Mindless; Chapter 15

When I wake up, I'm lying on Eren. One of his arms is wrapped around me. I scan my surroundings with my eyes without moving. The rising sun paints the sky in pale reds and oranges. It's peaceful and quiet. I let my eyes slip shut once more, wanting to fully enjoy the quiet.

I'm drifting off again when there's a loud bang from behind us. I jump in surprise, feeling Eren start beside me. Ace is also sitting up. I twist around to the source to the disturbance.

A man wearing a pressed grey suit stands in front of the door that leads to the roof, which is a jar. He has dark brown hair, and his face bears an expression of annoyance. As he stalks towards us, I notice he has grey eyes, which seems appropriate for how hard they are.

He stops a few feet in front of us. Individually giving each of us a scowl. "I hope the three of you are proud of the minor panic you caused."

Eren quickly pushes himself from the ground and stands at attention. "My apologies, sir. I should have had the guards notify someone that we were heading to the roof."

The man waves off Eren's words. "No need to apologize Airaway. I'm sure the oversight was not entirely your fault," he says, giving Ace a disapproving look.

Ace feigns a hurt look. "I am innocent. I was raiding the lining closet at the time in question," he says as he stands up.

The man shakes his head. "The minor panics the two of you always caused was not something I missed," he says giving each of the boys a hard look.

Unsure of what to do, I reached back for the blanket and wrapped it around myself as now that I’m free of it, I can feel the chill in the morning air. My movement draws the man's attention to me.

The darkness perks up at his attention. It recognizes that this man is in charge, and it doesn't like that. It wants me to do something to assert dominance over him.

I simply stand up, hugging my blanket around myself.

The man smiles at me. "Hello, Gwen. I'm sorry that our first meeting had to be like this. I'm Chancellor Langston," he says holding out a hand.

Langston. That was Ace's last name. Eren had said that Ace's father was a chancellor. This must be him. He was one of the chancellors who had filled my closet.

I look at his hand then up to meet his eyes. Though they smile, I swear I can almost see something else hiding behind them. "You're Ace's father."

Chancellor Langston blinks in surprise, slowly lowering his hand. It's clear he's not quite sure how to react. The darkness counts that as a victory. I can't help but wonder just what he's heard about me.

He nods. "I am."

"Thank you for the clothes," I say.

He bows his head. "You're very welcome."

A guard suddenly pops his head through the doorway. "Chancellor Langston. The council has heard that the issue has been resolved and they would like you to head to the council room. They would like to start today's business early since everyone is already up."

Chancellor Langston turns enough to look back at the guard. "Of course." He turns to look back at Ace and Eren. "Do stay out of trouble you two," his eyes slide to me, and he smiles, "It was a pleasure to finally meet you." It's ever so slight, but the darkness catches it too: the cold calculation that flashes across his eyes. Turning on his heel, he leaves without another glance back.

xXxXx

I find myself spending the rest of the day alone, both Eren and Ace being called off to do something almost immediately upon the return to my room. I debate continuing rifling through my closet, but I feel like Amy would be upset if I did that without her. Though, it wouldn't hurt to get out of these white medical outfits I keep finding myself in.

I finish pulling the shirt over my head as I walk out of my closet. As I pause outside the doorway, my eyes come to rest on my desk.

I should probably write down notes from the last memory that came back.

9. The Instr -

My hand freezes, the image of Subject Forty-four, eyes wide in shock with a single black hole between them burning in my eyes. The Instructor had killed him.

I blink at the sudden dark spot on the paper. Reaching out, I gently brush a finger over it. It's wet. Another spot appears next to it.

My eyes weren't just burning from the final image of Subject Forty-four's face etched in my mind. They were also burning with tears on the verge of spilling over. Two already had.

I place my pencil down and begin brushing the tears from my eyes.

The Instructor had killed him under orders from the Controllers. Whoever they were, they were ultimately to blame for his death- for everything that had happened, both remembered and forgotten. I dared to pray that I never remembered all of it, but for Subject Forty-four, I would write down every detail I remembered that could lead me to the Controllers. And when I finally found them, they would pay for all of it.

I readjust my grip on my pencil, determined and ready. I could do this. For Subject Forty-four.

As my eyes fall on the page, I'm once more frozen. The list has been completed.

9. The Instructor- killed subject 44

10. 'class'- Instructor's name for group

11. The Controllers- always watching

12. Fracturing Phase- first subject to survive

My eyes slowly float to my pencil, suddenly realizing that I couldn’t remember picking it up. Had I blacked out? As far as I could tell, I hadn’t moved. If I had blacked out, all I had done was picked up the pencil and finished the list. Was such a benign blackout possible?