All characters are the property of SNK/Playmore. I don't own them, the video games or the anime.
Chapter Twelve: Solitary
At the bottom of a flight of stone steps behind a locked and barred door in an area of the school Melanie had never ventured into (largely because it was off the beaten track) was a hallway with a concrete floor, and several rooms leading off of that, each one behind a heavy door. The rooms were identical, nothing in each of them except a cot and a toilet. It was here that Candace led her after Melanie changed her clothes.
"Now, you remember what Landy said," the assistant told her as she stood in the doorway. "No talking for the next three days, except to answer questions."
The small blonde, seated on the edge of the cot, gave a small nod. Then the door was shut and locked, and she had nothing but time. Well, that and something extra. She waited until Candace's footsteps had retreated up the corridor, then she reached into her pocket, pulled out the yo-yo that her roommate had discreetly passed her while Melanie was changing.
Thanks, Kimberly, she thought to herself. Unable to fall asleep just yet, Melanie sat on her cot for another hour and just twirled the yo-yo out away from herself in a half-moon circle, catching it in her hand each time. It was dark, but she noticed that some light came in from a very small window over the bed, close to the ceiling. It provided just enough illumination for Melanie to forget the crawl space in her first foster home, where she'd suffered many a time-out. It also helped that Kimberly was right. Apparently, Joan's staff sprayed regularly for bugs and mice, because Melanie didn't even see any droppings.
She soon learned that solitary was exactly like the punishment she'd faced in the orphanage. Well, not exactly the same, but in some ways. Melanie was awoken by a knock at eight o'clock the following morning, and then a metal tray was pushed through a large slot towards the bottom of the door, which contained breakfast. Plain oatmeal, toast, yogurt, applesauce, small carton of skim milk… overall, not bad. I mean, they bring it right to my door, and I got to sleep a little later, Melanie thought as she tucked in. And the oatmeal was nasty, but it was better than the lukewarm porridge she got when the nuns punished her.
A half-hour later, there was another knock, and a voice demanded the empty tray, which Melanie passed through the slot. A half-hour after that, the first of her school assignments was pushed through the slot. She was asked if she needed any additional supplies, to which Melanie responded by requesting an empty composition book. She received two more assignments on the hour, and then lunch. After lunch was two more assignments, and then Melanie had nothing to do until dinner.
The silence didn't bother her much. The nuns at the orphanage had been very big on no talking from the children, even when they were behaving. It was the boredom that got to her. Melanie could only keep herself amused with the yo-yo for so long. Even through the thick glass of the window above, the small blonde could hear voices of people, so she assumed it looked out onto the quad. The last thing she would do, however, was risk a glance out that window, lest someone spot her and report her.
But they let her keep the composition book, and her copy of "Little Women," so for a while she tried to busy herself by taking notes for her book report. She was not having an easy time of it. So many of these characters are pussies, Mel thought to herself. But I kind of like Amy. By the time that dinner had been brought to her, consumed, and then taken away, she'd been reduced to drawing a comic of characters from the novel getting stabbed by Jason Voorhees.
The sun went down. Once again, she couldn't sleep. She killed an hour by twirling the yo-yo, then she noticed the light once more coming through the window. Moving as quietly as she could, Melanie got up, began pushing her cot slowly towards the wall, inch by inch so as not to make a sound. Finally, the metal frame rested up against the concrete wall. The plucky blonde stood up on the frame, pulled herself up to the window, and peered out. She saw the quad, now devoid of movement save for the searchlights which swept across it. She watched them for a few minutes, then sat back down on her mattress, opened her notebook to an empty page and started writing some things down. When she was done, she boosted herself up again and looked at the quad some more. Then she dropped back down and jotted more notes.
She was so engrossed in this activity that it was an hour after lights out for the other girls by the time Melanie was finished, and curled up under the covers of her own cot. She went to sleep with an odd smile on her face.
