Upload

“Have you ever wondered what would happen if they found out about all this?” A young man’s voice said echoing through my dream.

“Sometimes,but it will never happen.” Said a gruff older voice.

“I know.” The young voice conceded “Though sometimes I’m surprised they haven’t figured it out. I mean they must feel it right? At least judging on their reactions to the different stimulus.”

“Those are reflexes,not conscious actions. They don’t know that there are any stimuli to react to. I doubt they can even hear us. Now stop jabbering and get that patch uploaded.”

“Yes,sorry sir.”

I instinctively flinched as I felt something cold press against my temples. Something warm and comforting touched my forehead which I thought was a hand. The young man’s voice came again sounding quieter maybe so the older man would not hear.

“I don’t know if you can hear me, Alexsis. But if you can…I’m sorry. For everything.”

The next moment pain exploded in my head like my brain was on fire.

***

“Ahhh!” I bolted up in my bed the pain still seeming to linger as I tried to convince myself that it wasn’t real.

Frantically I looked around myself,taking in my surroundings,I moved strands of my long brown hair out of my face, as my heartrate slowly calmed down. My bedroom was pitch black, piles of books and clothes making featureless lumps in the darkness.The numbers on the alarm clock sitting on my nightstand displayed the exhausting time of 5:34 A.M.

I pulled my knees up to my chest wrapping a blanket around myself taking a few shuddering breaths. I was still trembling. My body felt sore, probably, from being so tense during the nightmare.

The nightmare. It was unlike any other dream I’d ever had. Instead of images it had been made only of those two voices. Those voices…what had they been talking about? Uploading patches,stimuli,reactions? It didn’t make sense. The younger voice had seemed kinder which I was thankful for. It had seemed familiar; had I had a dream with him in it before? More interesting was how he had said my name and apologized, what was he apologizing for? The pain?

That pain. The cold that I had felt,what had that been? Why had it hurt so bad? What had they been doing to me? I shoved the thoughts aside leaning my head against the wall. It didn’t matter. It was only a dream. It didn’t mean anything no matter how strangely real it felt.

Looking back at the clock I saw that it was now 6:07 about time to get up for school. Getting up and dressing I went about my morning trying to forget about the dream. But yet there was something in the back of my mind that kept going back to it; and wondering.

***

By the middle of the day thoughts of the dream had mostly fled from my mind. I went to my classes at the Central District High School, got my lunch from my locker, and went to the commons to find my friends.

Looking around the crowded tables I quickly found them sitting at their normal spot. Ashley, Emma, and Racheal were talking to a large, brown haired boy wearing a loose fitting jean jacket. I thought I had seen him before but couldn’t quite place where. I walked up and sat down next to the new boy on the other side.

“Hi! I’m Alexsis! What’s your name?”

The boy looked over at me, his eyes going wide as if shocked. The look changed to relief and then strangely to nervousness. 

“Alexsis.” He said it breathlessly as if unsure he was seeing something right. He cleared his throat, the worried look coming back to his eyes. “I-I’m Braxton. D-do you remember me?”

I looked at him, taken aback confused thinking for a moment to try and find him in my memory. “Umm no? Sorry. Are you in one of my classes or something?”

He looked down shaking his head, looking sad. “He said this might have happened.” he muttered to himself. He looked up at me again smiling. “Don’t worry it’s not your fault.”

I was getting even more confused by this strange new boy. “Sooo…why should I remember you? Where did we meet?”

Braxton wasn’t looking at me anymore however instead studying his surroundings. He glared at something behind me but before I could turn to see what it was he grabbed my hand thrusting something small into my palm curling my fingers around it. A note. I looked up at him to see he had a finger to his lips. I got the hint.

Keep it secret. Don’t show anyone.

“I have to go.” He said smiling. “But I hope to see you again soon.”

The strange boy stood up from the table walking away and disappearing in the crowd.

“Who was that guy?” a voice said behind me and I turned to find Ashley’s boyfriend Henry walking up with a plate of spaghetti. 

Tall with brown hair Henry played on the basketball team and had been a part of the group for as long as I could remember. No matter how good of friends he became with the basketball team he always ate with us even though we had told him on multiple accounts that we would be fine if he wanted to eat with the other boys. He would always come back with the same response. “I can see them whenever. I can’t always see you guys.”

He sat down next to me where Braxton had just been and I slipped the note into my jacket pocket before he could see it. I would look at it later. Whatever it was.

“He said he was new.” Ashley said, picking up a chip. “Apparently he knew Alexsis, but she couldn’t remember him.”

Henry looked at where Braxton had left glaring. “He seemed dangerous. How did he know you? Did he say?”

I rolled my eyes. Henry was always overprotective of all the people in the group. “No, he didn’t say how he knew me.”

“Did he say anything else?”

“Just that his name was Braxton.” I looked over at him curious “Why? Do you know him?”

Henry rubbed his chin still looking in the direction the boy had gone. “Maybe, I think I might have heard of him before, but I don’t know what he would be doing here.”

I fingered the slip of paper in my pocket itching to open it and see what it said. Something about Braxton had felt so familiar. I felt like I should remember him even though I couldn’t recall ever seeing him before. It was the kind of mystery that piqued your curiosity even if it felt dangerous.

Right after I finished my lunch I waved goodbye to my friends and went into the bathroom walking into an empty stall and locking the door. A part of me thought that I was being paranoid. The note was probably just some prank or something. Even so I felt a need to keep it secret.

Pulling out the small wrinkled paper I unfolded the strange boys note.

Alexsis,

 Meet me alone at the maintenance shed after school

3:30 P.M.

I will explain everything.

Be careful. They are watching you.

Love, B