I don’t know who decided it. I don’t know when or why it was decided either. All I know is that some of us are strange and some of us are normal. They say that they can’t know for sure until you’re a teenager, so everyone fears their 13th birthday.

There’s more than one way to be strange. For instance, don’t get tattoos; tattoos are usually wrong. Piercings are often wrong as well. Certain hairstyles are wrong. The clothes you chose to wear can be wrong. Your make-up can be wrong. The way you talk can be wrong. It’s open to anything.

Since you never know what can make you strange everyone is always really careful, especially once they hit 12 years old. 12 is the year that everyone changes. My best friend Phil cut all his hair off that year because he thought that long hair on boys is probably a sign of being strange; he wanted to stop the illness before it spread. One girl at my school stopped playing hockey because it was a sport for boys. She went on to do ballet instead.

When I turned 12 I didn’t really do much. I really felt like everyone else. My clothes were all the same, I acted the same, and I played the same sports... I was just a normal kid. There was no way I was going to come out strange. I just couldn’t have! Besides, my dad was really obsessed with making sure each and every one of his kids weren’t going to be strange. He was strange when he was a kid, and he said that the rehabilitation sucked ass. He’s determined to not let any one of us have to go through what he had to.

Being pronounced strange is probably the worst thing that could happen to you. At least, that’s what they told us. Being strange is what turns a dream into a nightmare. A perfect 13th birthday to the worst day of your life. I wonder if whoever started this purposely made the Strange Test on your 13th birthday or if the reason is because that’s when you’re actually considered an official teenager? Isn’t 13 an unlucky number? I just think it’ll really freak some superstitious people out that’s all.

Anyway, so when I turned 13 I was feeling pretty good; yeah, nervous like anyone else would be, but definitely better than some people. Besides, only about 1 in 30 people are strange, and since we have classes of 30 that means that only about 1 person in my class should be strange. There’s no way it can be me so there was really no need for me to worry about it at all. I can think up five other people in my class who were stranger than me.

So when I got my test results back I was shocked and horrified.

But the worst part was having to get escorted back home with an officer on each arm as I held the test results in my hands. I still remember the look on my mum’s face when she opened the door and she saw me there with the officers and the papers. She cried. That’s when my dad came running. He saw me and he started swearing. My brothers and sisters all came to see me too and their reactions were mixed. Some of them were crying like my mum, but the older siblings were keeping themselves composed; probably to try and make me feel better.

That afternoon was spent packing. You’re only allowed one suitcase. One suitcase to bring whatever you want. I brought pictures of my family and friends, some books, clothes, and that was pretty much it. There wasn’t much more that I really wanted. Besides, I was afraid to take some stuff to the compound with me. I heard that once you get there they search your bag and remove anything that’s considered strange; I later found out that that was true.

I didn’t get to eat dinner with my family. They take you away at 7pm, which I guess gives plenty of time for dinner, but we all wanted to spend it saying goodbye instead; after all, I may never come back.

After that you’re thrown into the back of a car – kind of like an ambulance – and you sit there and wait. You’re not allowed anything with you in the car except for a copy of your test results so you can see where everything went wrong.

Apparently I wasn’t masculine enough.

I didn’t have the proper amount of muscle, and the fact that I enjoyed singing and dancing didn’t help – apparently those were considered girl activities. Plus, my hair was too long. It only reached down to my shoulders, but it was still unacceptable. I should have cut my hair like Phil. I remember reading those results and wondering how I didn’t think of that before, and why nobody told me.

When I got to the compound I was taken to a section of the compound for newcomers. You stay there for about a month and get to meet all of the other newcomers so that you’ll have a few friends when you get released into the big building where things are apparently a lot harder.

And trust me, it is.

It’s been four years since then though, and now I’m not doing so bad. I’m still not cured, which is a major problem. If I’m not cured before my 18th birthday; I’m dead. A lot of friends that I’ve made have been released already which makes me wonder what I’m doing wrong.

Although, I try not to worry about that too much. If I worry about it it’ll be just my luck that I’ll never get cured and if I don’t get cured I’d rather spend my last year having fun rather than stressing. So there’s that.

And so, this is where it begins – my last year in the compound no matter what.

The lights illuminated my room at 7am; as always. My eyes snapped open and I sat up and stretched my arms and back. I looked through the glass walls of my chamber and saw that everyone else was doing the exact same thing as me.

Everyone had the same chamber. I like to refer to them as cells, but the officers insist that it’s a chamber and I guess when your life is on the line you might as well just go with what they say. So there, our chambers are all the same, it’s a small box that holds one bed and a dresser. That’s it. There aren’t any windows, however, three of the walls are completely glass. The only wall that’s brick is the one that shows the outdoors, everything else is glass. That means that if you’re getting changed everyone can see you. But it’s okay, they tell us that it doesn’t matter because we’re all the same anyway.

I changed into some brown cargo pants, a white t-shirt and a blue vest. Hell, everyone changed into that. You had to from Monday to Friday. On the weekends it was The Test. You had to wear your own clothes on the weekends. If you make the right choices, you move up, if not, you either move down, or don’t move at all. It seems like a simple test, but a lot of people hate letting go of their strange clothing.

I heard my lock snap open and I knew it was time to get out. I opened my door, stepped out, turned towards the exit and stood there as I waited for approval and for the rest of the people on my level to get their asses out too. Thankfully, we all knew the drill, so I was only standing there for about 45 seconds. I smiled at my friend when he walked out; Jeffree.

