Las Hermanas

by Raedene Jeannette Melin

  •

  Adi had been left tied to the chair for the rest of the day. She woke up the next morning to two men entering, one standing against the wall while the other gave her some water.

  “That’s enough,” the man at the door said firmly. The other one left.

  After a chair was placed in front of her, she watched as a woman entered and casually sat down, saying nothing as the man shut the door. He eyed her suspiciously from his position against the wall.

  Adi studied the woman in front of her. She had long dark hair, the bulk of it twisted into a braid that laid against her shoulder, and her skin was smooth, a few wrinkles surrounding the lightest green eyes Adi had ever seen. She was dressed in clean clothes that fit her comfortably and as far as Adi could tell, she carried no weapons. The woman looked at her with a smile, and seemed incredibly relaxed.

  “You and your friends are causing quite the stir,” she said finally. “No one wants to talk.” When Adi didn’t reply, she continued. “By the number of weapons you carry and what you can clearly do with them, it seems you’re not particularly friendly.” She paused. “But I suppose those are important traits to have when you’re wandering around by yourselves in the middle of nowhere.” She waited but got no response. “We won’t hurt you,” she said after a moment. “All I require is a few answers. Then you’ll be free to go.”

  Adi thought about what to do. While she wanted to believe the woman, she wasn’t sure she should. They had been kidnapped and forced to come here. Who does that for a bit of information? But as she sat there in her restraints, she knew she didn’t have a choice.

  “I want to see my brother,” she said finally. “Then I’ll answer your questions.”

  The woman smiled. “What’s his name?”

  “Benito.”

  The woman turned and nodded at the man waiting by the door. A few minutes later, he returned and as soon as Benito saw her, he ran up and placed a hand on her shoulder.

  “You okay?” she asked quietly.

  He nodded.

  “The others?”

  “Fine.”

  Adi looked him over. He seemed alright; in fact, he looked cleaner than before. She was about to ask another question when the woman interrupted.

  “Time to go.”

  Benito gone, the woman adjusted in her chair. “What are you doing in this area?”

  Taking a moment, Adi focused on the question. While she would answer, she wouldn’t give any more than she had to. “Looking for a place to live.”

  “Why?”

  “Our old one wasn’t safe.”

  “Where was that?”

  “Northeast of where you found us.”

  The woman nodded slowly. “Was it a village?”

  “Sort of.”

  “Explain.”

  Adi thought for a minute before she replied. “There was a bunch of us that lived together in a camp.”

  The woman nodded. “Where did you come from?”

  Adi hesitated. It was a straightforward question, but her answer was more complicated than she cared to share. “The city.”

  “Is that where your friends are from?”

  “Some. Others we met here.”

  “Are there others?”

  “At the camp?”

  The woman nodded.

  She hesitated again, unsure if she should tell the truth. There was no way the woman would know if she was lying, but then again, the woman didn’t know where the camp was either. “Yes,” she replied.

  “And they didn’t come with you.” It was more a statement than a question.

  “No, they wanted to stay.”

  “Even though it wasn’t safe?”

  She nodded.

  “What made you leave, instead of staying with the others?”

  Adi squirmed in her chair. She was stiff and sore from sitting so long and the questions were beginning to make her uncomfortable. But deciding that the answer wouldn’t risk anything, she said, “People in the villages around us were dying. So we left before it happened to us. Not everyone wanted to come.”

  The woman was silent. When she spoke again, her voice was different. “Where are your parents?”

  Not expecting the question, her body tensed. “Dead.”

  She studied her. “And the others’? Where are their parents?”

  Adi shrugged. She honestly didn’t know.

  “So, this village you built is made up of children and no adults?”

  While the question was simple enough, it irritated her. She had been on her own for years and others even longer. It happened all the time and she didn’t understand why people were shocked. Her irritation was obvious. “Why is that so hard to believe? Do we look like children to you?”

  The woman gave her a sad smile. “No, you do not.” She silently observed Adi before she spoke again. “Roberto, take her to Señorita Perez.”

  Adi sat there in confusion as the man forced her from the chair. Was that honestly all the woman wanted to know? But when she was led down the hallway to another room, she forgot all about it.

  She sat still as the woman began examining the wound in her shoulder, unable to pretend that the infected claw marks didn’t hurt like hell. When a plate of food was placed in front of her, she tried to ignore it but eventually gave in, the hunger overtaking her determination. After drinking her weight in water, she had her first hot bath in three years. The water stung at first, but her wounds slowly soothed, her body relaxing in the warmth. She told herself she would figure everything out once she was done with the bath, but as her chin dropped heavily down onto her chest, she never got the chance. She was fast asleep.

  •

  Adi woke almost two days later. She found herself in a bed in a small room, her wounds bandaged and her hair washed. Dressing herself in the clothes she found draped over the back of a chair, she walked out of the room.

