be born at the wrong place at the wrong time." He spoke so casually. So innocently. Innocent children, being taken and used, when there's no guarantee.

Yes, Aura had said this countless times before, but I had always assumed that she was just jealous of our work. Of our success. I had never thought her to be right.

"If that's all you can see yourself out Romeo." I simply nodded and left the room.

I ran.

I ran down the hall and back to her cell. She knew, she understood. Maybe she could help?

I burst through the door, yelling hysterically. I told her everything my father said, everything I asked. I told her that I hated him, that he was a traitor. I wanted to call him a liar too but I didn't have it in me.

I collapsed on the floor. Too emotionally exhausted to say a word. And she just looked at me, curiously. Confused.

Just like I was.

Then she sat down next to me and put her head on my shoulder as if to comfort me. And it worked.

"What do we do? I can't stay here, not now. My life has been a lie. I can't keep living like this."

"I don't know. Not yet. We need to get out of here."

"Yeah, you do- wait." A small smile formed on my lips. "We?" She wanted to help me? After all that I've done, that I've said. She wants to help me?

"Yes, we need to get out of here. You said it yourself, you can't stay here. You don't know what the world is like. I do. I'm not leaving you to fight on your own."

But could I really do it? Could I just leave this place. This home? Could I leave my dad and this world to run away with the enemy.

Enemy. Was she really my enemy? Did she lie to me? Did she deceive me? Could I stay here and let them hurt the only person who cared enough to tell me the truth? Was she really the enemy...?

"So what's the plan?"