"The Benevolent Doctor"
13. The Prisoners' Hour
Sometime in New New York
For hours now, none of the three new arrivals had said a thing. They sat at the back of their cell, huddled together, as far away as they could from the others, and that got them left alone, just as they wanted. But then a man and woman came through, distributing bowls of food and glasses of water. They still didn't move, though the plates and glasses were left for them. It wasn't the best thing they'd ever smelled, but the odor reached them, and it didn't actually smell terrible, though that might have been the hunger talking. The other prisoners were all taking their bowls without hesitation, so it couldn't have been too bad. Finally, it had been Brittany who had first tempted crawling back across the cell and picking up one of the bowls. She sniffed at it, prodded what was inside with her index before picking up the spoon sticking out and scooping up a bite, which she began to chew. Within seconds, she was chowing down.
"That's it," Erlin nodded from her cell. "Feel better?" she asked, and Brittany nodded, while Agnes and Alfred joined her and did the same; they were famished too.
They'd just barely finished out their bowls, scraping down to the bottom, when the man and woman returned. At first, Brittany had believed they were only returning to gather the empty dishes, but then the woman stopped her small trolley in front of their cell and while the man fumbled with the keys, the woman pulled up a strange sort of object. Brittany didn't know what it was; the cats did. Alfred dashed for the back of the cell again, while Agnes hissed, never having looked more like a cat than she did then.
"You're not sticking us with that!" she threatened, and now Brittany panicked.
"That's a syringe?" she asked.
"One harmless shot," the woman promised.
"Don't resist," Mr. Arpen told them. "It's worse if you resist," he told them, and the tone in his voice told them he knew exactly what happened to people who resisted.
"Yes, listen to the man," said the key man. "Stand up, stand back," he instructed. The girls held to each other in order to stand, but they did as told. They were terrified, all three of them, but they had no other choice, so they did as told.
"Arm," the woman demanded. Alfred was the first, and the woman was not gentle by any means. When the shot was administered, Alfred gave a sorrowful purr and held his arm nearer to himself as soon as he was allowed. Agnes was second, and then Brittany. Whatever mark might have been left behind, on the cats, it was obscured under fur, but on the blonde, a nasty red welt had bloomed. She'd done as best she could not to be too frightened so far, but the injection had been like a shock to her system, and her eyes were wide open now. She wanted to see Santana again, she wanted to go home, to her time, her world. She wanted to be home, with her parents…
"It won't hurt too long," the second man told them. They still didn't know his name, though seeing as not one of the three of them could manage to look at him without squirming…
"What he means to say is your arm won't hurt too long," Risha cut in. "What comes next, well it all depends…" The trio looked at the old girl, shaking.
"Don't scare the children, Risha," Erlin told her. "They haven't hurt me," she shook her head, turning an optimistic smile to them.
"No… No, they didn't," Risha told her, though from what they could see in her wrinkled eye and her smooth eye, was another story. They'd already seen this Erlin woman had trouble remembering half the time. The best thing they could guess was that she had forgotten that part of her time in Dr. Benedict's basement, and neither Risha nor the others had the heart to help her remember it.
"How long have you been here?" Agnes asked them all. Some wouldn't talk, others hesitated.
"It's hard to keep track, like Arpen said. Even if we can see," the second man explained. "Easily weeks, months… I wouldn't be surprised if some of them over there have been here for over a year," he pointed, and the trio squirmed. When held up nearer his head, the man's hand looked so small, it was hard to decide if that was because his head had gotten bigger or because his hand was suddenly smaller.
"Did you volunteer?" Agnes went on questioning.
"Not all of us," Mr. Arpen shook his head.
"Did I volunteer?" Erlin looked to Risha. The old girl wouldn't answer. "Did I ever tell you how much you look like my daughter?" she smiled, then paused. "At least I think I have a daughter." Risha touched her hand and smiled back to her.
"If you do, I'm sure she misses you." Erlin nodded to her, then herself, holding her free hand near her heart as though to hold on to something, maybe the memory.
The basement had grown quiet. Some of the prisoners were starting to retreat to the thin mats acting as beds. The trio of new arrivals had had no choice but to do the same. As they did, Brittany tried to find a position to be comfortable in, but she couldn't do it.
"Are you okay?" Agnes asked.
"I don't know… I don't feel good," she admitted. "Maybe I ate too fast."
"My head hurts, too," Agnes admitted.
"Do you think they have Tylenol up there?" Brittany wondered.
"What's that?" Alfred asked.
"It's a… a thing for headaches," Brittany remembered she wasn't in her own time. It was hard to believe she could forget something like that when she was surrounded by cat people and aliens.
"Get some sleep, it will help," Erlin whispered to them from across the way. So they closed their eyes.
TO BE CONTINUED (SUNDAY)