Chapter 6: Chapter 6: The Imprisoned Child

‘Run! Faster, you fools!’

A group of children ran as fast as they possibly could on the jagged ground, their bare feet covered in crimson. There were many children on the running track, which was littered with sharp pieces of glass.

The first child fell, yelping. A man came, grabbed him, and dragged him away as he thrashed and screamed in futile attempts to avoid the punishment.

The rest of the children carried on, not stopping, for they did not wish to meet the same fate. However, they could not keep up forever. Each child reached its limit, and they were taken away without affecting the ones who remained.

Amongst them were two siblings. A girl with curly hair, who was still going, and her older brother. She kept along, even though her feet were bleeding. She wasn’t alone, the whole ground was red. Yet, they went on. Her brother kept sending reassuring glances toward her.

Ultimately, there were only three left. She, him, and another child who did not carry on much longer.

They looked at each other as they limped on the crimson ground, neither knowing what to do. She knew she could not carry on for very long. If they were going to decide who was punished based on who fell first, she would have to go. She shut her eyes, trying to gather her strength when she heard a falling sound and turned around.

He lay on the floor, his gray shirt stained. She knew he had fallen on intention, as there had been no sound of slipping and the expression on his face was one of defiance. The guards came in to take him.

Then, in an extremely brave and stupid decision, he stood up before they could catch him and ran in the opposite direction, away from the grounds and the guards.

She stood frozen to her spot, knowing his fate even before a bullet flew and hit him straight in his back, making him fall to the floor. Two men came and dragged him away.

 She wanted to run to him, but something in her held her back. Her mind and heart raced in overdrive as tears flowed from her eyes.

‘You did well, Aries.’

She swerved around. A tall, bald man stood there, wearing the uniform of the Barbonian Army. He patted her head. “You will receive an extra piece of bread today. Do not think of Antares. He was your brother, and he attempted to mislead you. He strayed from the path, and hence he was struck. Do not be like him, do you understand?”

She instinctively nodded, despite not wishing to.

“Good. You may leave.”

She walked away. As she did, she could see a fire burning in the distance. She stared at it for a few moments, before turning around and running away as the tears began to resume.

The next day, she tried to run away but was caught. She was not killed, however.

Aries woke up suddenly, sweating and looking around frantically as Edna calmed her down. Slowly realizing where she was, she relaxed. As she did, she realized that she wasn’t in as terrible pain as she usually was when she woke up after being punished. Her wounds were not as terrible. She looked at her cellmate.

“You helped me?”

“Yeah, I guess I did,” said Edna, a little taken aback by the question and not sure if it was a statement or a question.

Scorpius frowned at her, confused. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did you help me?”

It was her turn to frown now. “Because you were hurt, and you weren’t in a very good condition?”

The girl didn’t seem entirely convinced but nodded nonetheless. She went and sat near the wall, leaning against it. Edna felt sorry for her, as she clearly had not had any kind of normal upbringing. “Um, Aries?”

“Yes?”

“Would you mind answering some of my questions about this place?”

She looked up and waited for a moment before giving a slight nod. Her curly hair fell in front of her eyes as she looked at the floor, staring blankly. Edna’s heart sank.

“How many other children have been here with you?”

Aries scrunched her eyebrows in thought. “I did not count. But there were lots.”

“Who gave you your name?”

“General.”

“General? General who?”

“I do not know his name. But he is here.”

“He’s still here?” “Yes.”

“What were the other children in your group named?”

Edna had heard of a child trafficking organization based in Barbonia, where the children were codenamed after stars and constellations.

“My brother was named Antares, and another two children were named Scorpius and Lynx. I do not remember all of them.”

Her suspicions were confirmed.

“Now listen to me, Aries. Do you know the layout of this place well? Like, how to get out of here, the locations of the gates, and everything?”

Aries nodded, curious.

“So, I want to strike a deal with you. I have friends, who will come and get me. They have spies in this place. I want you to tell me everything about this place. Who runs it, and what do they plan to do with the children like you? Whatever is going on.”

