Rebirth

Chapter 3

When the door finally opens Raguel still hasn’t said a word to me.  Inside the tiny room Raguel pushes some buttons and the doors close.  The room suddenly starts rocking and I am hit by the sickening feeling that we are moving.  I quickly lunge for the bar along the edge of the room and cling to it for dear life.  I look at Danny, but he doesn’t seem fazed at all and is talking excitedly to Raguel.  At that moment though Raguel turns to face me and when he sees me clinging to the bar his smile widens. When he turns back though the feeling of moving up stops and for half a second I feel like we are falling.

                To say I was relieved when the door dinged open was an understatement.  I literally run out of there.  On the other side is a hallway going in two directions and a girl.  She is about my size, maybe a little smaller, she has long matted dirty hair hiding her entire face.  She is dressed like me and Danny, raggedy cloths probably purposely dirtied and boots. 

“Hello” Raguel says stepping up to her “are you lost?”  He asks bending down to look at her face.  She just nods.  “Do you have a name?” he asks. 

She stills entirely, then starts breathing hard finally she manages to get out “Squeak”

“Well Squeak” he says standing “I’m Raguel and this is Lucy and the other is Danny” He pauses and looks at her.

“Hi” she squeaks.  She gazes at us through her hair, examining.

Raguel smiles his bright smile “We’re going to the cleaning room, do you want to join us?”  She hesitates, then nods.  Raguel nods his head back and turns left and guides us down the hallway.  Squeak stays behind us, not making a sound.

He stops at the first door and says “Okay girls, go on in”

“Aren’t you coming with?” I say looking at him and Danny, fear working its way into my voice. 

He just smiles “Afraid not.  That is a girls only room, we’ll meet you on the other side though” I’m not entirely convinced, but Danny looks at me and nods and starts to tug on Raguel’s arm.  At that I smile and look at Squeak who is on the other side of the hallway watching all of this play out.

“Come on Squeak” I say as I go into the room.

The room on the other side is pale pink and reminds strangely of Malcom.  There is a woman in there dressed in white, if weren’t for the fact that she is slightly chubbier than the first, she is a clone of Maia. 

“Hello children” she says with a feelingless smile showing off her white teeth.  “This is the cleaning and examination room.  Will you first step here” She says pointing to an X on the ground, in gold of course.  I shrug and step there.  Squeak stays by the door, still watching.

She has stepped behind a machine and says to me “Okay dear, please face the camera and act natural”  I turn toward her and relax a little, bending at the knees, thrust my hands into my pockets and glance up into the machine.

“Wonderful dear” she says “You next” she says looking at Squeak she has Squeak do the same thing and when he asks her to act natural, Squeak practically folds in on herself. “Good job dears, now it is time for examination” she says “Now please lay on the bench” I do as I’m told, she walks up to me another device around her neck.  She tries to touch me but I grab her wrist.  No way am I being touched again today by a stranger.