Page 52 of Dangerous Deviance
“You are?” I asked. A warmth swelled inside of me. I hadn’t heard those words in years.
“You are truly gifted,” he said. “Not many make it through what you’ve accomplished. I think you’re ready for the next phase of training.”
I bit my lip. What could be harder than this?
Luckily, after a few more weeks had passed, when the next phase began, it wasn’t as treacherous as I had expected. But still, seeing another woman, a fellow student of the Skyline Shift, standing across from me, naked, her fists raised with wooden sticks in each palm, ready to fight, was confusing. I recognized her—the short brown hair, spiked with wax at the top, reddish-brown eyes—but I didn’t remember her name. I opened my mouth to ask, but Dr. Bates interrupted me.
“The only time we talk is when we are given express permission, or when our leaders address us,” Dr. Bates reminded me. Both of us turned and nodded. Giving up our privilege to talk was better than the alternative. Jan’s resignation wasn’t the first, nor would it be the last. “You must fight each other.”
“What?” I asked. “Fight her?”
“You trained at Women’s Elite Social Club, did you not?” he asked. I remembered that name, but that life was so far away now. It seemed unreal. “So did she. You will fight each other, and see who wins.”
This was, by far, the most normal thing in the Skyline Shift, if ‘normal’ was even a concept anymore. I could fight her, simply because I had done this before, and would do it again. It would prepare me to fight for her. My sister.
“She’s just like you, Ellie,” Dr. Bates said. “You have to fight her. This will prepare you two for what’s coming.”
The woman ran at me, her fists raised with rattan sticks, her arms whipping around like a fan, then slicing forward, hitting me on the return. Nothing hurt anymore, but her strike woke me up. She stepped back, waiting for me to respond.
“This is the only way you will defeat the enemy,” Dr. Bates said. “You must fight for your sister, Ellie. Just like this student must fight for her daughter.”
I gave him a curt nod, taking the set of rattan sticks from his hands. This was the only way I could avenge my sister.
But what had happened to my sister?
I adjusted my grip on the sticks, then lunged forward too, swinging my wrists around, blocking the woman’s hits, then using my sticks to disarm her dominant hand. She sneered at me, a smirk hidden inside of her, amused at having a worthy opponent, then we crashed back into each other. Our sticks cracked like the beating of a hammer, both of us not giving the other the chance to breathe. She blocked my moves, then reached forward and punched me in the jaw with her empty hand. I used that moment to disarm her other stick.
“Good. Very good, Ellie,” Dr. Bates said, clapping his hands. “You’ve been well trained. We are so lucky to have such bright pupils in our program.” He beamed at the woman, then turned to me. “I think you’re already ready for the next test. But first, we shall practice.”
Our days and nights passed like that. In the bedrooms, the ringing never stopped, and still, I counted the tangerines, ate them with care, learned to eat the peels, saving one sliver of rind to count the days I had been there, the days that I had been given food. I learned to see the tangerine, small at first, as a wealth of nutrition, and dreamed about the day I could see my sister. Eating tangerines at the river, juice dripping down our chins. One more beating. One more fight. One more peel. I told myself that Julie, wherever she was, had gone through this. She had likely thrived from it. And we would be stronger, more equipped to take down the enemy when the time came. If only we finished the program.
During that time, the wording shifted in me. It was no longer about seeing Julie, but about avenging her, making sure that the enemy paid. I didn’t know what I was avenging her from, and yet I trusted the program to illuminate those answers for me.
***
Dr. Bates took me to another dome-shaped warehouse. In this one, the floor was concrete. Dr. Bates gestured for me to remove my clothes, and when I saw Edward in the corner, I sucked in a breath and did as I was told. I knew not to argue. It was easier to follow the rules the way they wanted me to. But this time, Edward had a bullwhip in one hand and a slender metal device in the other, the black handle thick and sleek.
I would do whatever they wanted, as long as he didn’t touch me.
I got in position with my hands against the wall. Then he struck the whip against my skin. I didn’t move. My skin had turned to leather, scarred and stable, tough enough to withstand the whippings. Another strike. Each lash must have hurt, but I escaped, transported myself to another realm, and reminded myself that I would experience this with the enemy. Another strike. This was for endurance. For my survival. But then Edward pressed the metal contraption against me, the two thin prongs jabbing my skin, electricity pulsed through my body, twisting my bones into contractions until I collapsed.
Dr. Bates motioned for me to get up, his eyes narrowed, disappointed in me. My heart sank.
“You want to see your sister, don’t you?” Dr. Bates said.
“I do,” I whispered.
“Then get up,” he barked.
“I can’t,” I cried. My body trembled. I had gone through so much; when would I find her? When would I be able to hug her, to know that she was okay?
Why did I have this feeling that she wasn’t okay?
Of course she wasn’t okay. We had to escape this program.
But how?
“Typical,” Dr. Bates sneered. “I knew you weren’t ready.”
