What Once was Broken

Chapter 4..... Status V.S. Brains

Naomi and I met up with Amber and Galina at the restaurant area of the Hideaway, talking about the new things we've learned, and teaching methods and plans. "It seems to me y'all are getting along smoothly." Amber said, smiling wide. Naomi laughed, and set her hand on my head gently. "I know," she began, "She's a quick learner as well!" Hearing Naomi brag about me brought pride to my self esteem, and I beamed, puffing out my small chest a bit, but not enough to show that I was too confident. "So, is it only phrases and questions you know, or can you say a few other things?" Galina asked, leaning on the spool. I began to count the words on my fingers, "Cookie, Fruit, Dinner, Lizard, Horse, Puppy, Kitten, Mom, Daddy, Blue, Red, Pink, and Hide." Galina nodded, and replied, "Amber taught me some new words today as well from the novel we're reading. She taught me the words Fastidious, Tenebrous, Parlay, Valetudinarian, and Malapropism." My jaw hung low in awe by the mere sound of the words, making me feel quite stupid, and jealous. She sounded very smart for someone who looks the same age as I, and my pride drained away instantly. Seeing this, Galina grabbed my hand, and smiled sweetly. "Don't worry, I was at your level once. It took hours upon HOURS of practice for me to utter the simple word "And", whereas it took you only a few minutes! We all have our level of learning, and our different capacities to do so, but that shouldn't beat anyone down." "Not only that, but her studies has gone on a lot longer. Yours had only just begun!" Naomi added, rubbing my head. I felt a tiny bit better about my intelligence after that conversation, and my pride returned to me in tiny toothpick sized amounts. Amber hopped off the cap she was sitting on, and asked, "Well, learning matters aside. What would y'all like to eat?" "Bread and mock cheddar soup." Galina said, tracing her finger on the wood grain of the spool. "An Apple, and Turtle meat roast." Naomi added. I thought long and hard about what I wanted, since they only had so much to go off of. I shrugged, and replied, "Apple and S-Smoked Sa-S-Sal-Salmon." I said, taking a breath to relieve the stress of having to remember the words. Amber nodded, and rushed to the consession counter to order our food. "While we're in one place," Galina began, looking up from the wood grain, "How did you end up here?" "Leo brought me..." I replied, confused. Naomi laughed, and restated, "The Maw, silly, how'd you end up on the Maw?" "Oh..." I said, blushing in embarrassment. I was heasetent on whether or not I should tell them, since my situation didn't look so good already, and I didn't want the goose brain to listen in and become even MORE suspicious of me. I hid in the shadow of my hood, hoping to move from the subject, but they were relentless! "I was in the village of Kaliningrad back in Russia with my Mama, Papa, five Brat'ya, and three Sestry, my brothers and sisters." "What happened?" I asked, intrigued. "They came, and they slaughtered my family, AND my people. My Brat'ya and Sestry went mad, like the darkness in them had just exploded, and they started tearing each other to pieces! I ran away before Sigurd, my eldest brother, slashed me, and I ended up caught in a cage, and this beastly creature dragged me here to the Maw." Galina said, a sad look in her eyes. I felt guilty, not knowing any words to say that can cheer her up. "I lived near the border of China and Thailand before I came here." Naomi began, a sad look forming in her eyes as well, "We lived in a small cottage in the middle of the woods, away from everyone. When the brutes came, my mom put me in our storm cellar with my older cousin that came to visit. The screams were just......" She stopped, and I could tell that it pained her to go on. "Long story short, after my parents had gone, my cousin disappeared. While looking for him, I ran into the Maw while it was docked at our port, and became too curious. The Janitor spotted me, scooped me into a crab trap, and brought me on board. That, was just two years ago." "Two years?!" I gasped, "Why, I would've been about six then!" At age seven, a few months after father's passing, my adopted mother thought it would be a grand idea to raise Bree and I on the Maw. "So, what brought you to this hole of dispare?" Naomi asked again, her voice flat. I rubbed my hands together, and clicked my scuffed, brown, pioneer shoes, the ones with nails in them. "I-I...." I began, taking a big, shaken breath, "I was seven when I came to the Maw." "How were you captured?" Galina asked, leaning inward in interest. "Well, you see, that's the problem...." I admitted, throwing my hood off my head to get a more clear look at their faces. "When I was three, my Maman and Papa, my TRUE Moman and Papa, passed away under unknown cercumstances. I was found by my Sœur, my sister Bree, in my crib. My Moman and Papa adopted me, and I've lived with them up until the passing of my Papa from a strange illness. After my seventh birthday, Moman decided to raise my Sœur and I here, at the Maw." "Why would she do that? Did she not know how DANGEROUS the Maw was?" Amber asked, making me jump a few feet. She handed out our food, and took her seat by Galina, looking with shock in her eyes. "Dangerous?" I asked, paling a little myself. "You mean to say you don't know? And you've been here since seven years old?" Naomi asked, equally shocked. I didn't know