Chapter 5:
Chapter 5: the Truth
The 30th of February
I didn’t know why but the next thing I saw was the injection again. And this time, I was already midway through the jab. The needle was inside my body. And the New Nurse, beautiful as usual, was pressing the syringe.
The other thing I didn’t understand was why the Bound Man was always nearby when I was taking the shot. Yes, here he was again, waiting to talk to me after the injection.
So in the Room, I directly asked the Bound Man what happened. I could clearly feel that my memory was broken into pieces that were not connected. And I wanted an explanation.
He murmured something to himself for about ten seconds and then spoke in a high-pitched voice, “Hi, it’s me Jessica. The Scholar doesn’t want to talk about things not related to his research. And the mother and girl are too scared after the Incident. So please let me do the talking this time.”
“What incident? What are you talking about?”
“When was the last time you looked at yourself in the mirror?” asked Jessica. “I believe you haven’t done this since your arrival here. The hospital deliberately removed all mirrors. And they did it for good reasons.”
“Yes. You’re right. It has been a long while since last time I saw a mirror. But --“
“Then just look at yourself in the mirror now. Open it and do it.”
I looked at the compact mirror for a few seconds, then held it in front of my face and opened the cover. What I saw next was the last thing I could ever imagine I would see.
It was Ben. My brother.
Yes, it was him. I had been looking for him for months and here he was, inside a mirror. I touched my face with my other hand and Ben inside the mirror did the same.
“Just like us, you were born on February 30th,” said Jessica, in a calm voice. “So after the merge, your soul remained but your body was gone. And apparently, you are staying inside Ben’s body but don’t take full control of it. When Ben resumes control, you memory is cut off. That’s why you feel your memory is like broken pieces.”
“Oh, my...where is Ben now? I want to talk to him.”
“He won’t talk to you. He has once told us that he hates you and doesn’t want you inside him. He allows you to exist only because he is so afraid of injection. That’s why every time he is about to get jabbed, you will be woken up from his subconsciousness. We’ve observed Ben and you for a long time to come to this conclusion.”
I took a deep breath, thought for a moment and then said, “This explains why all my memory pieces start with getting an injection and last until the pain fades away.”
“We approach you because we want you to take control of Ben’s body and keep it that way. Ben is a very evil person. Do you know what he has done to the Bound Man in the Incident?”
I wanted to refute the allegation by saying that Ben was a nice man. But I asked Jessica anyway, “What has he done?”
Jessica, or her host the Bound Man, turned around and showed us their hands that were always tied up behind their back. It was the first time I saw their hands and I didn’t expect the extensive blood stain on the sleeves.
“Ben sewed the sleeves of the shirt directly to the Bound Man’s arms with a needle and thread, as a punishment for talking to you,” said Jessica. “Ben even tried to do it when Sophia the kid was awake. Fortunately, the Bound Man let all 4 residents sleep and suffered the pain all by himself. I personally really appreciate his bravery. He’s our hero.”
I didn’t want to believe that my brother was such a devil. But the blood stain forced me to face the truth.
Jessica continued, “And the worse thing is that ever since the new beautiful nurse started working here, Ben seems to be less afraid of the needle. There were several occasions when he could go through the whole injection process without waking you up to do it for him. We have been waiting for you for over a month now.”
And then I felt the same dizziness and blurry vision again.
“Go! Go now! He’s coming back. Just tell the New Nurse, next time when she gives me the jab, do it real slow. Just tell her I want it slow!” I summoned all my strength to say my last words before getting buried inside Ben’s subconsciousness again.
The other thing I didn’t understand was why the Bound Man was always nearby when I was taking the shot. Yes, here he was again, waiting to talk to me after the injection.
So in the Room, I directly asked the Bound Man what happened. I could clearly feel that my memory was broken into pieces that were not connected. And I wanted an explanation.
He murmured something to himself for about ten seconds and then spoke in a high-pitched voice, “Hi, it’s me Jessica. The Scholar doesn’t want to talk about things not related to his research. And the mother and girl are too scared after the Incident. So please let me do the talking this time.”
“What incident? What are you talking about?”
“Please be patient. To make it easier to explain to you, please take this.”
She handed over something to me. I took it. It turned out to be a compact mirror with a cover.
“When was the last time you looked at yourself in the mirror?” asked Jessica. “I believe you haven’t done this since your arrival here. The hospital deliberately removed all mirrors. And they did it for good reasons.”
“Yes. You’re right. It has been a long while since last time I saw a mirror. But --“
“Then just look at yourself in the mirror now. Open it and do it.”
I looked at the compact mirror for a few seconds, then held it in front of my face and opened the cover. What I saw next was the last thing I could ever imagine I would see.
It was Ben. My brother.
Yes, it was him. I had been looking for him for months and here he was, inside a mirror. I touched my face with my other hand and Ben inside the mirror did the same.
“Just like us, you were born on February 30th,” said Jessica, in a calm voice. “So after the merge, your soul remained but your body was gone. And apparently, you are staying inside Ben’s body but don’t take full control of it. When Ben resumes control, you memory is cut off. That’s why you feel your memory is like broken pieces.”
“Oh, my...where is Ben now? I want to talk to him.”
“He won’t talk to you. He has once told us that he hates you and doesn’t want you inside him. He allows you to exist only because he is so afraid of injection. That’s why every time he is about to get jabbed, you will be woken up from his subconsciousness. We’ve observed Ben and you for a long time to come to this conclusion.”
I took a deep breath, thought for a moment and then said, “This explains why all my memory pieces start with getting an injection and last until the pain fades away.”
“We approach you because we want you to take control of Ben’s body and keep it that way. Ben is a very evil person. Do you know what he has done to the Bound Man in the Incident?”
I wanted to refute the allegation by saying that Ben was a nice man. But I asked Jessica anyway, “What has he done?”
Jessica, or her host the Bound Man, turned around and showed us their hands that were always tied up behind their back. It was the first time I saw their hands and I didn’t expect the extensive blood stain on the sleeves.
“Ben sewed the sleeves of the shirt directly to the Bound Man’s arms with a needle and thread, as a punishment for talking to you,” said Jessica. “Ben even tried to do it when Sophia the kid was awake. Fortunately, the Bound Man let all 4 residents sleep and suffered the pain all by himself. I personally really appreciate his bravery. He’s our hero.”
I didn’t want to believe that my brother was such a devil. But the blood stain forced me to face the truth.
Jessica continued, “And the worse thing is that ever since the new beautiful nurse started working here, Ben seems to be less afraid of the needle. There were several occasions when he could go through the whole injection process without waking you up to do it for him. We have been waiting for you for over a month now.”
And then I felt the same dizziness and blurry vision again.
“Go! Go now! He’s coming back. Just tell the New Nurse, next time when she gives me the jab, do it real slow. Just tell her I want it slow!” I summoned all my strength to say my last words before getting buried inside Ben’s subconsciousness again.
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