Chapter 2: Mr. Chernoff

You're supposed to be confused.

           Kye sat almost entirely still on a bed, save for the cat pushing at his arm, desperately vying for his attention. A dark blanket lay around his shoulders, and his hospital robes had been exchanged for dull, yet soft and thick, white clothing. He had been transferred to this room some time after “the incident” from before, but he knew not how. He simply awoke here, lying on a bed �" apparently his bed �" with his mutilated finger wrapped in bandages. The dull throbbing had stopped some time ago.

            Now he just sat. Sat and waited. And thought. He had been thinking for a while. And yet, he didn’t know what to think. Was he supposed to be scared? Confused? Amazed? Anxious? Despite what he was supposed to feel in this moment, it would be better described to say that he couldn’t feel anything. Emotions and thoughts came and went so fast that his mind was loathe to make sense of anything.

            Shaking his head clear, Kye decided he had to try something else; he had to take his mind off of this until someone (hopefully a real person) was ready to tell him what was going on. He rose slowly, pushing the cat from his lap, eliciting audible protest from the animal. It clawed at the blanket that was draped around his frame, as if asking him to stay. Kye turned to look at the animal, which stared longingly and curiously up at him. It sat upright on its backside, tail slowly moving back and forth. The fur on its fit body was mostly grey, with black stripes all over, and white on its underbelly and chin. The cat acted as though it knew him, and Kye was sure it was the only comforting thing he had laid eyes on thus far.

            Kye ended his staring contest with the creature to begin examining the room. It certainly was more welcoming than the one he had been in previously. This one looked more like a cozy bedroom, yet it still had the air of cold loneliness that had characterized the room with the book. It was small, and poorly lit, but not so small as to feel constricting. It also had the same tile as the previous room. The walls were an unpleasant dark mustard color. But they were walls! No cinder blocks for now. A bed with metal framing lay long-ways against the wall with a door at the left foot of the bed.

            Kye walked deliberately to the door and quietly tested the knob. Locked.

            Turning again to the center of the room, Kye moved towards the desk that sat against the wall opposite the bed. A blue chair was positioned underneath it and a small flexible lamp sat atop it: the only light for the small room. There was also a small digital clock currently displaying 3:12am.  

            Kye removed the chair from underneath the desk and plopped down into it. Reaching out, he flicked the switch on the lamp, plunging the room into deep darkness. Panicking from the unexpected intensity of the dark, Kye fumbled for the switch and clicked it, jumping again as the light revealed the cat sitting on the desk, inches from Kye’s face.

            Kye collected himself and steadied his breathing, glancing at the cat. He hadn’t even heard an indication of movement. Making a mental note to keep an eye on his new companion, Kye turned his attentions back to the desk, opening and closing the different drawers and compartments. He found nothing interesting: paper, pencils, various cat toys, some candy bars and snacks. There was also a tiny locked box, but with no way to open it and no key in sight, Kye replaced it in the drawers.

            Standing again, Kye walked to the left of the desk where a short bookcase stood. He knelt to read the titles of the books within. It held more than a hundred books. Big and small, children’s and adult, romance and adventure, classic and new; they had everything. He supposed all of these books were meant to help pass the time, but he didn’t feel much like reading.

            Grasping the top of the bookshelf, Kye pulled himself to his feet and made his way back to the bed, and laid on his side, resting his head on the pillow. The watchful animal on the desk jumped silently down to join him, curling against his chest.

He was still thoroughly confused, though probably not as worried or afraid as he should’ve been. Somehow, all of this felt familiar. Still, he couldn’t help but think about what had happened in that room. He didn’t want to believe that it was possible. He wanted it to be a bad dream, a figment of his imagination. But it was too real. All too real. And all too terrifying.

And with that thought, and the animal pressed against him warming him even more than his blanket, Kye closed his eyes and drifted away.

v   

 

Kye was jolted awake by the sound of jingling keys and the doorknob being tried. His companion slipped from beneath his arm and sat at the end of the bed, ears back and eyes fixed on the door. Kye sat up and waited, his breath steadily becoming more rapid as keys continued to be tried in the knob. Finally, the click of a lock was heard.

The door slowly opened with an awful squealing noise and a tall man stepped inside. To Kye’s relief it was a rather normal looking man; he was young, too. He was holding a clipboard and looked quite flustered and upset. Nevertheless, he made an attempt at sounding cordial.

“Hello, Kye! My name is Brevyn. I’ve been instructed to bring you with me, because we need to ask you some questions, okay? It won’t take long.” He smiled, but it was a small �" and rather forced �" smile.

Assuming this would be his chance to gather some answers, Kye climbed off his bed. He made a few movements in Brevyn’s direction before pausing and looking at the cat. Brevyn picked up on his concern.

“You can leave him here. He’ll be waiting for you when you come back,” Brevyn assured Kye.

Kye hesitated once more, looking away from Brevyn and back to the cat, before stepping past the tall man and out of the room. He waited in the hallway for Brevyn to find the correct key and lock his door behind them. Kye’s door was positioned in a long hallway with many identical doors running all along it. At the spot where Kye’s door was located, another hallway branched off from this one. All of the walls were white again.

“Follow me,” Brevyn said after he had secured the door.