  The sun was bright on her face as she exited, cautiously going down the hallway, unsure of where she was. People passing by didn’t give her a second look and as a small group of children ran ahead of her, Adi quickly followed.

  Less than a minute later, she was in a large opening, the midday sun beating down on her. Looking around, she watched as people played football, washed clothes, and sat around in groups, their happy voices filling the air. The yard was surrounded by buildings that formed a circle, and as she looked past them, her eyes landed on a large wall that surrounded the village. She was watching two people at the wall, guns casually slung over their shoulders, when she was startled from behind.

  “You look lost.”

  She turned, recognizing the voice but not the face.

  “I’m Kaue,” he said.

  Realizing he was the man from the boat, she examined him. He was tall—taller than even Rodrigo—and had a muscular build, shockingly similar to that of her father’s. He wore a relaxed smile and there was something about his eyes that made Adi feel like he wasn’t there to hurt her, something kind and reassuring.

  “Adi,” she replied, her voice hoarse. When he said nothing else, she couldn’t help but ask, “What is this place?”

  He smiled at her question. “It’s a village, like any other.”

  “No,” she replied shaking her head. “It’s not.”

  He gave her a knowing smile. A loud cheer distracted her and she watched a couple people run around the yard, celebrating the goal they just scored.

  “How many people live here?”

  “Hard to say,” Kaue replied. “Seventy or eighty.”

  “What do they all do?”

  He smiled again. “What regular people do.”

  “Why do you live out here?”

  Kaue laughed. “Full of questions, aren’t you?” When she didn’t join in his humour, he said, “Come on. Let’s go get you some answers.”

  She followed him back into the building, down the hallway, and out the other side, coming up to the wall. Motioning to the man at the gate, it opened and they walked
out into the jungle.

  Kaue said nothing as she followed him down a well-worn path through the foliage.

  “Where are we going?” she asked, hoping for any information. She didn’t have her knives and she felt naked without them.

  “To see Helena,” he replied.

  “Who?”

  “The woman you spoke to when you first arrived.”

  After a few moments, she asked, “When do I get my stuff back?”

  “You mean your weapons?”

  She didn’t bother answering.

  “What makes you think you deserve them?”

  She thought it over. It wasn’t a matter of deserving them; she needed them.

  “You’ll get them back when Helena decides you’re trustworthy enough to have them,” he said when she was quiet. “Besides, you don’t need them in the village. You’re perfectly safe.”

  Although Adi doubted that very much, she knew saying so wouldn’t get her what she wanted.

  “Where did you learn how to fight anyway?” Kaue asked. “Emilio didn’t even see you coming.”

  She quietly stepped over a rotten tree stump, remembering the man she had stabbed. They didn’t trust her and the feeling was mutual. Until she knew what they wanted, she wasn’t going to share anything she didn’t have to. “I’ll tell you when I get my stuff back.”

  She didn’t have to see his face to know he was smiling, but as she looked up into the trees above her, it took everything she had not to jump. A camouflaged man sat on a branch watching her below.

  “How many men do you have out here?” she asked, happy that she sounded so confident.

  Kaue looked back and followed her gaze up into the tree. “You spotted him. Impressive.” He continued walking. “We have people all over. How do you think we found you?”

  Adi tried to process what he was saying, but found it difficult. “You have people all the way out there? Why?”

  He smiled again. “I’ll let Helena explain that.”

  Looking ahead, she could see that more light was beginning to filter in around them and when the trees suddenly stopped, she saw Helena standing near the mountain’s edge.

  She smiled as they approached, but Adi barely noticed, staring at the view in front of her. They were on top of the highest mountain range in the area and as she looked around her, she saw nothing but untouched jungle moving up and down the hills surrounding them. Rivers snaked along the valley floor, bending and twisting to the will of the mountains, and hearing the faint sound of a waterfall nearby, Adi looked down but stepped back in alarm. The earth ended directly in front of them, a cliff plummeting straight down for longer than she cared to look.

  “Peaceful, isn’t it?” Helena said.

  Adi nodded, opting to look straight ahead.

  “I come here when I need to think,” she continued. “It gives me perspective.”

  Not knowing what she meant, Adi said nothing as she looked out into the open sky.

  “Walk with me.”

  Adi moved beside her in silence as they went down a trail that wove along the clifftop, Kaue following casually behind.

  “So,” Helena started after a minute, “how do you like our village?”

  She didn’t know what to say. She had only seen a small part and still wasn’t sure what they wanted. “It’s different,” she replied.

  Helena smiled. “It is different. Kaue tells me that your name is Adi. Is that short for Adelita?”

  “Yes,” she replied, wondering why that was important.

  Helena said nothing else and they walked for a few minutes, eventually stopping alongside the cliff once more.

  “Why did you ask me all those questions before?” If they weren’t going to give her any information, the least she could do was ask.

  Helena smiled. “I needed to know who you were.”

  She didn’t understand. “And now you know?”

