Chapter 3
C-13 was shaken awake the next morning by C-10. Her first reaction was terror, the icy dagger stabbing deep into her stomach. C-10 stood patiently over her, an understanding shining deep in her eyes. Slowly, C-13's heart stopped trying escape from her ribcage. When she was calm, she sat up, the covers of her new bed sliding off her shoulders. C-10 smiled pleasantly, holding out a book toward her.
"Good morning, C-13," she said, "Are you ready for your next lesson?"
"Lesson?" The previous day's events were a distant and foggy memory. As she looked into C-10's calm eyes, confused, they crashed down on her like a waterfall. She felt her eyes widen in shock then skirt down her body. The white, skin-tight garment seemed to shine in the light, the red circle a small sun. Eyes turning back up to C-10, C-13 reached for the book and weighed it in her hand. C-10 smiled and took a seat next to her, putting in her hand a pen and in her lap a pad of paper. She was holding a second pen in her hand.
"Ready?" C-10 asked, uncapping the pen and beginning to write on the paper, "There are two types of letters. Lower case and upper case. We'll start with the lower case. This is 'a'." She drew the letter on the pad, her handwriting neat and script-like. C-13 looked from the letter to C-10, confused.
"What do you want me to do?" She asked.
"All you need to do is try to copy the letters I write, okay? Go ahead and try." C-13 looked down at the paper again. Something tugged at the back of her head, causing her to start. She tried to twist around but received a light hit on her skull and a clicking noise. C-5 was occupying herself with the new girl's hair, taking her brush through its length. C-10 pointed to the letter to regain C-13's attention to her lesson. Cautious, C-13 took the pen in her fist and attempted to write. The thing that appeared at the end of the pen was not anything like the 'a' before it. C-10 shook her elegant head from side to side.
"Hold your pen like this," she said calmly. She placed hers in her hand, the tool cradled between her thumb and index finger. The others, curled delicately behind it, giving it more support and keeping it still. C-13 tried to mimic what she saw with little success. C-10 reached over and helped her to hold the pen. When she felt the other girl had a handle on it, she let it go. C-13's hand was unsteady but she continued trying to write. After several tedious hours, she clumsily mastered the letters, her handwriting sloppy. C-10 laughed, gently patting the girl on the back.
"Nothing we can't work with. We'll practice writing as the day goes on." C-13 smiled and took the paper into her hands. She practiced writing her letters, refining her handwriting until it was finally legible. C-10 smiled, going back to reading her book. The twins were playing checkers again, their faces scowling as they tried to out-think the other. C-7 kept to herself, cleaning of simply sitting and glaring across the room. C-5 remained silent, playing with an odd deck of cards. The doors opened and a woman in skin-tight clothing and a pristine white coat, escorted by two burly guards, wheeled in a cart with plates of foods C-13 had never seen before.
These plates were marked with a colored ring on the rim and they seemed to be portioned according to the girl's appetite. The girls rushed forward with cries of glee, except for C-7, who walked with a hostile grace toward the gurney. She picked up her plate with an acidic glare toward the woman and her guards and turned away without a word. The girls grabbed the plates and retreated to their beds. C-13 looked at the plate and picked at the pile of steaming green pods and white mashed pile. The brown meat tasted the best, juice leaking out onto the plate and down her fingers and arms, mixing with the white pile and making a new flavor. C-10 smiled and walked over toward her. Her silent reassurance was all C-13 needed to know that, even in this paradise, the other girls still did not trust their caretakers. The white-coat woman and her guards continued to stand at the door, waiting. The woman pulled out a pad of paper and began writing as she watched the five girls. When they had finished and returned the plates, the woman and her guards departed.
"Damned pigs," C-7 snarled, her eyes burning with hatred. The twins moved to her side, comforting her without appearing to do so. C-5 remained silent, her fingers gliding over the backs of her strange cards. C-10 sighed, laying back on her pillows and looking to the ceiling.
"That's new," she muttered.
"What is?" C-13 wondered rolling onto her side to look at her.
"The guards. They've never had guards come with the food before."
"They're mad 'cause C-7 hit the last one that came in," C-1 giggled, a massive grin on her face.C-1 rolled on the ground with tears coming from her eyes, holding her sides with laughter. C-13 looked at the silent C-7 with apprehension. She wasn't certain she wanted to cross the red-head any time soon. C-10 took her hand and pulled her away from the other girls, sitting her down at the windowsill.
"Let's see how you're doing with your letters."
