Split

Locked In

She strode towards me, sending me scurrying backwards until I was against the wall and she only stopped a foot or so away.
"So, you chose to completely go against everything I've said and now you've started on Hedwig too? Dennis has already backed out and now Hedwig is too scared to even talk to me! You'd better have something to say for yourself right now or, so help me, you'll have more than the beast to be afraid of."

"I'm sorry, I didn't want anyone else to die, you almost killed me and I shouldn't have been here, how do you know now that the other girls haven't gone through something like me? How do you know they're right for this?"

"That is up to me to decide, not you!" She scowled at me, "how dare you mess this up after what I said!"

"It's not right! Can't you see that this is wrong? Those girls have their whole lives ahead of them and you're taking that away!"

"Wasted lives! They won't count for anything if they are allowed to live, don't you understand? This is the survival of the human race, we need to evolve otherwise we'll spend the rest of time crawling in the dirt, this is to secure our future!"

"You don't feel any regret for killing my friends?"

"No, Casey, I don't, do you think that I'll feel any worse about killing you too? The beast doesn't need you, but if you threaten our work then I'll have no choice. Now you will talk to Hedwig and tell him that you didn't mean what you said-"

"No."

"I'm sorry? No? I think you misunderstood; you have no choice in the matter."

"I'm not talking to him again, he deserves to know the truth. Why do you need him anyway?"

"He chooses who stands in the light, if one of the others somehow took it from one of us then Hedwig can simply take it back, I need him whether he likes it or not."

"Shouldn't they have a choice? Because right now it looks like it's 22 to 1."

"Don't get smart with me, I will not be told what to do by a stupid little girl, we've been waiting too long for this to have it end now. Dennis will come round, Hedwig too, I just need to get them to speak to me."

"They won't, Hedwig is just a kid-he doesn't want to be part of this, and Dennis was only helping because he wanted people to talk to. He's a good person, better than you think... better than you."

"Oh yes, the pervert who likes to chase after young girls? He's a better person than me..."

"He's not like that anymore," I said bluntly before I could catch myself.

A smile played at the corner of her mouth, "that's what this is about isn't it? Dennis?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You have a soft spot for him, don't you? He's easy to feel sorry for, he's weak and pathetic, and once you talk to him he'll do anything for you. You're manipulating him to ruin our plans. I'd have thought you'd have gone for Hedwig first, being the easiest one to dishearten..."

"It's not like that," I spluttered, more concerned that she might tell Dennis that I was tricking him than her finding out I was involved with him.

"So you admit it? Well you may have him fooled, and he may be under the charm of your pretty brown eyes, but you can't fool me. I can see right through you."

"It's not a trick, and it's not like that... he's not like that. You don't know anything about him."

"Do you?" She grinned, "Did you know that he was only supposed to bring the beast one girl, but instead he found three."

"I wasn't supposed to be in that car."

"But that would have meant there was one extra girl... do you know what that means, Casey?"

"That doesn't mean anything," I looked away, not wanting to hear it.

"That means that he picked up one for the beast, and one for himself."

"That's not true!" I snapped, remembering Patricia's reaction when she'd first met us and not sure whether to believe her or not.

She grinned, "talk to him, get him to continue his work or I'll make sure you never see him again."

"Please don't make me, he can't do it anymore, he's-"

"Not strong enough?"

"That's not what I was going to say, he's just not cut out for this kind of thing, you should have seen him that night, he-"

"I am well aware of his condition that night, but he'll just have to get on with it."

"You can't make him and neither can I."

"Oh, I beg to differ. But until then, you'll just have to stay in here until we figure out what to do with you." She turned sharply and strode away, leaving the room and locking the door.

"Please don't do this!" I called but she didn't reply. I went to the sofa and sunk into it, bringing my legs up to hug my knees. I was anxious to see how my days would be lived from now on, would I still get free time and regular meals? I doubted it... I'd probably be lucky if I was here another week.
I closed my eyes and tried not to think about Patricia or how much I wanted to talk to Dennis.