Part 28: Days Go By

Back in Animearth, Cherry could do nothing but watch Imagi squash her last cherry.

“If you tell anyone about this, just know that the entire room is soundproof. Don’t think you’ll get to explain everything to that lady up there in the front. We’ve already taken care of that. This place is barely packed so going outside and running for the police won’t do anything either. We have our ways. You wouldn’t dare say anything anyway. I bet even your parents think you’re worthless. All you are is a freak.”

Cherry started to feel broken as she remembered what happened with them abandoning her at the planetarium. The tears streaming down her face came from the pain of being weak. The fact that she couldn’t stand for herself and was being threatened at all sides made it seem like everything was against her.

As most of the former students held their ground, Toma picked up the smushed fruit with his blue latex gloves and left the room. Imagi began to search through Cherry’s backpack and dump all of her stuff onto the ground. That was when a pair of mint green e-glasses fell to the floor.

“Oh, look what I’ve found.”

Cherry, who was still being pinned down, cried helplessly at Imagi who stomped her feet on it and maniacally laughed as she shattered them into pieces.

At that moment, Cherry felt like dying.

She had been studying those glasses closely for years and still couldn’t figure out the passcode necessary to unlock them. Cherry needed them to find Star, and yet, she was barely scratching the surface. Even her prototype was nowhere close to finished. Seeing a dream of hers being completely destroyed made her lose all hope.

Toma went outside with the squished cherry inside the balled up gloves he had recently worn. Throwing them carelessly into a bathroom toilet he flushed it all down with a slight bit of remorse for what they had done.

Deep down his regrets surfaced on the situation. It only seemed personal, but what they did to Ararima and Cherry stemmed from a much darker reason. Never did Imagi or any of the other students even want to hurt them like this. There wasn’t much of a way to back out of it though. The risk of death was imminent.

And they were watching them.

As Cherry was finally released from the quiet room, she looked around her as the hallways were dimly lit. This reminded her of UVOCA’s hallways.

Upon peeking from the corner, she noticed four men wearing red shades, black dress suits, and red ties. They were standing next to the main lobby desk staring her down. She was frightened because she recognized who they were.

Those were UVOCA agents.

She didn’t know how to address the situation. That was until one of the agents walked over and grabbed her by the arm to the field house’s door.

Before long, she was outside.

Paradise Park looked deserted at night. Even with all of the bright street lamps on, she couldn’t help but notice more UVOCA agents standing next to the benches. There was no point in her running now.

Arriving at home, she laid on her bed devastated while a thunderstorm rolled through the skies. Soaking in her sadness for more than three hours straight, she knew she had to do something. It was going to take some serious effort to stop herself from being pushed around. With her friends Ararima and Star missing, she didn’t want to break their promises. They were counting on her.

Even if that meant going all the way to Dream Academy High late at night.