The Energy Room Read online

Though the conversation in the Room the night before had instilled worry in the back of my mind, I awoke slightly excited to have breakfast with Al. I was having trouble deciding if my eagerness was based on the chance that he could have somehow been linked to my kind, or if I was genuinely looking forward to spending more time with the icy-eyed therapist.

  The latter seemed more and more likely as I rifled through my closet for my only dress, which was usually reserved for special occasions. It was floral print, and the bottom flowed down at a severe angle from the front to the back, revealing my paper-white knees. I brushed my hair out, pulling half of it back into a golden braid. I scoffed at my desperate attempts to apply the little bit of makeup I owned, quickly deciding less was definitely more; the ‘clown’ look did nothing for my bone structure.

  I nodded with approval as I looked over myself in the often judgmental mirror. It was surprising how much I resembled an attractive young lady, instead of the usual tom boy. It was also rather frustrating how much I actually cared about my appearance.

  A few loud knocks at the front door sent a burning sensation through my cheeks and ears. With a final glance at the mirror, I answered the door with a smile to the face I had been expecting.

  “Wow! You look nice,” Al said politely.

  I instantly felt over dressed, observing his plain jeans and t-shirt. His eyebrows had grown a noticeable amount since the previous day, apparently causing him to decide it wasn’t necessary to fill them in again.

  “Thanks,” I giggled, rapidly transforming into more of a girly-girl than I had ever been in the past.

  “To pancakes!” Al shouted playfully, holding out his elbow to me.

  “To pancakes!” I repeated in the same manner, curtsying as I weaved my arm through his.

  We made our way to the elevator at the end of the hallway. Whether Al was on the side of the enemy or not, I was determined to have a good day. The last week or so had been excessively stressful, and laced with bad experiences. There was little that could have gone wrong, when all we were doing was going to breakfast.

  Al ended up a few steps ahead of me, as I paused suddenly in my tracks. The elevator doors opened in front of us to reveal a pair of mossy-green eyes, inspecting us carefully. I hoped against hope that Eric would not throw a hissy-fit at the beginning of what was supposed to be a pleasant day.

  “Good morning, Angie. Al,” Eric said, nodding civilly to the man at my side.

  “Hey,” I said, a bit of unease spiking my voice. “What’s up?”

  “I just wanted to see if you would be interested in having dinner with me later?” Eric asked, doing a very good job of hiding any discontent that may have been present inside of him.

  “Oh… that would be nice. Sure,” I said with a smile.

  “Would you like to join us for breakfast?” Al asked courteously, taking a few more steps toward the lift.”

  “Thanks for the offer, but I have a few things I need to do,” Eric replied, the slightest bit of spite seeping out of his words.

  We rode together in awkward silence, until the elevator doors opened to the twelfth floor.

  “I’ll be up to get you around eight, Angie,” Eric said sweetly, purposefully ignoring Al as the doors shut between us.

  “I take it he still isn’t very fond of me,” Al whispered as we waited in line with our trays.

  “I think that encounter went very well, actually,” I said, face stiff to keep from laughing.

  “I suppose you’re right. At least he didn’t try to attack me with a chainsaw,” Al joked.

  I lightheartedly punched him on the arm, chuckling as I layered pancakes onto my plate.

  “Angie, Good morning!” Paula called, carrying what looked like a very heavy tray of scones.

  “Hi, Paula!” I smiled, wishing I could have helped her.

  “One more day, yeah? Any last minute requests for tomorrow?” the chef asked, dropping the tray onto a counter with a loud thud.

  “As long as I get to see your lovely face, I couldn’t ask for anything more,” I grinned, reaching for a small bottle of soymilk in the cooler.

  “You’re too sweet, girl,” Paula said, waving her hand at me as she feigned flattery.

  Al and I found a couple of empty seats at a small table near the back of the room. We sat quietly for a few minutes, randomly smiling at each other now and then as we enjoyed our pancakes.

  “Oh, I wanted to give you something,” Al said, letting his fork clink to his plate as he reached into his pocket.

  I raised my eyebrows curiously, wondering what Al could possibly have had for me. There was a store on floor twenty-two for common things like clothes and toothpaste, but I would have felt somewhat awkward accepting socks from my shrink.

  My mouth dropped as he held out a small, black, felt-covered box in his right hand. From what I had seen in movies, it very much resembled a jewelry box. In fact, it looked exactly like a jewelry box. I was thoroughly confused. Jewelry wasn’t available in The Facility store. Employees could request to have it imported from a catalog for occasions such as marriage proposals and gifts, but it took at least three weeks to arrive. Al hadn’t even been around long enough to order anything.

  “What’s that?” I asked, a bit of pancake falling out of my mouth. I seemed to have trouble operating the muscles in my face.

  “It’s a birthday present,” Al answered with a chortle, sitting the small box on the table next to my hand.

  “But what is it?” I questioned hesitantly.

  “Open it,” he replied, eyes glittering with something I couldn’t decipher.