Jeffree was a cool guy. I mean, we all knew he wasn’t going to get out alive (Hell, he even knew it), but he was still cool. Jeffree has an awesome sense of humor; totally sexual. Jeffree is also a transgender. He doesn’t like the term drag queen since he’s never a boy. His hair is pink, his eyebrows are pink and perfectly plucked, he eats very selectively so as to keep his muscle and fat down so that he keeps a good body proportion... Sometimes I wonder how I was considered not masculine enough; I’m plenty more masculine than Jeffree will ever be!

An officer walked by us and made sure we were all wearing the proper clothing before letting us walk off in single file to the cafeteria. We all walked silently in complete synchronisation. I felt like I was some sort of man made robot.

Breakfast is always the same; butter and toast with a glass of orange juice. If that isn’t enough for you, then you can take some vitamin pills. Although, not many people take the pills, this place is known for practicing medicine on us. Usually they only do that to certain people and you know when it’s happening to you, but people are still scared.

Jeffree and I sat together at a table with two other girls.

“Hey,” I greeted. They smiled at us.

“Morning!” Kerli greeted as she picked off the crust from her toast like she did every morning. Kerli was a cool girl too; at first glance she doesn’t look strange at all, but on Saturdays and Sundays it’s very evident. She’s got the nicest blonde hair you could ever want, and these gorgeous eyes; it’s a shame her 18th birthday is coming up and she doesn’t seem to be in any mood to change.

“Hey boys,” Alicia greeted. Alicia was evidently strange; her hair was short, and she had more muscle than a girl was allowed to have. The tattoos didn’t help her situation either. She’s been trying to grow her hair out the whole time, but last year she got really upset with the officers and cut her hair as an act of rebellion. Unfortunately, she’ll have to wait for it to grow out again before she can ever even consider being let out. Lucky for her she’s still 16; she’s got time.

“Where’s the slut?” Jeffree asked.

“Ashley is still on her level. Some girl didn’t wake up on time and she had to get the lecture from the officers and she still has to change and then they all have to get approved and... yeah, I don’t know when she’ll be down,” Alicia explained.

“Why do you always refer to her as the slut?”

“Because she looks and acts like one,” Jeffree replied with a shrug.

“The same could be said about you,” Alicia retorted. Jeffree laughed.

“I’m a major whore and we all know it! Unfortunately for you I’m proud of it!”

“Unfortunately for you your pride will come back and bite you in the ass; you’ll never get out,”

“Listen, we all know that my rainbow don’t bend,” Jeffree explained. We all chuckled a bit. We all loved how Jeffree just didn’t give a fuck about anything, even if he was going to get executed at 18. He’s made it very clear that he’d rather die than live his life being something that he’s not.

“Ugh!” groaned a familiar female voice as Ashley slid next to me.

“Ash... is everything—“

“Fucking bitch takes 10 minutes to change! God damn... How hard is it to wake up on time? Like seriously! Ugh!” Ashley vented as she bit angrily into her toast.

“Haha! Chill out... Who was it anyway?” I asked her.

“I don’t know her name, but she was young. Probably got here a few months ago; she seems to think she’s on top of the whole damn world,” Ashley groaned as she rolled her eyes. We all nodded. We all knew the type. A lot of the younger kids think they own the place; they think their hot shit or something. I don’t know why, but that’s just the attitude they’ve got.

Although this morning Ashley was in a shitty mood and being completely bitter, she’s not a bitter person. She’s only a bitter person if there’s a given reason, but not a whole lot sets her off. In fact, pretty much everything turns her on. Jeffree wasn’t joking when he called her a slut; she is. She’s probably the biggest slut here.

“You better eat faster, Ash, the officers are starting to kick people out so we can get ready to ‘see the light’,” I told her.

“Just pretend the food is some guy’s meat stick, I’m sure you’ll gobble that shit down pretty fast,” Jeffree mocked.

“Go to Hell,” Ashley spat.

“There’s nowhere to go; we’re already there,” Jeffree commented. At that moment the officers came by to force us to leave. Ashley quickly shoved the rest of her breakfast down her throat and chugged the orange juice down as we all headed back to our chambers before being led down to ‘see the light’ at 8:30. Seeing the light meant sitting in a circle and discussing why you’re strange and discussing problems and being lectured on how to be normal. It sucked, but it was useful; unless you were Jeffree who was absolutely convinced that they were just feeding us a load of BS. Needless to say, Jeffree was always sarcastic and never really paid attention at the meetings.

“Mr Jackson,” said a deep voice from behind me as I was walking back to my chamber. I turned around and saw an officer there behind me. I stood straighter.

“Yes sir, what can I do for you?” I asked. I know, don’t remind me of how totally scripted that response is, because it’s exactly that. Scripted. That’s how you always talk to an officer. Always. No matter what.

“I want you down in the meeting room 15 minutes earlier than usual, your chamber door will be unlocked at the given time,” he told me.

“Understood sir,” I replied. Yes, I was curious as to why I had to be there earlier, but you don’t question the officers. You do as they say when they say it. They’re always right.

When the time came for me to head down my door snapped open and I was quick to get out of there. I wanted to be punctual and on time; keeping a clean record always looked good. As I walked past Jeffree’s chamber he eyed me with jealousy. I just laughed as I continued on and as I looked into everyone else’s chamber it was clear that they also wished that they were me; walking about outside of the chamber. To be quite honest this was the closest thing to freedom I have ever felt.

I got down to the meeting room and was greeted by a woman in a grey suit with glasses resting on the bridge of her nose. It was Mrs Stein. She was probably in her mid-fifties, and she was the one who helped us See The Light. She smiled at me brightly.

“Mr Jackson, nice to see you on time,” she said. I smiled back.

