Ch.11: The Harsh Reality
Rebel's P.O.V.
"You will wake up at 6:30 precisely every morning. From that time to seven you shall bathe and get ready for the day. At 7:01 breakfast is served in the cafeteria. Thirty minuets later you must go to preform your daily chores, getting a thirty minuet lunch breach at 12:00. The work ends at 5:00 and then you get dinner. Fifteen minuets or rest time is allowed then before you move on to a two hour Chastising and then you will have the rest of the day off. Lights go out at 10:00 and by then you are expected to be silent and in bed. Am I understood?" The woman supervisor turned around and look at us.
"Uh...no," Cole said, frowning.
"What is not comprehendible?" She asked. I hate to be mean, not really, but this lady was old and ugly. She looked like a transvestite from, like, the 1500's. The first time I saw her I gagged. She smells like meat, cheese, and baby powder. Her light brown hair was up in a bun thing and she had on a plain, grey dress. The only piece of jewelry she wore was pearl white earrings. She appeared to be about one-hundred and two.
"The...schedule?" Demi hesitated.
"Strict schedules make great people!" The woman recited.
"What are supposed to call you?" Nichole asked, skipping along as we hurriedly traveled down the hall.
"No skipping!"
Nichole froze.
"There shall be only marching here. No running, jogging, or skipping is permitted."
"Why?"
"Hush, girl!" She waved her yardstick at Nichole. I growled deep in my throat.
"To continue with my former conversation, you all must obey our rules."
"Did Night and Gloom make these rules?" Eva asked, concerned.
Although the woman was far ahead of us, I could've sworn I saw her mouth curl into a malicious smile.
"No, we came up with these shortly after their departure."
"About that, where is their son, Grey, and their friend Drake who used to live down in the basement?" Holly asked innocently.
"Grey is here somewhere, that god forsaken child! Drake went missing the same time as the others," the woman answered.
"Oh..." Lani commented.
"If your replies add nothing to the conversation please do not state them because there is nothing to be addressed to them." Okay, this old hag was getting on my nerves.
"Here, this is the fifteen minuet rest period I told you about. You must go talk to the male instructor to find out more information on your chores," She motioned to a man in his mid thirties, "As for you two girls, I will care for you in the nursery." Nichole and Bethany's hands were grabbed and they were lead back down the hallway.
"Great. This is just-" I groaned.
"Perfect. We got it, Reb." Ava rolled her eyes, stalking ahead. That girl...
"You're staring at her butt."
"No I'm not, Sapphire!" I growled.
"Yeah, you were," Lani snipped, following Ava.
"Gross, bro," Peter fake chocked as he walked past.
I face palmed and followed. The idiots.
"I told them I heard you and Ava..." Eva whispered to me.
"It's official, I hate you," I grumbled.
"But you love her!" Eva giggled.
"I love Alice," I said stubbornly. Eva's smile dropped.
"You only like her looks!" She snapped.
"Stop." Then we were glaring, that is until the male instructor yelled at us.
"You! There is no interaction between genders!"
"What the-"
"No cussing!"
"I wasn't-"
"Do not defy me!"
Yeah, this is gonna get old.
"Boys are to be on the left side of the wall. Girls are on the right. Move!" The man had brown hair that was slicked back and piercing, steel-blue eyes that could make a person cower. We split our ways, not wanting to make this guy, who was wearing ugly brown, knee long shorts and a white, button-up shirt, mad.
"Hey! New kids!" A boy rushed forward. He was missing a front tooth and had elongated K-9's. His skin looked as if he had one of those cheap orange spray tans. There was areas of his skin that was darker than others, and his hair was orange with thin strips of black here and there.
"Umm...hi?" Peter tried, waving slightly.
"I'm Tigger!" The boy chirped, sticking his hand out for a shake. Peter reluctantly shook it.
"You're part tiger?" Cole asked, smirking as he watched the kid.
"Yep. You're part bird."
"You are named after a character from Winnie the Pooh, you have no room to tease, dude," Cole spat.
"Winnie the Pooh?" Tigger raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to the side.
"You know, the cartoon..."
"We aren't allowed to watch cartoons here," Tigger explained.
"Why's that?" I asked.
"Television is a useless invention that rots the brain," An older boy stepped forward. He literally had horns. Like ram horns. "At least, that's what they say."
"What do you do for fun?" Peter kept at the curly horns.
"We break things." Goat Boy shrugged nonchalantly.
"This is Aries," Tigger introduced.
"So you are part goat!" Peter concluded.
"Yeah. When I first came here they called me Billy, Billy Goat," Aries shrugged, "You can call me either. I've been alive sixteen years and I already know nothing stays constant. I have a sister, Capricorn, whose usually assigned to serving the Instructors."
