My Name Is Schedule

Scared

I gripped Kyran's hand tightly. I didn't want to be separated again.

"Za--720!" Kyran yelled, but Zara couldn't hear him. I could barely hear him.

I felt a hand clamp on my wrist. I spun around to see my mother. Her face was red and blotchy, streaked with tears. But there was something other than sadness in her eyes. Fury.

"Do you see what happens now?" she demanded, tightening her hold on my hand so much that it hurt. Her eyes glowed. "Do you see what happens when we stray from Schedule?"

I nodded, gritting my teeth. "Yes," I managed. "Let go of me," I added roughly.

She released the hold on my wrist. "I will turn you in. Don't doubt me."

"I know," I said quietly. "I was foolish."

And then she was gone, swept away by the tide of the crowd. Kyran gave me a concerned look. I didn't meet his eyes. I didn't want to look at anyone, or I was sure I would break down again.

We kept stumbling forward. And there, just a few steps in front of us, stood the King. He looked even more nightmarish up close. And he was shaking as many hands as he could.

I veered sharply away from him, taking Kyran with me, but I felt something stop me.

The King had his hand around Kyran's, shaking it dramatically. "733, I presume," he said, smiling in away that showed all his perfect teeth. But it didn't look friendly, with that stretched face..

A confused look flickered across Kyran's face as he stared at the King. "Yes...how did you..."

The King's grin widened. "I make it my job to know each and every LOVELY citizen in my town."

Kyran's face changed into a wide grin. "Amazing, wow, thank you, pleasure--honor, actually--to meet you, sir, King."

"The pleasure is all mine."

Kyran kicked me lightly.

I stood blankly for a minute. Stupid, I had to play along.

"Yes, so nice of you, King, we're..." I stopped. No, I had to keep going. "So lucky to have a ruler like you."

"Schedule 852," he addressed me, taking my hand and kissing it. "Lovely, lovely."

I tried not to look like I was going to throw up. I didn't want this monstrosity of a king anywhere near me, much less kissing my hand.

He reached for a lock of my hair and gave it a tug. "Don't worry, my dear, this will soon all be fixed. Your hair will be...back to normal, soon enough."

"I can't wait," I said, smiling.

"I'm sure. Now, off you two go. Have a lovely time at my palace!" He smiled again, and gave us a light shove toward the palace doors.

Kyran dragged me away quickly. "That wasn't right."

I exhaled. I hadn't realized how long I was holding my breath. "Tell me about it."

"No, he spent so much time talking to us. He mostly just shakes everyone's hands," he explained.

I could feel my heartbeat quicken. "Why? Does he know? How could he?"

"I don't know," Kyran replied. His eyebrows knit together. "But we'll be okay. Right?"

"Yeah," I answered. "We'll be fine."

We kept following everyone else, silent.

"I'm sorry," I said finally. "About your parents."

Kyran turned away, and I wondered if it had been a mistake to bring it up.

"I'll be alright," he replied quietly. "They weren't even real. Not real people. Just mindless shells. Like everyone else in this stupid town."

I nodded. I wasn't sure what else to say.

"It's Zara I'm worried about," he continued. "She's going through a lot. And...I've seen her like this once before..." He paused. "She had this cat. Well, she didn't have it, but it was one of the ten cats assigned for hunting down mice and things, and it always rested by our house. She fed it and cared for it. It was like her child."

I could already sense how the story was going to end.

"It got old, though...didn't do its job as well as it was supposed to..." Kyran stopped. "They shot it. Replaced it with a different one."

I had never thought much of the cats before. Their life wasn't so great either.

"Zara was so upset though. I was scared of her. She wasn't herself. She'd cared for the cat for so many years...and..."

I waited.

"She killed the new one."

My eyes widened. Try as hard as I might, I couldn't imagine Zara hurting anything, much less killing an animal. "She killed it?" I repeated in shock.

"She drowned it. No one found out what happened to it. They replaced it, just like the first one," Kyran told me.

"It wasn't the cat's fault!" I protested. "How could she do that?! How could she kill it, just end its life like that?!"

"If there's one thing I've learned," Kyran said, lowering his voice. "It's not to mess with Zara."

This time it wasn't a cat. This time, it was Zara's parents. It was her family. It was the people she loved, the people who took care of her. I didn't want to imagine what she was capable of now. I was scared.