"Don't scream. That makes me angry and I'm already pretty angry." Mrs. Holland's eyes rolled to the back of her head and Zonie loosened her grip. She looked horrified for a moment. Blood Blood Blood They always demand a sacrifice. You're better than this Zonie "Look just pay me half and we're square. I just need to drink something." Zonie relented. Mrs Holland held her neck.
"Half of 8 rations is still more than nothing." Mrs. Holland was remarkably shrewd even in the face of death. "And nothing is what I said I'd pay you." She continued.
"You'd die over 4 water rations?" Zonie asked incredulous.
"You'd kill?" She retorted. Mrs. Holland scrambled to the window. Zonie felt defeated. She didn't know how she would make it this week. Maybe steal it. but from who? People more desperate than her? She just wanted this endless thirst to be over.
"I'll let this go," Zonie said weakly.
"Let this go!" Mrs. Holland sounded incredulous. "Do you forget who has the upper hand here? One phone call and my brother will sniff you out and hand you in before you could even get out of the door. I'd be minus a pest and 50 water rations richer." Mrs. Holland said.
"Do you want to test your little theory? Your brother's made himself rich hunting Incarns and you're stuck in the Salts with a broken orientation alarm and no water rations to your name. I don't think Big Bro's coming at all." Zonie closed in on her "In fact, you've played similar games with Len the baker and Armond the bone dealer. Threats are your only currency. And when you got yourself framed for murder, you thought you'd try it out on me. But I'm not the one to try." Zonie could feel the cold creeping through her veins- Like poison like drugs. She had to get out of here.
"Look" Mrs. Holland feigned compassion. "I'll make you a deal. How about I give you two rations and you get the hell out of my hut?"
Zonie cursed, but was too desperate to refuse "OK" she finally said. She should be principled-she should righteously declare that it is "all or nothing" but her survival instinct outweighed her pride. She would take her revenge later- but now, she would drink.
"Wait here." Mrs. Holland said. Zonie took a seat on a metal folding chair. Everything on this planet was either metal or rock. Such a hard world to live in. Zonie froze when she saw a pale girl walk past the open window space. So strange to see people here this time of night. How had the girl gotten passed curfew? The girl looked directly at her and dragged a line across her own throat. She used the same finger to point at the hallway.
She had been seeing these "little friends" for as long as she remembered and they were never wrong. She heard the telltale clicking of a comm system and Zonie understood what the girl was trying to tell her. She barreled down the hall. Mrs. Holland's look was a strange combination of surprised and apologetic. But she slapped the square telecomm button down anyway rushing to finish what she had started. Mrs. Holland's voice was high and panicked as she shouted, "Help! She's one of them... an Incarn. Z-"
"If it's gonna be me or you...I choose me" Zonie grabbed Mrs. Holland's neck and she could feel her hand getting hot. She felt the rigid bones of the woman's neck under the pads of her fingers. It still amazed her how frail people were.
"Too... late" Mrs. Holland croaked out. Zonie looked at the beeping comm.
Potential Incarnation activity suspected. ISU rover 4 minutes away. Thank you for making Nahj a safer place. The same disembodied voice chimed.
Quickly, and without ceremony, Zonie snapped Mrs. Holland's neck. She made sure the body fell facing east or she'd have a whole other unwanted set of problems. The good spirits were work enough. Zonie searched Mrs. Holland's cabinets. All bare, save for bottles of bootlegged liquor. No way would that survive long enough to sell in her house. False panel in the cabinet. Bingo. Zonie pulled out a long strand of 18 ounce baggies of water and shoved them into her bag. She scribbled a note. The guilt was too much. Don't look for me. I don't want to be found. When Zonie looked up, the girl with the ghostly pallor was directly in front of her face.
"Burn it down." She suggested. Her voice was so light and sweet that Zonie was surprised to hear such a command.
"No. it'll look like a cover-up. No body, no murder." Zonie said.
Zonie touched Mrs. Holland's ankle and pressed down hard. She squeezed her eyes shut hoping to avoid the stark evidence of her villainy. The body turned to ash like a someone taking a long, slow drag on a cigarette. And just like that, she was a killer. She had just proven everything everyone has ever said about Reincarnations right. It had been too easy. Perhaps that was the major difference between Incarns and the rest of the planet. Regular people must feel more deeply. Zonie swept the ashes outside of the hut and let the wind blow it all away.
But the damage was already done. That word-Incarn was enough to bring 4 rovers here. The telecomm was already out. Representatives from Backra will be here soon. They were the governing body of the whole realm, all men, all-highborn, located in Nahj and dominated by Nahjians. They ruled with a dangerous mix of malignant neglect and suffocating oppression. Zonie thought she stepped out of the hut relatively unnoticed, but she turned to find the small crow perched atop a pile of trash. It's head tilted mechanically and it cawed loudly. The powdery ashes of the dead woman vibrated over her throbbing hands.
YOU ARE READING
Dark Daughter
Science Fiction**Author to Watch*** Zonie is a second-class citizen with a dangerous gift. When dead bodies began to pile up with her same birthdate, Zonie finds herself at the center of a planetary and personal struggle against a dark menace that wants to eras...
