The White Queen (S.Rogers)

Chapter 19

She was sitting on the cot, wrapped in the blanket she shared with her Papa. It wasn't the cold that made her shiver, it was the fact that that man, that monster, who looked like her Papa, wasn't her Papa. He was scary. He tried to hurt her. When she had called out to him, he looked at her like he didn't know her.

Her jaw throbbed where he had hit her with the back of his metal hand. Papa tried to avoid touching her, at all, with the metal hand. The monster had used it, deliberately.

Zola had looked pleased, when the monster had stalked towards her, when ordered. He had ordered her brought into that room, the one with all the equipment that she was supposed to be learning how to use, dragged from the cell she shared with Papa. The guards had dragged her by the arm, through the halls, laughing and poking at her, the entire time.

The concrete had been cold and sharp beneath her hands and knees, when they had thrown her into the room. She had looked up, blowing her hair out of her face, to see Papa standing off to the side, near Zola. But the look on his face... it wasn't Papa.

The door to the cell swung open, and the monster was escorted in by the guards. He was thrown to the ground, barely catching himself before he hit the floor. Slamming behind the laughing guards, the door echoed through their cell.

She pulled herself in tighter, her legs tight against her chest, the blanket covering all of her, except her eyes. If she made herself as small as possible, maybe the monster wouldn't know she was there? If he didn't notice her, maybe he wouldn't hurt her again?

He raised his head, pulling himself to his knees, looking around the cell. She froze, holding her breath, when his gaze settled on the cot.

"Baby Girl?" He called, his voice rougher and lower than normal. How did the monster know to call her that? That's what Papa called her.

"Hey?" He started crawling towards the cot, his gaze on hers. "Hey, what's wrong?"

She wanted to scream at him. Instead, she began to shift, to the far edge of the cot. If she could put it between them... maybe she could get away? But where could she hide from him, in the cell?

Surely Zola had not left them together, for the monster to kill her. She was important, the doctor had told her more than once. If she was important, then they wouldn't let the monster kill her, would they? Maybe it was her fault that the monster had come, that Papa had gone away. If that was true, maybe it was the reason they had left the monster in the cell with her. Maybe it was punishment, for not making sure that Papa did what he was supposed to. They wouldn't need her anymore if Papa didn't do what he was supposed to.

She felt the edge of the cot with her foot, slowly using it to pull herself further away from the monster. As soon as she felt the edge of the cot on her knee, she began to lower her leg, still watching the monster.

"Baby Girl, what are you doing?" The monster crawled closer, and she finally got both feet on the floor, the cot between them. "Hey, it's okay."

The monster sounded like Papa, he was using the words Papa used. But it wasn't Papa. Papa didn't hurt her. She didn't know how, but the monster was trying to act like Papa now.

He reached out, not with the metal hand, and tried to touch the blanket, but she shrieked and ran, trying to get as much distance between them as she could, knowing it was impossible; there simply wasn't enough room int the cell to get away.