“It’s not a problem,” I told her.

“Are you wondering why you’re here?” she asked me. I nodded.

“Little bit,” I chuckled. She smirked as she pointed across the room where there were two boys sitting on a bench with their hands in their pockets or wrapped around their bodies. One looked more nervous while the other looked more or less pissed off.

“Meet Bill and Tom, they’re going to be your assigned little buddies,” Mrs Stein told me.

Oh fuck no.

This was literally the worst thing that could ever happen to me. No. Joke. This was worse than being sent to the Hell hole in the first place. We all pitied the poor suckers who had to hang out with the newbies, and now I was one of them... Fantastic.

We all just stood there for awhile, eyeing each other... sizing one another up. Mrs Stein stood there smiling as if we were already the best of friends.

To be honest, one look at these kids could make you realise that they’re definitely strange. The one kid’s hair is a fucked up mess. It’s like a tornado just came and blew past or something. I don’t know why he decided to keep it like that for the Strange Test (or why he’d even want it like that in the first place since it’s pretty ugly). Plus, the eyebrow piercing is just... no. I’m sorry, but no.

The other kid had dreadlocks! Damn, when Jeffree sees his he’s going to freak out! To add, this kid wears the baggiest clothing ever; you could mistake him for some sort of gangster thug. And this guy has a piercing too! On his lip! What were these kids thinking?! That’s practically asking to be sent here! Have kids become that dumb?

“Well, I’ll just be over there preparing a few things, you three get to know each other,” Mrs Stein told us as she walked over to the other end of the room.

“So...” I began, not very enthusiastically, “Who’s who?” I asked.

“I’m Bill, that’s Tom,” replied Tornado-head who I now knew was called Bill.

“Did you guys seriously think that you were going to pass the test looking the way you do?” I asked them. I might as well throw everything out there since we’re going to have to be ‘friends’ and all.

“No,”

“Yeah,” Tom replied. I raised an eyebrow. “For the test I took out my lip ring and wore better clothes,”

“Kept the dreads though?” I asked. He nodded.

“The only reason why I’m here is because of him,” Tom said as he pointed at Bill.

“It’s not my fault we’re twins!” Bill screamed. My eyes widened.

“Shit...” I murmured. Twins? God, I really pitied these kids now.

The thing about twins is this; whether you’re fraternal twins or not, since you grew together and came out together the officers decided that if one is strange than the others is probably strange too even if he or she doesn’t show the signs yet. So, no matter what, if your twin is strange you’re going with them.

“Exactly! Ugh! I told you to change stuff before the test!”

“I’m not going to change who I am for a test!” Bill cried.

“Well it’s not all about you! You could have done it for me because now I’m stuck here with you in this damn rehabilitation Hell!”

“Tom...” Mrs Stein said in a warning tone.

“What?!?” he screamed angrily.

“This is why you’re here...”

“Why? Because I have anger issues? That’s BS that test. I don’t have anger issues,” Tom retorted. Mrs Stein shook her head and didn’t reply.

For the next 10 minutes I listened to the two of them fight and I learnt that Tom did indeed have anger issues whether he wanted to admit it or not.

Finally, I was saved from their screaming when the rest of my See The Light group came in. Jeffree was the first to get in there and when he saw me sitting there with the two kids he knew exactly what had happened. He sat down next to me.

“Damn, you’re stuck with a bunch of little babies?” Jeffree asked. Bill looked up at Jeffree with eyes that showed more hurt and pain than anger, as opposed to Tom who reeked of hatred.

“We’re not babies,” Tom told him coldly. Jeffree laughed.

“Could have fooled me bud,” he said. Tom glared at him, but didn’t say anything.

Ashley, Alicia, and Kerli entered a few moments later, saw Bill and Tom, knew what it meant, but didn’t say anything. Kerli and Alicia gave me sympathetic looks, but Ashley didn’t even look at me. She was too busy sizing them up; I’m assuming she thinks they’re attractive.

Mrs Stein stood up from her chair and clapped her hands.

“Alright! So we all know why we’re here...”

“To see the light,” we all said in unison. To be honest we all sounded pretty depressed about it.

“Exactly. Today’s meeting I want you all to share why you’re still here, and I think we should start with our two newest members; Tom, Bill, which one of you would like to start?” Mrs Stein asked.

“Bill, he’s the only one who’s strange here,” Tom replied as he leaned back in his chair. Bill rolled his eyes as he just accepted it rather than fight it and stood up.

“I’m here because they thought I was goth, punk, and feared that the reason why I’m so thin is because I want to be a girl,” Bill explained. Mrs Stein smiled at him.

“Good Bill! But here, when we finish a confession, we say ‘I want to see the light’,” she told him.

“I want to see the light,” Bill repeated as he sat down. Mrs Stein smiled before she turned to Tom.

“And you?” she asked still being very polite although Tom had obviously pushed his boundaries already. He groaned.

“I’m here because I’m his twin. I want to see the light,” Tom said in a monotone voice. Mrs Stein could tell he was irritated, and decided that rather than push him, she’d congratulate him.

“Next,” she said. I stood up.

“I’m here because I’m not masculine enough and I want to see the light,” I said as I sat back down. Ashley stood up.

“I’m a slut and shaved half my head. I want to see the light,” she said as she also sat back down. Most people during these meetings never gave the full reasoning as to why they were there. Ashley is also here because of her make-up and the fact that she plays guitar and is obsessed with horses.

