Omega chewed hard on a bit of her roll. Her eyes glanced to me every so often, but most of the time they roamed around as she observed everyone around the room, almost as though she was sizing up competition.

More people filed into the cafeteria, often in pairs. Many wore brightly colored jumpsuits, the colors that had been on the doors. The clothing must’ve been color coordinated too.

“Yo, Omega!” a voice called out. A boy with curly brown hair just like Omega’s stalked up to our table. His eyes narrowed when he saw me. “Is that… Shay?”

But just like Omega had, the boy froze and his face went blank. Then he jerked upwards and blinked. I looked over at Omega. She continued chewing on her roll distractedly as though nothing had happened.

“Omega, who’s this?” The boy asked, tilting his head in my direction. My mouth dropped open. He really didn’t remember either. Just like Omega. He saw me looking at him and winked.

“Alpha, this is Taryn. Taryn, this is my brother Alpha.” Omega said.

Instead of extending his hand, he walked over and rumpled my hair. “A pretty one, aren’t you?”

I pushed away his hand and shrugged. “Whether I’m pretty or not shouldn’t make a difference to you.”

He snorted. “This one’s got spunk, Omega. I already like her way better than your other friends.”

His mouth opened to make another remark, but a loud voice over the intercom muted the words. “All students, please return to your rooms for the night. Lights out will be in one hour.”

I stood up and pushed my way past Alpha. I grabbed my arm suddenly. “I’ll see you later babe.” He winked at me and I pulled my arm from his grip.

Omega pushed him away and led the way back to our room. “Sorry about him. Alpha gets a little… excited around girls.”

“You're telling me.”

She shrugged, and slipped into the bathroom. I could hear her soft humming as I changed into my pajamas. It was a common lullaby in Brines, and slowly I found myself drifting to sleep.

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Soft footsteps woke me up. Moonlight streamed into the room. One of the french doors was ajar, and a shadowy figure stood in front of my bed.

The figure walked down the side of my bed until they were standing at the head. The figure leaned down slowly until I was staring at a pair of green eyes.

The man stumbled back and I screamed, pushing towards the edge of the bed. He fell onto Omega’s bed, but gained his footing back quickly. Omega’s even breathing broke its rhythm, then resumed.

The man buried his head in his hand. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be here, I just heard you were… alive, and had to see you…”

My tired mind was thinking a million thoughts a minute, but nothing made any sense. I was able to make out the only question I could think of. “Who are you?”

The man turned towards me, green eyes glinting in the moonlight. “So you really don’t remember then. Omega told me she didn’t think you would, but I-”

“Omega?” I interrupted. The man nodded. “Omega as in her?”

He turned backwards to look at the sleeping form. He nodded again. “She came here because she thought she heard rumors that you were, well, alive.”

I buried my head in my hands. Everyone kept saying that, acting like I’d been dead when here I was, alive. They all knew me somehow, but as hard as I tried I had no memories of anyone.

“Oh gosh. I shouldn’t be saying this, here of all places. This must be so confusing for you. I’ll try to contact you as soon as I can after tonight, but you have to know one thing.”

“What?” the words came out muffled.

“That you cannot do the procedure. Avoid it as long as you can, I’ll try to get you out of here before they notice.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

I looked up at him. “Why shouldn’t I? Why should I take any advice from you? I don’t even know who you are, or anything that’s going on here…”

“Here!” the man stuck out his wrist. “This remind you of anything?”

Five long, crooked lines ran across his arm. Scars identical to mine. A name pricked at my memory, a name I’d heard on the train here. “Anthony?”

A smile broke out over his face. “Yes. Do you remember?”

“No. But someone told me that they knew someone with scars like mine.”

He nodded. “That’s all I can tell you right now. I promise, I’ll come back.”

He knew what was going on- and he hadn’t suddenly forgotten everything as soon as he saw me like Alpha and Omega had. It was enough for me. “Tomorrow night?”

Anthony looked as though he was mulling it over. “I’m not sure.”

I swallowed and nodded.

“Goodnight, Shay.”

And his dark figure slipped onto the balcony and faded in the darkness.

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“Shaylor Taryn, report to Room B778 in 10 minutes for your operation.” The intercom clicked off and I rolled over in my bed, groaning.

“Why did they have to wake us up so early?” Omega yawned.

I buried my head in my pillow. Of course, the moment I woke up would be the moment I had to take the test.

I tried to process what had happened last night. Should I do what the strange man had said? I had enough sense to know that anyone who sneaks into my room in the middle of the night probably wasn’t worth listening to.

I got ready fast, dressing in a yellow jumpsuit. Omega had slipped back to sleep.

Through the hallway filled with people, a head of raven hair bobbed among the dull blond and brown. They all waited outside the door in a straight line. Lee leaned against the wall with her eyes closed in the very back of the line. I touched her shoulder as soon as I was close enough to her.

“Oh!” She opened her eyes. “Shay. It’s you.” But as soon as she said the words, she lapsed back into silence.

A name was announced loudly over the speakers. “Marse, Aura!” In front of Lee, a girl with long blonde hair slipped out of line into the next room. I wished I knew what was in the next room. It would’ve taken my anxiety away.

“Koldoski, Amelia!” Her name was called only seconds after Aura’s. I shivered at the thought of how soon my name would be called.

Lee squeezed my hand. “Wish me luck!” Her hand slipped out of mine and I instantly wiped my sweaty palms on the edge of my shirt. She hesitantly walked towards the door, and went inside.

All too soon, the name, “Taryn, Shaylor!” was called. My hand moved towards the doorknob and I found myself taking steps into the room. Right behind the door, a pale woman sat at a white desk.

She shuffled a few pieces of paper around. “Name?”

“Shaylor Taryn.”

“Age?”

“Sixteen.”

“And… color.” I frowned and glanced down at the suit I was wearing. Was that what she was referring to? I assumed it was. But couldn’t she see it?

“Yellow.”

She pressed a small button on her desk and spoke. “Shaylor Taryn, Yellow, 16.” Then she smiled widely at me. “A nurse will come down momentarily to escort you to your room.” She motioned towards a white sofa sitting near the door we had come in that I hadn’t noticed before. “You can sit down here to wait if you want.”

A moment later, a nurse entered. “Ms. Taryn?”

I stood up. “That’s me.”

She smiled widely. “Come with me, please.”

Butterflies fluttered around in my stomach. I swallowed grimly and followed the nurse out of the front room, down a short hallway and into another room.

She motioned towards a bed in the middle of the room. I hesitantly laid down on it and the lady pressed an earpiece over my ear. Next, she slid a pair of opaque glasses over my eyes.

“One, two, one, two, can you hear me?” The nurse’s voice asked in my ear.

“Yes,” I replied. My voice sounded far away and muffled.

“Good. This is how I’m going to stay in contact with you during your operation. Right now, I just want you to relax. The operation will be done before you know it.”

“What is the operation?”

“Basically we are just making is so you won’t get sick anymore, and other than that, just making sure your healthy. Is that alright?”

My mouth was dry. I tightened my hands into fists to resist the urge to pull off the earpiece and glasses. “Yes.”

Then there was a prick in the back of my neck and there was nothing.