Shai Soi

Chapter 40

I never sat down once. Rebecca had been gone for half an hour by my count. I felt like driving a spike through my head or changing into a bug so the prison bars could zap me. Her words continued to echo in my head. And even as they faded, they reduced my heart to powder. She wouldn't even say my name.

How could I have been so arrogant? I'd had no idea how much Rebecca resented me. How long had she been bottling her feelings? Why had she come here in the first place? For her parents. Rebecca came here for her parents; she'd do anything for them. How could anything Sadie had said pull her away from the one thing that Rebecca loved most? Unless... she was faking it. I shook my head. I couldn't let myself be that naïve. I felt her anger. It blistered away from her to a point even Sadie looked affected. 

Another thought: Sadie. What happened?  It was like she was a completely different person. No. It was more like everything good about her was gone. All that was left was the bad. I wasn't someone who thought there were good and  bad people. The world wasn't black and white. There was both in everyone. A lot of both. But now the strong, kind girls I had known were gone, now filled with hatred and a sense of superiority. I'd dealt with that enough in my life. And to have it happen to both  of them pulled the rug out from under my feet.

Familiar tingling prickled my neck. I surged to the bars and wrapped my fists around the them. Please let Rebecca be okay... Please.... My teeth dug into my lip. My temples throbbed with the rush of blood in my veins. First around the corner was a trio of guards. Their soldier's boots stepping in unison. These men held the glowing blue guns though one had it strung across his back and held a set of glowing handcuffs. So they were taking me somewhere. To do what? Make me 'better'? Kill me? To see what happened to Rebecca?

It turned out I didn't have to wait. She and Sadie marched around the corner next. I breathed a sigh of relief. Rebecca looked unharmed. The only difference was that her clothes were clean, and she'd found her hoodie which was tied around her waist. They must've just cleaned her up. Her leggings were ripped in places and the sleeve of her right arm frayed at the end but she was still the same Rebecca. Well, the sneer and hatred blazing in her eyes wasn't her. I pressed my face against the bars.

"What happened? What did you do?"

They ignored me. Rebecca waved her hand at the guards. "Cuff him." And she engaged in a casual conversation with Sadie about the future of the shai  community. The guards advanced towards my cell. I couldn't believe it. Sadie and Rebecca working with the Numahi. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be.

The guards reached my cell. They aimed their guns at my chest. Ever since I'd been thrown in here, I've wanted out. But not if it meant becoming a traitor. I had had too many encounters with those who thought they were superior. The tighter you tried to hold on, the more that slipped away. I jammed my foot in between the bars. I didn't dare channel an animal, or else I'd be zapped and incapacitated before they got me out. I wrapped my arms around the cell bar. They'd have to break my limbs before moving me.

"Sadie! Rebecca! What are you doing?"

"Saving everyone," Sadie growled through gritted teeth.

"By hunting them down? Forcing them to submit to... experiments?" I turned to Rebecca. "What about your parents, huh? Isn't that the whole reason you came here? To help them? And now you're going to force them into doing unnatural things to them just to be 'better' than the Namuhi? Who do you think you've been working with? You know you can't betray them like that."

Rebecca glowered. "And what would you know about helping people, Slithan?" A few words and I was rendered speechless. She smirked and nodded to the guards. "You're not paid to stand around. I want him cuffed, shoot him if necessary."

Sadie laughed and slung an arm over Rebecca's shoulder. The guards, catching me off guard, flung the door open into my face. I stumbled backwards, clutching my nose. Was it just me or did Rebecca's hands ball up her sleeves? Rough hands yanked my arms out and the coolness of imprisonment clamped around my wrists. My shara  ached to be free. The butt of a gun slammed into my shoulder blade. I ate floor. My nose throbbed. My vision blurred. I felt like filth. I couldn't do this. What was the point without something to fight for? I'd lost Sadie and Bec. The shai  didn't stand a chance. If we were destined to be superior, then I'd wasted a lot of time hiding.

"Get up, freak, " hissed a guard. I heard guns being sheathed, and the screen of their masks shaking. Two sets of arms yanked me up, but I made myself lead. I sank to my knees until someone yanked my hair. It was Rebecca.

She glared at a nearby guard. "Gun. Now. Time to teach someone a lesson."

Without hesitation, a sleek gun was placed in her outstretched hand. Her golden ore eyes were hard. Her face resigned. What fragments were left of my heart disintegrated. She aimed the gun, her finger wrapped around the trigger, and she fired.