The Butterfly Effect Part IV

The Butterfly Effect (Part IV)

By Rebecca Rosen

Then something happens that I cannot believe, and it is the most disturbing thing I think I have ever seen. The skin lining the guards starts to fall off. It continues to shed, starting with the hands and ending with the face. I am stunned, in shock; I cannot move. The slightest trace of humanity that they used to conceive is now gone. All that is left of these phony humans is a shiny metal coat and robotic eyes that glow a bright crimson. 

“What in the world?!” I scream and back away slowly. I close my eyes. I am so scared, but when I open them, the guards are back to their normal selves. I run up to my room not knowing what to do with Bessie and myself. I have to get out of here, I am starting to hallucinate. Was this a scene from an old sci-fi movie? This could not possibly be happening. I sit on my bed and stare out of my window. Bessie jumps onto the bed and I lay my head into her body. I wish that Aldabert’s face would just pop up to come and rescue me. But all I can see is the dark stretch of road, leading into a town full of people who could not care any less than they already do about me. 

The guards knock on my door to let me know that supper is ready. I keep the door shut. I do not answer when they speak to me and quite frankly, I do not care. Screw the government, screw the guards; soon enough I will be out of this prison for good.

My subconscious mind sways freely between reality and dreams. I do not get much sleep at all. I look back at my clock which reads one oh four AM. 

This is it. I pretend to sleep for the next three hours, when the guards walk into the room and give me a tray of breakfast food. Scrambled eggs? No, thank you. Once they leave I chuck the food out of the window. How could I possibly be thinking of food at a time like this?

I “finish” my food and give the tray back to them. Their skin has re-grown and it seems as though everything is back to normal in their eyes, that all evil has been forgotten. But there was never any evil there in the first place. Guard one walks into my room with a new dress. It is yellow, my favorite color. I get dressed into it reluctantly.  Gosh that thing is itchy. Both guards make my hair look not quite pretty, but acceptable: a fishtail braid down the back of my hair. I wash my face and put on my sneakers. I argue with them quite a bit about my shoe selection but I am too stubborn so they give up. I look in the mirror and realize that this will probably be the last chance I have to do so. Thank goodness. I cannot wait to get this over with. 

We arrive at town square perfectly on schedule. It is completely enclosed in one-way glass; the kind that you can see out of, but no one can see in. Each street leading into town has a door into the dome.  I walk to my door and recite my name.  I look around and see that the walls are all lit up like stars in the night sky. Next to each individual star is the name of a student in my year. I try to find my name but come across Aldabert’s instead. Of course his star is the biggest and brightest in this dazzling artificial night sky. 

“Um I’m sorry no pets are allowed in the theatre.” The nerve.

“Can we please make an exception? My dog here is dying and I can’t leave her alone. These are our last few hours together before…well you know.” I snap my fingers and on command Bessie starts to whimper.  I put my hands on my face and start to fake cry, a skill I’ve obtained over the years. 

“Beata Cavelry, follow me this way to your seat, along with your furry friend.”

Bessie stops whimpering when I snap my fingers again.  She looks up to me as if to say “Great job, Beata,” and I shake her paw. 

All around the globe, women in sequined long red dresses are walking children from my year and their parents to their seats. In front of the fountain is a huge stage with a podium and red velvet curtains. There are hundreds of thousands of plush theatre chairs set up in a half-moon crescent shape facing the stage. Some parents have already begun to take their seats. They show me to my seat which is situated right next to Aldabert’s. I sit down and after about five minutes, I begin to get fidgety. I play with my dress, debating weather to keep it pulled over my knees or above them. I untie my sneakers and retie them about eight times until I am snapped out of my boredom. A shadow blocks the view of my shoelaces, so I look up. I see a bright yellow tulip, like the ones I saw near the lake with Aldabert. I could recognize the perfectly bronzed hands holding those flowers from a mile away. 

“Thank you so much, Aldabert. It is… beautiful.”

“I hoped you would like it. This tulip is the first of the lot to bloom. I went back to the lake this morning to pick it fresh for you.”

“Aldabert.” I whisper. “I absolutely love it.”

“Oh good, I knew you would!” he answers me with a confused expression.