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She nodded again. “Alright.”

“Wait, you haven’t heard your end of the deal yet.”

The girl’s thin eyebrows crinkled together as she frowned questioningly. “My end?”

“Yeah, your end. In a deal, people do something for each other. So I just told you what you were supposed to do for me. I haven’t told you what I would do for you, in exchange.”

“For me?”

“Yes, for you.” Edna’s heart sank even further. This was a child who had been treated so terribly that she had difficulty comprehending the idea that someone would do something good for her. She had been immediately willing to do what Edna told her, without knowing what she would receive in return. Edna already felt a certain protectiveness towards her.

“I will take you with me when I leave. You’ll get a normal life, free from any prison or torture. You will be free.”

Aries’ face lit up. “No punishment?” She asked hopefully.

“No punishment. Never.”

She smiled. Edna thought she looked extremely cute when she did so. Her dimples became more defined, and the dark shadows and bruises seemed smaller. She gave a small nod. “Deal.” Then her expression reverted to a serious one again. “What do you wish to know?”

“What were the other kids with you named?”

“I know Eridanus, Cancer, Leo, Taurus, and- “her voice hitched, “-Antares. My brother.”

“Your brother?”

“Yes.”

“Is he still here?”

“No. He is gone. Shot and burned.”

Well, certainly not a kid’s dreamworld, Edna thought sarcastically.

“What did they make you do here?”

“Running, jumping, shooting, fighting. And injections.”

“Injections?”

“They would take us to a man in a white coat, who would give us injections. He said it was to make us do better.”

“So, this is all they would make you do?”

“After some grew up, they sent them away to fight. When we grow, they would send us also.”

“Where?”

“I do not know.”

Edna nodded. “Okay, that’s all for now. Just one more thing. If you don’t want to answer this, you can say no. These men, how do they punish you?”

The girl looked towards the ground. “Shocking, whipping, and beating.”

She nodded. “That’s enough for now.” She slowly reached out her hand towards Aries. When she did not retract, she placed it on her shoulder. Aries hesitated for a moment before leaning into her, placing her head on the older woman’s shoulder.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps. Aries quickly retreated to the corner. A tall man walked up to their cell.

He was bald and had a goatee. His eyes were an empty grey. He was wearing a red uniform as he strode up to them. Two men stood behind him as he opened the bars. He had an extremely eerie and creepy smile. Aries was extremely frightened as she backed away from him.

“Aries. Why do you continue to act in this petulant manner? It is extremely unbecoming of you. Don’t you understand that you have no reason to leave? You have no worth in the world, my dear. Your only worth is here, with me. With your friends. Your brother strayed, and what came of it? Why do you stray?”

He spoke in a sickeningly sweet manner that sent chills down Edna’s spine. Aries cowered, tears streaming from her eyes as she sobbed. Yet, she fought down the tears and looked up at the man with hatred.

“You killed him. You did.”

“I killed him because he deviated from the path. He chose to perform an extremely idiotic act of self-perceived heroism, and he paid the price for it. You do not have to pay that price if you do not stray. Anyways, now we are not here for you. I need to speak to your cellmate here.”

He turned to the war correspondent, who stared at him with nothing but disgust.

“My dear, apparently you are a new correspondent. We tried to question you, but you do not seem to have any information. We do not press. In two weeks, you will be sent to one of our camps, so as to be of genuine service. Till then, you may enjoy Aries’ company. I hope she has a good time with you, as the poor girl will certainly not be getting any later on.”

He took out a small stick-like device with four metal protrusions in the end. Aries put her hand into her mouth and bit on it as the device touched her back. She muffled her screams as she was shocked.

“Stop it!” Edna shouted loudly, horrified by the act. The man stopped. He looked at her.

“Well, a sympathetic lady, I see. Be thankful to her, Aries. She has saved you from your punishment, for now.”

He walked away, his men following after locking the bars behind them.

Aries continued to sob in the corner. She felt two hands wrap around her shoulders. Initially tensing, she relaxed and continued to let her emotions out as Edna held her close.

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