Verago

“It will all be over soon,” my brother Roan assures me, giving my hand a squeeze.

I do my best to give him a convincing smile in response, but the truth is, my heart is beating in my chest, slamming against my rib cage like it’s ready to escape. And my heart isn’t the only thing that feels claustrophobic, I realize as I scan the rest of the dining hall. Although this facility is all that I’ve ever known, the prospect of leaving here for something else, anything else, fills me with a yearning that makes me want to claw at the white walls surrounding us.

But instead, I sit in silence with the rest of this year's graduates, as we collectively stare at the set of double doors guarded by two armed faculty members, separating us from whatever the graduation ceremony entails. Roan releases my hand, and I wipe my sweaty palm on the white fabric of my uniform dress. When I look up, he catches my eye and wags his eyebrows in typical Roan fashion, causing the corners of my lips to turn upward as a little laugh escapes.

I may not know much about the world outside these walls, but one thing that I do know is that my twin brother always knows how to make me laugh.

My smile vanishes as I hear the crackle of the speaker overhead, the rest of the world blurring into the background as I focus on the sound of the Grand Master’s voice.

“Attention, graduates, you will now proceed through the doors at the end of the room for the graduation ceremony in two single file lines. Girls on the right, boys on the left.” Roan and I exchange bewildered looks as our fellow classmates immediately obey, dividing into two distinct lines. I make my way to the end of the girls line, trying to stifle the panic welling up in my chest. I’ve never been separated from Roan before, why now, for graduation?

“We congratulate you again on your progress and look forward to integrating you into the rest of society. And remember, the sun will rise again.”

The familiar phrase washes over me, bringing a small sense of calm. I’ve heard it for as long as I can remember. It’s a message, a reminder that even out of the great war that nearly wiped humanity away, somehow we found a way to adapt and to survive. The sun will rise again. I carry that calm with me towards the door on the right as I watch the line in front of me grow shorter and shorter. I sneak a look over my shoulder at Roan, who is approaching the door on the left, and although he wears a brave face, I can tell that he is afraid. What reason does he have to fear? The sun will rise again.

I follow the girl in front of me through the door, paying no attention to the ambiguous armed staff member, covered in a protective suit that masks their face that I pass by. Only when it’s my turn to step through the door, the figure leans close and whispers softly to where only I can hear.

“Don’t take the pill Ren.” A prickle of uncertainty races up my spine as I instantly recognize the voice as Professor Eloanora, the only other person that I have grown close to besides Roan in all of my years at the Academy. I whip my head to try and find some kind of clue as to the meaning of her warning but her face is veiled by the mask and without another word she pushes me through the double doors.

I emerge on the other side, blinking beneath the burning fluorescent lights overhead. We are in another white-walled room, and part of me is disappointed. This looks like every other room in the Academy. Only instead of neat rows of desks, there is simply a line of chairs. I crane my neck in search of Roan’s familiar flop of brown hair but he is nowhere to be seen. None of the boys have been brought here with us. Without a word, I take my seat beside the girl next to me but I cannot ignore the tiny whisper in my head that warns me something is wrong. What did Professor Eloanora mean, don’t take the pill? And where is my brother?

Once we are all seated, the single door we all entered through is bolted shut, and another figure that I recognize, Professor Prudence, stands at the front of the room, her sleek black hair pulled into a tight bun at the base of her neck, making her already pinched face appear even more severe. She stands at attention, her heels pressed together, and when she speaks, her voice drips with authority.

“Welcome to your graduation ceremony.” She gestures to the newly locked door. “Once you exit, you will be official citizens of Virago, and will begin your new lives.” She nods to a second figure I did not notice at first, a first year professor named Josephine, who emerges from the farthest corner of the room carrying a handful of glistening gold lockets in the shape of a heart suspended on delicate chains which she proceeds to fasten around each classmate's neck, traveling down the row until she gets to me. I lift up my hair so that she can clasp the chain with ease, her fingertips causing the skin at the base of my neck to prickle. Once all of the necklaces have been distributed, Josephine returns to her post and Professor Prudence announces our next instruction.

