She sat alone in the small room, sitting in a vertical fetal position, slowly rocking back and forth. No windows. No visible door. But it didn't matter. Not to her. She had no way of knowing how long she'd been there. She didn't really care. Not anymore. Why had they done this? What had she done that was so bad? Why did those bad men hurt her? She tried to remember how she got there but her mind was blank. Trying to remember made her begin to convulse with fear. Her body ached all over from the ouchies they gave her.
They had brought her food, if you could call it that. It looked as yucky as it smelled. But she wasn't hungry. She didn't want to eat. She couldn't sleep either. Every time she'd close her eyes she saw scary things. The sounds of screaming filled her mind and made her wake up echoing those screams. The bad men hadn't come near her recently. She was thankful for that. They left her virtually alone but that was better than being beaten again. She wondered how long she would stay like this. What did they want with her? Why were they doing this? For a moment she felt fear grip her just to fade as quickly as it came. Every time she did hear the door open she felt her breath catch in her throat and her body stiffen. She didn't want them to hurt her again.
She must have passed out, at least that was the thought that calmed her when one moment the door to her room was closed and the next it was opened. The crack of the door let in just enough light to make a pitch black room a shadowy box. She strained her ears to try and hear anything. If it had been the bad men coming she would have heard the sound of heavy boots, yet there was nothing. With each passing second her small body tightened in fear as she curled even tighter into ball. It was a monster. It had to be, and the monster was just watching her. A whisper of a voice played at the edge of her mind saying how the monsters under our bed were just friends we didn't know yet. She couldn't recall who had said it but the memory of that voice soothed her tattered soul enough that she was slowly able to relax.
"Kit-Kat?" her eyes jumped to the form of a young girl, not much older than herself, standing in front of her in a night shirt and matching sleep pants. The girl's face was a shadow but for some reason even in the dark her solid blue eyes shown with an unnerving unreadable light. "Kit-Kat? Candy? You eat right?"
She didn't respond. She didn't know how. Who was this girl? Why was she here? Did the bad men treat her the same way? How did this girl get to walk around without the bad men knowing? So many more questions ran through her mind as she watched the girl move. Her motions were smooth and slow and calculated as she walked back and forth before sitting on the metal base board of the bed tilting her head in thought, like a cat inspecting a new toy. The girl snapped the Kit-Kat in half and held out a piece.
When it wasn't taken the girl just threw it on top of the covers. "It's ok, I'm the only one here." She said as she bit into her half of the Kit-Kat bar.
"Who are you?" She heard the question being asked but barely recognized that it was her own voice asking it.
"They call me Alpha." The girl seemed to stare at her for a moment, studying her. It made her feel weird not knowing what she was thinking. "What's your name?"
"The bad men said I don't have one anymore. They said I'm only s'posed to be known as Beta."
"Yep. Sounds right." Beta slowly sat up on the bed looking back and forth between the candy and the girl.
"You don't look like a Alpha…" She slowly reached forward taking the candy off of her bed.
"Now, Serene, the candy will spoil your dinner." The same voice from earlier echoed back through her memory.
"Well you don't look like a Beta either." Alpha replied starting on her second Kit-Kat stick.
"Serene."
"What?"
"My name… it's Serene."
"So you do remember?" She finds herself shaking her head. "Good. Serene suits you much better than Beta. So… what's it to be? Serene? Or Beta?"
For the first time since she'd arrived here she found herself smiling. It's a small, tilt of her lips, barely noticeable, but still, it was the tiniest semblance of a promise of what might be: a friendship. Tilting her head up and meeting the girl's eyes proudly she picked up the candy and took a bite.
"Serene."
"Good." She gave a smile and Serene found herself strangely comforted even though the smile seemed a foreign expression on the older girl's face.
"And you can't be Alpha any longer. It's not right."
"What do you mean?"
"You need a new name, a better name. Something that fits."
"Really? Like what?" Alpha crossed her legs under her and leaned forward as she finished her half of the candy bar. Serene's eyes glance down to the wrapper in and half-eaten candy in her hand and smiled.
"Kit-Kat"
"Kit-Kat?"
"Yea. It fits you much better than Alpha."
"I…I like it…thanks." The two girls smiled at one another. Two young, lonely souls finding a common bond. Their moment didn't last long, however, because the door swung open and the lights came on to reveal ten of the mean men standing with old man; a creepy old man with a metal arm and metal eye. She shivered at the sight of him. He frowned as he walked into the room.
"Alpha. You were not given clearance to be out of your quarters. You are in direct violation of curfew." Alpha sat up straight, a smirk on her young face. "Take her to her room." Not one man made a move to take her but rather all took a step backward from the doorframe. Serene watched this, puzzled. These men were afraid of Kit-Kat? What kind of place was this? "Very well, I shall do so myself." Before the old man could move his creepy metal leg even a step towards them, Kit-Kat had already leapt off the bed and began to walk towards the door.
"I'll see you later…Beta." Serene knew Kit-Kat had to use their code names or they would both most likely be punished. She didn't respond to the goodbye but rather watched the men cower as the eight-year-old child walked by, humming "Old MacDonald". The old man stayed and continued to stand in the doorway, his arms behind his back, his metal eye reflecting the light of the room. She felt herself shiver.
"Beta… I am glad to see you are finally responsive. Get some sleep. Tomorrow you will begin your training. If you're cooperative and do everything we expect of you I promise I will make things as easy on you as possible. Do you understand?" She looked up at this creepy old man, studying him carefully."
"Yes, Dr. Metal Man."
"You will address me as Dr. J! Not Dr. Metal Man. Not even Alpha has called me something like that…" He rubs his pointy beard in though almost chuckling to himself. She watches as he walks back to the door. "Goodnight Beta." With those words the door shut and she was left alone once more in darkness. She took another bite of her candy and smiled.