| |
|
| |
|
She was so lonely. It had been too long since her parents had left, and
now she wasn’t sure she could remember their faces any more.
And the noise. All that noise. Where was it coming from?
The well next to her crashed, shuddering like paper rather than cement
and someone stepped through the dust, dark and lethal against the white
washed walls. She moved instinctively closer to the corner, wondering
if this was another test, another obstacle.
Soon. Soon. They had promised that if she passed all the tests, she
would be able to see her parents again.
She’d known it was a lie a day later, but she had nothing else to do.
“We’ve got another one.”
Her voice was different, though. Softer. Looking up from her position
in the wall, and trying to sink in, to disappear, those pale golden
eyes caught hers.
And she fell in love.
“Hey, baby.” The voice was soft, quiet and so gentle. She looked up,
scared and unable to move and the other girl’s eyes widened.
“She’s one of us.” She said quietly, speaking to someone behind her.
“Reika, I’ll take her in. You need to—“ someone began. Someone dark,
commanding. But she didn’t care any more. All she cared about was the
girl in front of her. Her name was Reika…
“No, you go on ahead.” Reika smiled. “I’ll take this one in.”
***
From the other room, through the one day windows Reika frowned,
watching the little girl. How old was she, ten? They had been tracking
the progress of this lab and knew no one had come in and out for about
five years, which meant she had been an experiment for longer… Reika
shook her head, growling with anger. When was this all going to stop?
“Reika, we’ve finished the perimeter search. We’ve secured every room
and it’s been dealt with.”
Reika turned to see the second in command of this division standing
there, and smiled, nodding curtly. “Get prepared to move on. Keep half
the division here, to clean up the mess and to make sure we haven’t
missed any stragglers.” Her nod was curt.
The man nodded. “Sir.” He said simply. “What about this girl?”
Reika paused. “What about her?” she asked.
“We’ve scanned her records through the main database system. Her
parents died a long time ago, she has no other relatives and it’s not
safe to send her back home.”
Reika only raised a brow in return. “Then I’ll adopt her.” She said,
her tone simple.
What else was she going to do?
***
“Reika, you bought home a girl?” Jamine’s tone was slightly wry. “They
are not pets, Reika chan.”
“I know.” Reika said simply, holding the girl closer. She was shy, and
so scared and she looked up at Reika with such wide, trusting eyes…
what else was she going to do? “Can you take care of her?”
Reika blinked. “Me?” she said. “But what about your own mother…”
Reika laughed. “Okasan is tired to raising children, but Jamine… you’ve
always said…” she didn’t need to say any more, because Jamine’s eyes
softened.
“I’ll take care of her.” She promised. “When you’re away.” She paused.
“Do you know, what she is?”
The girl was too skinny, malnourished and dank, black hair hid her face
and eyes. For a moment, Jamine wondered if this girl was even a shape
shifter. Most prisoners of war who were rescued, men and women and
children alike came back with some hidden strength. Those who were
shape shifters, and those who had survived were different. But this…
this girl…
“A shape shifter.” Reika said simply, and the girl’s grip on Reika’s
vest tightened. She smiled. “Sweetie.” Reika said gently. “You have to
let go”
The girl shook her head. She was scared. She was alone and this young
woman was the only thing…
Jamine sighed. Reaching out and softly combing back the hair, she
stilled for a moment when she saw those wide, alarming feline eyes.
But she still grew to love this young girl.
“What’s your name, sweet heart?” she asked gently.
The girl blinked. “Bian.” She said, her voice oddly accented and shy.
Bian Cara.