He led Kye down the hallway branching off from the one they were on. From there, they took a series of dizzying twists and turns; this place seemed to go on forever. Finally, Brevyn led Kye through a doorway into a room that looked rather like the first room he had been in, only darker. The memories came racing back into Kye’s head, and his pace slowed as he stepped tentatively into the room. There were two chairs set on either side of a metal table in the center of the room; nothing else.

“Sit in the far chair and we’ll be with you shortly,” Brevyn ordered. Kye did as he was told. He sat, and pulled his blanket more securely around himself, both to feel secure and to block out the cold, biting air. It was much colder in this room than in the room with the bed.

Kye sat for a few minutes, alone, his arms resting on the cold table. It was so absolutely silent. Before long the door swung open again and a different man stode through, dressed in a formal suit with a stern look on his face. He propped his bag against one table leg and took his seat across from Kye.

As the door slowly closed behind the man, Kye caught pieces of a very noisy conversation taking place outside. It was the voice of Brevyn, angrily defending itself to another voice.

“It’s not my fault the boy is a failure! He’s hardly my responsibility and besides,--” was all Kye could make out before the door slammed shut.

Were they talking about him? Kye couldn’t help but feel like he was the “failure.” But what was he doing wrong? He was pulled out of his thoughts by the man sitting across from him.

“Hello, Kye. My name is Mr. Chernoff. Do you know who I am?” the man said abruptly, still looking very stern.

“No…Sir, I--”

“I didn’t think so,” Mr. Chernoff raised a hand to silence Kye. “I was informed that you reacted in an unpredictable manner in the test earlier.”

“I guess, but--”

“Please keep any responses to a simple ‘yes, sir’ or ‘no, sir,’” Mr. Chernoff interrupted him again, seeming very uninterested. “I’ve seen this too many times before to have my time wasted by your confused babbling. Chances are none of this will matter in a few moments anyways.”

Kye didn’t dare open his mouth again, though he had many questions. Instead, Mr. Chernoff studied Kye’s face for a moment, causing Kye some unnecessary self-consciousness, before reaching down into the bag he had brought with him. He pulled out something and dropped it on the table, sliding it towards Kye. At that same instant, Kye slid his chair away, distancing himself from the object. He had seen the word “CREATE”. It was the book. The one from the incident. The one from the room. And Kye wanted nothing to do with it.

“You recognize it, then?” Mr. Chernoff inquired.

Kye nodded slowly, never taking his eyes off the object.

“Well, would you draw something for me, please?” the man tried, opening the book to a blank page and extending a pencil in his hand towards Kye.

Kye responded by inching his chair back even farther, finally separating his gaze from the book. The stern man let out a heavy sigh.

“Very well. That’s it, then. I had hoped maybe this time would be different, but perhaps not,” he said, placing the book once again in his bag. Kye’s shoulders visibly relaxed.

As Mr. Chernoff continued packing away his things, Kye watched him. He was hardly sure what to do now, and it was not so much courage as unexplainable longing that caused him to ask his next question.

“Can I have my cat please?”

Mr. Chernoff froze, though his facial expression was not altered and he did not look up.

“It is my cat… isn’t it?” Kye softly added.

After a few moments pause, Mr. Chernoff cleared his throat and, after closing his bag, stood from his seat. He turned to look at Kye.

“Yes. It is your cat.”

With that, he turned and opened the door. Brevyn was already waiting for him.

“Bring it in,” Mr. Chernoff commanded Brevyn.

“Again?” Brevyn sounded disappointed.

“Again.”

Both bodies disappeared from the entrance as the door closed once more. Kye wasn’t alone for long before it was reopened. Expecting to see Brevyn enter with the creature in his arms, Kye sat up quickly and nudged his chair forward. But Brevyn wasn’t carrying a cat. Instead, he was pushing a large metal cart. Sitting on top was a large metal square with a dome on top that was glowing a bright blue and red. It had many chords dangling from it, dragging on the floor.

Brevyn pushed the cart next to Kye and walked around behind him. His feigned cordial air was gone.

“How are you feeling?”

“Can I have my cat?”

“Not quite yet, Kye.”

“Why not?”

Brevyn busied himself, attaching the pads on the end of the wires to Kye’s temples and arms. Kye watched him curiously.

“How’s your finger?”

“Broken.”

“Unwrap it, please,” Brevyn calmly instructed. That was the stupidest thing Kye had ever heard. The bandages were the only things preventing the pain from coming back.

“But I--”

“Just do it,” the young man asserted more sternly, ignoring Kye’s protests.

Kye reluctantly lifted his hands towards his eyes, and, finding the end of the wrapping, began peeling away the white gauze. He prepared himself for the worst, while Brevyn continued applying the square pads securely to Kye’s skin. Finally, the last of the bandage fell away as Kye stared at his pinky.

“It’s--” Kye choked.

“Fine,” Brevyn finished for him, sounding uninterested. He had finished his work, and now walked back behind the cart and stood watching Kye, who was still aghast at his finger.

“But I could’ve sworn it was--”

“Broken. I know.” Brevyn looked down at the machine in front of him, and placed his finger on a small trigger. “It’s been healed for a while. Do try to remember that, will you?”

Kye’s eyes darted up to look at Brevyn.

“Remember wh--.”

And Kye’s world was once again plunged into darkness.