Page 73 of The Doll and The Domination

Ruth’s harmless statements sends a surge of devastation through us all. The air shifts as we all realize…it’s not just us anymore that’s being starved.

It’s a baby, too.

The group breaks out in a storm of horror.

“We’ll get you something to eat!”

“Should we do a kitchen heist?”

“Maybe I should talk to Kaspias again…”

My mouth is dry and cottony, and I can’t seem to think of a logical way around this. It’s true, no matter the cost, we need to find a way to get Marilynn food. But how are we going to manage that without getting strikes to a sentence? The goal is to feed her and her baby. The cost could be a Vex-Reaping for one of us.

I rotate on my heels to see Dessin brooding in the shadows, arms crossed, and an unreadable expression on his face. It’s not common anymore for me to have trouble reading him. But right now, I have no idea what he’s thinking.

“Dessin?”

His eyes are like death warmed up as they glide to me. It’s in the tendrils of smoke that wrap around his irises, the corruption that bubbles like lava, that I take a step back, allowing him to process whatever is working itself out in his mind.

“Let’s sleep on it,” I suggest loud enough to break up their subtle rise in volume. “We’re all exhausted and hungry, and now we have a big problem to solve. Tomorrow we’ll figure it out.”

They seem to agree, getting settled in. Niles has lost all of the gilded color in his face, though I’m not sure if that’s due to the recent news or his weakening state. He stares off into the dim lighting of the hallway, getting lost in his thoughts.

“Help us,” I ask the woman that lingers in my mind.

After several seconds, I twist my fingers together, worrying she might be gone forever.

“I don’t think I need to,” she replies coolly, as if she’s woken from a long sleep.

“I think now more than ever you do! It’s not just consenting adults anymore. There’s a baby we must look after.”

She’s silent again. I come close to losing my patience.

“You’re forgetting who you’re sleeping next to,” she finally says, that dreamy octave like a lullaby. “His thoughts are loud. Tortured. Violent.”

“You can hear him?”

“Yes. But he cannot hear me.”

“What’s he thinking?” I try not to look over at him. Although, I’m not sure I even need to. I can feel the heat simmering from his stoic frame.

“His mind is hard to follow. An intricate web of plans. Moves and countermoves. It’s unlike any mind of any living human.” She pauses, considering something. “Apart from yours, of course.”

“Should I be worried?”

“Sweet dreams, Skylenna.”

~

Skylenna

We take our showers in complete silence. No one looks at each other.

No one says a word.

It’s sad how quickly we adjust to the freezing cold showers. How we stand naked in front of each other like animals being hosed down. How we just sort of exist here, lifelessly letting the water drip down our faces, bleeding into our eyes, seeping past our lips.

We stopped laughing. Stopped making jokes. Stopped the fun, witty banter. Even Niles seems suspended in a careless daze. It breaks my heart, stomps a boot in my gut. We can’t go on like this. It’s not fair.

---