Page 3 of Aine

“Where am I?” I ask, my tongue heavy as I struggle to form the words. “What happened?”

Jenna sucks on her teeth before reaching down and pulling the needle through my leg. I watch, intrigued, as the sharp object penetrates my skin. The string attached to the end pulls the wound shut and helps slow the bleeding. She moves quickly, sewing my cut with practiced ease until the skin on either side meet. Despite seeing it happen, I feel nothing as the needle repeatedly pierces my skin.

“Shouldn’t that hurt?” I ask.

Jenna doesn’t answer, choosing instead to shake her head with a low sigh. Grabbing the scissors, she cuts the needle loose and pats the outside of my leg.

“You’re on a lot of drugs right now, and I don’t understand what you’re saying. Rest, and we’ll talk later.” She moves to the other side of my body.

Frowning, I watch as she lifts my arm and lays it so my wrist is facing upward. I’m unable to tell what exactly I’m lying on, but given the room’s sterility, I’d assume it’s some sort of hospital bed.

“I thought you were dead,” I say, my eyelids slipping shut in a slow blink.

Jenna glances at me and shrugs, a look of confusion settling on her face as she gets back to work. Her nimble fingers begin repeating the action she took on my thigh, carefully stitching my flesh until all that’s left is a thin wound held together by black knots.

I’m surprised she’s the one tending to my wounds, the work a drastic change from what she did previously. She was one of the best elementary school teachers in our village, but she was sent into the woods after being caught in a compromising position with another woman. It was years ago that they executed her, and up until me, hers was the last one we had.

I always thought her death had been unnecessary, and I secretly assume her rejection of our leader’s advances was the real reason he sent her to the woods. He doesn’t like being toldno.

Glancing around, I notice the shadows of people just beyond the curtain that surrounds me. How did I end up here? My memory of what happened in the forest is spotty, but I remember enough to know I should be dead.

“Who are these people?” I ask, turning back to Jenna.

Her fingers prod at the exposed bone in my arm as her eyes slide to meet mine.

“I still can’t understand most of what you’re saying,” she mumbles before following my line of sight to the curtains. “We’re in the beast village, but I promise you’re safe.”

What? I glare at the curtain and scan the moving shadows. Are they beasts? My memory of a man shifting from animal to human plays in my mind, and I shake my head in the hopes to expel the visual.

She confirms my sudden fear. “They brought you back here.”

I open my mouth to ask why, but my body doesn’t cooperate. Instead, only a loud exhale leaves my throat. Jenna pauses to watch me, her eyebrows pulled together as she tries to figure out what I’m saying, but she’s distracted by the curtain opening.

My head lolls to the side to see who’s entered. This woman is unfamiliar, but her long limbs and thick, dark hair have me wondering if she’s a beast.

Her eyes roam my body before settling on my broken limb.

“How’s her arm?” she asks Jenna, leaning closer to look at the bone protruding from my skin.

Jenna pinches her nose.

“Not great. It’s going to hurt like a bitch to re-align, and she’s going to feel it despite the medicine I have her on.”

The tall woman frowns, her lips pursing as she glances between my arm and Jenna. There’s a tense silence as Jenna waits for guidance, and with a huff, the other woman turns and walks away. I watch her back with mild interest, happy she left the curtain open.

Curiosity gets the best of me as I peer into the large room, my eyes falling immediately to the others lying on similar beds to mine. Doctors hurry between the injured, all of them tall and imposing. Are they beasts, too?

Why did they bring me here? They always kill us and given the way they attacked me, I know they were only seconds away from finishing the job.

I try to see if I recognize any of the other doctors, but between the drugs and the speed at which they move, I can’t tell.

“Why am I here?” I ask again.

Jenna continues to ignore me, her body stiff as she stares in the direction the woman walked. I turn back to the room outside the curtain, noting again how large all the doctors appear to be. They must have ample food here.

Jenna remains silent until the woman returns.

“Well?” she asks as the tall, definitely beast woman marches inside, her hands clenched into tight fists at her sides.

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