“With these necklaces, we present to you a gift. Open them.” With trembling fingers, I snap the heart shaped locket open and a small white pill falls into my sweaty palm. I hear a collection of gasps around me as my fellow students are surprised at their findings but I can barely hear them over the pounding in my ears. Don’t take the pill Ren, Professor Eloanora’s voice echoes in my mind. My head is buzzing with questions. What is the purpose of the innocent looking white pill I now cradle in my hand, and why would my favorite teacher warn me against taking it? More importantly, where is my brother? Is he also being instructed to take a pill of his own? My mind replays the last glimpse that I got of him before being ushered through the double doors, the look of fear in his eyes. I can’t help but feel like something is wrong.

“Take the pill,” the commanding voice of Professor Prudence snaps me back to the present, “your new life awaits.” She walks down the row, watching with keen eyes as each student obediently places the pill on her tongue. My heart is racing as she gets closer. Should I do as I’m told? I don’t have time to make a decision because Professor Prudence is standing in front of me, her black eyes peering at me impatiently. I raise a shaking hand to my lips and part my mouth to receive the gift, the start of my new life.

But as she gives a curt nod, satisfied, and moves on to the next girl, I feign swallowing, acutely aware of the pressure of the tiny white pill trapped between the base of my fingertips, still in the palm of my hand.

My stomach sinks as I realize the gravity of my choice. I have not once disobeyed a direct order in all of my years at the Academy, and I fear that my decision will result in my inability to graduate and join the rest of my classmates on the other side. I briefly consider actually taking the pill, but before I get the chance I’m startled by a sudden commotion at the start of the row of chairs. One by one, each of my classmates crumple to the floor, as we all watch in horror. The girl beside me tries to bolt from her seat, and for one brief second our eyes lock and I see the sheer terror in her eyes before they roll back and her legs give out. She hits the floor hard.

My heart races as expectant eyes turn to me and I rapidly piece together that the pill is causing this reaction, and that unless I want to be discovered, I must do the same.

So, without another thought, I allow my limbs to go loose and my eyes to roll back in my head as I crumple like the rest. From the ground, I force my breathing to mimic the slow and steady rise of someone who is unconscious, something I had seen plenty of times when a fellow student got out of line.

Once the last girl falls, there is no sound in the room other than the quiet clicking of Professor Prudence’s heels and the deep, slumbering breaths of the girls all around me.

“Load them up,” Professor Prudence demands, and I have to force myself not to fling my eyes open as the sound of multiple shuffling feet come through the door and I hear the sickening squeal of flesh being dragged across polished linoleum.

“And the boys?”

“Bury them.” She snaps, her steps growing fainter as she leaves the room. I’m still processing her words as a strong pair of hands wrap around my wrists and drag me away. Behind my closed eyelids, my mind is racing and I consider my options. Should I try and fight my way out of here, back to Roan, and try and save him from his fate? I’ve never been exceptionally strong, but if my brother is in danger I will do everything in my power to rescue him. He’s the only family that I have, we’ve been at the Academy since birth, never knowing our true mother or father.

Just then I feel myself being pulled through a final doorway and a sickening wave of heat assaults my skin and turns the blackness behind my eyelids a blazing white. I take my first breath of air outside of the Academy and it fills me with a courage that I have never before known.

I dig my fingernails into the exposed wrists of my captor and savor the yelping sound they make before dropping me to the ground. I blink, raising my freed arm to shield myself against the glare of what must be the sun, as my eyes frantically scan the scene before me for a glimpse of Roan.

There! I spy the familiar white fabric that the male students wear, all piled on top of each other in the back of some kind of vehicle. I race forward, my bare feet unsteady against the burning sand beneath, the sound of shouts of alarm all around me. I close the distance between us swiftly, hot beads of sweat snaking down my neck, driven forward by one single thought. Roan, I’ve got to get to Roan.

I hear the sound of a weapon being discharged moments before I feel the sting of the tranquilizer dart sinking deep into my thigh. It burns, but it is nothing compared to the pain that I feel knowing that I have failed. My vision blurs as I hear the roar of the vehicle, only a few steps away from me, come to life and begin to carry my brother farther and farther away. I reach out a hand, crying out for him, struggling to rise back to my feet as I fight against the effect of the drugs slowly seeping into my system. My hand crashes back down into the sand, which bites at my skin and in a moment of clarity I have the sense to release the pill and bury it deep beneath me before I feel myself slip away.