  I carefully picked up the box, staring at it for a moment as it sat motionlessly in my palm. I took a deep breath and flipped open the lid.

  Wind rushed out of my lungs as I stared at the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, at least in person. Attached to a silver chain, was a magnificently shining stone. It looked as though at one point it had been a much larger round piece, but had been roughly split down the middle. It was the most amazing shade of blueish-purple I had ever set eyes on, and it cast faint rays of the same color as the light shone on its many facets.

  “I don’t think I can accept this,” I said, unable to remove my eyes from the beautiful gem.

  “Well I’m not taking it back, so you’re just gonna have to.” Al smirked, standing to take the necklace out of the box and attach it around my neck.

  An overwhelming feeling of warmth and completeness rushed through me as the jewel rested near my heart.

  “Why are you giving this to me?” I inquired, resting my fingers against the stone.

  “Because tomorrow is your birthday. I don’t know how it is in this place, but it’s usually customary to give someone a gift for their birthday.” Al smiled kindly.

  “Yeah but…” I started.

  ‘It belongs to you,’ Al stated simply.

  I sat as still as the stone on my chest, quickly realizing that Al hadn’t actually said anything. His words had resonated in my mind, but his lips had not moved. He simply nodded at me from his seat across the table.

  “I don’t understand…” I began again in a hushed voice.

  ‘No time now,’ Al’s voice rang throughout my head.

  The arctic eyes prodded mine, as though Al was waiting for an answer to something he hadn’t asked. I nodded slightly, and composed myself, plastering a grateful smile across my face.

  “Thank you,” I said, voice cracking slightly in uncertainty.

  “I’m glad you like it,” Al beamed, sighing in relief. I saw him glance discreetly at the camera above us. “A friend gave it to me a while ago. I figured you might like to have it.”

  “It’s… it’s beautiful.” I smiled.

  We spent the rest of our meal surrounded in silence, except for the inaudible murmurs that reached us from distant tables. We stood in sync, returning our empty trays to their homes at the end of the food line.

  “This was nice, thank you for joining me,” Al broke the
silence.

  “No problem. Yeah. It was… nice. Thank you, again, for the necklace,” I said, voice still cracking.

  “You’re very welcome,” Al said kindly, offering me his elbow once again.

  As we stood in the noiseless elevator, I was captivated by the man whose arm I clung to as if I might have fallen off the face of the earth by letting go. I rejected Lakin’s belief that Al could have been dangerous. I entirely trusted the man standing next to me, with every fiber of my being. If that was a risk to me and my kind, it was a risk I had no hesitations taking.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow, Angie,” Al whispered sweetly, forcing me to realize that we were already standing at my door.

  Words eluded me as Al left me with a kiss on the back of my hand. I let the door shut itself, mindlessly finding my way to the reclining chair next to my sofa. I leaned all the way back, allowing my palm to rest on the cool stone on my chest.

  Al had proven, without a doubt, that he was fully capable of telepathic communication. He had also made the effort to explain his actions in front of the security camera, so as to not cause suspicion. Lakin would unquestionably try to reason that it could have all been a scheme to get me to trust my therapist; if that was the case, it had worked. I was enthralled by Al, and felt the irresistible desire to learn more about him. I was certain that he was connected to my kind. I needed to know how, and I needed to know what he was doing at The Facility.

  Al had said the necklace belonged to me. What did that mean? Why did it belong to me? I lived in a place where nothing really belonged to anyone, except to William. Everything belonged to William. I had never had a true belonging in my life. Where was the necklace from?

  I hadn’t noticed the room gradually darkening, as I sat absorbed in thought. I was pulled out of my mind by an excited knocking at the door. Opening it suggested that it was already near eight o’clock, as Eric’s shining face greeted me. His brilliant black suit gave him the incredible appearance of a celebrity at a red-carpet event.

  “Are you ready?” Eric asked, eagerly offering me his elbow just as Al had done hours before.

  I nodded distantly, forcing a smile as I accepted his arm to let him lead me to the elevator. It was only when I realized we were heading to the fourteenth floor that I spoke up.

  “Fourteen?” I questioned.

  Eric nodded, face beaming with anticipation. He made no attempt to explain, allowing me to continue eyeing him curiously. I thought it unlikely that we’d be going bowling in our attire.

  The brightly lit elevator doors opened to reveal an entirely empty, and very dark, entertainment floor. My eyebrows wrinkled as I looked around, blindly following Eric past empty game rooms. We finally came to a stop at a small table set for two, with a small flickering candle in the middle.

  “Eric… what…” I began, still half in shock from the previous events of the day.

  “Surprise, darling,” Eric said happily, pulling out one of the fancy wooden chairs for me to sit in.

  “Darling? What?” I stammered, cautiously lowering myself to the chair.

  “After everything we’ve been going through, I wanted to do something special for you,” Eric explained, sitting across from me as a young man in a tuxedo wheeled out a cart full of covered food.

