A young girl, probably around eleven or twelve, gave me a hug, tears running down her face. "Don't cry number fifteen, you'll still see me around the neighborhood. Maybe we can still be friends."
"But it wont be the same, Kall! you wont be you anymore! I don't want you to get mean like number fourteen did!"
"Number twelve, it's time." the redhead gestured toward the door, obviously in a hurry.
"Goodbye Clarissa, I'll miss you." I walked into the decommissioning chamber and sat down. As the suction cup lowered over my face, a commotion broke out in the waiting room.
"Hey, wait!"
"You can't go in there now!"
"Stop her!"
"No, Kall! NO!"
Slowly, everything faded to black.
I woke up, not knowing where I was. After looking around, I realized I was in my living room. Weird, I didn't remember falling asleep there. Oh well, I had homework to do, and there was a party later. Huh, I'd almost forgotten it was my thirteenth birthday. I hoped it wouldn't end up like my last birthday did. Actually, I couldn't remember what my last birthday was like. The last birthday I remembered was my seventh. I couldn't remember what my last couple birthdays were like. Come to think of it, I couldn't remember much of what I had been doing this morning, let alone the last couple years. They seemed like a big, empty, blur. I had a headache.
I decided to take a walk, try to clear my mind; maybe that would help me remember. As I was walking, I paused at a tree house on the corner and stood, staring at it. Why was it so familiar? Had I used to play in it? My head was pounding, like there was something in it that was trying desperately to get out.
"Hey," it was a guy that lived nearby, Jared. "how's it going?" I shrugged, wondering where I knew him from. I'm positive I've never even talked to Jared before, but he seems so familiar, like the tree house. Were we friends? I decided to ask.
"Um, this is gonna sound really weird, but did we used to be friends? You seem really familiar."
"Weird. I was just thinking the same thing. Your name is Kall, right?"
"Yep, and you're Jared." I was starting to think that I wasn't the only one with memory loss. "This is also weird, but what was your childhood like?"
"Hm. Actually, I don't remember. It's like a big blur."
"that's what I was afraid of." A group of kids came out of the tree house and ran screaming past us, Jared tripping a couple of them, murmuring "Snot-nosed brats" under his breath.
" Leave them alone, they didn't do anything to you!" I stormed off, angry. I needed to be alone and think all this through. I ended up hiding in the park and watching the kids playing all day, just thinking. One kid in particular kept catching my eye. She didn't look that much younger than me, probably only a year or two. I couldn't shake the feeling that I knew her, but I couldn't think of her name. She stared at me the whole time I was there.
When the party was over, I was exhausted. I went up to my room and was about to crash when I saw a small white envelope sitting on my pillow. On the front, written in small handwriting, is the number twelve. I'm not sure why, but that number is important to me. I tear the letter open, wide awake now. There's only one line written on the letter.
She that wants to know the truth must first pass the test.