The Box
Regulus wakes up to complete darkness and utter silence that only lasts for a split second, before the sounds of metal against metal fills his ears and a flash of light crosses his vision.
The first conscious thought that runs through his head is one single word.
James.
A blurry image of a boy with wild hair, and round black glasses pops into his head. He doesn’t know who James is, but his name rings clear, and the picture of him is faint. James is important. Regulus can’t seem to remember why.
And then he realizes he can’t seem to remember much of anything. Panic courses through his body as he searches for a memory, literally any memory. There is nothing. Nothing before waking up and before thinking about…..thinking about…..who was he thinking about?
Someone important. There was someone important. Who was it?
He thinks and thinks but the thing he remembered moments ago is gone, scrapped out of every crevice in his brain.
Where is he?
Regulus doesn’t even know where he is. Everything is gone. His name. That’s all he has. A name.
Is the name even his? Regulus. He can’t explain why but it sounds like him.
Breathe, he instructs himself.
“Breathe Regulus,” he says out loud.
The sound of his own voice shocks him. Somehow deeper than what he thought, but also not deep by any standards. Soft, but harsh. But for him it is easy to listen to.
He takes a deep breath and scans his surroundings. He’s sitting on the floor of a metal box. There are crates surrounding him filled with who knows what.
Regulus looks down. His stomach lurches as he notices that the whole cage is moving up, and it’s moving quickly.
He needs to get out. He doesn’t know why, but every instinct is telling him to get out of the cage no matter what.
He stands on shaky legs and looks to a stack of crates near the corner he could climb up. So he does exactly that. He climbs to the top of the stack of crates until his hands come in contact with the roof of the metal box.
He attempts to push the top up, but quickly learns he’s not very strong. The top doesn’t budge one bit. He gives up on that plan and climbs back down the crates.
He sits back on the uncomfortable floor and thinks.
What does he know for sure?
He can’t remember anything. He’s in a metal cage. Said metal cage is moving. Oh. He’s moving.
The cage is going up. Logic tells him that the cage can’t just go up forever, it has to stop eventually, so the best thing for him to do is to be prepared for whatever he may face at the end of the ride.
He starts searching the crates for something to defend himself with. All of them hold random items like clothes, food, and pencils. If he really needs to he supposes he could stab someone with a pencil.
The last crate he opens, however, is promising. It holds axes, hammers, and best of all knives.
Regulus grips the handle of a small hunters knife. It feels natural in his hand.
He waits now, forcing himself to take deep breaths hoping to slow the shaking in his hands.
What feels like an hour, but was probably just a few minutes, later the end of the shaft comes into view.
Regulus expects the cage to slow down, but it doesn’t and he’s racing toward a concrete roof entirely too fast. Fear strikes him hard and he braces himself for impact. But the cage comes to a stop.
It’s abrupt and caused him to go crashing to the ground. He groans in pain before forcing himself to stand. Who knows what is on the other side of the concrete doors.
Terror races into his body unexplainably. The concrete doors rest outside of the cage. The roof of the cage didn’t budge when he pushed against it. Regulus feels like a caged animal.
He stands there and waits for the doors to open. He grips the knife tightly trying to prepare himself for anything.
The doors open. The concrete slides apart and sunlight floods the cage blinding Regulus. He blinks rapidly trying to make out something other than blinding white light.
The world comes into focus finally after a moment and the sight above him confuses him.
Two boys are pulling the cage doors above him apart and more boys surround the top of the cage staring down at him. Voices fill his ears, but he can’t make out anything they are saying through the dizziness and confusion.
Someone drops into the cage with him. He jumps out of skin leaping back from the person. He composes himself a split second later masking all emotion on his face and holding the knife up at the boy in-front of him threateningly.
“Woah Greenie, careful with that,” the boy says.
Regulus glares threateningly, not speaking.
“You’re not much of a talker I guess,” the boy says.
“Who are you?” Regulus asks, raising the knife slightly at him.
“My names James and-“ he is going to continue, but there is a clatter.
The knife slips from Regulus’ hand and clatters to the ground. His entire body freezes and locks into place. James. Why does that sound familiar?
“Greenie?” James asks him.
Regulus refuses to look at his face. Scared of what he will find.
“Look, I know you're confused right now. I know none of this makes sense. I’m only here to help,” James tells him, putting his arms out like he’s calming a wild animal.
Regulus doesn’t respond. He doesn’t move.
“Can you tell me if you remember anything?” James asks him.
His head snaps up, staring into James’ honey brown eyes. There is a pause.
“So do you?” James asks again.
“No,” Regulus says shortly.
“That’s normal,” James tells him.