  “This is definitely… special,” I said, trying my best not to sound insulting.

  The man in the tuxedo, who I really didn’t recognize, removed lids from the trays of food, and sat plates full of fancy looking meats and vegetables in front of us on the table.

  I was still having trouble comprehending exactly what was going on, as my mind refused to focus on anything other than Al. My hand thoughtlessly wandered to the jewel on my chest, as I poked at some sort of stuffed mushroom with my fork.

  “What’s that?” Eric asked innocently, seemingly oblivious to the fact that I wasn’t really enjoying myself.

  “What? Oh. It was a birthday gift,” I said, protectively clutching the necklace in my palm; a reaction I didn’t fully understand.

  “From Al?” he asked defensively.

  “Yes, from Al,” I sighed, thinking that would be the point where my mostly pleasant, if not odd, day would start its downfall.

  Eric glared at the necklace as I let my hand fall to my lap. I saw envy in his eyes, but was surprised when he returned to eating his food.

  “That was nice of him,” he said plainly. Eric tried to appear indifferent, but his eyes deceived him as they shined and sparkled with resentment. My temper began to boil.

  “Yes. It was nice of him,” I instigated.

  Eric’s eyes burned with rage, but somehow he managed to keep his cool. I sniffed in disbelief as we continued to eat our food, then felt a pang of guilt as I began to appreciate that the boy across from me was trying to be nice. He went through all the trouble of planning out a sweet little dinner, and obviously letting everyone in on it so they would steer clear of the fourteenth floor for us, and there I was, being a jerk to him. Shame on me.

  “This is nice too,” I said with a smile, resting my hand on Eric’s.

  All frustration drained from his eyes, being replaced with adoring happiness. I jumped and turned in my seat at the sound of a loud melody. Behind me, a group of three women dressed in white gowns with a cello, a violin, and a harp played slow music.

  I was sincerely astonished at the amount of effort Eric had put into the evening, and couldn’t help but be appreciative. Eric stood with a bow, offering me his hand.

  “Would you like to dance?” he asked in a very gentlemanly tone.

  There was nothing I could do to keep from blushing, rising to my feet to place one hand on Eric’s shoulder, the other resting comfortably in his.

  We stumbled gracelessly over each other’s feet for a while, laughing as we faltered. Finally, we found our rhythm, swaying to and fro in a small circle. Eric even managed to twirl me once without causing any damage to anyone or anything in the room, which was quite impressive.

  Overall, I would have said the entire day had been, more or less, a success as far as pleasantness goes. Yes, I would have said that, if Eric hadn’t leaned in to meet my lips with his.

  “Eric,” I said unhappily, gently pushing myself away from him.

  It broke my heart to witness the disappointment throughout the young man’s face. I didn’t want to hurt him, but it had only been a couple days since we agreed to remain friends. I wondered if he had even had any real intentions of ever settling for friendship when we made our agreement.

  “It’s him, right? Al,” Eric said heatedly, the half-melted candle wobbling dangerously as he leaned against the table.

  “No. It’s not Al. It’s not anything. We’re supposed to be friends,” I breathed, not wanting to believe that the person who had always been my best friend in The Facility might not have been able to settle for less than more.

  Eric rubbed his eyes for a moment, not to wipe away tears, but to brush away frustration. He focused his gaze on me for a long time, waving at the musicians to get them to leave. As we stood staring at each other, completely alone on the darkly lit floor, I considered a lot of things. I first considered running away and hiding in my apartment until the world ended. I considered slapping Eric, and throwing my glass of sparkling cider in his face. I considered singing show tunes. I wasn’t able to act on any of my considerations, before Eric reached for my hand and lowered himself to one knee.

  “Oh no,” I mumbled, shaking my head violently as Eric pulled a small box out of his jacket pocket. A box that looked very similar to the one Al had given me earlier. “Don’t you dare.”

  “Angie, I love you. I have loved you my entire life,” Eric began, keeping a strong hold on the hand that I was desperately trying to yank away.

  “Don’t do this,” I said, almost shouting. “What happened to taking is slow?”

  “Marry me?” Eric asked, popping open the small box with one hand to reveal a quaint, silver ring with a small, clear diamond mounted on the t
op.

  I finally managed to wrench my hand from Eric’s, almost tumbling backward over myself. I stared into his eyes with astonishment; and not the good kind. I was very concerned for the mental health of anyone who truly thought a marriage proposal was appropriate in that particular situation.

  “Dammit, Eric!” I cursed. “We’re just kids. I don’t want to marry you. I don’t want to marry anyone!”

  I stepped back with each word, being about halfway across the room by the time Eric had picked himself up to his feet. His eyes were saturated with a type of fury I had never seen before.

  “But I love you! And I know you love me!” Eric said, nearly having to yell for his voice to reach me.

  “I do. But not the way you want me to. And I never will,” I cried, fumbling for the button to the elevator behind my back. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  In Honor of Angela Dawson