"Serving?" I rose an eyebrow at his choice of words.
"Oh, right, newcomers. Well, you see, they treat us like slaves here. There's Sir Instructor and Madam Instructor, who, because they apparently crave power, literally carry around whips and cudgels and hit you with them if you go too slow. Most of the girls, if they're not ugly, get to work in the house, cooking and cleaning. We, on the other hand, are left outside to dig holes and garden," Aries explained.
"Excuse me, but did you just say dig holes?" Cole asked.
Tigger nodded. "We bury trash in them."
"That's disgusting!" I looked down at the ground to be sure I wasn't standing in a pile of trash.
"That's how we've been living since Night, Drake, and Gloom got taken," Aries sighed.
"Our p-caretakers got taken too," I added.
"We know!" Tigger laughed, "When we heard you were coming we knew you all would find Night and the boys and bring 'em back!"
"Whoa! Where did you get that idea?" I held up my hands. I didn't come here to look for a degree in heroism. I came for safety.
"Look, you and I both know we can't live like this forever. We can't get over the gates, either. You have the wings to get out of here. Don't you see it? The Instructors are working for the H.R.S.C.! They're gonna start killing us off like we're livestock at a slaughter house!" Aries brought his voice down to a whisper. "Three of the oldest have already gone missing. Word is, they buried them in one of the holes."
"This is insane. You're in good hands, there's people here from the CSM watching over us," Cole snapped.
"But they're leaving soon," Tigger pointed out.
"What do you think we're doing today?" Aries jabbed a thumb over his shoulder, gesturing to at the shovels piled near a barren section of the yard.
"Holy crap..." I breathed.
"And guess whose signed to dig?" Aries said, almost inaudible.
"Who?" Peter whispered back.
"Rebel and Aries." Tigger held up the schedule.
Then a whistle blew and Sir Instructor was yelling at us and telling us where to go. Peter was whisked away to the garden and told to use his power to move the rocks. Cole was assigned to freezing the water in the fountain and helping the other boys, like Tigger, to repair it. Staying true to the schedule, Aries and I picked up a shovel and started digging.
"Make this last," Aries snarled, "you're digging you're own grave."
My shovel slammed into the hard ground again. Could this be true? We're they planning on murdering us and throwing us down our own hole?
•••
We didn't get to stop for lunch break. We were forced to work through it because we were moving too slow. As the day moved on we neared the end if the chores. Aries continued to talk about the kids here. There was ten of them that weren't human, including himself and Tigger. Apparently the other human children were being transferred to another orphanage. After that the conversation grew to weak subjects.
"Did you get anything for Christmas?" I asked awkwardly as I threw another load of dirt over my shoulder.
"No, although I know Night got me something. The Instructors sold it all," he explained.
"Oh. Did you ever have a Mom?"
"Capri and I never met her. Im sure we're siblings, though." Aries looked up at me. "What about you?"
"No, I was saved from the School. Im probably a testtubie."
"Got any brothers or sisters?"
"Nope."
"Got a girlfriend?"
Apparently two...
"Yeah, she's human."
"Did you know that if a human and mutant want to have children it has to be approved?' Aries questioned.
"By the government? Yeah, Jester and Sylvia and Hillbilly and Nudge disobeyed that law," I said.
"Ive read about them!"
"That's not weird..."
"There's history books about you all. I've read about you too."
"Dude, stop."
"Sorry."
Sir Instructor, still feels weird to say that, blew the whistle. We put the shovels aside and filed into a straight line.
"March!" The guy yelled. Everyone fell into a constant pace, I was struggling. We returned to our rooms. Lucky me, I had to bunk with Aries and Peter. Cole got stuck with hyperactive Tigger.
"So when can we see the girls?" I asked, looking over the three beds.
"Never." Aries shrugged.
"What?!" I nearly yelled.
"Listen, Capricorn sometimes sneaks out here. I'm sure you all can sneak down the hall to the girl's rooms." He tried, motioning for me to be quiet.
"This is crazy!" I snapped. "First we dig holes, and now I can't see my family?!"
A knock on the door interrupted us. Peter slowly opened it to reveal a girl with brown hair and round, brown eyes standing on the other side. She had cream colored nubs of horns sticking out on either side of her head.
"Aries!" She bellowed, coming in and wrapping the boy in a hug. Now I could verify she was his sister. They looked exactly alike.
"I heard Moses is coming tonight!" Capricorn said cheerfully.
"You know he's just a myth, right?" Aries sighed, patting her head.
"He's not! He comes every once in a while and takes some of us away so we can be free!" the little girl persisted.
"Moses is just a made up guy you all created," Aries grumbled, "like Cinderella and unicorns."