“Normal? My complete lack of memory is normal? Right,” Regulus snaps back.
“Yeah, normal. We all showed up here, just the same as you with no memories in this box,” James explains. “Let’s get you out of here and I promise I will explain everything I know.”
Regulus goes over the options in his head. Slowly he bends down and snatches the knife from where it lays on the bottom of the cage.
“I’m keeping the knife,” is all Regulus says as a way of confirming that he will go with James.
“Only if you don’t use it on anyone,” James responds.
“What else is a knife for?” Regulus snaps back.
James laughs again and uses the rope that someone from above threw down at some point.
“Alright Frankie, I’m ready to ascend,” James says, placing his foot in the loop at the base of the roof.
His body is yanked quiet gracefully to the top of the cage. Soon the rope is lowered back into the cage.
Regulus takes a deep breath, gripping the knife harder. He places his foot in the loop and allows himself to be pulled up to an unknown place.
Arms grab him and pull him to his feet. He stumbles slightly before regaining balance. Voices surround him, light surrounds him. He can barely see anything or make out what the voices are saying.
“What do you think his name is?”
“Think he pissed himself?”
“He’s got a knife!”
“Think he’s gonna murder us all?”
“He looks scared.”
So many words, so many voices. He forces himself to ignore them all. He looks around.
Despite trying to prepare himself for anything, what he sees wasn’t on the list.
Massive stone walls surround him.
There are four massive stone walls, probably hundreds of feet high, surrounding the area in a perfect square. They are covered in ivy in most places and look as though they have been standing there for at least a century. In each of the walls there is a twenty foot gap that reaches all the way to the top of the wall. There are one foot rods on one side of the opening and one foot deep holes that seem to line up with the rods.
There is grass growing through the cracks in the stone on the ground that make the courtyard area have a softer ground. It is several football fields in length.
In one corner of the area is a large grove of trees. Their branches are like boney hands reaching out to grasp something that isn’t there. Their roots grow through the many cracks in the stone and are covered in moss creating a sort of green blanket over the area.
In another corner is a tall structure that looks like it is going to fall over any second. It’s made of wood and has random rooms sticking out at random areas.
One of the corners is covered with a dirt filled field and only a small portion of it has green tuffs sticking out. There are also more trees more toward the wall that are a lot more lively than the ones in the forest and have orange and red fruits hanging from them.
The last corner has a large red barn positioned in it and the red paint seems to be peeling and the wood rotting. There is a small fenced enclosure with some farm animals roaming around inside.
Regulus feels dizzy with how many times he’s spun in a circle trying to make sense of anything.
“Welcome to the Hallow,” someone says.
Regulus turns to face the boy. He has straight brown hair that falls slightly in his eyes, which are a dark brown. He’s tall with broad shoulders and has a deep voice.
“My names Frank,” he says. “You remember yours yet?”
“Why should I tell you?” Regulus glares.
“Kid has trust issues,” another boy says.
This one has blondish brown hair that spikes up. His eyebrows are raised as he stares at Regulus.
Regulus glares back.
“He’s cute. Dad, can we keep him?” the same boy asks, turning to Frank.
“Barty, go back to slicing please,” Frank says, rolling his eyes.
This boy, Barty, shuts up but doesn’t move to do whatever Franks asked him to.
“Some of us have remembered our names after a few hours, while some it takes a few days, so it’s okay if you don’t know it,” James says to Regulus.
“I remember it,” Regulus says.
“And?” Frank prompts.
Regulus stares for a long moment before turning to James. James nods, telling Regulus he can trust Frank.
“Regulus,” he says clearly. “My name is Regulus.”
“Well, it’s nice to meet you Regulus,” James says with a smirk.
“Pleased to add you to our crew,” Frank tells him with a comforting smile. “James here is going to take you on a tour and you can ask all the questions you want.”
Regulus gives a short nod. James smiles at him.
“Everyone else, back to work!” Frank calls to the group of boys.
Regulus allows his eyes to roam over the faces of the boys. He makes eye contact with a small boy. Far younger than most here. He has big brown eyes and dark brown curly hair. His skin is tan and his cheeks flushed. He stares at Regulus in wonder and shock. Regulus feels his heart soften at the sight of the young boy. He gives him a small smile. The boy grins back and turns with the rest of the boys who are filling the courtyard space.
“You and me Greenie,” James says to Regulus, capturing his attention again.
“Where the hell am I?” Regulus asks James quickly.
“Let’s save questions till the end, I’ll explain everything I know I promise,” James says. “But I will start by answering that question.
