by L. S. O'Dea
Why was he being nice to her? Usually, he ignored her.
“We’re all a little nervous about the announcement. My family has a fifty percent List rate.”
This was more like Randy, always thinking about himself. Her family had a one hundred percent List rate.
“I’m sorry. I mean, fifty percent must sound pretty good to you.” His shoulders sagged.
She glared at him. It was true, but he didn’t need to point it out. His brown eyes were soft and sad. Maybe, he hadn’t meant it to be mean. The announcement did put everyone on edge.
“Clarabelle shouldn’t have said what she did about your mom.”
“Thank you.” She studied him.
He smiled, his teeth a quick flash of white in the darkness. “I was worried that you’d refuse to talk to me. I wouldn’t blame you. Not after the way I’ve treated you.” He glanced around. “It’s really dark. I can barely see you.”
He took a couple of steps forward; she didn’t move back.
“Do you remember Chirps? I swear I still see him around sometimes.”
She smiled. Chirps had been a baby crow that had lost its parents. They’d raised him, years ago. “I see him, especially in the spring.”
He gently touched her cheek, his fingers rough from working the fields. “You’re pretty dirty,” he said, a smile in his tone.
“Yeah.” Really, what else was there to say?
“You have the most gorgeous eyes.” He ran his thumb over her cheek.
She stiffened. Her physical appearance was a sore subject for her. She was almost a perfect blend of both House Servant and Producer which meant she didn’t belong with either class. Her features weren’t as delicate as a House Servant’s or as strong as a Producer’s. Her nose was either too large or not big enough and her eyes were the wrong color. House Servants’ eyes varied in hues but they were always vibrant, never a dull brown like a Producer’s. Hers were neither vibrant nor brown; they were gold. “Everyone hates my eyes. You tell...”
“That’s because Clarabelle is jealous.”
She turned her face away and he dropped his hand. Was that true? Did Clarabelle hate her because she was jealous? More important, did he really like her eyes?
He reached out again, but this time he grasped a strand of her hair that had come free from the band that held it back. “She especially hates your hair. I wish there was light so I could see the other colors. It’s beautiful with the reds and gold mixed in with the brown.” He pulled her hairband down, freeing her long locks. “Beautiful. So, soft.”
She should step away. He’d ignored her all these years, but she’d liked him for so long. Was it that impossible to believe that he might like her too? They had been best friends once.
He moved a little closer. Was he going to kiss her? She waited. His breath intermingled with hers.
“I don’t want to be taken,” he said.
“Me either.” That was the expected reply and she meant it, kind of. If she could have someone here, someone for her, then she’d like to stay, but if everyone were going to continue to hate her then maybe being taken would be better, leaving certainly would be.
“A lot of the others have been...mating. You know. I mean, I may never get to try it if I’m taken. Even if I stay, I may be assigned to some gross, old Producer and never get to do it with someone I like.” His hand moved from her hair to her neck, massaging gently.
She stiffened a bit. Did she want this? It might be her only chance too.
“Don’t be afraid,” he whispered. “No one really cares if we do this.”
He was right. Even if a Lead Producer caught them, there wasn’t much of a punishment. As long as it was close to the time of the reading of the Harvest List, they’d pass off any pregnancies as the product of the assigned mating. The problem was that she wasn’t sure that she wanted to do this with him. She liked him, a lot, but she didn’t trust him. Too many years had passed since they’d been friends. Still, she didn’t want this moment to end.
He pulled her closer. She could feel the warmth of his skin through his shirt. He lowered his head. This was her first kiss. His lips were warm and soft. It was nice. She ran her hands up his chest and around his neck, leaning into him. He groaned and ran his tongue across her bottom lip. That’s weird. She tried to pull away but he held her tight.
“Relax. You’ll like it. I promise.”
What did he mean by that? The females never discussed this with their offspring until they were assigned a mate. Maybe, it was only the daughters who were kept in the dark about mating. Randy seemed to know what he was doing.
