Here he comes. It’s our turn. No one is really here anymore except those stragglers still pulling out of the parking lot. No one left to see the horror on my father’s face when he sees that it can’t be Beth.
The beast with fire power pulls a lever to our right and the cage starts jerking to the ground. She isn’t moving. Is she unconscious? No, her hand is still white. Her cage lands with a crash and her grip slips. She picks her head up, and through the cuts and bruises, her face is deadly pale. Her filthy brown skirt billows slightly, exposing emaciated calves.
He bends down and unlocks her cage, throwing the door back. The metal bars crash and Sparrow cringes.
“Out!” the man bellows.
Strangely enough, this is as close to cheerful as I have seen him all day. When Sparrow doesn’t move, he reaches in and pulls her out by the arm and drops her on the ground. She rolls for a second, and manages to prop herself up on her arms.
“Stand!”
What is he doing? Is he trying to kill her? With a look of anger, she pulls herself to a limp. With nothing to hold on to, her legs crumble from underneath her and she lets out a gasp of pain. The soldier yanks her up by her shirt and whispers something in her ear. A look of pure fury spreads over her face, but she doesn’t struggle. He throws her back against her cage, and for the first time, she screams.
“This is your new child, do with her what you will. She is highly dangerous an is not to be trusted.” How long has he practiced this little speech? He doesn’t even look at us as he talks. He’s too busily tearing off her shackles. “As a gift for your own protection, we are allowing you to keep the electric shock collar. We advise you to keep it on her at all times.” He reaches for her skirt and pulls it up to reveal the lump that has been staining her clothes red.
“What is that?” whispers mom.
“This, my lady, is the devise that has stopped her from running out into the crowd and killing us all.” From the loop on his hip, he detaches a key. He inserts it into the thick band of metal encircling her thigh. It clicks and separates into four pieces, falling to the ground. Sparrow screams again, and for a moment we all see the pencil-width holes in her leg. “She’s yours. Enjoy,” he says with a sinister smile.
He pushes her by the shoulder into me and hands dad the remote to the collar. He gives us one last dirty look and walks off.
Sparrow’s body falls limp as she clings to my neck. This is my chance. But what if I’m wrong and she’s a murderer? I-
“Beth?” I blurt out.
She looks up at me with wide eyes. Her mouth begins to slip open and for the first time she really looks at me.
“Emma? Emma Jones?” she says hesitantly. Now it’s my turn for wide eyes. It is her. “Oh my God, it is you!”
“She hugs me now in earnest and sobs into my shoulder. Looking up again, she says, “Your parents are doctors, yes?” I nod fervently. “Don’t let them take me to the hospital. You’ll be arrested.” Her voice, it’s so weak.
My dad taps my arm to tell me to get back to the car, but Beth is already unconscious.
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