-3 Years Ago-
"I hope she'll be ok… Please be ok…."
Nami leaned back against the cool metal wall of the dog crate, knotting her fingers through the icy bars set to separate her from the outside world. With help from the small stream of light coming from the vent shaft above her, she could just barely see through the grate on the left side of the crate next to her.
The little girl couldn't have been older than seven. Her gnarled obsidian hair spilled down her back back like a tidal wave of shadows, easily overlapping her exposed back, where wings were supposed to be located. Her fraile hands were folded across her lap, her head bowed to face the metallic floor as she murmured incoherently.
"Please come back… We have to escape together… Please, Lucy…"
The little girl paused as if sensing someone was listening and turned in the too small crate to stare out of the side opening.
Nami simply turned away, brushing her glossy black hair away from her sepia, crimson tinted eyes. She hugged her knees closer to her chest and carefully began to count the metal slats of her cage. She was thirteen now, and had given up all hope of escaping. Still, she wouldn't ruin it for the little girl.
Let her believe she had a chance. Even if she wasn't fooling anyone.
After several minutes of silence, the little girl started muttering to herself again. Softer this time, her small body rocking back and forth like a metronome.
Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, Nami rustled her black, tan and brown splotched wings, feeling tiny trembles of excitement bristle her feathers. The whitecoats took three bird-kids from their cages today. That had been several hours ago.
They hadn't come back since.
Lucy. That was who the young girl was muttering about. He must have been one of the kids taken, not that it mattered. Nami flipped through her mental list of names she'd collected over the years. Made-up names, no doubt.
But Lucy wasn't one she remembered.
Like it mattered. Kids get forgotten everyday.
She locked her fingers under the flat. Bird-kids were taken to the white rooms all the time, most of them never return.
It didn't matter how doe-eyed, or longhaired, or strikingly handsome they were. Looks weren't enough to keep you alive here. You had to be better than beautiful, better than strong.
You had to be absolutely perfect.
Somewhere along the endless lines of metal boxes, a scratchy voice began to sob. Nami clenched the metal bars of the flat harder, willing herself not to break down into tears as well.
Don't cry.
That was the first rule. Never cry. Don't ever let them see how afraid you are, it could mean your death. Make them think you're unbreakable, make them wish they never chose you as a subject.
Nami cocked her head slightly to fend off the sudden burst of light from what she assumed was the door opening. Gritting her teeth, she clenched the metal flat so hard, crescent-moon shaped droplets of blood appeared along her palm where her unkempt nails met flesh.
Make them wish you weren't chosen.
Make them suffer.
Make them pay.
A silhouette blocked the light for a moment, before walking in and making it vanish altogether. Nami clenched her eyes shut as the footsteps echoed against the metal walls. The whitecoat pushed a button and just like that, one of the four metal walls slid up, revealing another wall of bars. He then paced slowly, a cupboard behind his back.
He was examining the livestock.
Nami glanced up when the pacing stopped directly in front of the little girl's cage, making her shrink back in fear. He ran his gloved fingers over the heavy padlock and slowly retracted a key from his coat pocket. The lock opened and fell to the floor, filling the dead silent room with an uncomfortable rattle.
She screamed when he pulled her out, his pristine nails gripping the matted locks of her hair and pulling. Her limbs flailed helplessly, throwing poor punches at the whitecoat's abdomen.
Nami screwed her eyes shut so tight they hurt. She fought the urge to help the little girl. Don't draw attention to yourself. That was the second rule of surviving. Keep hidden. Stay low. Ignore the screams, no matter how loud they get.
The whitecoat moved his vice-like grip to her upper arm and used it to drag her carelessly across the tile floor. Her gold eyes flickered back to Nami as she stretched her arm out as far as it would go.
"Help!" She had screamed, tears pouring freely down her freckled cheeks.
But Nami just turned away, digging her nails deeper into her hand.
"Help me! Help me! Help…"
Her words were cut short by the door slamming shut, the metal sheets falling back over the crates not soon after.
Nami shuddered and sucked in a sharp breath, slowly unclenching her fists. A tiny stream of blood snaked down her finger, dropping quietly through the flat of the cage and onto the tile floor. The black haired girl stared at the crimson drop numbly as she soaked up the horrifying silence around her.
No one dared to speak.
The little girl's pleas still echoed through her head.
"Help me! Help me! Help…."
"I hope she'll be ok… Please be ok…"
"We have to escape together…"
"...Together…"
Exhausted, Nami slowly slid down and curled into a fetal position on the floor of the crate, the cool metal tickling her skin.
"I hope she'll be ok..." She murmured, blinking away unshed tears, "please bring her back to me…"
Somewhere in the distance, a door slammed, a scream was heard, then… nothing.
Everyone knew the rules around here, and followed them soundlessly. They didn't cry, didn't stand out, didn't attempt escaping….
So the next day when a whitecoat stopped in front of her crate, no one said a thing.
What did you think? Love it? Hate it? Me and my friend have been working on this for a while and I'm finally uploading it! I'm new to fanfiction and writing so I might leave a few mistakes here and there because I'm experienced. Make sure to correct me!
Love,
Remedy