The Prophet's Daughter (Black Army Sequel)

Chapter 26- Branded as Inhuman

Chapter 26- Branded as Inhuman

The next morning, Abbie was woken up by the marching of soldier’s feet. It was still dark out, but James was already at her stall. He opened it and clipped a lead rope onto her halter. He looked straight ahead, not even bothering to look back to make sure she was following him. He led her silently up a path into a big, metal building that looked like a sore on the face of the property. He led her through the large doors and into the first room. Abbie couldn’t see much in the dark, but she could feel herself being backed up into a stall that consisted of a wall in the back and a metal bar on either side of her with posts coming out of them at the front. Two ropes that were attached to the posts were clipped onto her halter and a metal bar was locked in front of her. The horse neighed and tried to break free, but the materials were too strong. The metal sliced a gash in her knee that made her slowly give up. The last thing she needed was to get hurt.

“Please don’t hurt yourself more than you have to,” James whispered. Abbie looked at him in the dim light and nodded. The door to the chamber opened and the lights flickered on, revealing that she was in an all white room with similar empty stalls all around her, with electric clippers hanging down overhead. Abbie eyed them and the men wearily. They rushed over to her and didn’t waste any time. They grabbed her tail and hacked away at the soft, feathery hair, as close to the bone as possible without cutting it off, though they did knick it a couple times with their scissors, painting it red. Abbie closed her eyes and lowered her head as low as the ropes would allow her to hold it. Next, they grabbed fistfuls of her thick, smooth mane and sawed away at the hair so it stood up on her neck like a crew cut. They pulled down the clippers and turned them on, startling Abbie. She jerked her head up and whipped her head back, momentarily forgetting about the ropes and pulling her neck. The men didn’t pay any attention and brought the clippers over her stubby mane, getting rid of the rest of the hair. Tears welled in Abbie’s eyes, and James turned away. They left her forelock, mocking her, and moved onto her velvety soft, bay coat. They clipped away the fuzzy hair and left the cold, almost bald horse without any warmth, even though it was the middle of a hot, sunny summer, she shivered. They removed her halter and clipped her face, which, surprisingly, even to her, she didn’t object to, and finally removed the last bit of mane she had left- her forelock. Tears streamed down her clipped face as James pulled the halter back over her head and untied it. He tied the lead rope to her halter and slid back the metal bar at the front of the stall.

“Don’t worry girl, almost done,” he whispered, patting her neck. He led her through another door into a room with shower heads all around the walls and hanging from the ceiling. He slipped off her halter and walked out into the next room. He closed the double doors behind him and looked through the windows in the door. On the other side, the two men that had shaved her peered in, smiling and talking to one another giddily as if nothing had happened. Abbie closed her eyes. Finally, she would meet her end. They’d think she’d died for good and leave her body out in the open, and she could start over. She’d miss Andy and the guys, but it’d be worth it. A red light flashed and a loud buzzer sounded. To Abbie’s surprise, scolding hot water rained down on her. It burned her unprotected skin and filled the room with hot steam, making it hard to breath. She stood completely still and led the scolding water wash over her. She found the small beads of water pelting her back calming, and she was glad she could be alone. She raised her head up towards the shower heads above and smiled as the water rushed over and burned her face. All too soon, the water slowed to a stop. Abbie sighed and waited for James to come back in, but he didn’t. The red light blinked and the buzzer sounded, and smoky, thick fog sprayed out of the shower heads. It filled the horse’s nostrils and made her cough and sneeze, burning her lungs. She closed her watering eyes and winced as the fog snaked around her body and gnawed at her wounds where she had been whipped and where the men had knicked her tail bone. The shower quickly changed from the fog back to water, this time ice cold. It pelted her back heavily and caused the horse to shiver so badly she could barely stand. Her ears fell back and she opened her eyes, staring pleadingly at James. Once the fog had been completely washed away, the freezing water dripped to a stop and James opened the door. The shivering mare pricked her ears and stumbled her way over to him. He sighed and avoided Abbie’s eyes once again as he slipped a new halter over his head. Abbie expected him to dry her off, but he acted as if she was dryer than a dessert at noon. She lowered her head and her ears once again fell limp against her skull. She wondered if they’d get stuck like that. He led her through a small hallway into another room, with stalls similar to the ones she was in when she was clipped, only clippers weren’t hanging from the ceiling and the room smelled like burnt skin. Abbie had had enough. She didn’t care what happened to her as long as she got away from the wretched place, with the terrible, careless people. Most of all, she wanted to be with the guys again. ‘They’ll come,’ she reassured herself, ‘they always come.’ She stopped walking, causing James to turn back and look at her.