Erasure

There is a time for every generation that we must endure The Erasure. They never tell us anything about it, only that it is vital for our survival. 

I’ve seen it happen to the older kids… One by one, they disappear from school, until none of them are left. You never see them after The Erasure, only the day before. 

Our Keepers remain mysterious, and, to keep the mystery of the erasure alive, wear black that covers every inch of their flesh, hoods over their heads, and masks over their faces. They all speak with the same robotic voices, the same rigid movements. We see no other adults, no references to what life will be like for us.

If only I knew, if only I could discover the mystery of The Erasure.

Of course, I will find out in time. My class has finally made it to our Final Year, and about half of us have gone already. My day will come, no?

That is in issue for another day, however. For now, it’s lights out for everybody in the Care Center.

As I wake up on the cool spring morning, I feel stiff and sluggish moving out of my bed. I shuffle my way to my dresser, picking up my head to look into the dull, scratched mirror.

Horror spreads across my features as I finally see it- my left Iris- its almond brown with the specks of green- is falling off?! Falling straight off my eye, like an old dry contact lens. Beneath there is nothing, only the milky white of the rest of my eye. When I blink, it come off entirely, landing on my dresser.

The only response I can muster is a shriek, jumping back and nearly stumbling down as I lose depth perception. I can’t see anything… not from my left eye at least. 

I hear banging on my door, robotic voices outside threatening to enter.

My heart feels as though it’s going to rip through my ribs, my lungs feel as though they may combust. Theres this constant buzzing and ringing, getting louder and louder, this headache that feels like a war in my head.

My vision begins to blur, but before I lose my second iris, I notice the hue has left my skin. Nothing but gray, cold and lifeless. My hair falls out onto the floor around me, and I blink away my second iris. 

I fall the the floor shrieking in horror, clawing at my cold flesh as if a desperate attempt to wake up from a nightmare. I shriek until my voice goes hoarse, only robotic rasps escaping my throat.

I can hear the door of my room being broken down, the robotic caretakers rushing to me

The ringing in my ears becomes so loud it drowns out all thought, and I can feel myself ready to pass out.

I hear only four words through the ringing, words I will never forget.

“The Erasure has begun.”