“Why am I still here?” Jeffree began. I couldn’t help but chuckle, this is always good, “Well, I’m here because the people who run this place are a bunch of homophobes afraid of a little glitter and fabulous. I’m still here because I refuse to change for a bunch of assholes who don’t like me for me, and if you don’t like it you can suck my dick. Which is another reason why I’m here; I encourage dick sucking. Why? Because it feels fucking great! To add—“

“Jeffree!” Mrs Stein barked, “This group is to help you, please be serious. I don’t want to see you executed. This attitude is why you’re a Class A and why you still haven’t been released,” she explained.

“Class A can kiss my ass, so can the rest of the people here,” Jeffree retorted as he sat down, “And by the way, I don’t want to see the light,” Jeffree added. Mrs Stein ignored him as she continued around the room until everyone had shared why they’re still there. Later she gave us a lecture on the differences between Class A, B, and C Stranges.

In case you’re wondering, I’m a Class C. I know that sounds good, but I really hate it. It’s depressing since I’m a Class C (the lowest class) and after all of these years I’m still here. It’s humiliating to be honest!

The meeting ended and we all stood up, I noticed that Kerli accidentally bumped into Tom and Tom freaked out.

“Watch it!” he screamed, “I’m walking here!”

“Whoa! Calm down, kid!”

“You fucking bumped me!” he screamed.

“Tom, calm down,” Bill advised as he put a hand on his shoulder. Tom swatted him away.

“Don’t touch me!” he screamed as he began raging at his twin. Okay, it’s only been... what... an hour and a half and I’ve already had enough of Tom. I turned him around and pointed a stern finger at him.

“Listen! If you don’t calm down you’re going to end up in an asylum all by yourself like Renee!” I screamed. Everyone in the room stopped. Nobody ever mentioned Renee. Renee was a Class A Strange and she was straightjacketed and locked in an insane asylum all by herself for having extreme anger problems that threatened other members. Tom reminds me of her right now.

“Who the fuck is Renee?” Tom asked clearly irritated. I groaned as I grabbed the collar of his shirt.

“You have a lot to learn buddy, c’mon, I’ll take you to Renee,” I said. Maybe if I showed him who Renee was he’d get the idea.

“Michael... he’s not ready,” Kerli said softly as she tried to stop me.

“Doesn’t matter. Maybe he’ll calm down if he meets her and hears her story from Renee herself,”

“Well don’t go alone,” Alicia said.

“Yeah, I’d like to see her again too to be honest,” Jeffree added. The rest of my friends nodded.

“Well, then let’s all go see Renee,” I said with a wicked grin as I looked at Tom who didn’t seem to be frightened; at least, not yet. Bill on the other hand, he didn’t seem too happy about the decision to go see Renee. I turned to the twins.

“Listen, be on your best behaviour when we’re near Renee or she might lose it, and you don’t want that,” I warned, “Trust me.”

“Trust him,” Kerli repeated. As we walked towards where Renee was kept we began to explain how crazy and dangerous she was before we got there. Putting the fear into these noobs was the best. I found a strange joy in it. Unfortunately, Tom didn’t seem to be afraid.

Well, we’ll see how that changes when we see Renee...

Seeing Renee wasn’t as easy as it sounded. Typically you’d have to schedule an appointment to see any of the locked up Class A Stranges, but I explained to the officers the situation of the twins and how one was being led down a dangerous path. As soon as they realised that I was trying to prevent strange and teach these guys a lesson they immediately let us all go through.

We walked down a long white hallway with cells on each side. Some people’s cells were smaller, some were bigger, some were padded, some weren’t. The design of the cell depended on who you were and how severe your problem really was.

Suddenly there was a loud ear piercing scream. Bill jumped.

“What was that?!” Bill asked sounding scared.

“One of the many crazies...” Jeffree replied, “Some of them like to eat the flesh of little boys and—“

“Oh Jeffree stop it!” Kerli ordered as she grabbed onto Bill and hugged him close to her, “You’ll scare the poor kid! It’s his first day in the big building!”

“It’s just the truth,” Jeffree shrugged, “There’re crazy people here.”

“Don’t forget Jeffree, you’re considered one of the top crazies so I don’t know why you’re talking,” I retorted with a chuckle.

“Yeah, it really wrecks my self-esteem. I’m actually a bit disappointed that I’m not number one...” Jeffree commented with an upset sigh.

“Really? Could have fooled me,” Tom muttered. Jeffree shot him a threatening glare.

“Can we throw him to the cannibals?” Jeffree asked. Kerli hit him on the shoulder and we all continued walking down the hallway to where Renee’s cell was. As we neared her cell I stopped and turned around to face Bill and Tom; but more specifically Tom.

“Now remember what I told you, be careful with what you say around her. Anything could potentially set her off,” I warned.

“We get it,” Tom said as he cut me off, “Can we see her now or what?” he asked.

Jesus Christ this kid will be the death of me.

“Fine, whatever,” I groaned as I continued to lead them down the hall. We turned left and straight ahead of us was Renee’s cell. The front of her cell was made of glass, and we could see her lying down away from us.  We all walked up to the front of the glass and stood there. After a few moments Tom groaned.

“Are we just going to stand here and wait for her to see us or are we going to get her attention?” Tom asked obviously annoyed. He was definitely an impatient person.

“There’s no safe way to get her attention. Calling her name or tapping on the glass might startle her, we don’t want that. We wait until she sees us,” Alicia answered. Tom rolled his eyes and we all stood in wait. We were there for about 15 minutes before she rolled over and saw us. When she saw us a smile crossed her face. She stood up and walked over to where there were small holes in the glass so we could speak clearly to her. She was still straight jacketed.

