Sleepdeprived and Feeling Alive

The room was downright dismal; all grey concrete and dim fluorescent lights. That’s the first thing one may take notice if they were to enter. The next would be the high ceilings, and the odd similarity the space shared with a parking garage. Though one would hope that no parking garage would contain a large pit half-filled with lifeless bodies preserved the way one would preserve a frog for an eighth grade science class. Yet these corpses served no where near a similar purpose; in fact they served no purpose at all. They were merely preserved to keep them from rotting and disturbing the unknowing residents of the upper levels of this oh so carefully created world. People who had no idea that this place was artificial; after all those who did had been dealt with accordingly, wiped from the slate of this false society. No one knew they were dead; if anyone asked where their friend had suddenly gone the answer was always the same. They had moved away. Simple, not an uncommon thing to do. Some were said to be taking care of family out of town, others moved for a new promising job, or even just to go to school. Some waited for news of these new lives, and so grew resentment as they appeared to lose touch with those they loved. It was easier that way, if love turned to hate, no one would question it. He’d spent years perfecting this place, becoming its leader, making everyone see it as real. It was his own little science experiment. Completely concealed inside an isolated mountain range. Lights designed to mimic the sun, moon, and stars so perfectly that grass and trees could grow. A carefully crafted sky furthered the fantasy. Yes every detail was perfectly considered. Every inch carefully planned and put into place. People who were brought in given false memories and wiped of their former identity. As the original subjects made families and new generations were born any inconsistencies caused by the wipe were slowly weeded out. His world was perfectly controlled and unquestioned. The salt and pepper beard shifted as the man smiled and hit a button, “Goodbye, trouble makers. May you never be found…” he spoke softly over sickening crunches and squelches, watching unphased as the bodies were compacted and dropped deep into the earth below. A perfect world, built on perfect lies that no one knew to be false. Or so he thought; unknown to him a single person sat quietly in the shadows, desperately clasping a hand over her mouth.  

When Ivy Yale went out for a morning walk to the park she had a lot of things planned for the day, watching the birds, getting a few things from the store for that new recipe she’d found last night, maybe even going to see the new play down at Lilting Hall if it wasn’t booked for the night. Yes indeed she had many ideas about how to spend that glorious day off for the month. None of them involved accidentally stumbling upon the disturbing truth that the leader of her world was a monster who crushed bodies of citizens in a subterranean death pit and smiled while doing it. Yet here she was,  a pretty nasty fall down through an open manhole cover, and several wrong turns later, cowering in a small alcove of a concrete death-room, frozen in fear. She had recognized some of the faces in the pit before they were crushed. Ms. Pennythorp, her sweet neighbor who would occasionally invite her over for dinner when she knew Ivy hadn’t had time to eat, Ivy had just assumed that she’d gone to take care of her elderly father who lived several towns away and was slowly becoming less capable. Carl Lexi, owner of a local candy store who was thought to have decided to move and start up a new store somewhere else a few months ago had been in there. So many others she didn’t know but recognized as protesters of Lord Everton, and his rule. One face among the sea stood out from the rest and it was the one that perhaps hurt the most: Vanessa Marigold. A sound of a cane clacking against the concrete snapped Ivy out of her shock and so she stood wincing at her leg slightly, glancing around looking for an exit. Above her she spied a ladder. She didn’t know where it lead but she seeing as she had almost no options other than death she decided it would be best to give it a try. It only took her getting halfway up the ladder to realize she had made the right choice. Lord Everton walked past glancing directly where she had been, scrutinizing the space for a moment as Ivy held her breath. Deciding there was no threat, much to the terrified girl’s relief, the man turned and continued on his way out of the chamber. Ivy stood still, clinging to the ladder waiting as the door shut with an echoing slam and footsteps trailed away. After they faded out of earshot she shakily let out the breath she was holding and continued climbing up the rungs of the seemingly never ending ladder. Flooded with relief when she reached the top and discovered the cover of a manhole that seemed to be loose, checking her watch she noted the time; it was only 5:15 in the morning, which meant the streets would still be quiet. No one would be there to question a young woman climbing out of what they thought was the sewer. With this comforting knowledge she slowly pushed aside the lid and pulled herself up onto the quiet street. Not wanting to draw any attention that might be waiting to focus on a disruption in the predawn silence, she placed the lid back in it’s spot so gently that one might have thought she was trying not to break an egg. She carefully stood up from the squat she had unconsciously been lowered in, and looked at the street sign glinting in the light, Maggot Street, it was like he thought of this as some sick joke. Shaking off the desire to vomit, Ivy began limping her way home, hoping to get there before the sun woke up the rest of the town.  

After what seemed like an eternity of walking in a daze, Ivy made it home. Making certain she locked the door behind her. Stumbling to the bathroom she dug out a first-aid kit from under the sink. She was numb as she tended to her leg, disinfecting it and wrapping it tightly with gauze. Her mind was still stuck on what she had seen, or who to be more accurate. Vanessa had looked so different in death, but it was definitely her. Her best friend, who had “moved” two months prior with no warning, no contact information. Gone without a trace. Tears began to well in Ivy’s eyes; she had been so angry to find that her best friend had just up and left. Now that she knew the truth she wasn’t sure which was worse, thinking your friend abandoned you or finding out they were actually dead. Not just her friend either, neighbors, well liked community members. What could these people have done to warrant being crushed in an underground death pit. She knew each of them, and they were normal people. But then again until this morning so had she, so wasn’t what they did, it’s what they knew. The days before each person had left they had seemed on edge, paranoid even. As she mulled it over something Vanessa had said to her came to mind.

Vanessa had been a police officer for the town before she had died, and though she wasn’t supposed to reveal information about cases to any member of the general public occasionally details slipped out here and there. The last case she was working on had gone cold when key evidence, including photographs of the crime scene, dna samples, and various other items vanished without a trace. Further searching found that even the remains had gone missing. With no evidence there may as well have not been any case. Ivy remembered the sharp tone of anger and disgust that had sliced through the quiet that day on their lunch break, “I’ve had enough of them doing this!” Her departed companion had shouted startling several nearby birds into flight. Her eyes were watering, and Ivy couldn’t tell if it was from anger or fear that day. “We’re supposed to protect the innocent people, and yet every time we get close to being able to put them away, the evidence disappears from storage and those monsters get to go on their merry way!”