May 17th, 1997
It was shortly after what she was served her dinner on the third day when Melanie heard the door open. The impassive figure of Joan Landy stood in the doorway, looking as stern as usual, not a strand of her honey-blonde hair out of place. "Well, my child, was your time here enlightening?"
Melanie, sitting on her cot, managed to avoid glancing at the composition book on her lap. "Extremely enlightening, Ms. Landy," she answered.
"I'm glad," Joan said with a curt nod. "It's been three days, so you may leave now."
Trying not to appear too eager, Melanie gathered up her things and followed the elder woman out into the hall and up the stairs. Once they reached the top, Joan pulled a key from the pocket of her mustard-colored blazer and unlocked the heavy door. "Go straight back to the dorms, Melanie," she told her young charge. "I've already told Ms. Wallace to expect you."
"Yes, Ms. Landy," Melanie said, and started off. Thankfully, she didn't run into anyone, either on the walk back or in the dorm itself. Regina and her cunts must be in the rec room, she thought. With her composition book tucked under the beige vest of her uniform, she made her way to the second floor towards the relative safety of her bedroom.
"Welcome back, Melanie," Ms. Wallace called from her own room as Melanie walked past the open doorway. "Lights out ain't fer another two hours. May wanna get a shower before you turn in!"
"Thanks, ma'am, I'll think about it," Melanie called back. But still, she did feel kind of funky. It had been three days, and the wet towel she'd been issued every morning while in the box could only do so much.
Kimberly was not in their room, and a small part of her felt some regret at that. But it did make it easier for Melanie to secure her notebook. She then grabbed a towel and made her way to the showers, as Ms. Wallace's suggestion was a good one. A hot shower after three days in solitary turned out to be the hygiene equivalent of lobster thermidore. Melanie spent almost a half-hour under the warm spray, and wouldn't even have cared if another girl came in to use the adjacent shower while Melanie was still cleaning herself up. She breathed a massive sigh of relief when she finally turned off the water, dried herself, wrapped the towel around her torso, and went back to her bedroom.
Kimberly was lounging on her bed, flipping through "Little Women," as their book reports were due by the following Friday. To Melanie's amusement, she'd actually found this book as boring as the blonde girl had. Kim looked up and smiled when her roommate entered. "Welcome back," she said.
Melanie actually gave a small smile of her own. "Thanks," she said. "It was easy. Solitary here is nothing compared to the penguin house."
Kimberly gave a shrug, but per their agreement, decided not to ask any probing questions. "I had to do it once. It was fucking hell for me."
"Well, you find ways to deal with it. I thought it was enlightening." Melanie moved to her dresser, quickly changed into clean sleepwear, then did a belly flop onto her bed. She gave a contented sigh at the feel of the mattress, much better than the harder cot she'd been subjected to for the last few days.
The dark-haired girl waited until it looked like Mel was done having her moment, and then said: "Well, I am sorry that you missed birthday cake yesterday."
Melanie turned onto her back and shrugged. "Meh, whatever."
She heard her roommate get up from her bed then, and rummage through her dresser drawers. Melanie was tempted to sit up and see what was going on, but she was just too comfy. Then she heard Kimberly slide the drawer shut and move back to her bed, sitting down on the side facing the blonde girl. "Here, Melanie," she said.
Now Melanie sat up and saw that Kimberly was offering her what looked like a locket. "What's this?" She asked.
"You don't have to think of it as a late birthday present, if you don't want to," her roommate explained. "It's just… I've had this for a while now, and I can't even remember where I got it. And… I've never worn it, but I always kept it, for some reason. But… I've never been attached to it, so… if you want it, it's yours."
Melanie looked her in her dark brown eyes. "You okay?" She asked. "I feel like you're acting kind of weird. I mean, you're always weird, but… more than normal."
"Nah, I'm fine," Kimberly insisted, perhaps a little too fast. "It's just been a long week. For us both."
"True." Melanie reached out and finally accepted the locket. "Um… thank you."
"Don't mention it," Kimberly said with a shrug.