It was sad seeing her like that. She had only just turned 16 a few months ago. She’s been in the cell sine she was 14 and a half; that’s when she was announced as dangerous and put in this section of the complex. I couldn’t imagine life in a straight jacket.

“Hey, you guys visited,” she said in a calm voice.

“Yeah, we did,” I replied with a smile.

“Hey Renee! How are you doing?” Kerli asked as she pushed past me to talk to Renee. Kerli and Renee had become fast friends when Renee came into the compound; they just instantly clicked with one another and have been best friends ever since then. It was clear that Kerli really missed her.

“Fine I guess. Same as usual. They’re planning and changing my cell I think...”

“What? Why?” Alicia cut in.

“Because a three wall padded room isn’t enough. I hit the glass sometimes and they don’t like that. They’re making the modifications to another cell so I can live in there from then on,” she explained with a shrug.

“Will we still be able to talk to you?” Kerli asked. Renee nodded.

“Yeah, but it’ll probably be harder to get to me,” she replied. Kerli frowned and the air went a bit silent. That’s when I decided to speak up and introduce her to Bill and Tom.

“Renee, one of the reasons why we wanted to see you was because of these two...” I said as I shoved Bill and Tom to the front so Renee could see them better, “This is Tom, and this is his twin Bill...”

“Shit, twins? Who’s infected?” Renee asked. Tom pointed at Bill.

“My brother,” he replied. I shook my head.

“I think they both are; legitimately,” I corrected. Renee nodded.

“No! There’s nothing wrong with me!” Tom defended as he raised his voice.

“Dude! Just give it up! You can say what you want but you’re still going to be stuck here!” Jeffree told him as he shook his head. Tom was about to reply, but Renee cut in first.

“How long have they been here?” Renee asked.

“This is their first day,”

“Huh, they make friends fast...”

“Michael is their babysitter,” Jeffree explained with a smirk as he patted me on the back. I wasn’t very pleased by his joke. Renee, however, burst out laughing!

“Damn Mike, I’m sorry,” she apologised through her laughter. Soon everyone started laughing along. When the laughter died down I went on to explain Bill and Tom.

“Anyway, this one here,” I began as I ruffled Tom’s hair, “has a short fuse if you know what I mean...” I explained. Renee nodded.

“So he’s like me?” she asked. We all nodded. Renee darted a look at Tom and gestured for him to come closer. He did as he was told and Renee moved her mouth closer to the glass.

“Listen, you don’t want to be here, Tom. You need to get rid of your attitude and get out of here as fast as you can before they destroy you, because trust me, I’ve seen it.”

“I don’t need to change my attitude,” Tom retorted coldly. Renee smirked.

“That’s what I said too, but trust me—“

“No! You know what? I don’t want to! Michael told me to trust him, Kerli told me to trust him too, and now you’re telling me to trust you! Why the fuck would I?! I don’t know you or Michael! I’m not going to trust people I don’t even know! And if your little ‘suggestion’ really works than why are you still here, huh?” Tom snapped. I could see something shift behind Renee’s eyes.

“Tom...” I warned as I tried to pull him away. He only jerked away.

“Don’t touch me!” he yelled, “To me, you’re just a nobody! So stop trying to befriend me!” Tom yelled.

“Tom, chill out, look at her she’s—“ Bill began but before he could continue Renee slammed her body against the glass.

“Stop!” she screamed, “Shut the fuck up okay?! You don’t know shit! You’re only 13 years old and it’s your first fucking day! I have superiority here got it?!”

“If that’s so than why am I out here and you’re in there?” Tom retorted. Renee glared at him before letting out a loud scream and slamming herself against the glass once again.

“Do you want to end up like me?!” she screamed, “Huh?! Do you want to join me in here? If so then keep doing what you’re doing kid, and you’ll be sitting here next to me pretty damn soon,” Renee said harshly.

“Yeah, right, unlike you I’m not a freak and—“

“I’m not a freak!!” she screamed as she threw herself into the glass numerous times. She started kicking at the glass and screaming loudly.

“Now you’ve done it!” Jeffree exclaimed as he threw his hands in the air.

“What? Is it because I called her a freak?” Tom asked.

“Yes!” we all screamed.

“Don’t ever use that word around me, do you understand?” Renee asked, her breathing now intense and heavy. Her hair had fallen into her face and gave it the look that it hadn’t been brushed in a week.

“What? Freak?” Tom asked with a sly smirk. There was fire underneath her eyes as she screamed even louder. Tom just laughed as she started freaking out.

“Fuck you Tom! Fuck you!” Kerli cried as she ran out. Tom continued to laugh. I turned to Bill and he looked scared. Just as Kerli ran past the corner, a bunch of officers took her place.

“All of you, leave now,” they ordered. No questions were asked. We all left. I looked back at Renee one last time before I left. The officers were opening the cell, and had tazers in their hands...

They treated the dangerous Class A’s as animals in here... it was sick, but if they wanted to get better that’s what had to be done I guess. I don’t even know. That’s just what we were always told, so I’m going with it.

When we were out of that area of the complex we met up with Kerli who was crying. Jeffree grabbed her and pulled her into a hug.

“Kerli! Girl, are you okay?” he asked her. She shook her head.

“There was so much more I wanted to say...” she muttered. She lifted her head up and darted a hateful look towards Tom. “It’s all your fault! What did we tell you? Fuck! You don’t listen ever do you?” she cried as she ran off. Alicia ran after her. It was just Jeffree, Bill, Tom, and I. I groaned.

“C’mon, I’ll show you your cell—I mean, chamber,” I corrected sourly as I walked them to where I was told their chambers were. Jeffree came with me and we dropped them off and headed back to our level.