He pushed his tongue into her mouth. It wasn’t unpleasant. Actually, it was kind of nice. Then she froze. What if he touched her fangs? She struggled to end the kiss.
“Ouch, you bit me.” He pulled back, touching the side of his tongue.
A soft giggle came from behind a stack of crates.
She stumbled backward, her breath leaving her body as if she’d been punched. She was a fool. This had all been a game. Clarabelle’s revenge.
He gazed at her, his eyes cloudy and a bit unfocused. She had to get out of here. She moved around him and started down the path.
“Where are you going? It didn’t hurt that bad.” He asked, clearly shocked.
“Home,” she snapped.
He caught up to her and grabbed her arm, turning her around. “It’s okay. I’ll teach you how to kiss.”
“Clarabelle, you can come out now. I heard you.” She pulled free from his grasp, crossing her arms over her chest.
His mouth dropped open and then he glanced away, unable to meet her eyes. He knew. It was written all over his face. Her chest ached. He hadn’t meant any of it.
“Don’t be such a baby.” Clarabelle stepped out from behind some crates.
Trinity gritted her teeth, hurt churning into anger. She would not yank out the other girl’s hair and she would definitely not claw the smirk off Clarabelle’s face. She would not. “I’m leaving.”
“Don’t,” said Randy.
She wasn’t sure if he was talking to her or Clarabelle.
“I was only thinking of you,” Clarabelle said. “I felt bad because no one wanted to mate with you. So, I told Randy that if he wanted me, he’d have to practice on you.”
Her face heated. Was she really that desperate? Obviously, she was. Tears welled in her eyes, but she wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. She turned and ran away.
“Trinity, wait,” Randy yelled. “It wasn’t like that.”
Footsteps behind her made her move faster and then there was a waft of air at her back. He was going to grab her. She could sense it. She spun around and before she could think twice she caught his arm, letting her claws come out just enough to leave hair-thin slices though his skin.
He pulled free from her grasp. “You cut me!”
“And I’ll do it again, if you come any closer.” She ran the rest of the way home and stopped at the front door of her hut, resting her head against the wood. Tears ran down her face, hot in the cool night air. All she wanted was a relationship like her parents had, like Troy and Remy had. Was it too much to ask for someone who she could love and who would love her too? Obviously, it was for a freak like her. She straightened, wiping the tears off her cheeks. She had to get control of herself before she saw her parents. She could not handle questions right now. She took a deep breath and opened the door.
The kitchen was empty. There was a bowl of stew on the table and some bread. She stepped inside. Harsh whispering was coming from Mom and Dad’s room. They were fighting again. She was her mom’s last child and Mom was sure that something bad happened to them when they were taken. Of course, Dad was positive that the teenagers were moved to another camp.
She sat at the table and took a bite of the vegetable stew. It burnt a path down her throat. Clarabelle had crossed the line this time. She pushed the dish away and walked into her bedroom, shutting the door. She flopped on her bed. How was
she going to show her face around camp? She’d kissed Randy and she’d cut him. Clarabelle would not keep quiet about what had happened tonight. She didn’t want to hide in her house for the next couple of weeks. She sat up. She didn’t have to. She could escape into the forest and track down the previous year’s Harvest Listers.
She and Travis had started sneaking out of the camp and searching the woods over three years ago, after the Almightys had taken their baby brothers for a Special List. Since everything needed water, they’d followed the Elavital River through the forest. At some point, they’d given up, but the other month when she was wandering through the brush she’d discovered that the river forked and headed back toward her encampment. She’d climbed a tree and she’d seen smoke not too far in the distance. It might have been Guards or Almightys hunting, but it could have been the other camp. It was close to home. It should only take a couple of days, a week at the most, to find out if it was another encampment.
