Power (Book 1 in SRMTHFG Series)

15

The cell is a dark purple - not exactly the purple I like. It's cold and made completely out of stone; the smooth floor, the bumpy walls, and the jagged bars caging it. The floor rises in the back of the cell to make a small bunk with no blankets; just the stone.

I hear a voice in the cell beside me.

"Oh, good!" Keli says. "You're awake! Now there's someone else to talk to." She crawls over to the bars seperating our cells from each other. I come over and grab her dress collar, yanking her towards me. She slams into the wall with wide, scared eyes.

"Why did you bring us here? Why do you want to kill us? Why do you want me? Just leave us alone!" I shout.

"I-I," Keli stammers, "I didn't- I'm not-"

"Answer me!" I fume. Right now, I'm too mad for Skeleton King's taint to make me scared. She tries to pry my fingers off of her, but it's no use.

"What's wrong?" I tease. "Too scared to fight? Who's scared now?"

"Chelsea, stop! She didn't know!" Chiro yells. I look up to see he's in the cell across the corridor from me. He has weird handcuffs that are made of metal and cover his hands, holding them together. The same thing is on his feet. They have touch screens, buttons, dials. and light monitors.

"She brought us here! Kelinet Skong is Skeleton King, Chiro! He said himself that she's a Rib! We can't trust her!"

"But you're going to believe him?" Chiro snaps back. Suddenly, Formless come in and grab me, prying me away from Keli. They put cuffs on my hands and feet like they did Chiro's, then shove me down on the bunk. They morph back through the bars and walk away.

I sit down, defeated, staring at the ground. Everyone can beat me. Anyone can beat me. Especially a Rib.

Chiro and Keli try to talk to me, but I just stare at the floor. My arms on my lap, I think to myself over and over again that I can't cry. I can't show any kind of weakness.

At once, a thought comes to me. I look up at Keli.

"How come you don't have any of these cuffs on?" I ask. Her lip quivers and she looks at the ground.

"Chelsea," Chiro says, "Skeleton King already took care of her."

I suddenly remember how she crawled to the bars to speak to me, how she never used her legs to push away from me, how she hasn't stood up, how she now has a dress that flows down to her ankles.

Keli pulls her dress up to a little above her knees. I gasp.

"Oh, no..." I whisper.

Her legs are crippled, mangled and twisted in the wrong ways. They look shriveled up.

"He used a spell on me," Keli chokes, "to make my legs wither up and fall like dry leaves."