At this time, we were allowed to walk around as long as we stayed on our level, so Jeffree and I took a seat against the wall of our hallway.

“God... what’s that kid’s issue?” Jeffree asked angrily. I shrugged.

“I have no idea... but goddammit! Why am I the one who’s stuck with him? And his brother!”

“Well that other kid ain’t so bad,”

“It’s the first day, don’t be so sure...” I told him. We both sighed.

“Hopefully things get better, because he’s already driving me insane,” Jeffree told me.

“Hopefully,” I agreed.

The next day we all ate together during breakfast; yes, that included Tom and Bill. Breakfast was really silent. Kerli was still upset about what Tom had done to Renee and she obviously wasn’t in the mood to talk. To add, all eyes were on us and the new kids. I couldn’t tell if they thought we were losers for hanging out with them or if they pitied us.

We were led back to our chambers later for about an hour before we were forced out to go work.

We all had different jobs depending on your Strange Class, age, and gender. Being a boy, I had more physically demanding jobs than Ashley, Alicia, or Kerli. Typically we were lifting bricks around to a new destination, or boxes, equipment... pretty much anything. We’d often build new chambers and new units too. Really, we just did whatever we were asked to do. The girls had jobs that revolved more around cooking and cleaning. Talk about stereotyping, but it was just how it went. The girls would also have to sew new uniforms when they were needed.

Unfortunately, none of these jobs took place outside. To be quite honest I hardly remember what it feels like to actually be outside. They don’t let you outside until you’re going home. We were never told why; it was just the rules.

Today, I had the unfortunate job of carrying in some equipment into the complex that Renee was in. I assumed that it was going to be used to make the cell that she had told us about. What made this job even worse was because I had the twins with me and that was it. No Jeffree. Just me, Bill, and Tom.

“This is really heavy...” Bill commented.

“Well suck it up, it only gets heavier the older you get,” I warned. Bill’s eyes widened. God, what’s this kid’s problem? He gets scared of everything?! Is this guy ever not scared? He needs to take a chill pill! Maybe this was his problem... he was a scardy-cat.

“Well I don’t plan on staying here very long so—“ Tom started, but I interrupted him before he could continue whatever it was he was going to say.

“Will you just shut up? Do you realise that this is only your second day and already nobody likes you? I can’t believe I’m stuck with you guys!” I complained as I groaned loudly.

“It’s not my fault you guys don’t respect me and my superiority,” Tom said with a shrug. I rolled my eyes.

“You know, you’re lucky you’re here because nobody can beat you up here without getting into a whole lot of shit. Out in the normal world you’d get your face punched in for talking like that,” I warned him. He shrugged.

“Maybe, probably not though. Nobody messes with me,” he told me. Ugh, I was seriously tired of this tough-guy-I’m-sublime attitude. I wish this kid had a mute button.

After dropping off our first load of equipment we went back to grab some more stuff. Just as I thought Tom would finally shut the hell up, he started complaining again.

“Ugh! Why do we have to do this anyway?” Tom complained unhappily as he dropped what he was carrying on the ground loudly, “This is bullshit!” he screamed, “We’re not their pack mules! They can do this themselves! This sucks! It’s not fair! Those bastards are just using us and I don’t want to be part of this fuckery!!”

Everyone around me looked at me and the twins. They all shot me these sympathetic looks because I wasn’t paired with just some random strange kids; I was paired with a disrespectful dickhead with an anger issue. I swear people are going to start sending me ‘Get Well Soon Cards’ because if I have to spend another minute with Tom I’m going to become mentally ill.

“Okay, let me explain something to you two,” I began as I got down on one knee so I was their height, “You don’t complain when you’re doing something. When you’re asked to do something; you do it. Period. Full stop. End of story. When you’re assigned something you get it done as soon as possible. So stop complaining and finish this job without any more whining,” I told them – more specifically Tom – sternly.

“I can do whatever I want!” Tom cried out loudly. I noticed a few of the officers getting our attention. They looked at us peculiarly. I tried to ignore them and hurry up with this explanation before we all got in trouble for not doing our task.

“No, you can’t,” I stated harshly, “Look, they probably told you that you’re their patient and they’re the doctors, but trust me, they’re far from that. Think of it more like this; you’re a slave and they’re royalty. You do what they say, when they say it, otherwise you get whipped. You’re not on the same level as them. They have no mercy, Tom. They’ll do whatever they want to if they feel it’ll make you better. It’s better to just do what they tell you, stay low, and under the radar until Strange is out of your system. Understand?” I explained, desperately hoping that this explanation would clarify a few things. Unfortunately, being the fact that it was Tom it probably wouldn’t get through his thick skull.

“Fuck the officers!” Tom screamed at the top of his lungs. I cringed.

We were dead.

About 10 seconds later I heard heavy footsteps behind me and a deep voice state;

“Boys, you’re supposed to be moving equipment.” I turned around to face the officer and of course it had to be one of the biggest, most intimidating officers I’ve ever seen.

“Yes, sorry sir. They’re new here and they’re just having a bit of trouble. I was only trying to help them out as I have been instructed to do, sir,” I explained nervously. The officer nodded, and just as I thought we were in the clear Tom opens his big mouth.

“Why don’t you move the damn equipment?” Tom challenged. The officer’s eyes widened. My mouth dropped. Bill stood their looking scared. Tom raised his eyebrows as if to challenge the officer.

We were dead. We were fucking dead.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, four more officers came over towards us. Tom saw them and tried to run, but two of them caught him before he could and they gripped onto him tightly. Tom started kicking and thrashing around.

