Two Halves | Book One of The Judgement series

Chapter 21

It was dark and cold. We didn't know when he was coming back. The monster with a holes in his hands. We don't know he is. We don't know what he is. We don't know what he wants. We're only six years old. All we know is that he hurts us. Over and over again. Every day, for hours on end. Most times he takes us separately. Today he took us together and I got to see first hand what he does to my sister. Her screams still echo in my ears. I didn't give him the satisfaction of hearing me cry. The cuts he makes are still visible on our skin. Skin that he seems to lack. 

We weren't the only ones. He had others. Kids like us but monsters like him. He didn't like it when my sister and I try to talk to them. I don't think they could understand us. They talked like him. In that weird font with the symbols. My twin could only see it when I held her hand. I don't know why though. 

It was night, I think, and normally the monster leaves but today was different. Instead of leaving, he took me away from my sister. She was sleeping so she didn't make a fuss like she usually does. He took me into the the bad room and strapped me to the cold, metal table. I was silent, numb to this treatment. His font floated around him in an attempt to talk to me but I couldn't understand what he was saying. I didn't care. He was cutting me again and collecting the red stuff that flowed out of me. This time he cut into my hand, all the way down to the bone. I didn't scream like I wanted to. I simply cried. My head felt fuzzy. I could have sworn that a light blue heart floated out in front of me. The last thing I heard before darkness consumed me was a sickening drip, drip, drip. 

~~~~~~

My twin clung to me and cried. I didn't know why until she told me that I was asleep for a very long time. Our surroundings were strange. It wasn't the dark cell I was used to. No, it was completely white here. When I asked my twin about it she told me that she had attached herself to the monster while I was 'gone' and that when he tried to take me to the king he was pushed into something called The Core. We fell with him. I told her we needed to get away from the monster and, thankfully, she agreed. 

We wandered for a long time. I don't know how long. Eventually, we found a place filled with floating papers. Each paper had really pretty drawings on it. My sister found one with a really pretty tree that looked just like us. Dark and Light. She poked the paper and light filled my eyes. Then all of a sudden we were there. In front of the tree. 

There were two people there. They were strange. They didn't have fonts. My sister hid behind me when the lady tried to reach out to us. The man was different. He could tell we were different than other kids so he laid his jacket out on the grass and told me to take it. I did what he asked and wrapped it around my sister. It was really a cold night and she needed it more that I did. It was when I put the jacket on her that I noticed she had a bandage on her hand just like mine. She didn't pick at it like I did. The lady asked the man if they could keep us. I didn't know what that meant but I stood in front of my sister with my arms spread out. No matter what I would protect her. 

The people took us to their home. Gave us food. Gave us clothes. Gave us names. They gave us a home. They called my sister Dove and they called me Raven. I had learned their names soon after. Kris and Susie. Susie told me that doves and ravens are birds that are like us. She used the word 'opposite.'  It's a really big word that I don't understand.

Kris and Susie want us to call them mom and dad. Dove started doing it instantly. She talks more than I do. Opens up easier. I don't think Kris and Susie like me not talking. I think it worries them. They ask me about what happened to us, about why we don't have parents but I don't say anything. They tried asking my sister once before. Dove says she doesn't know. She can't remember the stuff that happened to us but I can. I don't think I'll ever forget. The marks on our skin are a reminder of what happened, especially the square mark underneath my skin. 

I'll never forget. Even if what happened haunts my nightmares.