Just Imagine...

Weevil Worship

As everything in the building erupted into chaos, Sam strode calmly into the centre of the Weevil fighting arena. She gazed around at the men fleeing their seats as Weevils, who were just as confused and afraid as them, charged around the room in lopsided circles.
She could hear Owen screaming in pain and her feet instinctively led her to him.
"Sam, NO!" Jack shouted, but she ignored him.
"Let him go." She said to the Weevil that had Owen by the neck.
The creature did as it was told, like a dog dropping a shredded newspaper, and stared at Sam with a strange sort of wonder in its black eyes. It was scared, it had been hurt by humans before and it hated them, Sam could feel it. But it trusted her, revered her even, for whatever reason.
Gwen rushed into the tiny cage and cradled Owen in her arms, murmuring to him quietly. Sam extended her hand towards the Weevil.
"Don't be afraid," she said to it, "I'm not gonna hurt you. You don't have to be hurt anymore. You can be free. It's okay, little one."
"Sam, what're you doing?" Gwen demanded, but Sam didn't listen, just took a step closer to the Weevil. It tensed, but didn't attack.
"You know I'm not the one who hurt you," she murmured, "I'm your friend."
The Weevil snuffled, then leaned its head towards her palm. Sam's fingers brushed its dry skin, running through the sparse, bristly hairs on its head.
"Are you... petting the thing that just tried to kill Owen?" Jack asked behind her.
"It was scared!" Sam snapped, turning on him, "you'd attack any human you saw too if you'd been beaten by one every day for the past year!"
The Weevil snarled loudly, seemingly almost in agreement, and lunged for Jack.
"NO!" Sam cried, throwing herself in the way, "don't! It's okay."
"Sam, are you crazy?!" Jack shouted.
"I'm TRYING SOMETHING!" Sam replied, "listen! I'm sorry I got angry, it's something I've been working on."
Jack's eyes lit up.
"Really?" He asked excitedly.
"YES!" Sam barked, "now FOR THE LOVE OF THE SPIRITS-" she cut herself off, covering her face with her hands and sucking in a calming breath. "Yeah," she tried again, resting her hands in the small of her back and putting on a small smile, "I'm trying. I might've just discovered something about Weevils, I think they might be able to pick up on human emotion, so can you please let me test my theory without giving me a hard time?"
"O-of course," Jack murmured, still grinning like a giddy little kid, "go ahead. Do your thing."
"Thank you." Sam sighed.
"Jack," Gwen spoke up, "we need to get Owen to a hospital."
Sam turned back to the Weevil behind her as Jack and Gwen hastily carried Owen out of the cage.
"It's over now," she said, "you're free."
She held out her hand to it again and it growled warily, then sniffed her hand, inquisitive.
"Can you understand me?" She asked, even though she knew it couldn't exactly answer her.
The Weevil gazed into her eyes, and for the first time Sam noticed that Weevil eyes weren't pitch black like she'd thought. There was the softest, faintest hint of a color reminiscent of indigo somewhere in there, glowing softly like the backdrop of the night sky when you looked beyond the stars. This was a child of the universe, just like her, and it deserved to be treated with care and respect. It made her blood boil to think that Mark Lynch had beat this creature, and many like it, and used them as his toys.
"Find him," she murmured to the Weevil, "get your revenge."
The Weevil bobbed its head, almost as if it was nodding, and brushed past her, leaving her alone in the cage with Owen's blood on the floor around her. She felt a strange tingling in her chest as she stood in the now deserted building. She had made a connection with a Weevil.
Perhaps she had even become its friend.