The Liberator

Shackled

No, I'm not a murderer. I'm not a slave, but I am in shackles. The shackles, as the person who captured me told me, are for my own protection. So is the ankle band that feels, well, cold. I asked about it, and my captor only said,

"Just don't try to run, kid." 'Kid!' He looks like he's my age, and I'm 15! So, of course, I retorted with,

"Now just how old are you?" He looked at me strangely and said,

"Sixteen." That's only a year older than me.

"Why are you doing this all anyway?" He rolled his eyes.

"It's for your ow-"

"-my own protection, I know. But why?" He thought for a minute.

"I actually don't know exactly why." I groaned internally.

"So you just take people walking through the park and put shackles and ankle-bands on them all the time?"

"Pretty much." My mouth dropped open.

"Really."

"Yep. Shut up, now, someone is coming. If they ask, tell them we're part of a drama club." I fake saluted.

"Yessir." He rolled his eyes.

"Just shut up." I shut up. My boyfriend, Hunter was the person who was coming. I saw him, and immediately felt the urge to shove the guy next to me into the bushes, but I resisted. Hunter walked by with only a glance in our direction, but then a little way further through the path, he whirled around and sprinted back to us. I gulped, here it comes.

"Ash, is that you?" I nodded. Hunter surveyed my captor.

"Who's he? And why are you in shackles?" I took a deep breath, this was my chance to get help. But when I opened my mouth to tell Hunter, my captor snapped and I couldn't speak. Then my mouth said of its own accord,

"We're in drama club together, and we're practicing a scene for the upcoming performance." Hunter looked at me quizzically.

"You never told me you were in drama club. And I've never seen him before." I still couldn't control my mouth. It said,

"I wanted to surprise you. He's new here."

"Okay, but why are you practicing in the park?"

"The fresh air helps us concentrate."

"Alright. See you tonight?" I shook my head. Well, I didn't. It shook by itself. Then my mouth said,

"I have homework." Hunter frowned.

"But you finished it in homeroom."

"Well, my mom told me I had to finish that paper for English."

"Your mom? Since when does she care about you?"

"Since Mrs. Simms called her millions of times about my failing grades." Hunter opened his mouth to reply, but my captor snapped again, and Hunter shut his mouth and walked away. My captor waved his hand in front of my face, and I could control my mouth and body.

"What did you do to me?" I exploded. He shrugged.

"Nothing."

"Nothing! You call controlling me nothing!" Calmly he replied,

"It needed to be done. For the better of the country."

"What nonsense are you talking about!?" I yelled.

"What's going on here?" Sheriff Burk asked. My captor snapped and became in control of me again.

"We were just practicing, sir. For a play. Right, Ash?" My head nodded vigorously.

"It's quite fun actually," my mouth said.

"Just making sure everything's all right," Sheriff Burk said.

"Everything's great," my mouth replied.

"Okay then. See you, folks, around." He nodded and strolled off. 

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Hope you liked what I've written so far, this is something I dug up out of my files and thought it looked kind of good.

                                    -Aithlin