Mariola flung herself to the door.

A reverberating click of a lock pulsed through the knob to her fingers and to the bottom of her heavy heart as she realized that she was trapped.

"H-hey, you out t-there! Open the door!" Mariola clumsily shouted out, realizing she never bothered to ask for the boy's name. "Boy! Get me out!"

She could almost swear that she heard a low chuckle on the other side of the door, but her heart was hammering so loudly that she didn't hear a figure approach behind her.

"How are you, Mariola?" Eden asked, perking his head to the side, licking his lips as though she were dessert.

"What do you want?" She rasped out, suddenly aware of how dry and sour how throat was.

The man stopped walking, his fingers rolling his cane casually as he answered, "I'm just here for your appointment. Everyone has to meet with me before their stimulation begins."

And then Mariola remembered. "You're the principal."

Eden bowed mockingly. "Yes, it is me. I am so glad that your memory is still functioning well enough."

"M-my memory? What do you know about it?" She took a step forward. "Tell me my memories! Why don't I know anything?"

"Hush, child," he lulled. "Now is not the time for those questions."

The man bent his knees and sat on thin air. Startled, Mariola blinked; and two velvet chairs with round cushions appeared. Eden, comfortably settling himself down, gestured for her to sit.

She shook her head.

He tsked, raised an eyebrow, and flicked an index finger.

Mariola's legs flew into the air and then collided with a soft, furry object beneath her, facing Eden. She tried to stand up, but a magnetic force seemed to lock her onto the chair; and she was stuck.

"There, that's better," he said. "If only I could lock up your mouth, eh?" He chuckled at his own joke. Mariola clamped her lips, just in case he could actually sew her lips together.

"So, what do you think of this place? Do you like it?" His eyes scanned her feet up to the object on her head. "Ah, I see that you're still on your first obstacle. You better finish that soon if you want to come back to Eden."

A breath of air escaped her cracked lips, but Mariola sucked it back in along with any words she wanted to spit in his face.

Eden proceeded, as if he was happy to listen to his voice echo through the empty room. "Eden is a wonderful place that I'm sure you would like to come. Everyone there has earned their spot on the top, toiling and achieving all the goals and obstacles they face on each level. Everyone there is beautiful, accomplished, perfect; or at least, they are as perfect as they can get." He leaned closer. "I can't wait to see what you can accomplish and what you will become when you return to Eden."

Mariola could almost feel invisible hands clamping down her arms, her lips, her fear.

The man sighed and smiled. "You remind me of a lovely woman I once knew. She was exceptional—intelligent, valiant, kind, beautiful...but one day she betrayed me." His voice dipped into a growl, and the room turned stormy.

A little whimper slipped past Mariola's lips, and the man turned his grey eyes back on her. "I'm sorry," he said, his voice uplifting and lilting again. "Usually I would greet the person and tell them about their stimulation, but you are different." He scooted his chair closer. "I can be honest with you instead of spouting nonsense about you finding your inner potential, your identity, your soul."

His breath caught for a moment before he said, "I expect a lot of great things from you, Mariola. Don't disappoint me or the rest of Eden. Until the next time we meet." He nodded curtly, his smile not reaching the iris of his eyes; and he vanished into pixels.

Mariola didn't even bother to cry out or freak out in wondrous panic. She was too tired—too hungry—to care anymore. Instead, she stood up, head whirling, and walked to the door.

An easy click resonated the air as she reached the door. She could still feel the sweat and fear slicked on the door knob as Mariola twisted it, left the dark room, and was bombarded with questions.

"How was it meeting with our great leader?" The boy—the terribly handsome and evil boy who locked her in—asked. "You are so lucky! I wish I could meet him!"

"What happened in there?" Loma interjected, checking the girl's head, eyes, wrists for any injuries. "Why was he here? Are you alright?"

Tomas (??) simply stood there, giving her an apologetic half-smile.

Mariola simply took a deep breath, resisted the urge to crook the perfect button nose of the boy, and said, "I am so hungry."

A stomach growl supported her statement. The people around her stared at her, half in amusement and in confusion.

"Come, child. I know exactly what you need," Loma said, taking the girl's cold hand into hers and leading her up the stairs.

The boy hmphed and said, "Well, I hope your stomach didn't embarrass you or insult our great leader when you had your appointment with him."

With a few ounces of energy left in her, Mariola shoved him.

"Who are you?" She demanded. "Are you working for Eden? Why did you lock me in there?"

Pulling the girl behind her in a protective stance, Loma pointed her finger at the boy. "I've never seen you before. Who are you? What are you doing here?" She directed her sharp gaze at Tomy, who seemed to blend himself into the wall with his quiet ease.

The man shrugged, and Mariola wondered why the two split up when they were so perfect and so opposite to each other.

The boy chuckled, dragging Mariola's attention back to him. His teeth stuck out, revealing pink gums, as he answered, "You can call me Ress, and that's all you need to know. For now." His voice deflated into a nonchalant tone, as if he wanted to gain back their trust, to show them he was normal. "Come," he gestured. "Don't we have a party to get to?"

"Sh!"

"Party?" Mariola turned to Loma. "What is he talking about?"

"Oh, damn, was it supposed to be a surprise?" Ress made a playful face as his hand covered his mouth mockingly.

Loma glared daggers at him instead of her ex-lover, and Tomy let out a quick sigh of relief.

"Well, this has been fun." He maneuvered his way between Loma and Mariola, brushing his loose hand against Mariola's thigh, and waved when he stood on the steps up to the exit. "I've got to go make myself look pretty. See you later!"

"And you have to go tidy yourself up, too," Loma said after a few minutes of staring intently at the stairs in case the boy returned. "Now that the cat is out of the bag, there is no point hiding it." She casted another disapproving face at the stairs. "We usually have a welcome party to our new guest; but because of some...events, we had to postpone it to tonight!"

The woman gleamed and waited for a similar smile from the girl; but Mariola only replied, "Do I have to go?"

Her face fell. "The party is for you, young lady."

"I know...but do I have to? I would really just like some food and a nice bed."

Loma's eyebrows hardened, and Mariola suddenly felt pity for Tomy who had to face this often. "Tonight is our first welcome party for a decade." She held onto Mariola's arm firmly. "You think this world revolves around you? You think this party is to just to celebrate you? We don't have very many reasons to celebrate in this world anymore, Mariola. So, please, just come. Get to know your new family. Find people still struggling with their first goal, like you. Come."

Mariola bit her lip.

"There'll be food," Loma said exasperatedly, lifting an eyebrow.

Mariola smiled. "Let's go!"

For the first time in the day, Loma smiled; and Mariola could swear she saw Tomy gasp quietly.

Contagious, the smile drew on everyone's faces as they left the hallway to the dark room, up the stairs, onto the balcony, and back to the world that Mariola might soon call home.

As she prepared herself to sit on the rope-swing, Mariola could see the flutter of colors and the bustling of people below. She could smell the wafts of muffins, chicken, pasta. As she swung herself down the wooden zip line, for the first time, Mariola could smile.

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'*ﾟ▽ﾟ*'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*

Sorry for the late update! I could give you a list of reasons why, but that would just seem like complaints so no.
Hope you enjoy this chapter! I felt like Mariola definitely deserved a little break and some party time. What do you think?
I would definitely be editing and making the chapter flow better, and I would gladly accept any constructive criticism 😁😉🙃
Until next time! Stay tuned (or read... Stay read...? Okay bye)