“Let go of me!” he screamed desperately, “I’m not an animal!” he shouted. The officers ignored him as one of them grabbed me and the other grabbed a sobbing Bill.

“To Unit 82; immediately,” instructed the only officer who wasn’t holding anyone. Everyone who was within ear shot gasped and exchanged glances amongst each other. My eyes widened.

The infamous 80 units... There were 10 of them. It started at 80, then 81, 82, 83, 84... all the way to 89. Which unit you went to depends on what you do.  I’ve never been, and I had never planned on going. But all thanks to Tom, we’re going to 82... The reason why I had never wanted to go to any of those units? It’s where they punished those who were out of line.

Typically, the punishments were pretty brutal.

As I was being led to unit 82 with Tom and Bill I couldn’t help but begin planning my will and saying a few quick prayers; you never know what could happen in one of the 80 units...

When we got to unit 82 there was sweat beads along my forehead. I was so nervous. I’ve never been here before, but I’ve heard awful stories. We were thrown into a small, metal plated room with aluminum benches. It was absolute silence as we sat there. There was another girl in there with us, but I didn’t know her very well. She seemed too scared to want to talk anyway.

We sat there for an agonizing 15 minutes before a new officer opened the door quickly. He eyed us all and then turned to Bill and Tom.

“You two, come with me,” he ordered. Bill and Tom got up to follow the officer, but he didn’t look too pleased. Bill looked back at me.

“Say ‘yes, sir’,” I told them.

“Yes, sir,” Bill said in a quiet, shy voice.

“Yes, sir,” Tom added in an arrogant manner. The officer’s facial expression remained stone cold as he led the two of them out. I watched them go. I have to admit, even though those two annoy me I feel bad that this has already happened on the second day. I mean, I’m supposed to be watching over them and helping them! Not getting them sent to the 80 units. I feel kind of guilty... Damn, this is not going to be a fun afternoon.

About 10 minutes later the same officer that had taken the twins away had come back into the room.

“Michael Jackson,” he said in his deep voice. I stood up.

“Yes, sir,”

“Follow me,” he said as he made his way out of the room. I followed him out of the room and down some long hallways and into a larger grey room. At the far end of the room was a desk with a man behind it. I knew that he must’ve been the guy in charge of this unit. I stood in the doorway until he told me to come forward.

“Take a seat Michael,” he told me. I nodded obediently as I sat down in front of him. There was a brief silence.

“I’ve heard there were some problems this morning as you, Tom Kaulitz, and Bill Kaulitz were busy moving equipment around; is this true?”

“Yes, sir,” I agreed.

“What happened? You’re supposed to be helping them adjust,” he explained.

“Yes, sir. I understand. What happened this morning was quite a bit of complaining; more from Tom than from Bill,” –way too throw him under the bus— “He didn’t seem to understand the rules of this complex. I was trying to explain them to him, but he didn’t care to listen, therefore, we caused a disruption, sir,” I explained.

“I’ve looked into their files and it does say that Tom was admitted into this facility because of his anger issues,”

“Yes, sir, I believe that’s correct,”

“I understand that you’re trying your best, Michael,”

“Yes, sir, I am,”

“But his behaviour is unacceptable,”

“Indeed, sir,”

“You need to work harder to fix it, otherwise we’ll have to intervene like we’re doing at this moment,” he explained to me very seriously. I nodded.

“I understand, sir, I’ll try harder,” I assured him.

“Good,”

“But sir, may I proceed to ask a question?” I asked.

“Yes, Michael, go ahead,” he told me.

“What’s going to happen to us, sir?” I questioned. The man smirked.

“You? Nothing but a warning considering that you’ve got a clean record, and you were only trying to help. The Kaulitz twins, however, aren’t so lucky...” he began. He looked up at me dead in the eyes, and I waited for him to continue, but he didn’t. “Feel free to ask them the rest when it’s all over. Now go wait in the waiting room for the two of them to get back,” he ordered. I nodded.

“Yes, sir, and thank you, sir,” I thanked.

“Don’t thank me, Michael, this may not happen again,” he warned. I nodded.

“I understand, sir,”

“Good, now go,” he told me sternly. I nodded as I made my way out of the room where I was met by the officer who had led me here in the first place, who then escorted me back to the waiting room where I had to sit for a few more hours before the twins would be let back out.

I wasn’t looking forward to seeing the twins again and hearing about what they went through. I’m afraid that they’re going to walk out all beat up. Bill will probably be crying and weak at the knees. Tom will probably pretend to be strong, but will cry tonight in his chamber. Hopefully this’ll teach them to be more careful, because if they’re not we’re all going to get in a lot more trouble which definitely won’t help in me getting out of this place before my birthday.

Suddenly, the door cracked open loudly and the two twins walked in. Bill was drying up tears from his cheeks while Tom walked in with a stone cold facial expression; he looked pissed. I sized the two of them up, and Bill seemed to look quite fine; maybe they just scared him or something. It really doesn’t take much to make that kid cry.

Tom on the other hand looked like shit. He had a black eye and bruises along his arms. He had a limp in one leg as well; and that’s only the stuff I could see! Who knows what else happened in there. Considering Tom’s stubborn attitude there was probably more damage elsewhere. I’d definitely be asking about it once we’re out of this building.

“You three can go,” the officer told us, “I don’t want to see you three here again.”

“Yes sir,” we all said in unison. I looked at the two twins; surprised. Did they just say ‘yes sir’ without having to be reminded? Damn. Something must have happened in there. Something drastic.

And to think that this is only Unit 82... I can only imagine what torture they’d inflict in Unit 89. Hopefully I’ll never have to find out. Some things are better left unknown.

