I woke up to the screams of "The Ballad of Tommy Clayton and the Rawdog Millionaire" by Of Mice and Men and cursed violently to myself for not being careful. I never fell asleep listening to my iPod. My fake parents could easily have come in the room in the middle of the night and seen me. I would then be arrested and shot for listening to music.

I got up from bed and walked over to a mirror, staring at myself.

I had changed a lot in the past year and a half. I was still the same height, 5'2" at the tallest. My hair was a lot longer and my bangs had grown out. I looked younger instead of older.

I changed into my gray uniform which was a way too big t-shirt and pants. I brushed out my hair then pulled it back into a tight ponytail, taking care to pin back every strand that did not stay in place. Then I walked to my bathroom and brushed my teeth.

I wished I was allowed to put on makeup. My face was dull and lifeless. Just another colorless thing in the world.
I put my iPod into the pocket inside my pants and also put the charger there. Luckily there was a well hidden outlet where I could charge it at work.

I grabbed my gray messenger bag and went downstairs.

"Good morning Theresa," a robotic voice chimed from the kitchen. My mother.
"Good morning mother," I said with sarcastic politeness. Luckily the brainwashed don't understand sarcasm.

My "father" was at work already, I noticed with relief.

I sat down at the table with Adam, my ten year old "brother", and began to eat the oatmeal my "mother" had made for me.

"Oh look mom!" Adam began, "Theresa has a strand of hair missing from her ponytail!"

I glared angrily at Adam.

My "mother" stared at me for a little bit. "Theresa if you want to not get slapped at work or fined go fix it."

I rolled my eyes and stood up, then walked to a mirror that hung in our kitchen. I put the strand of hair that had fallen out of the bobby pin back in and again walked to the table and sat down.

I hated Adam. He seemed to want to make my life as miserable as possible, just because he was still in school and I had been kicked out for not being smart enough to do anything except sew stuff.

A couple of minutes later my "mother" told me it was time to go to work so I left the apartment and walked to the factory across the street.

"Good morning Miss Jones," a voice behind me said politely, but creepily, as I entered the factory.
"Uh-um good morning Dr. Good," I said, my voice shaking. I felt my body freeze from fright. He was not only my boss, but also the reason my parents and almost all of the people I loved couldn't remember me. He was staring at me in the very creepy, un-professional way I had still not gotten used to. Then again, he did this to all those who weren't eighteen yet. He was somehow fascinated by the fact that our minds couldn't be altered by the vaccinations. I had only heard rumors of the horrible tests he did on children, trying to discover how he could control their minds. The fact that he also wore a lab coat with freaky glasses made him seem even more like a mad scientist.

I quickly walked away and began my shift at work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was darker than normal when I began to walk towards home. My iPod was safely inside the pocket of my pants, along with my charger. The moon was full, casting an eerie light onto the road.

Because of the fact I didn't want to go home quite yet I sat down on a bench and scanned my surroundings. My thoughts began to wander and soon I was completely zoned out on thoughts of my past life.

I had never really appreciated my parents. Now I realize that I miss them the most out of everything. My parents truly cared for me and loved me. Now no one cared about me, or if that wasn't the case their caring was made up or fake from some stupid computer that controlled their mind.

The silence was broken. I could hear a person coming.

I sat as still as possible, it was past my curfew and if it was the police and they heard me I could be in a lot of trouble.

A figure stepped out of the shadows. The shadows covered the person up but I coulda see the person's shape peer up at the sky, focused on the stars.

The figure stepped out of the shadows even more. I gasped from the shock of what the person was wearing.

I could see now it was a man. He wore a black hoodie and black, ripped up jeans. He also wore converse. His hood was up and he back was towards me so I couldn't see his face.

I breathed in sharply from fear of what this was. A trick? If I were seen here with this guy... I shuddered from the list of horrible thing that could happen to me.

He must of heard me somehow because he turned around quickly and seemed to notice me. I quivered with fear. He tilted his head up and his hood fell back. The light from the moon shone on his face.

The first thing I noticed were his eyes. HOLY CRAP THEY WERE BLUE!!! I recognized them...

My thoughts were cut off as he ran towards me. I was too stunned to run. He pinned me against a wall.

"Y-you're..." I stuttered.
"Shush don't say my name! You know who I am?" He whispered harshly.
"Y-yeah," I said nervously.
"Where do you know me from!" He said, his voice getting harsher.
"You were in the band-" he put a hand over my mouth.
"Alright just making sure you don't just know me from the papers that post the lies about me," he released me and his voice got calm, "never say my name or my band's name in public. Okay?"
"Ok-kay."
"Relax I'm not gonna hurt you!" He said, laughing at me. I must've looked completely terrified.
"You're alive!" I said, I could feel myself starting to cry. So there was hope.
"I can't tell you how, but yeah I'm alive. As with a lot of people from Warped," he said, whispering the last word.
"Warped tour?" I asked.
"Shush!" He said, alarmed, "yeah."
I was crying now.
"Hey it's okay," he said, pulling me into a hug. His voice was soothing, "how old are you by the way?"
"I'm gonna be s-sixteen in two days," I said, my voice messed up from crying.
"Okay good you're not that close to eighteen," he said, rubbing my back, comforting me.
"You grew your hair back out," I said.
"We'll that was random, but yeah," he said, "lets get out of the light. People might see us."

We walked into the shadows where he had come from.

"I see you," he began, "every night with your iPod. I can't believe you have the courage to listen to music even though the penalty is," instead of saying death he stared at the ground.
"It's the only thing I have from my past life," I explained, " and is it that easy to notice me?" I said, slightly alarmed.
"No. I'm sort of a spy. There's a bit of an underground civilization, and I volunteered to see what's going on in the world."
"Oh."
"You're gonna hate me for this," he said, guiltily, "but I have to go."
"Don't leave me!" I said, tears falling down my face.
"I can't take you with me just yet," he said, pulling me into a hug again, "They're not very trusting where I come from."
I tried to stop crying and ended up getting worse.
"Shush It's okay!" He said, his voice calming, "I'll be back I promise!"
I calmed down a little and he continued to hug me, rubbing my back. When I finally stopped crying he pulled me away from him and looked into my eyes.
"What is your name?" He asked.
"T-Theresa," I answered.
"I meant what is your real name, not the government shit they call you to make you forget yourself."
"I-I'm Grace," I answered, the name seeming surprisingly foreign from not saying it in so long, "Grace Christopher."
"Grace,"he began, "that's a pretty name."
He hugged me again then ran off into the shadows.

A single tear fell down my face.

All of a sudden I felt a bit of happiness. Andy Biersack was alive.

Notes

Feedback?