She stood. She refused to spend her last days at home hiding in her house. She wrote a note for her parents, explaining what she was going to do and that she’d be back in a week, and placed it on her bed. She washed, changed her clothes and packed her backpack with everything she might need for a couple of days in the woods: extra clothes, water, a blanket, rope and some food. She slung the backpack over one shoulder and slipped out the back door.
She walked to the corner of the cabin, staying in the shadows. The perimeter of the camp had brick columns with fires burning every fifty to seventy-five feet, but that wasn’t a problem. Producers’ night vision was so poor that these were only for show, to make everyone feel safe. It was the automatic light installed by the Almightys that she had to avoid. It lit up the area like daylight. She stopped on the side of her house nearest the fence, waiting until the light passed. The Lead Producers on guard focused mainly on the forest not inside the camp but she wasn’t taking any chances. The light was getting closer. A few more minutes and she could make one quick dash and be in Troy’s section. By now, he’d be too busy with Remy to be actually working.
The light moved steadily from one section to another in a precise, automated glide. The sounds from the forest fell silent only to come alive as darkness once again took over. When it had passed the house, she waited a few seconds and then darted to the fence. She stayed behind the light until she came to the opening. She crawled around a bush and dropped to her knees, shrugging off her backpack. She wriggled through the hole beneath the chain link. Then she pulled her pack under the fence and raced up the hill into the forest. The air was crisp and smelled like rain. She’d save time by cutting through the thicker brush. She adjusted the backpack on her shoulders and began walking.
The farther she went the denser it became. A rustle in the weeds made her quicken her pace. She hadn’t been frightened out here in years, but she’d never been this deep in the forest so late at night. She hesitated. The vegetation loomed thick and dark in front of her. Childhood tales of the creatures that inhabited the forest raced through her mind. She took a deep breath. She had to control her imagination. She’d never seen anything bigger than a fox out here, at least not in the wild.
A drop of rain hit her head. Then another one plopped on her face. She shoved into the denser brush as the sky opened and the rain fell, pelting her like stones. She kept moving. She had to find somewhere dry to wait out the storm. There was a copse of bushes to her right, but she couldn’t just crawl inside. Something else might have already made this shelter its home for the night. She picked up a large stick and poked it into the bushes. There was a slight rustle from above in the tree, but then everything fell silent. This was the best she was going to get. She ducked inside.
The ground was dry, protected by the thick brush, but she was soaked. She pulled the extra clothes and blanket out of her backpack and changed, setting the wet clothes off to the side. She was still shivering, so she wrapped herself in the blanket and huddled in a tight ball, preserving her body heat. She hugged the backpack to her chest, inhaling the lemony scent of home.
The rain pattered all around and she struggled to keep her eyes open. She had to leave as soon as the storm passed. She couldn’t wait to return home and tell everyone what happened to those who were taken. The other kids would have to talk to her if they wanted to hear her stories and Producers loved stories. Once they got to know her, they’d realize that she wasn’t that different from them. Not on the inside where it mattered.
Trinity awoke to birds chirping and the chatter of squirrels. She stretched, her hands hitting a branch. Her eyes flew open. Sunlight filtered through thick foliage. It was daylight! She had to get moving. She climbed out of the bushes, dragging the backpack and her wet clothes behind her. The blanket was mostly dry so she stuffed that into her sack. Her clothes were still damp. If she put them away like that everything would mold. She picked up the stick that she’d used last night and tied her shirt and pants around it to dry.
She grabbed her canteen and took a long swallow, quenching her thirst. She slid its strap over her shoulder. Her stomach rumbled. She pulled an apple from her bag. She’d have to eat and walk. She’d lost a lot of time by falling asleep.