how to respond, so I remained quiet as Galina explained, "The Maw is filled to the glass rim of things meant to harm and tourture us! Leeches, The Janitor, The Twin Chefs, Guests, even that dreaded hag they call their mistress is out to get us!" "And it gets worse from there," Amber chimed in, "I heard that the underbelly of the Maw is where the most danger lies." "But the underbelly is a myth. NO ONE has proven it's existence!" I said, looking from girl to girl, shaken. Amber shook her head, and replied in a low whisper, "Leo himself has seen it AND it's dangers. He's single handed escaped from a great shadow beast that dwells within the underbelly!" "And you believe him? Why?" I asked, a little baffled why she would listen to someone as pea brained as he. Amber shrugged, and said, "He doesn't make up things ALL the time. In fact, he's quite honest once you get to really know him." "Uh-huh..." What else was there TO say that wouldn't be told to Leo later? "So where did you hide when y'all got here?" Naomi asked. I crinkled my dress in my hands, nervous on how to respond. How will they react? I took a slow breath in, and explained the calmest I could, "We didn't hide...." "Then how are you still alive?" "My adopted Moman and Sœur that I told you about?" "Yes?" "Well, they're residents on the Maw." "E-Excuse me?!" Amber's eyes went wide with shock, and I came all the way clean. "Those "Brutes", "Thems" and "Theys" you spoke of?" "The ones who EAT people!?" "Yes..... They are the reason I'm here. They are guests on the Maw. I'M a guest on the Maw!" I realized in that moment that the entire room had gone silent, and all the eyes had fell on me, an outcast. "Y-You're kidding, right?" One boy asked, utterly frightened. "Y-You MUST be! There's no way!" Another stammered. Everyone in our vicinity rose from their seats, and huddled together in a mass mob of children, thin and round, tall and short. All of them, though they may be different, had one thing in common: they're all afraid of the Maw, and it's residents. I kept my eyes glued to the table, embarrassed as murmurs and whispers filled the area. "Haha!" Galina laughed nervously, "You can stop playing around now Claire. You got us." She gave me a playful tap on the hand, and I looked her dead in the eye, motionless...... Expressionless..... Galina's smile fell, and I could tell from the fright on her face that she could tell I was serious. I heard a cruel cackle from behind me, and a familiar sense of dread washed over me. It was Leo, and from the sound of it, he heard just about everything I said. He approached me from behind, and leaned his arm on my shoulder in a cocky sort of way, and grinned wide. "So the innocent has become the enemy I hear?" He said, his accent making him sound more smug than usual. I glued my eyes back to my food in front of me, and sighed heavily. He wasn't going to let it go so easily, and if he did, he'll never let me live it down! "Oi!" Leo snapped, taking my chin, and yanking my head toward his peircing gaze, "Look at me when I speak to you, yeah?" Looking at him now, I could see the features of him that I had ignored, like the dirt that covered his paper white skin, and the meanacing glow of his bright green eyes, and the ruggedness of his matted, oily red hair as it hung in my face. I would be lying if I told you I wasn't frightened by him. He seemed to tower over me without effort, and the commanding flash of his gaze was enough to make anyone tremble! I stayed silent in fear, and his hardened stare melted into a smug, almost tormenting grin. "So, do I daresay ask you what it is these "friends" of yours do on the daily?" I built enough courage to smack his hand away, and turn back to face the table, throwing my hood over my head. "Very well," he began in a displeased sort of tone, "I'll let you in on a secret. Those monsters? They aren't sugar and cream, not as you described y'know. I'm willing to wager that they ate your family, and felt so guilty that they planned to raise you until you're not so cute anymore." Then, he leaned over my shoulder, and he said darkly, "Then, just maybe, you'll end up in the pits of their ever endless stomachs of your dear Ma and Sis." Tears flowed from my eyes, and, angry, I turned to him. "Non!" I shouted, beating on his stomach, "Tu mens! Ma famille est morte de causes naturelles, et je serais morte si ce n'était pour exu! Je leur dois ma vie et je refuse de vous laisser me parler ainsi!" The other kids looked to one another, confused, and quite shocked by my actions, even Leo couldn't believe what I had done. Standing there, in that room, I felt a small sense of power, almost invincible with each word I had yelled out. After looking from child to child, my eyes turned back to Leo, and in cold venom I growled, "Naomi's right. You're no leader, you're a pea brained COWARD who gets what he wants using intimidation!" And with those words being said, I turned away, and ran to the lofts, not looking back..... Feeling alone..... An outcast..... But I knew my strength, and that's more than what Leo could ever expect from someone like me! "I'll show him! I'll show them all!" I thought to myself in the pitch blackness of the loft, and I grabbed as many books as I could, brought them to my hammock, and began to read. And there I remained, under the covers, reading, making mental notes on pronunciation of the words coming from my mouth with only a flashlight in hand. "I'll show him. Just you wait...."