Chapter 10

The food was good.

At least his meal was anyway. Anne had made no complaints over her own levo variety but Pallin still watched her closely.

She was an almost timid eater. Often she would glance at him almost as if seeking his permission to continue eating. She seemed to expect him at any moment to take away her food. After about twenty minutes or so, she became confident enough to eat unimpeded of her worries.

He merely concentrated on his own meal while attempting to find something interesting to watch.

That was another thing that struck him.

Anne was completely enthralled with the vid screen and the programmes that they had the choice of viewing.

Her innocent amazement of it all spoke volumes to him of how sheltered - or hidden - she had been from this most basic of tech.

"So... this is not really happening now? And those people are pretending to be other people?"

Pallin took a sip of water to cool his throat after a particularly spicy piece of his meal made it way to his stomach.

"They are called actors and their job is to, well, play pretend I suppose. They act out stories for others entertainment."

"Oh."

"This is a recorded broadcast so this would likely have been filmed some time ago."

Anne frowned. "Okay. I think I got it."

He smiled at her. "That frown doesn't say you understand."

She jumped a little and flushed pink from the opposite couch where she was bundled up in blankets.

"I-I get it. I do. It's just..."

"What?"

Anne stared down at the controller in her hand. "You must think I am such an idiot for not knowing these things."

"I don't see it as a problem, Anne. How long were you held for?"

The human froze up before sinking back beneath the edge of the blanket.

Pallin sighed. "At some point, you will need to tell me. You can trust me on this."

Anne nodded causing the blanket to shake a little.

After a few minutes, Pallin heard Anne say quietly, "I don't remember ever not being there. Except for now."

He tilted his head and stared at the human who was trying to make herself even smaller than what she was.

"You don't remember anything? Even from when you were younger?"

"No. I remember being small. It's just... I was small while I was there."

Pallin's mandibles flickered as he processed it. Anne never had a life outside of her captivity.

"What about your parents? Any family?"

She shook her head.

"Tell me about where you were kept then."

"It was small, cold during the winter. We all got extra blankets when the snows came."

"There were others?"

She nodded. "Lots of us. Not many like me. Some were tricked into it. They were always angry, shouting and fighting whenever they could."

"I imagine they would be. Can you describe the place to me? Do you know who captured you?"

She shook her head. "They were like me. Human. I never got to know the guards that well cause they kept switching them. I think it was because they felt sorry for me. Some of them used to give me extra rations if they could do so without being spotted. That was normally just before they were transferred away. I know the name they all went under. I have it drawn on to my skin so that I would always remember."

Pallin frowned. "Drawn?"

Anne sat up and extended her left arm to him. Pallin held it in his hands. He turned it over to show some scarring on the soft pale underside.

"I don't see any words, Anne..."

"I drew a picture on there with piece of metal. Can you see it?"

Pallin frowned and squinted his eyes. "Looks sort of like a three-headed varren?"

Anne nodded. "Yeah! One of the prisoners used to tell stories at lights out. He told one of a human who went into the underworld and met with a sort of dog there. He said it was like a type of varren but with hair. My... ah... friend... drew me a picture of one so I knew what they looked like."

"You had a friend?"

Anne fidgeted uncomfortably. "He... he was a late arrival. But nice. Really nice to me and the others. There was a crack between our cells and he would pass little things he stole to me."

"And he showed you what a varren looks like. I see." Pallin tapped her arm, "So what is with the three-headed one on your arm?"

"That was the name! The name of the group that held me! It was the same as the dog in the story! At least it sounded the same. I overheard a few of the guards talking about it. It was Cerberus!"

Pallin's eyes went wide.

Anne took one look at the expression on his face before she took her arm back carefully. "You.. you know of them... right?"

"I do," Pallin muttered.

He stood up and went to the window before pacing a little. His brain was ticking over rapidly. Pallin suddenly stopped and turned his attention to Anne. The small human was gazing at him concerned.

"I need to know everything that you remember. How did you end up where you were?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I just... I just was always there. Jack would come and visit me sometimes."

"Jack?"

Anne nodded. "That's the name he told me. At the start, he was nice... sorta. He didn't shout as much. Didn't..." she shrunk back inside the blankets, "...didn't tell the doctors to do things to me. Then he changed."

Pallin frowned. "Anne, can you-"

The human interrupted him. "I am really tired. I rather not talk about it right now."

That's when he noticed it – the tears pouring down her face. Anne wasn't sniffling or wailing like he would expect. She was calm but the tears just flowed like a river from those large blue eyes she had focused on a spot on the floor.

Pallin wandered over the kitchen area, picked up a piece of tissue before he padded over to the couch. He took a seat beside her than handed her the tissue.

Anne gave a shy grateful smile as she wiped the tears away.

Pallin picked up the vid remote, tapped a few buttons before finding a suitably comedic film. He spread his arms out along the back of the couch.

"I think this should be quite amusing. Got rave reviews I seem to recall," he sniffed.

Pallin focused his gaze on the screen before smiling slightly as the other weight on the couch shifted and he felt Anne lean back next to him.