We Are Born

Chapter 1

Evadne never slept. Not soundly, that is. I used to lie awake in the cell next to her's, listening to her thrash on her mattress every night, crying, screeching, clawing at the walls. In the mornings, when the Patrols came to collect us, her eyes would have a burning red pallor to them, something like the embers of a dying fire. When we stood at attention, her bones would rattle under her skin, her eyes jutting out of her skull. As the Patrols strode by, her legs would tense, and her head would snap back against the stone floor, her body wriggling and writhing at impossible angles. It was then she would wring her spindly arms around her ribs as if to mangle the demons inside her, bursting her lungs with horrific shrieks.

Worse still were her whispers. Spitting through the foam in her mouth, she would hiss that our minds were infested with parasites, our bodies coffined in smoke—that the Institution was stained with our blood, that we were nothing more than rotting carcasses doomed to smolder in the flames of a vengeful sun.

She could only growl so long before the words would singe her throat, condemning her to a fit of violent coughs and splutters. That was when the Medics would rush in and drag her away, striking her if she dared utter another blasphemous syllable.

The Medics would hold Evadne until noon. Then, seemingly from the air itself, she would materialize in the women's washroom. No sound, no notice, no explanation. All we knew was that she would disappear for a little while, then, come Recreation hour, someone would find her huddled in a shower stall, bashing her fists against her cranium.

I would watch her sometimes. Just to see the shred of life gleaming through the thick layer of fog in her eyes. I would tell her she was safe, that I wasn't there to hurt her. But she would never hear me, never look at me. She was lost in another world. Her eyes were always transfixed on some invisible monster lurking in the shadows, fingers twitching whenever it came too close.

The last day I saw her, though, her mind seemed to register my presence. I know because her hand sprang out and clasped so tightly around my wrist that it became numb. She opened her mouth once, then closed it abruptly. Her head shook feverishly, eyes rolling back in their sockets. Petrified, I could only stare as Evadne fell into a rage of bloody tears and muted screams. Her face reflected that of a tortured girl destined to die of her own insanity. Threads of oily black hair fell into her face, catching in pockets of saliva. With her free hand, she beat furiously on her chest, while nails from the other dug deep into my skin.

The scene was abhorrent. Any former messages of comfort curdled on my tongue. I wrestled to free my arm, but Evadne's hold was locked. The more vigorously I fought, the deeper her talons sank into my wrist. In panicked gasps, I begged her to let me go. But her eyes remained vacant. Her body shuddered, her legs jerking about wildly. In desperation, I closed my eyes, praying that the deities would soon bring this madness to an end.

I counted four minutes. Then, without warning, she stopped. Her grip loosened, claws retracted. Evadne gulped once, then trembled with relief from her spasm.

I didn't hesitate. The moment she unbolted her hand from my wrist, I yanked free. There was a suppressed burning sensation where her nails had been, but I paid it no mind. All of my attention had shifted to distancing myself from Evadne. The greater the space between us, the lower the risk of being ensnared in another one of her nightmarish tremors.

As I scrambled away from the dank stall, I had the vague impression that she was calling to me. Droning my name out in a quivering, solemn chant. It was not until I reached the door that her hollow voice made me pause.

"I stole it."

Her words echoed cold and crisp in the humid chamber. The lofty shrill made my blood freeze in its veins.