A cool breeze brushed across Anne’s face, blowing her long curly hair slightly to the side and making it fall over her shoulder. She sat on one of the high roofs of the chapel that stretched out the side of the tower, wherein the Ring of Questions, the Silence of Lies was held. The sky was a warm peachy color that grew in brightness as Anne waited for the sunrise. Watching the beautiful sunrise was the only thing that helped quell the longing for Tom, even if it was only for a few moments.

It has been five days since she was carried to the chapel. The ever-present emptiness inside her was unwavering, intensified by the quietness inside her. Not a hint of the inferno that raged inside her before, nor the deep pit of loneliness that nearly cost her life. Only the growing drive to find her brother. The relative peace she was experiencing made her uncomfortable, driving her thoughts back to everything that happened these past few days. The questions were heaping up in her mind.

Tom… I know you are alive. I can feel it. What do they want with us? First, the army tried to capture us. Then we were in that facility. And… my arms. How did I get them back? That big brute. He took Tom. Its skull was too soft.

A shiver ran down her back when a vivid image washed into her mind and erased all other thoughts.

Those dark concrete halls. Dry blood. Nothing else.

Who am I?

“Anne,” a voice called from a nearby window.

Anne recognized the voice immediately but kept staring off into the distance. After a few soft grunts, the person climbed out of the window and sat down next to Anne. The mess of red hair was another dead giveaway as Kate moved up to Anne for a bit of warmth. They both sat in silence, basking in the first rays that appeared as the sun breached the horizon.

She had become the closest thing Anne had to a friend. Kate took to caring for her the moment she arrived and was the reason Anne had not already wandered off alone to find her brother. She leaned against Kate, closing her eyes and focusing on the gentle tingle as the sun’s rays warmed her face.

Kate gently nudged her.

“Breakfast is about to be served. Are you hungry?”

Anne nodded with a yawn.

“Let’s go. You can sit with me again.”

Kate squinted as she too gave a long wide-mouthed yawn, making both burst out in laughter. The got up and carefully made their way along the slanted roof until they reached the window, which led them right into the tower where they shared their questions. The sun’s rays illuminated the entire room, casting long shadows from the chairs in the middle.

She held Kate’s hand as they hurried down to breakfast. Kate was fast. Anne had to bound down the stairs, skipping every second step just to keep up with her.

“Faster! Slowpoke” taunted Kate. She loved teasing Anne, but always in a playful way. Compared to most of the people at the chapel Kate was a welcome, yet wild, breath of fresh air.

They could smell the delicious aroma of freshly baked bread long before they reached the door that led into the food court. The hall was already packed, and Darius was waiting for them. He wore his usual gentle smile, but he looked very nervous. They were halfway into their breakfast when Kate and Darius made eye contact. Darius gave her a single nod and Kate lit up with excitement.

“Oh, this is exciting!” Kate said as she hopped in her seat, grabbing Anne’s arm.

“Finish up quickly, we seem to have a thrilling day waiting for us.”

They finished breakfast in a hurry and dashed out of the hall. Kate was heading straight for Anne’s room, with Anne right behind her. They reached the room laughing and out of breath.

“Why the rush?” Anne asked as she struggled to catch her breath.

Kate slouched against the wall and pointed at a box waiting on Anne’s bed. Anne’s eyes were wide and curious. She jumped on the bed and eyed the box closely, her hands hovering over it as if an invisible bubble was stopping her.

“Well? Open it!” Kate said impatiently.

Anne hastily opened the box and pulled out three beautiful pairs of matching shirts and shorts. They were the same blue as the robes that everyone at the chapel wore. Next was a small bag full of intimate things. The last item in the box was indeed a robe.

“I’m sure the robe is a bit too much for an energetic girl like you, so I asked them to add the rest. I hope you like it,” Kate said happily as she enjoyed Anne’s reaction.

“It’s so pretty! And it is so soft.” Anne pressed her face into the balled-up robe.

“I hope you like the color,” Kate laughed. “It’s the only color we have.”

“Does that mean you want me to stay?”

“Of course!” Kate exclaimed as she jumped onto the bed beside her.

“But… I can’t. I need to find my brother.”

“And you will.” Darius’s said, making them both jump in surprise. He was standing in the doorway with his calm smile, eying the opened box on the bed.

“And we will help,” he continued when he saw the look on their faces. Anne could not hold back the happy eruption in her stomach.

“But.” He said quickly, holding out his hand and stopping her after she already leaped off the bed. She came to a skidding halt in front of him and, feeling a bit awkward, started fiddling with her hands and stooped into a bow.

“Haa ahaa aha aha ahaa!” Darius burst out laughing. He pulled her closer and hugged her while he tried to compose himself.

“Hee hee… aah by the Voice, you got me.” He wiped a few tears out of his face.

“It has been too long since I had such a good laugh,” Darius said as he regained his usual calm.

“On a more serious note; I need you to get dressed and ready for a long trip. Indeed, we will help you get your brother back, but we need to prepare. Part of the preparations, perhaps the most important, is finding answers to some of the questions that have been gnawing at you since you can remember. We need these answers if we are to make sense of any of the things to come.” Darius paused for a moment.

