Nefarious, the city of pain

“This is a celebration for a life happily lived!”

That’s what the banner read on top of the urn that contained 20-year-old Ariel’s ashes.

The festivities, the crowd cheering loudly, the laughing and dancing, it would all continue until late in the night.

Truth be told, Mei never understood this concept of having a big party when someone died but that’s how it had always been.

Happiness was the only feeling that the people of Eden knew.

“I don’t know, Kei, but sometimes I have this weird feeling…” Mei looked at her best friend with a smile as they ate some cake made specially for the occasion.

“What feeling?” he smiled too.

“I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s as if sometimes I get tired of smiling all the time.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t explain the feeling…”

“I feel like we shouldn’t be talking about this out here with so many people around us” he quietly looked around himself as if keeping an eye on who had heard their conversation.

But no one was paying attention to the young couple.

“You’re acting strange,” Mei gave up trying to explain her thoughts to the boy, “Well, perhaps we should look for Ariel’s family, we still have to give them our gifts.”

Giving gifts to the family of the deceased was another tradition. Once again no one ever questioned how it all began.

Kei’s green eyes examined her for a while but, after some time, his smile widened, and he took a small box from his pocket.

“What is it?” Mei asked curiously.

He opened the box and inside was a heart-shaped locket glistering brightly under the party lights.

“That’s so pretty!” Mei shrieked and tried to take the box from his hands, but he quickly put it away.

He frantically looked into his other pocket and drew out a new box, similar in size, “It was this one for Ariel’s family.”

“Oh,” Mei nodded slowly, examining his face that had all gone red, “What was that locket then?”

“It doesn’t matter,” he said, putting away the new box as well.

“Just tell me!”

“It really doesn’t matter.”

“But…”

To his luck, Mei’s attention was caught by something behind him and she called out “Mrs Allen!”

Kei too followed his friend’s gaze and turned around just in time to see Ariel’s mom leave.

“Wait!” he said as Mei started to run after her, but the girl didn’t stop.

“She didn’t hear me,” Mei said looking back, “I’m going to leave soon so let me quickly say hello!”

She left him no choice but to follow her as she tried to catch up with Mrs Allen.

“Mrs Allen,” Mei called again but, strangely, Ariel’s mom didn't answer and just kept on walking.

Their city was divided into five parts: the shopping area, the residence, the working, the leisure and the government offices.

It was the same for every other city in the county. All built strictly on this plan and linked in between each other with the main headquarters of the government at the centre.

Eden, built on an island, was the furthest away from the centre, linked to the mainland only by underground tunnels.

“Something seems off here,” Kei said as they kept on following the woman, “This doesn’t feel right. We should go back now.”

“No,” Mei said firmly, “You can go back if you want.”

“I am not leaving you,” Kei took her hand in his and squeezed it tightly to make his point. He would not leave her.

“Where is she going?” Mei was whispering then, curious about the whole situation.

“I don’t know,” Kei whispered back.

“Oh God,” Mei said surprised but not stopping, “she’s going past the boundary, to the government offices!”

As it was getting dark and they knew that it was too not good for them to follow the woman any further since it was an area forbidden to the public, they decided to wait behind some tall trees.

Ariel’s mother kept on going until she came in front of the main government building.

She turned around for a few seconds, as if considering what she was about to do, and that’s the first time they saw it.

Water drops fell from her eyes.

Kei quickly turned around to see Mei’s reaction. Her face had turned pale.

He instinctively moved closer to her, knowing it was too late to go back.

“ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?!” Mrs Allen screamed turning towards the building again, “ARE YOU GLAD TO SEE THEM ALL HAPPY AND PARTYING AT MY DAUGHTER’S DEATH?”

No answer came.

“YOU ARE SICK!” she kept on screaming, crying more desperately, “YOU KILLED HER BECAUSE SHE FOUND OUT! YOU KILLED HER BECAUSE YOUR MEDICATIONS DIDN’T WORK ON HER. IT DIDN’T STOP HER FROM BEING SAD!”

Sad. Sad. Sad.

That word rang in Mei’s head.

“BEING SAD IT’S NOT A SICKNESS. HAVING FEELINGS IS NOT A SICKNESS,” Mrs Allen sobbed, “YOU CAN’T TAKE AWAY WHAT’S HUMAN IN ALL OF US!”

“What is she talking about?” Mei could not stop herself. She had the feeling that something was tugging at her heart and her vision was getting blurry. And she felt…she felt scared. For the first time in her life, she felt something that was not just happiness.

Kei just hugged her.

They both looked at Mrs Allen again.

It happened so quickly that, if she had blinked, Mei would have missed what happened.

A loud whistle followed by shooting and the woman silently fell to the ground.

For a few seconds, Mei couldn’t breathe. Then, without thinking and before Kei could stop her, she started running towards the woman.

“Mrs Allen!” with her legs shaking, Mei bent down and touched the woman’s arm.