After trudging along for what seemed like forever, she stopped, wiping the sweat off her forehead. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been traveling. The sun barely penetrated this area so she had no idea what time it was. It might be faster to go back and follow the river. There was a slight rustling of leaves behind her. She slowly turned around. Nothing. She unzipped the backpack, stuck her damp clothes inside and then held the stick like a club. She waited but nothing moved. It was her imagination. That was all. She started walking again. It was all those stupid stories her parents had told her about the creatures in the exhibit that inhabited the woods, but she knew the forest. The only creatures around were the birds and squirrels. All small. All harmless. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched. She picked up her pace. The sooner she got out of underbrush and into the open the better.
She continued moving as fast as the terrain would allow. Time seemed to lengthen. She could almost believe that she’d been traveling through this brush for days. She stumbled along, sweat dripping down her back. There was a quiet snap above her head. The leaves moved slightly. Was it from the wind or something else? She strained to pick up any sound. Was that the murmur of water? She forged forward, tearing the flesh on her arms as she shoved through thorns. She had to get out of the underbrush before she went mad. The sunlight shone through the branches. The river was up ahead. She should wait to make sure that no one was around. Guards and Almightys sometimes hunted out here, but she couldn’t stop her feet from racing for the river. She burst into the clearing, glad to be free, in the open where her imagination wouldn’t run so wild.
She took a long drink of water, enjoying the cool breeze on her face. By the position of the sun, it was near noon. It was earlier than she’d thought. She continued following the river. It grew larger and stronger, the rushing of the water drowning out every other sound. She stilled. That wasn’t right. The river was not that loud. The forest had quieted. No chirp or chatter, only the water and the wind through the trees. The hair on her neck stood on end. Had something really been watching her in the brush and was it still following her? She moved cautiously, all senses on alert. A leaf fell and she jumped, holding the stick in front of her as a weapon. Nothing moved. The sunlight shone in her eyes, so she shaded them with her free hand. Was there something in the branches or just a shadow? If it was a creature, she shouldn’t be standing there waiting for it to pounce. She slowly backed away. It was time to travel a little closer to the water.
She waited at the edge where the forest ended and the river began. The trees thinned; they were no match for the rocky land forged by the rushing water. The river itself was wide and blue. Everything looked normal. She cautiously stepped into the clearing. If something was stalking her from the forest, it would have to come out in the o
pen. She could always run into the water. She didn’t want to get wet, but she knew how to swim.
It was a harder trip on the uneven ground and the day dragged on. The sun’s strong rays blinded her as she walked and her feet ached. Her stomach rumbled. She’d eat when she stopped for the night. Hunger was nothing new to her. She shifted the backpack on her shoulders and trudged around a bend. A flash caught her eye. Something silver glistened on the rocks, sparkling like ice crystals in the sunshine. It was partially submerged in the water. She cautiously approached, ready to run into the forest at any sign of danger. It was similar to her in size and shape except instead of feet and hands this creature had flippers and a long, thick tail. Its skin was silver-gray and scaly. It was hairless and lying on its side with its head in the water. There were four slits along its rib cage.
“Hey, are you all right?” She took a couple of steps back in case it was just sleeping.
The creature didn’t move. She should just go. She didn’t have time for this, but she’d never seen anything like it. She crept closer, her heart beating faster with each step. Her feet were in the water now. She was only a few feet away. She nudged it with the bottom of the stick and jumped back. It remained still, lifeless. She moved farther into the water and poked it again, harder this time. There was still no reaction. It was dead. Poor, ugly thing. What had happened to it? Had it drowned? It kind of looked like a fish. Maybe, it suffocated, stuck on the rocks and unable to get to the water. That would be sad, being that close to what it needed to live and unable to reach it.
She bent and peered at its face. It certainly was gross. Its large black eyes stared straight ahead. She jerked back. She could have sworn its eyes had adjusted but there were no whites just pupil so it was hard to tell. She stood still for several minutes but the creature didn’t move. It must have been her imagination; it was certainly running wild today. She leaned in closer. Its mouth was wide open and filled with rows of long, sharp teeth. It smelled briny like the lake. Its lips quivered slightly and she jerked upright, stumbling backward and falling right next to it, within reach of its long arms.