Once we were out of the unit I turned to the two of them.

“So... what happened in there?” I asked.

“You weren’t hurt?” Bill asked me in a small whimper. I shook my head.

“No,” I answered. His eyes widened.

“You’re so lucky,” he muttered. The way he said it was haunting, and now I kind of regretted asking the question because I’m not so sure I want to know the answer anymore...

“They use your weaknesses against you,” Bill explained the following morning at breakfast to me, Jeffree, Ashley, Alicia and Kerli.

“It was stupid,” Tom added.

“Looks like you were the stupid one,” Jeffree commented, “You’re the one with the black eye,” he noted.

“Shut up,” Tom ordered as he looked away. He didn’t seem like he really wanted to talk about it, so we all faced Bill again and waited for him to keep going, but it was looking as though we were going to have to prompt him.

“Bill, are you gunna—“

“Say something dammit!” Jeffree screamed as he slammed his fists against the tables. Ashley and Alicia grabbed Jeffree. Kerli held onto Bill.

“Jeffree! Calm down before the guards see you!” Ashley reminded him. Jeffree rolled his eyes.

“Yeah! Don’t scare the poor boy,” Kerli told him as she stroked Bill’s hair almost as if he were some sort of pet. I swear Kerli likes him more than me, and she’s known me practically since the beginning and this guy for maybe three days! Girls... I’ll never understand them... “Bill, if you don’t want to share you don’t have to,” she told him.

“No, I said I would,” Bill replied.

“Yeah Kerli, he said he would,” Jeffree reinforced. Kerli rolled her eyes at him. Bill took a took breath.

“Anyway, we were dragged into this circular room and there were a bunch more officers, but these guys looked tougher and meaner; they were. They grabbed Tom and dragged him into the middle, and then grabbed me and strapped me to a chair so that I was unable to move. They took Tom’s shirt off and then tied his hands up to the ceiling so that they were hanging in the air. I was so scared. I thought they were going to hurt me, beat me, scratch me, burn me... but they didn’t. Instead, they did all of that to Tom and made me watch,” Bill shuddered. Our mouths dropped.

Even I had to admit that that was pretty cruel, but I guess it was the perfect punishment for the both of them. Bill was extremely fragile and emotional whereas Tom seemed to be the complete opposite.

“Shit,” Alicia muttered. There was a long silence at our table. Suddenly, Bill burst into tears. Kerli quickly grabbed him and snuggled him some more. Yeah, they’re definitely going to get married someday. I mean, as long as Kerli doesn’t get executed this year, but I’d rather not think about that because then I think about the fact that it’s also my last year. Ugh, great, now I’m thinking about this topic again...

“It’s okay now,” Ashley coaxed, “I mean, at least you guys learnt your lessons,” she shrugged. Bill nodded rapidly, whereas Tom more or less shrugged which wasn’t very surprising.

When breakfast ended we went back to our chambers for awhile before being forced down to our See The Light meeting session. God this sucked. I’ve been doing these stupid sessions for four years and so far nothing’s changed! It’s a load of bullshit if you ask me.

“Now, today I want to bring up a very sensitive topic,” Mrs Stein began as she eyed everyone in the circle. Tom was picking at the filth underneath his nails, Bill was looking down sadly (probably because he was still traumatized from Unit 82) and the rest of the group looked less than enthusiastic. Nevertheless, Mr Stein continued. “Class A Stranges,” she said as she looked directly at Jeffree, “Specifically the ones who are locked up in an asylum.” I noticed something shift within Kerli, and I knew she was going to hate this meeting more than any other one we’ve had before. Ashley and Alicia gripped each of her hands.

Mrs Stein proceeded to explain what will get you your own asylum, how to prevent it, and the current teens in there. The meeting was nearing an end when she turned specifically to Kerli and the rest of us.

“I decided to talk about this today because there’s some news in that section of this facility...” Mrs Stein began. I immediately knew that it was going to be about Renee. Why else would she be staring at us like that? “I’m sure you all remember Renee right?” she asked. The group nodded. “After recent incidents regarding her behaviour they’ve made a big decision. They’ve never had to do this before her, but she’s too dangerous to be kept around. So, rather than waiting until she’s 18 to—“

“No!” Kerli screamed knowing exactly what she was going to say next, “No! They can’t do that! They can’t!”

“They have to keep everyone else safe, Kerli,” Mrs Stein began.

“We are! She has her own chamber for God’s sake! We’re as safe as can be!” Kerli shouted.

“Things have changed honey,” she informed her calmly as she moved closer to Kerli. “Come see me after the meeting okay? I have something to tell you,” she whispered to her. Kerli nodded slowly as a tear rolled down her cheek. Mrs Stein stepped away and then began to conclude today’s meeting. I’d tell you about how boring and pointless the conclusion was, but I wasn’t focused on that. I was focused on poor Kerli.

She was losing her best friend before the due date. If any one of them was going to be executed it should be Kerli who leaves us first since she’s older than Renee. It’s just how things go. Or, at least, it’s how things used to go. I guess we really can never know what’s going to happen here.

When the meeting ended, Kerli went over to talk to Mrs Stein. Ashley, Alicia, Jeffree, Bill, Tom and I all tried to wait behind so we could figure out what she had told her, but the officers ushered us out too quickly and we knew that we’d all have to wait

So that was it. We were going to lose Renee. Just like that. I felt so useless since I knew that I couldn’t save her. As we walked back to our chambers I still couldn’t wrap my mind around the news.

As we marched in silence I took quick glances at everyone’s facial expressions, and it seemed as though they were thinking the same thing as me...

What were we going to do?