The Woman With No Heart

Alive

+L I A

"Trevor!"

I dropped the knife and reached out to catch him, stumbling under the sudden weight.

The door swung open and the women came back in, Rachel and two guards beside her. The red hot knife flared in her hand. She grinned when she saw us.

"Getting a head start, are you? This should be much more fun. Won't it, boys?" She looked beside her at two boys a little younger than us. The boys nodded.

I propped Trevor up against the chair and crossed my arms.

"Please," I said. "Let me help him. I'll do... I'll do anything."

I expected Rachel to just laugh, but she looked at the second woman and nodded.

"Fine. I'll make you a deal. If I let you help your little friend here, you let me kill you first."

I sighed. That wasn't a problem.

"Fine."

Rachel nodded.

"But you let me help him first."

She turned around and signaled the boys to move forward. I stepped back, holding an arm put in front of Trevor, who had passed out.

"It's fine," the first boy mouthed at me. I hesitantly stepped away and let the boys pick him up by the arms.

"Be careful," I warned. "If you hurt him, I swear I will kill you."

The boys both glanced at me with wide eyes. I pursed my lips, guilty about the threat, but didn't speak.

"We'll do our best."

Now to get Rachel out of the room. I looked down at the floor for a moment, then looked up at the two women with the most pathetic face I could make.

"Can I have a moment alone with him? Please?"

The second woman snorted.

"Yeah right. We've seen what you can do. We're not going anywhere."

...Which of course meant that I would have to start crying, which I did. I stepped backwards, towards, Trevor, and started to sob.

"Fine," she said. "Seth, Bobby, you're staying."

When neither of the boys said anything, she grabbed one of them by the throat and pulled him towards her.

"If you lose them, I will seal you to that table and dissect you while you're still awake. Do you hear me?"

The boy nodded. Rachel let go of him, sending him stumbling backwards. I caught him until he could get his balance.

"Good. Ten minutes."

The two women left, closing the door behind them. The other boy looked at his friend.

"I'll watch the door?"

He nodded, giving me a wink. I wiped my eyes and fixed him with a look that very plainly meant, "never do that again".

He nodded quickly and knelt next to Trevor. I did the same.

Trevor's face was pale, but he wasn't bleeding very much. He hadn't cut deep enough to really do any damage, although he had passed out. Probably from fear. I picked up a cloth from the table and folded it to stop the bleeding.

The boy looked at me.

"Is there something on my face?"

"No..."

"Then why are you staring at me?"

The boy seemed taken aback.

"I um... I just... What's your name?"

"Lia. You?"

"Seth. I..." He sighed. "Look. I want to help. I've been here for a couple months, so I-"

I sighed.

"Look, kid, I realize you might be trying to help, but I've been here for nearly three years, he's been here for over two. We're fine."

Seth frowned.

"Oh." He nodded at Trevor. "Do you do this type thing a lot?"

"Try to kill myself? No, of course not."

"I meant fixing people up."

"Oh. Yeah. My cousin and I grew up outside a military base, so we learned from pretty early on how to handle ourselves."

I turned around.

"Is your throat okay?"

"Fine." Seth's eyes were flickering between Trevor and me. "Lia, I think he's awake."

I HAVE FINISHED EDITING THE CHAPTER. WE

CAN ALL REJOICE. -L