  “No, but I know who you are not, and that is more important.”

  Her answer confused her further, so she pressed on. “And why’s that?”

  “We live a peaceful life here. Our village is safe, our people are protected and we plan to keep it that way. Anyone who wanders into our territory is considered a threat. The answers to those questions tell me who you are and who you are not.”

  “But we weren’t anywhere near your village. How could we have been in your territory?”

  Helena turned to face her, her green eyes focused. “Tell me, how many people did you encounter after you left your last home?”

  “None,” Adi replied, feeling a bit vulnerable under her stare.

  “Exactly,” she said. “No one comes this way. There are no trails, the river system is almost impossible to navigate, and yet, there you were with your friends, walking through the forest where no one should be.”

  “So your land goes past this mountain and into the valley where you found us?” She didn’t quite believe her. She would need hundreds of people to watch it all. When Helena didn’t reply, she asked, “How is that possible?”

  Helena smiled. “Have you ever been alone in the trees before? With no one else around?”

  “Yes.”

  “And what do you hear?”

  “The jungle.”

  “Right. The jungle and all its sounds. And what happens when a foreign presence enters, an unfamiliar event occurs?”

  She hesitated before answering. “It goes silent.”

  Helena nodded. “It goes silent. And what happens to a sound when everything else is silent?”

  “It travels,” Adi replied, the answer suddenly dawning on her. “The gunshot. You heard the gunshot.”

  Helena smiled. “We don’t need to be everywhere at once because the jungle watches for us. It tells us when something is there that shouldn’t be, and it tells us when everything is alright. When that gun went off, the jungle told us that something was wrong, that something was there that didn’t belong. And there you were.”

  Adi thought it over, wondering exactly how far the sound travelled. If someone had been following them and they heard the shot, could they find them here? Her thoughts were interrupted by Helena moving again.

  “Tell me about the deaths at the villages,” she said as she walked down the path. “Do you know who did it?”

  Adi hesitated. She had already told her more than she cared to. While she seemed trustworthy, there was something she wasn’t telling her. They were too well armed and had too many look-outs. Something was going on and she needed to know what. “I’ll tell you if you tell me why you guard your village so well.”

  Helena said nothing for a moment as she walked ahead of her. “It is simply the smart thing to do,” she said eventually. “We are protecting ourselves from the many threats that might occur.”

  “I find that hard to believe,” Adi said, surprising them both. She didn’t mean to say it out loud, but it was too late.

  “That’s unfortunate,” Helena replied, not missing a beat.

  They went back to the village in silence. As soon as they got to the wall, Helena stopped. “I hope you choose to stay here, Adelita, you and your friends, but it is ultimately up to you. If you want to leave, you will exit the way you came in, blindfolded and bound. But if you decide to stay, I can offer you safety and protection. It’s your choice.”

  Adi had to find the others and ask, but when she looked up at the village gate, she already knew what their answer would be.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The only thing she heard was the sound of her own breathing, each inhale under control. She could feel a small trickle of blood slowly making its way down her forehead as the vision in her right eye began to blur, unable to stop the swelling. Ignoring the pulsating pain in her jaw, her lips curled into a smile.

  She swung wide with the stick she held in her left hand, hoping it would distract from the stick in her right. But her opponent saw through it, easily blocking both attempts before coming at her aggressively. Forced backwards, Adi tr
ied to stop the attack, struggling to keep up with the pace and strength of the blows. So occupied with what was coming at her, she didn’t see the hole in the ground behind her and she stumbled, almost dropping to her knee as she fought to keep her balance.

  The opportunity wasn’t missed by her adversary and she charged, swinging hard and fast. Adi thought she had gotten through the worst of it until she felt the stick slam into her left side, the wood biting into her bones, sending waves of pain through her torso. Knowing she couldn’t falter now, she rushed forward, pushing her attacker back with everything she had. Widening her stance to re-stabilize herself, she prepared for the next charge. Her opponent advanced and Adi took a deep breath as she carefully watched her movements, eyes focused on her hands. The first blow came high, aimed straight at her head, and as Adi lifted her stick up to block it, she only caught half of it, the wood cracking down onto her arm.

  Momentarily stunned by the pain, she almost failed to see the second swing and lurched backwards just in time, the stick grazing her cheek. She was gathering her strength to go on the offensive when a strong kick to the chest caught her off-guard and the next thing she knew, she was lying flat on her back.

  Adi stayed on the ground, trying to figure out where it had all gone wrong when her opponent calmly walked over. Staring down at her in the dirt, she held out her hand. Adi reached up and was pulled onto her feet.

  The moment Kaue had introduced her to his wife, Mariana, Adi knew she liked her. But once Mariana started training her how to fight, Adi loved her, and training was by far her favourite part of the day, even if she got her ass kicked every time.

  “You did well,” Mariana said. She gently brushed the blood off her cheek. “You’re starting to anticipate my moves.”