Queen Of The Ventils

XIV

It was nearing the end of the school day. I hadn't hurt anybody (except the history teacher, Strickler, but it was partially his fault). I hadn't drawn too much attention to myself (except in gym class, but it's not my fault I'm athletic). I hadn't done anything to deserve being punished (except maybe spraining Steve's wrist. But the brute challenged my strength. He asked for it). And yet I still was reprimanded.

Don't they know you're not a pet, Ela hissed. You are not a dog, obeying a master. You are a free creature. They must know that.
If I am not a dog, then why do they keep me on a short leash, I asked. They control me. I cannot escape. The best thing I can do is act innocent until I find an opening.

What opening, Scales asked. I had no answer. Exactly. You're purposefully ignoring the fact that you cannot escape this without killing someone. That makes you weak, Zephyr agreed. Vulnerable. If you can't even hurt a human, then what chance do you have staying in the Ventil caves?

Whose body is this, yours or mine, I snapped at the two. It's my mind, and I control what I do. This isn't up for debate. I waited for Insanity to chime in with some snarky comment, but there was nothing. She still wasn't speaking. I was starting to get worried. It had been almost a week. She never stayed quiet for this long. Eclipse knows what she was plotting in my mind, but I didn't have the time to worry about her right now. I was going on an adventure.

**********

Krel and I met up with the others at the entrance to the school. Douxie and Archie were whispering about something at a distance, Steve was picking something out of his nasal cavity, and Toby, Jim and Claire were looking on in utter disgust. "If you really want people to stop calling you a neanderthal, you could at least stop acting like one," I said to announce my arrival.

"What? All men do it," he said, before flicking something mottled brown off his finger. I resisted the urge to gag. I sat down, cross legged, waiting for the humans to decide where to go. I ended up studying a little patch of clover, growing out of a crack in the sidewalk. It fascinated me, that in a world of no green, life could still be found.

"Alright, then, we've got our plan worked out," Douxie declared, stepping on the clover patch while walking over to us. I winced, thinking of how much pain the poor plant was in. As I stood, I thought of how careless he'd been, stomping on a living creature without a second thought. "First stop is the movie theater, then we head to Stuart Electronics, and then we hit a few more tourist destinations and round it off with GDT Arcane Books. Sounds good?"

Everyone expressed their concerns and opinions, but nothing was changed. I said nothing. "Okay, then, let's go," he smiled, turning on his heel and walking out of school, stepping on the poor plant yet again. I tailed behind the humans, not eager to look like a part of their pack.

I stole a quick glance down as I passed over the clover, taking care not to step on it. It was still alive. A little ragged, a bit dirty, but still reached for the sun. It gave me hope. If this little clover could survive the hardships of being stepped on and still find the light, then maybe, just maybe, I could too.

**********

We trekked through the urban jungle, with Douxie and Archie leading, Claire and Jim at my back, and the others assuming positions next to me. Their casual body language and joking conversations didn't fool me; I was a prisoner, boxed in by their bodies. They led me around town, pointing out a few large landmarks. We went inside a few buildings, which the humans called stores.

The stores were filled with foreign objects I had never seen before. Inedible fruit in a bowl. White statues with no heads wearing strange clothes (I got pulled away from a section labeled 'lingerie' by Claire because a few female humans were staring at me). One store even held thin slips of paper with black disks inside.