Beyond the Thorns: A Novel

A gasp of pain escaped my lungs, tears slowly making paths down my screwed up face. They always do this, why am I not used to it yet? The Curio always cleaves something of mine open, my chest, my leg, my head, this time my arm. I mean, what other way to study a creature than to dissect one that won’t die from the dissection? Sure it’s painful, but pain means you’re not dead yet, at least the other Tested won’t have to be killed for research, only I have to be dissected without dying from it. They say it’s because of my "abnormality" but could they at least use something to knock me unconscious while they grate through multiple inches of my muscle and flesh. One of the Curio over me pulls his pen from the clipboard he holds and waves to the one with the cleaver in hand to stop, they wrap my arm in a large amount of gauze and send me off to the Yard.

The Yard. It’s said to simulate the real world but it’s simply a large room with a mural of blue with a white dot on the ceiling. I walk up to a bench and sit down, some of the Tested walk up to me and start to bombard me with questions.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes I’m fine.”

“How deep did they open your arm?”

“It came off like this,” I motion with my two hands the way the severed flesh fell away from each other, though I left out how much blood there was all over.

“Eew…!” some of the girls said in almost-unison.

Tshh…The door out of the Yard opened, causing everyone to go silent. Three Curio entered and looked around with crazed eyes, their eyes resting on someone in my area. Some started to shuffle nervously. A Curio pointed towards the left of me, everyone turned to see who the Curio wanted. A girl whose hair almost perfectly matched the sterile white Tested uniform except for the ever thickening streaks of black that formed in horizontal stripes, her stature stiffening slightly.

“Number 517, come this way.” Another Curio said, their voice rather cold for someone who looked like a perky little kid teacher. The girl nodded and went to the Curios silently, though I saw nothing of her face, I could tell she lacked any emotion as she exited the Yard.

“Who was that?” I ask after a pregnant silence.

“She’s Mist,” a younger boy replies, “apparently all they do to her is give her shots and let her sleep.”

“Lucky!” Another boy whines, “I wish they’d just give me shots. But the shots are always some poison or something. It hurts just thinking about it,” he shudders.

“But didn’t you see the huge scar on her face? There’s gotta be more than just shots and sleep going on in there!” A girl said, starting a spiral of conversation.

“Why is she called ‘Mist’?” I ask.

“It’s because of her eyes, she always looks so… distant it’s creepy! Plus she never talks to the other Tested.” Another girl answered.

Hm… interesting, maybe she just needs someone else to initiate the conversation first!

🌣🌣🌣

A loong time passes until Mist returns, this time I see her cold, mint-green eyes that had barely noticeable pupils housed inside them along with a large scar that spanned just under the left eye (my right), across the nose, and ended at the upper right cheek. As per the others’ descriptions, her eyes were cold and distant. Like she was only physically present. I wave her down and swear I saw her come to Earth for a millisecond as she realized I was signing to her.

She walked over, “do you need me?” Her voice as cold and distant as was predicted.

“Not really, I just wanted to hang out with ya’,” I reply with a bright smile.

“Okay,” Mist sits beside me on the bench, her mind seemingly leaving this plane once more.

“How did you get here? The Lab I mean,” I ask.

“I dunno, I’ve been here as long as I can remember. But my ‘abnormality’ as the Curio call it seems to be of great importance to them. They never explained though,” the girl answered and I blink, my eyes tricking me with her hair flicking unconsciously. Like a animal’s ears.

“Really? Normally people have at least some memories of their family. Not to offend you-” I say without a thought before catching myself.

“It’s fine, I believe my parents died soon after I was born and the government took custody of me. The rest is history I guess,” Mist replies with a sheer lack of emotion. Hard customer, sheesh.

“Kind of funny, I dunno what happened to my parents either, not even a name nor keepsake. I guess we’re one and the same in that way,” I smile in a slightly melancholy way.

“Mm,” she nods in agreement. “Let’s stick together, I have a feeling something is coming. Something that’ll change everything for us in here.” Mist gazes into my eyes, a sharp determination piercing through the fog of her eyes.

“Like what?” I ask, curiosity rushing through my veins.

“I don’t know, I saw a vision of the Lab, gone. And everyone was out in the real world,” she looks up at the painted ceiling, “with real sky.”

“But how do you know it’s a vision? What if it’s just a fantasy?” I say, my mind refusing to believe I could even think about getting out of the Lab.

“It’s my ability, I can see a future in my dreams or another place in the present.” Mist explains.

“Wow, that’s nice. I can’t do anything like that! All I can do is not die from extreme bodily damage.” I say, awe lacing my voice, ”we should keep everyone together. Maybe everyone could escape.”

“Heh,” she exhaled, “I dunno if that future will even occur. We might live here until they kill us and dump us in a compost bin.”

“But it wouldn’t hurt to try and make that future a reality, right?”

“We can try, if you want to get you and most in here punished for it,” Mist spat.

“Well everyone here has an inhuman ability, we can all use them to place us on the high-ground. Plus, it has to at least be worth a shot,” I think aloud.

“True, a couple of my minor visions have come true before. You’re right, it’s at least worth a try. And maybe we can see the real world,” Mist offers her hand out to me.

“All we can do is try,” I take her hand and shake it firmly.

We both nod, determination sharpening our gazes, “so what can I call you?”