"He's real! He helps mutants everywhere get to safety!"
"You're eight, you don't know anything," Aries hushed.
"Who's Moses?" I asked, curious.
"Someone the kids invented. Apparently he comes at night and saves us mutants by helping us get out of here. Kinda like the Moses in the Bible an Harriet Tubman." Aries frowned down at the little girl. "And if they hear you talking about him you get a whipping."
"Speaking of whippings," Capricorn turned to me, "That Ava girl you brought with you got in trouble."
Wait, what?
"What happened?" I asked.
"Lani dropped a cup and Madam went to whip her. Ava stepped in the way. Ava's gonna get it tonight," Capricorn whispered. "It made Madam angry."
"What the heck is going on in this place?! They can't beat us!" Peter growled.
"I'm telling you, we're slaves," Aries reminded.
"We need to find Benny!" I hurried, "He'll do something."
"The CSM all went home early. They gave Bethany a check-up and bid their farewells. They're long gone." Capricorn looked up at me.
"You thought you were in Purgatory, didn't you?" Aries shot me a sly smile, "I'd like to be the first to say, welcome to H*ll, where there is no escape."
No. Oh heck no. These people are crazy! I did not just survive my home being bombed and a plane crash to be locked away in this place! They can't beat Ava! They can't force us to work! It just can't be...
•••
"Alright, move on!"
Sir Instructor ordered. Two other men, dressed similarly to him, lead us to a room.
"Where are we?" I whispered to Aries.
"Chastisement room," he quickly answered, lining up along the wall.
The girls followed after us, lining up along the opposite wall.
"Where's the other kids?" Peter questioned.
"They don't have to come," Tigger crossed his arms, "This is for mutants only."
Sir Instructor sat behind a desk, placing a white case in front of him.
"What's that?" Cole pointed to the case.
"It holds these little pink bead like things. He shoots them into your arm. It disables your powers." Aries rubbed a little place on his arm. "It's the Human Race Survival Corpse's new drug. And yes, it works."
Ive seen those before. The night when our parents were kidnapped.
"They're gonna put it into us?!" Peter started hyperventilating. Tigger told him to breathe, patting his shoulder.
The line progressed, each getting the bead shot up their arms. Cole got one before me. He tried to be strong, but I could see him struggling.
"Whatever you do, don't deny them," Aries whispered, shoving me up to the desk.
"Give me your arm," the man spat. I reluctantly stuck it out. He put what looked to be a little black toy handgun to my forearm. Within seconds I could feel a slight sting, then it began burning.
All of us went through it, even Beth, who cried for only a couple of minuets afterward.
"Do any of you know what chastisement is?" Madam Instructor asked once we had settled back into our places.
I raised my hand, and, to her stupidity, she called on me.
"It's when people with sticks up their butts decide they want some crude entertainment and decide to beat and yell at innocent, pre-tortured children," I said with a straight face and an ice cold voice.
I saw her arm jerk quickly and something hits across my arm. Before she lashed out the second time I noticed this was the whip. When the tool of her joy came down again I caught it. It sliced into the palm of my hand.
The two extra overseers jumped to their feet as Madam struggled to get the whip from my hand. After I caught her eyes and gave her a smirk showing that I overpowered her, I let it go. She backed away from me, her face ashen. Her steps were clumsy in her low heels. That'll teach her not to mess with me.
It stung, and rivulets of crimson flowed freely from the wound. Everyone held their breaths, sinking farther back.
"Maybe you haven't learned yet, freak!" Sir snarled, "Here you obey our rules. When we say do something do it. When we hit you stay down!"
Although I wanted to scream that I wouldn't, I nodded. I nodded because I didn't need enemies right now. I nodded because I was determining that these people really were the H.R.S.C.
"Now," he continued, turning to Ava and taking the whip from Madam, "Miss Ava Ride, it seems that you have deliberately stepped in the way of our authority. Is this true?"
Ava stepped forward a little, shoving Nichole back to keep the younger girl from getting hurt. She said a quiet, "Yes."
"That is a form of rebellion. Rebellion is a very serious offense to the system here." He looked at her, making me suppress a growl. He twisted the bloodied whip in his hand.
"I understand," Ava said, no quiver in her voice.
"For that you receive one smack." He brought the whip down in a blink of an eye, like it was his third arm. It landed on her arm, and I felt myself bubbling with anger. They had marred her beautiful skin, her flawless skin. It's not that I like her, but you don't do that. Not to Ava. I figured staying down was better than getting myself killed. Ava returned to the group and we spent another half hour learning about how rebellion is bad and blah blah blah. No one cared.
All I cared about was getting out of here. They had shown us the harsh reality, and I was ready to throw it back in their face.
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NEXT UPDATE: 12/30/12
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