I am on the verge of tears and I am sure Aldabert can sense it. He reads me like a book. 

“May I put the flower in your hair? It compliments your dress. A perfect match.” He tucks the tulip into the top of my braid, backs up, and smiles.

“Positively beautiful.” He says

“The flower? It looks good?” I ask.

“I was talking about you, Beata.”

I look up and freeze my eyes on his. No one has ever called me beautiful before.

“Thank you.” I stutter. Did that really just happen? We stare into each others eyes for what seems like forever when our thoughts are interrupted by the sound of his father’s voice. 

“Children take your seats.” He says, a little too loudly, into the tiny microphone that is connected to his cheek. Aldabert takes his seat next to me and Bessie sits under my chair. I hand her a doggie treat and whisper “good girl.”

“It’s about to start.” Aldabert says to me in a worried fashion. 

“Parents, teachers, advisors, students. Welcome to the twenty-first annual Sorting of the Students. I am honored to be presenting the placements for this year’s class, the class of 2116. These children, I believe, are truly gifted. Over the past thirteen years they have spent together, they have bonded and created memories that will last them a lifetime. The life skills that they have learned and the friends that they have come to love so much have made these years ones we all can cherish forever and ever. After extensive research and careful planning, we have chosen the school for your child where he or she belongs. Although we all must say goodbye to our old friends and colleagues, this is a time of rebirth; a time for new experiences. Their futures start right here, right now.” He pauses for a moment of what should have been dramatic silence.  Instead, all of the parents start to cheer for their sons and daughters.

Suddenly, Aldabert takes my hand in his. I can feel my cheeks blush a deep rose color, but I do not mind the slightest bit. The butterflies in my stomach are flapping their wings so fast, I feel like I might just explode; a good kind of explode. 

“Settle down now, settle down. Now, without further ado, let us begin.”

I look to my right and see Aldabert sitting, eyes locked on is father in deep concentration. He knows something I don’t. He is hiding something from me. 

“Sam Higgins… Doceo Vulgaris!” the crowd cheers.

“Eugina Carter… Doceo Eruditis!” could have figured that one out myself.

“Lucifas Amare… Doceo Formosa!” She belonged there, I thought silently to myself. She is the most beautiful girl in our year.  

I began to feel anxious. Aldabert’s grip on my hand is getting progressively tighter and I see my fingertips beginning to turn purple, so I know he feels the same way I do. When would Aldabert be called? I knew I would be called right after he was. How soon was soon enough? The card in Dominus’ hand determined our futures. It was all up there, waiting for me.

“Aldabert Finden… Doceo Eruditus!” The crowd cheers, better yet roars, as I expected it would. Everybody including myself. I wished, every single solitary evening, that we would all end up together, somehow, some way, but at the same time, I didn’t get my hopes up. He looks right at me and smiles so big, I think he might break himself.

I will be called next. 

Aldabert and I locked eyes for a solid minute. His anxious smile worried me, because he always seems to have a keen insight on things that were coming. I had to be put in Eruditus. It had to happen. 

“Beata Cavelry…Doceo Formosa.” Silence. Not one person cheers. I swear I could hear a pin drop. I am stunned. I look around at the shock on every body’s faces. Me? In Formosa? Is this your idea of a joke Dominus, because jokes should be funny and this is not funny.  Me in a school full of beautiful girls? I think not. It has been almost thirty seconds now and Dominus finally starts reading names again.  Aldabert looks at me. I look at him. My life as I know it, as we know it, is over. 

Once the name reading has finally ceased, our trunks are beginning to be dropped off in the globe. I refuse to let go of Aldabert’s hand, knowing this might be the last chance I have to hold it safe in mine. I reach for my camera and take two pictures of our little slice of heaven.  I give one to him and keep one for myself, knowing these are the last few moments we will have together, probably forever. 

“I will keep this forever times forever Beata. I promise.” He tells me. I see the tears in his eyes. Why do they make him look even more perfect?

“As I will keep mine forever times forever.” I whisper. I look into his eyes while he looks into mine and for a second I think something real is about to happen. He leans in and I can smell that woodsy smell of his, my favorite smell in the world. His bright pink lips are just inches from mine, I am so close. Everything I have ever wanted.  I close my eyes and…

To Be Continued…