I've been having a bit of a writer's block with this one. I guess the toilet bowl that is my mind has finally been unblocked ;)
***
“I heard you tried to off yourself.”
Feeling an odd sense of déjà vu, I looked up from my breakfast bowl and into the eyes of the raven-haired weirdo. My gaze flickered to the doorway of the cafeteria, where not one, but two guards stood, clothed in black from head to toe, like gun-toting shadows.
“Why are you talking to me?” I said under my breath, recalling the way he’d brushed me off the last time we’d spoken.
“I’ve seen the way they look at you,” he whispered, ignoring my scowl and nodding at the guards. “As if they’ve been told to pay special attention to you. Why?”
“Maybe it’s because I tried to kill myself?” I pushed the bowl of cold porridge away, suddenly losing my appetite. And the dull sound of spoons scraping against bowls was beginning to give me a headache.
“You know something? You’re not the first person to do that,” the boy told me after a moment of silence. “The only difference is that you survived.”
***
“How are you holding up?”
Standing naked in front of the doctor once again, I felt a slight detachment to the scenario at hand. Her hand was gently pressed against the bandaging, feeling for a depression. I didn’t want to admit that I felt a dull ache of pain where her hand was.
“Terra? If you choose to be silent, I won’t be able to help you,” she said gently, retracting her hand and regarding me with concern.
“I want to know what the hell is going on here,” I spat, the venom in my voice making her jump a mile.
It was then that I noticed that her eyes were a dark shade of brown, almost black. And she had jumped from worry to fury. “I’m asking the questions, Terra.”
I pulled on the ugly grey garb, forcing myself not to cry. “I’m scared. Don’t you understand? Don’t you care?”
She turned away, heading to her cluttered desk. “Terra –” she began.
“Who’s Robert Keller?” I didn’t mean to ask, but the words escaped my mouth before I could catch them.
She spun around, eyes blazing. “Don’t! Don’t talk about things you don’t understand!”
“Then make me understand!” I exclaimed, unable to keep the frustration out of my voice. I couldn’t take this torture any longer.
“Tom is waiting outside for you,” she said, suddenly calm. Pushing past me, she loped towards the door. “We’re done here, Terra.”
Before she could even touch the door handle, a knock resounded. She opened it, keeping the door ajar and peeking out.
“What… what are you doing here?” I heard her say, her voice strained.
The low rumble of someone’s response came, and she swiftly stepped aside, letting the person in. I instantly shrank into the farthest corner, appraising the man with suspicion.
He was tall, even taller than my father, who was easily a six-foot giant. This man’s height, coupled with his bone-straight, iron-grey hair and piercing blue eyes, intimidated me. Instinctively, I knew that he would be a wolf.
“Hello, Terra.” His voice was deep and commanding. Turning to the blonde-haired doctor, he said, “You may leave, Sister Helen.”
No. Please don’t go, I felt like screaming after her, but my voice was trapped in my throat, frightened of being released into the room.
“Sister Helen” gave him a wide smile of adulation and turned on her heel, opening the door and closing it gently behind her.
I was alone with this man.
“I have wanted to meet Richard Martins’ daughter for quite a while,” he said, his voice gentle and soft. He crossed the room in four easy steps, standing before me. Like a coward, I cowered. “Why are you frightened of me?” he asked, puzzled. “Don’t you know that I have no intention of harming you?”
One hand reached out and brushed my cheek lightly. It felt like I’d been burned.
“Do you know who I am, Terra?”
I had a feeling – a strong one. At the back of my mind, I had known as soon as he had stepped into the room.
“You’re Robert Keller,” I said softly, and a slow smile spread across his face.
He looked like a blue-eyed Cheshire cat.
YOU ARE READING
The Secret Life of Inanimate Objects
Teen FictionWhen Terra was a kid, her bed attacked her. Of course, no one believed her - but after that, she becomes afraid of being alone. Her family is convinced that it is a phase, but is it? It's the way the objects in her house move slightly, taunting her...