Time seemed to pass by much faster in this new room. It didn't take long for C-13 to master her letters and words. The girls grew in height and dominance was still measured by it. The order didn't change that much as the time passed. C-7 and C-13 stood about the same height with C-5 only a hands width shorter. C-10 was a full head shorter than C-7 and the twins a head beneath her. C-7 ruled the room and the girls with an iron fist, organizing cleaning and rest schedules and adhering to them. Every time a game was scattered across the room or a book lay in the middle of the floor, her commanding voice cut through any noise like a whip. C-5 continued to keep mostly to herself or stuck to C-10, her shining eyes glowing with an intellect she would never be able to express. C-10 spent most of her time with C-13, teaching her words or simply talking with her. The twins laughed and spent most of their time playing games or battling each other in games of wit. It was truly perfect. A magnificent utopia for those who had been poked and prodded for their entire lives. It would have been perfect if it had stayed that way.
C-13 woke from a restless sleep. The dream she no longer remembered but the sense of fear clung to her heart. Rising to sit up, she looked around the dark room. The twins, C-7 and C-10 slept peacefully in their beds, the blankets rising and falling with their breathing. C-5 was sitting upright, her eyes wide. Even though her bed was the furthest from her, C-13 could see that she was shaking. Having lived with her for some time, C-13 had come to understand the language that the mute spoke. She rose from her bed and went to the other girl's side.
"C-5, are you okay?" Gently, she laid her hands on her shoulders. C-5 jerked away, her eyes wild with fear. She clicked and chattered, her fear making the words garbled and nonsensical.
"Slow down, C-5. I can't understand you. What's wrong?" C-13 pulled C-5 close to her, cradling her head in her chest. C-5 buried her face into her shoulder, her body shaking with fear and held back tears. Neither girl moved for some time, the light of the moon sliding slowly out of view. After what seemed like hours, C-5 looked into C-13's eyes before pulling away. She ran her fingers through her matted hair, slowly explaining what was wrong in the language she had developed.
"A nightmare?" C-13 asked, after the explanation was completed. The blonde nodded, her eyes now cast to the floor. C-13 smiled and lifted C-5's chin with her thumb and index finger, raising her eyes until they were looking at each other. "It's okay. None of it was real. You're safe now." C-5 nodded slowly, raising her chin out of her grasp and returning beneath the sheets. C-13 patted her shoulder and returned to bed herself, crawling beneath the covers to stare at the ceiling. As she drifted off to sleep, C-5 sat up once more, looking down the line to her sleeping form. She didn't move but simply watched as C-13 slept. She reached for her cards and began laying them out, one by one. Once they were all spread, she drew one and looked at its face. The Tower. Her expression became worried as she looked at the image and back down the line of beds. It was not what she would have wished. As she laid the card down, she picked up the rest in her shaking hands and began to lay them out. When C-13 awoke that morning, C-5 had fallen asleep sitting up and in her hands she held The Tower and the Six of Swords. She didn't know what they meant but she knew it was a very bad omen.
She awoke to the sharp crack of gunfire. Startled, she scrambled to her feet, a harsh sob tearing through her throat. Crouched, she waited until the noise settled down then strained her ears to try to locate it. She had set several traps to warn her but it all depended on how poor their aim truly was. Silence stretched on until the car horn sliced through it like a knife. C-13 felt all the muscles in her body tighten. They were close, far too close for her liking. She had to get out of this place before they found her. Slowly, her legs crying out in protest for being in the same position for so long, she rose to her full height and moved quickly out of the hall. Her eyes scanned the hallway, looking for any indication that her hiding place had been compromised. Many times, the survivors would leave her alone. Let her wander about in the darkness and pray she wouldn't harm them. She strained her ears, listening. For a long time, silence greeted her. Summoning her courage, she stepped out into the crimson black and moved steadily forward.
She could see very clearly where she was, regardless of the red blanket across her vision. As she moved, C-13 kept listening, trying to locate where the survivors were. She slipped into a smaller room, closing the door with the palm of her hand, being mindful of her nails. She quickly discovered she had discovered a closet full of supplies. The stench of the chemicals was just strong enough to overpower her failing sense of smell. A sight on her right caused her to stop. Looking at it for a moment, she saw a girl her own age looking at her. Her face was gaunt and dirt-stained, greasy strands of hair falling into her eyes. Glowing red eyes looked back at her, the iris just barely visible. It took her a moment to realize she was looking into a mirror. Without thinking about it, she reached for the simple item. Suddenly, the image of her face fragmented into twenty separate images with a soft crack. C-13 stopped for a moment, looking into her six eyes in the mirror before pulling back her hand. The mirror collapsed into a heap of jagged shards, her nail having pierced through it. Without knowing why, she collapsed in to uncontrollable sobs of pain and utter loss.