“We call this place the Hallows. Every boy here has arrived in that box just like you, one every month. Every two weeks we get supplies. This is our home, it’s where we live. We eat here, we sleep here. We grow our own food, build our own shelter. We have a system to get everything done and to survive.”
“Who put us here?” Regulus can’t help but ask.
“We don’t know, call them the death eaters. I know it sounds super menacing, but really it’s not all that scary.”
“Why are we here?” Regulus asks.
“Questions at the end,” James responds, shutting Regulus down. “Let me show you around.”
Regulus wants to ask him more, but decides to leave it and get as much information as he can, when he can. James and Regulus walk over to the closest corner to them.
Regulus notices that James walks with a pronounced limp. He always puts less weight on his left leg. Regulus stores that information in the back of his mind, deciding to focus on James' words right now.
“Alright, starting with the gardens. This is where we grow all of our own food. Vegetables, fruits, you name it. Peter is the keeper of the trackhoes. Trackhoes are what we call our gardeners, and a keeper is sort of like the leader of each position. You will definitely meet Peter later, he’s a little shy but still knows how to party.”
Regulus just nods along, watching the boys in the gardens working hard. He follows James to the next corner, it’s the one with the barn and animals.
“This is the bloodhouse. It’s where we raise and slaughter all of our animals. Barty, the one from before, is the keeper of the slicers. Slicers are the people who slaughter our animals. Sick bastards if you ask me, but we gotta eat something.”
They move to the next corner. The one with the scary building.
“This is the homestead,” James says, gesturing to the leaning building. “Doesn’t look good, but it works. Only keepers sleep inside there, everyone else usually grabs hammocks or sleeping bags and posts up somewhere under the overhang. Clearly it was all built by the people here, but it functions. Mulciber is the keeper of the builders. He doesn’t have a lot going on up top but he’s strong and gets the job done.”
They walk around the building.
“Here we have the kitchens. We have meals here three times a day, but if you become good friends with Edwin then you can grab a snack whenever. You’ll get the hang of a routine, don't worry,” James assures.
“Sure only after I get over the absence of memories thing and all that,” Regulus deadpans.
“You will,” James repeats. “We all have. I mean it’s still weird and creepy at times but you’ll find your place, I have.”
“And what’s your place James?” Regulus asks.
“Second-in-command, only behind Frank. I help everyone in the Hallows with anything they need. I try to give people hope, make sure to always stay positive and as happy as it can get here,” James explains.
“That sounds exhausting,” Regulus says.
“Someone’s got to be it,” James shrugs.
They walk to the next corner.
“These are the deadheads,” James says, gesturing to the tree filled corner.
“That’s morbid,” Regulus comments.
“Thought you’d like that. It wasn’t my first choice, but it keeps
people out of there,” James responds. “The outer trees are good for a nap or just some shade, and the forest is kind of pretty but people stay out of it for the most part. And that’s all four corners. What do you think?”
“Very homey,” Regulus says sarcastically.
James suppresses a laugh.
“Now for the next step,” James says. “You will spend two weeks spending one day training with every job, and then the last two days working with just that job to get prepared so start that job full time.”
“There are twelve jobs?” Regulus asks, doing the math quickly in his head.
“Yes. Most people just work in one section of the Hallows and help with all of the jobs that happen there. You’ll learn them all.”
Regulus simply nods.
“I only have one more thing I need to tell you then you can be free from me.”
“Get on with it then,” Regulus prompts.
“Already sick of me, are you?”
“Yes, your voice is starting to grow deaf to my ears,” Regulus tells him, despite that being totally untrue. He doesn’t want James to leave him at all, this place is scary and James is comforting, plus he knows things.
“Well then,” James starts with a slight laugh. “My last thing for you is our rules. There are only three, so don’t go breaking any of them, ya hear?”
Regulus nods and prompts him to continue with a wave of his hand.
“Rule number one: Never go outside the walls of the Hallows, unless you are a Runner. Rule two: Never hurt another Hallow. We are all in this together, we need to trust each other. Rule number three: Do your part. No slackers here.”
“What’s behind the walls?”
“You’ll find out. Just promise you will follow those three rules. They are the only way we don’t fall apart.”
“Fine. Promise,” Regulus says.
“Any other questions for me? Besides what’s behind the walls,” James says.
“I don’t even know what questions to ask,” Regulus says honestly.
“That makes sense. It’s all very confusing. You hungry, Greenie?”
“I guess,” Regulus responds.
It’s only been a couple of hours. A couple of hours here, and, as it seems, so much time ahead of him in the Hallows. Everything is so familiar but also completely new. It feels like all of his memories are stuck under a frozen lake, like hands trying to break through the surface.