The blonde girl turned it over in her hand. It was pretty featureless on the outside, constructed of amber with a gold trim. After a brief outside examination, Melanie opened it and found there was no picture inside.
"I never put a picture in it," said Kimberly. "Could never find one I liked."
"Whatever," said Melanie. "I… appreciate this." She got up, then, stashed it in her bottom drawer, then crouched there for a moment with the drawer still open, and after thinking, pulled out her composition book. "Hey, Kim, check this out."
Kimberly was genuinely curious. "What is it?"
Melanie got back into bed, seated herself pretzel-legged, and began to flip through the lined pages. "There was a window in solitary," she said. "It looked out onto the quad. So when it got dark, I could watch the movements of the searchlights on the lawn." She came to the pages she was looking for, one of which had a crude rectangular diagram with notes in the margins, while the opposite page contained more text in what looked like a timetable.
"I think I may have figured out their timing," Melanie went on. "And their patterns. So we could sneak by them unnoticed if we ever wanted to." She turned the notebook over and held the pages out for her roommate's scrutiny.
"Why would we need to sneak by them?" Kimberly asked.
"In case we ever needed to be up after lights out," Melanie said. She raised one golden eyebrow at the other girl. "Kim, are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, Mel, I am," Kimberly insisted. "Just… figuring out this book report is driving me crazy." She reached behind her, snatched up her copy of "Little Women," and showed it to the small blonde.
"Maybe I should reconsider making a bet with you," Melanie said with a laugh and closed the notebook. Then she got up and slipped it back into its hiding place. "But this stupid book has got me stumped, too."
"Yeah. At least the last book had blood." Kimberly laughed as well, then sat back down on her bed and resumed reading. After that, there was not much more conversation between them. Melanie had forgotten what it was like to sleep in a real bed, and so she was under the covers and out cold a half-hour before lights out.
Kimberly reached over and snapped a finger in front of her face. The peacefully-sleeping blonde did not stir. So the ebony-haired girl switched off the lights and silently slipped from their bedroom. She made her way downstairs to the rec room, where most of the girls were wiling away the time until Ms. Wallace started making her rounds. Among them were Regina and her pack, who sat around a table playing Egyptian Rat Screw.
Janis, her right hand and wrist in a hard cast, looked ready to pounce despite her injury. "The fuck do you want, runt?" She snarled when she noticed Kimberly.
"I have business with your leader," she snapped, her eyes fixed on Regina, not even giving the lesser bitches a side glance.
"Oh, bullshit," Sunako growled, ready to jump from her chair, but Regina raised a hand.
"You heard her," the tall blonde spoke in a firm voice. "We have business. You girls take five. Let us speak in private."
"But…" Janis started to protest.
"I said give us a minute!" Regina snapped, her eyes narrowing. The hazel-eyed girl looked like she wanted to say more, but she finally rose from the table with the others and left the rec room.
Once they were alone, Kimberly fixed the Alpha with a hard, cold stare. "I've made my decision."
Regina quirked one eyebrow. "And?"
Kimberly took a deep breath, blew it out in a sigh. "If you really want to hurt Melanie, I can tell you how to do it."
A cold smile spread slowly across the other girl's lips. "I'm listening."
Another deep breath. "Okay. There's something that Melanie hates even more than bugs. I mean, this could seriously hurt her…"
Regina nodded. "You'd better hope so. Because if this does work, it'll guarantee you a spot in the group. Now tell me everything..."
ADDITIONAL NOTES
So, most of the official art I've seen of Malin has her wearing something around her neck. Sometimes, it looks like a locket. Sometimes, it looks like an ID tag. For my fic, I've decided it's a locket. Because it'll work better for the story. But now I'm getting ahead of myself. ( ;
And Egyptian Rat Screw: it's a card game. Like War, except more interesting. Look it up.
And that's all for now. I know it was short, but the last few chapters have been long. Plus, there's a fun cliffhanger for you all while I map out the next chapter. Until next time...