Swallow. The pill slides down my throat, even though it is trembling from the weight of people’s gaze. They stand around me, staring at me with wide smiles and empty eyes. I shake in my chair, and cold sweat drips down the side of my pale face as I look down to avoid their gaze. It is then that the day finally begins. The faces turn towards their food and shallow conversations begin. Now that The Order has seen me take my daily dose.

Guilt overwhelms as tears stream down my cheeks. The table does not deem my sniffles worth any fuss and the fake joy stays like a mask, worn by the family I will now be a part of. I cry for the last time, before my emotions are erased. I can already feel the drug permanently altering the effects of my limbic system, and soon I will perceive nothing. I clench my hands at the thought of what will happen and what has happened.

Hidden. We were supposed to be hidden and safe. But I took that safety for granted, ventured too far out, and they found us. Because of me, we will all be sentenced to a metaphorical death because even if our heart still beats, are we even alive without our emotions?