“And as it turns out… I also have a few questions that need answers.”

“Kate.”

“Yes, Father?”

“Help Anne get dressed and then meet me in my quoters. Both of you. We have… much to discuss.”

“Yes. Father.” Kate replied.

Darius greeted them and strode away and down the hall.

“Kate? What is happening?” Anne asked confused.

Kate just shrugged and threw a shirt at her.

“You heard him. Get dressed! I’m just as curious and confused as you are.” Kate said as she prepared to launch a pair of shorts.

Anne quickly undressed and started getting into her new clothes. Kate tried her best to look away, but the sockets that were imbedded all over her body held her gaze. She did her best to hide the uncomfortable shivers.

“All done!” Anne exclaimed as she spun around, showing her new look off to Kate, which was met by loud applause.

“Now we are both blue! I see it fits well. Oh, don’t forget this.” She threw the robe at her. “It’s best to wear this when you are at the chapel. Some of the old geezers might complain. Uniformity and all that.”

They rolled their eyes and headed for Darius’s chambers. Heading past the mess hall and up a winding staircase. Just before they reached the Ring of Questions, the Silence of Lies, the made a turn in the opposite direction. They reached a large, dark stained wood door. Light from two torches that was set in the wall on each side of the door flickered across their faces. Kate knocked on the door and after some rustling from inside, the door opened.

“Get inside you two.” Darius ushered them in and locked the door behind them.

His chambers had two large round rooms. They entered the first, which had a round table in the middle with three mismatched chairs. The walls were lined by bookshelves, paintings and strange crystals of many shapes and colors that were set in glass casings. A door at the far end leads to the second large round room that appeared to be his bedchamber. Above them, a giant chandelier hung from the high roof that lit the room in a warm orange glow. Darius was busy rummaging through a heap of notes and other paperwork that was strewn across the table in the first room. He slammed his hands onto the table as he stood bent over the notes and looked up at Kate and Anne. A few drops of sweat set fixed on his bald head.

“Whatever you hear from me this day, you promise to keep it a secret. Yes? I trust only you two with this information, as we will need it to make sense of what lies ahead.”

Darius gestured for them to take a seat, and Anne and Kate sat down at the table.

“Please, my children, don’t think me an evil man. I have as many questions as you, Anne, and I can assure you that I am not the person these documents claim I am.” He said with a slight tremble in his voice.

He took the seat next to them and pointed in disdain at the things before them.

“This… is my past. At least the few things that I could salvage from it. I have no memory of the events and information detailed in these documents, except for a wrenched feeling that it is true.”

Darius looked hard at them as he continued to speak.

“Like you, Anne, I also came into this world with no memory of my past.”

Anne felt her heart pounding in her temples, unable to form any words. So, she listened in shock. Kate looked just as pale.

“I… found me within a small underground research facility far from here. The facility had been abandoned for quite some time. It was in ruins and was scarred by the remnants of firearm damage everywhere I looked. Bodies were strewn everywhere, yet they were already past decomposition. Only bone, skin and hair were left. Blood and bullet holes were in abundance. I take it you had the same experience?” He asked Anne gently.

Anne shook her head.

“No?” Darius was taken back.

“It seems I have even more questions now.” He looked back at the items strewn across the table.

“There was a great storm that raged outside the day I came to. It forced me to stay in that facility for two days before I could leave. I searched through every nook and cranny for something to eat. Alas, nothing. Nothing but this.” Darius picked up a few pages, staring at it as if waiting for the pages to talk.

“There was one room where records were kept. A fire had destroyed everything but one large filing cabinet that rested on its face, sparing some of the documents inside.”

“It had case reports, test results, pictures and other documents regarding the doings of the facility. That included other facilities as well, and some of the pictures showed facility areas much larger than the one I was in. It was in these pages that I saw my name, and enough pictures of me to be sure.”

“I made it out after the storm and traveled for days before I found rest. There, in the wilderness, I met… the Voice. He led me until I set foot on the grounds of this very chapel. It was empty though. I have toiled and nurtured it into what it is today. A place for those who follow the Voice and the wisdom He bestows. There is much more to tell regarding this place, but I am sure this is not the part of my tale you want to hear.” Darius let out a deep sigh.

“I hope that one day I would atone.” His voice trembled.

Kate took his hand. “Father, you never told me.”

“I never told anyone. And neither should you.” He said in a whisper.

Anne and Kate agreed.

“I believe that our answers are on the same path. Please forgive me that my charity in helping you isn’t entirely without gain anymore. When I saw what… was done to you. I recognized it. I knew that we were meant to meet.”

“That we have already met.”

Silence fell over them, thick and unyielding. They sat and struggled with what they had just heard. Anne’s voice broke the silence. Her voice was cold, matching the hard expression on her face.

“How did we meet?” She asked.

Darius looked shook. He was waiting for this question.

“Forgive me, child, for I have sinned.”