“Mrs Allen…” she said again, almost in a whisper.

“She’s dead,” Kei stared at the pool of blood that had formed under the body.

For the first time ever, they had witnessed such a thing.

They had never seen anyone whose eyes would water.

“What…what did she mean by being sad?”

Before the boy could open his mouth to give her the only answer he knew, which was that he didn’t know, a bright light flashed on them.

Five soldiers in dark uniforms were approaching them.

Without a word, two of them took Mrs Allen’s body and walked away.

“Where are you taking her?” Mei asked, getting up from the ground.

Paying no attention to them, two of the three remaining soldiers harshly grabbed Kei from each arm. Mei tried to protest but the last soldier firmly gripped her wrist with a hand.

“It’s better for you to just quietly come with us,” the soldier holding her, said.

Mei looked at Kei and only she could see the slight nod he gave her.

She stopped fighting then.

**********

They were taken inside the building in front of which they were standing.

At the entrance, they were met by more soldiers and security officers.

Then, there were two men.

One was wearing a black suit, the other had a doctor’s white lab coat on.

“Are they the only ones who saw?” the man in the black suit asked.

“Yes, Sir.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Sir.”

The man slowly nodded, pleased, “Take them to the white room.”

“Where are we?” Kei tried to ask.

“You’ve entered Nefarious,” the man said with a smirk, “The city of pain.”

“What?”

“You’ll see.”

“Let us go!”

“Soon,” the man said dismissively and just walked through a door, disappearing into the building.

**********

Everything was white in the white room. In the middle of it, there were some chairs, also white.

Mei just walked silently, trying to concentrate her mind on the memory from her childhood when she had met Kei for the first time.

Kei, on the other hand, tried to fight to liberate himself, but everything was useless against the soldiers.

They were forced on the chairs and, at the press of a button, their ankles, wrists and waist were constrained to them.

The man in the black suit and the doctor both entered the room as the soldiers left.

“WE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!” Kei screamed in anger, a yet new feeling he experienced for the first time.

“Do you know why Adam and Eve were condemned by God?” the man in black mocked, “they ate the forbidden fruit and that’s when they found out the meaning of sadness and pain. Do you know what happened to them? They were thrown out of Eden.”

“What are you talking about?” Kei asked bitterly.

“You want to know too much,” the man said, “So I’ll give you what you want.”

The doctor coughed and looked at the man in black, “Isaac, is it really necessary?”

The man in black, Isaac, smirked again and nodded.

He walked to a whiteboard in front of the room and, taking a board pen from the desk nearby, he wrote in bold: PAIN.

As soon as they read that word, both Mei and Kei started screaming.

Isaac laughed loudly.

“You have the gift to always be happy, but I don’t understand certain foolish humans like you! Why do you look for more?”

It felt as if a million needles went through their bodies. As if they were cut by knives, hit by bullets, hit their knees continuously, had headaches…

“After man destroyed each other in the greatest war of humanity, the survivors, our ancestors, gave it their all to make sure we lived knowing nothing of the pain they went through. Instead of remembering they found ways to make everyone forget. It was the only way to go on living. We have come so far today, creating the perfect world where no one knows negativity, no hunger, no poverty, no crime, no war. You’re all equal and happy in this world!”

Isaac looked at the two of them with hate.

“I despise those who don’t respect that,” he spat, “You get to live the perfect life and still decide to throw it away.”

“I think that’s enough,” the doctor said quietly.

Isaac breathed heavily and cancelled the world PAIN from the whiteboard.

**********

Kei couldn’t feel his body anymore. He slowly managed to look at Mei.

She was unconscious.

He tried to call out her name, but no words came from his mouth.

Suddenly someone was standing next to him. Isaac bent down near his feet and picked up a little box from the floor.

Opening it, he took out the heart-shaped locket and opened it. It contained Mia and Kei’s photo from when they were little.

“How sweet,” Isaac sneered, “You wanted to give it to her?”

Kei looked away.

“I’ll give it to her for you,” Isaac put the chain around Mei’s neck and, patting her head, called to the doctor to come closer.

From his pocket, he took out two injections. One blue and one green.

“Only one of them lives,” he handed the injections to the doctor, “The choice is yours.”

“NO!” Kei screamed. Even though he was in pain, he tried to free himself, but it was impossible. The restrains completely immobilized him.

Isaac left the room.

Before Kei could say anything, the doctor quickly injected Mei with the blue injection.

He then moved to Kei and injected him with the green one.

“I hope she lives,” Kei said.

The doctor knew that it was a question more than a statement, but he didn’t reply.

Casting one final sympathetic look at them, he left the room.

Kei looked at the girl he loved.

She was still unconscious, but tears were falling from her eyes.

Something warm fell on his own cheeks and he knew he was crying too.

“I hope you live, Mei,” he whispered letting himself go and crying for the first time in his life, “I hope that the next time that you are happy, it will be for real.”