The Husbandry Project

Chapter 4

Nova was looking into the green eyes of her sister. Casa's hands were chained behind her back and a gag was shoved in her mouth. Her skin was dingy and her blonde hair was matted to her head.  Various Band-Aids dotted her arms.

She looked like she had been attacked in her sleep and forced through various exams.

Oh wait, she had been. Nova couldn't help but let the tears begin to swell up in her eyes. She remembered the night her sister had been kidnapped.

Beginning of Flashback

She had been awakened to the growling of her stomach.  Going to bed without dinner due to mouthing off to her brother was not a good choice. He had stashed all of the food, so she had nothing to eat. Stupid brother. Stumbling in the dark, she found her way to the kitchen. She was going to look  one last time for a snack. She checked all of the cupboards and a found a box of Cherrios under the sink. Her brother must have know that she would be looking for food. With a bowl and spoon, she poured some milk and cereal in. Then she ate like a beast. A sudden crash was heard from Casa's room. Nova had been worried that her sister had been sleepwalking again, like she always did. Usually saying her sisters name would wake her up.

"Casa?"

Nothing was heard down the hall. Panic overwhelmed her.

"Casa!?"

Running down the hall, she burst into the room. Cereal long forgotten in the kitchen. Her eyes scanned the room and fell on the broken window and empty bed. Nova feared the worst. Peering over the busted edges of the window she looked down at the ground. A man dressed in complete black was struggling to keep something still. That something was her sister. Casa's white nightgown was covered in dirt and blood. There were cuts on her arms and face. She must have gotten cut when passing over the broken window.   Nova called out to her sister,

"Casa! I'm coming down right now!"

Casa only nodded as the kidnapper tried to drag her away.

Well, Nova should have known that all the yelling would wake her brother because he came rushing in just as Nova was reaching her foot out to the nearby tree.  As usual, he had been his paranoid self.

"What are you doing Nova!? You're going to get yourself killed!"

Uselessly he tried to pull her back in, but that had only made it worse. Her footing on the glass covered window sill slipped.  Her brother screamed as she began to fall. With luck, her hand found a crease in the tree's trunk.  She hastily, but somewhat safely, made her way to the base. Her hands were scrapped up and when she landed with a thud, she sprained her ankle. Nova glared at her brother.

"I was trying to get to our sister!"

Then she pointed at the captor as she tried to stand up. Pain rose from her feet. She knew it was no hope, she couldn't move fast enough to get to her sister. But her brother could. Matthew was no use though. When she had pointed, his eyes had lingered on the being in black.  He wasn't moving, but rather smiling. His hand was clamped over Casa's mouth.

"Thanks boy!" the man yelled. 

In an instant he was gone. Disappearing into the shadows of the forest, Matt's baby sister in hand.  That was the first time Matt had watched his sister being kidnapped, that was the first time Nova tried to prevent it.

End of Flashback

Nova's little sister was right in front of her. The girl who she didn't forget in six months. She was unforgettable. Even if Dr. Smoothe said Casa wasn't related to her by blood, she would always be related to her by heart. The little girl's eyes pleaded to Nova.  Her sister must have endured so much. Why did they have to take her? Samuel proceeded by announcing his bargaining terms.

"If you want to save your sister, who's been injected with the plague, you'll help us develop an antidote." His smirk was anything but charming.

Nova couldn't help but have a feeling of disgust for the young scientist.

"What do I have to do?"