Page 5 of Manacled Hearts

Something inside of me, a stray piece of my soul, wants to reach out and find out why. It’s a visceral need, inappropriate too, but it demands his comfort. To give and receive.

Jesus, this is—it’s wrong. I’m… wrong.

The men talk between themselves now, and I quietly ask the one beside me where we are.

“Queenscove,” he answers.

“On the South coast?” I’m filled with a bit more hope.

“Yes.”

Thank God! We’re still in the country. Just… around twelve hundred miles away.

The man who left earlier returns, walking toward me with determined steps.

I sense the blonde man’s gaze, like the brush of heat over my skin. Even as everyone in this room have their eyes on me, only his touch me. It burns. It stings. It almost hurts. Although, that hurt might be self-inflicted by my shame at the pleasure of the heat.

“This is the tracker.” I’m handed a pill. This is a tracker? “It won’t dissolve, it’s specially made. But it will pass through. Keep it in your mouth for as long as you can. Swallow it only if they try to check your mouth, okay?”

I nod, looking at the pill in disbelief before sliding it between my cheek and molars.

The man next to me helps me up and guides me back into the metal box that threatens to be my demise. I won’t let it, though. I refuse to have anything happen to my sister—to any of these kids.

The metal doors grind my eardrums as they screech behind me, and I flinch, memories of the first time I heard them scaring the soul out of me. But it’s different now. These men are trying to save us. They might be seeking their own goals, but a lot of effort seems to be put into us. So, I decide to entrust them with something else.

I stop and turn just before the door swallows the light.

“When it’s done,” the door stops and the men watch me and wait, “I can’t have the police knowing of me and my sister. It’s only us, and they’ll split us up. I’ll lose her to the system.”

The buzz-cut beast nods, the promise vivid in his eyes.

Then, the world turns dark.

The fear returns with a vengeance, but at least now I have something else to balance it—hope.

If only it lasts.

Half an hour passes by. The doors open again, and dread fills me with such force, bile rises up my throat. Especially when my eyes land on the man who took us. He stands next to a new guy who points at me as we’re urged out of the container and into the back of a truck.

The new guy watches me with far too much interest for my liking, but I get it—I wasn’t supposed to be here. I’m too old.

Which means that they might try to get rid of me. I’m no use to them.

The insoluble tracker-pill sits against my cheek, and it grounds me peculiarly. It’s a reminder that I have to stay strong for Maya. And for the other kids.

The urge to grab my sister and run is so strong, my legs shake and fingers twitch. But we’re pushed and forced to move faster, and the truck door closes behind us before the urge settles.

I can’t even process how much time passes until the drive ends. I’ve spent it all going through likely scenarios in my head, whilst holding onto Maya for dear life. She’s still quiet. In a way, I’m happy. Maybe she’s dissociated somehow.

What should I do?

How do I protect her?

I just have to stall. I have to keep an eye on her. Just until the men who own this tracker come for us.

And they will come.

They will come on time.

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