The Flower Girl, Ellie Anne [the little red hen ebook .TXT] 📗

was pettite with soft features, honey eyes, dark blonde hair, she was what every guy looked for. I was hard, with hazel eyes, straight hair, with a pinch more flab than I'd care to say. I wasn't super chubby or anything, I just wasn't a stick. My features were stony, and cold even though they were warm colors. Mika embodied summer and warmth, while I was an image of winter. Mika had warm, slightly tanned skin, whereas I glowed in the light I was so pale.

Maybe that was why people liked her. That and she wasn't as far up on the top ten list of most widely known Mute tragedies.

 

Five

As I waited for Mika to finally be done, I started doodling. Before I realized what I'd done, I'd completed a fairly detailed set of skethches of Candor. I had his profile, full face, at an angle, full body, pretty much everything.  One of the guys walked by and whisltled.

"Got a new boyfriend there, Zeela?" he teased.

I punched him in the arm. "Walk away, Lancer, walk away."

He laughed and did the complete opposite. He called over the guys he shared a workspace with and they all tried to steel a glimpse of my doodle. I smacked all of them upside the head before they had the chance to say "mama". They walked away with sore noggins and bruises. Serves them right. I stuck my doodle in Candor's file, and blew my hiar our of my face. I yanked out my ponytail, and redid it, tugging my almost-waist-long hiar through the band. I decided I'd cooled down enough to go check on Candor and make sure he wasn't doing anything stupid.

The office was laid out in such away that you had to go through the Interrogation Room to get to the Cell Hall. The only exits out of the building itself were the loading dock in the back, and the exits in the office. Quite frankly, it irritated me, but I understood the need for it. The floorplan acted as an extra security feature, so Mutes either had to bust through walls and plexiglass, or through the Interrogation Room and offices. Like that wouldn't go unnoticed. I shoved the doors of the Interrogation Room open and locked them behind me. I slipped through to the Cell Hall, and walked down to the end of the hall. Candor's cell was the only one with the lights off. I flicked them on. 

He was sitting on the floor with his chin on his knees and his eyes closed. I pressed the button on the side of his cell, and the door slid open, dissapearing into the slot on the floor. The noise made him stir, and his eyes opened. He looked at me like I was the scariest thing he's ever seen. He picked his chin up, and stared at me, the color of his eyes still freaking me out a little.

I walked in, and sat down beside him. I stretched out my legs, and crossed my ankles. I pressed the button on my standard issue watch, and the door slid back up. Candor looked at me as he realized what I'd just done. I just trapped myslef in a cell with a Mute, got comfortable, and stilll had yet to smack him. I looked at him and gave an apologetic half-smile.

I sighed. "I'm sorry I hit you. A lot. It's just, I get really protective of Mika. She's the only person that I have. I'm an only child, and my parents were Infected a few years ago, then the governemnt decided to kill off all the Mutes they could, curable or not. My parents were curable. Because of that, I have a love-hate relationship with Mutes. I love them because I know that deep down they're still people, but I hate them because of what they did to my family"

He looked away, letting out a long breath, then returned his gaze to my face. I looked down, blushing. I don't know why I told him that, but for some incredibly wierd reasion, I felt like I could trust him. He put an arm around my shoulders, and I looked back up at him. This was so freaking me out, but at the same time, it felt natural. He tugged me a little closer, and leaned his head back ont the white wall.

"I get where your coming from. If I was in your shoes, I would've beat me up a whole lot worse. But you're right, we are people. Sure we're changed, but we're still the same person inside, we just can't control oursleves anymore." 

I felt tears pricking my eyes, and starting to dribble down my face.I snilffled, and he looked down at me, his abnormaly purple-blue eyes peering into mine. I was about to tell him something even Mika didn't know. I took a deep breath, and shoved as much oxygen down my lungs as I could.

"My parents had been Infected for two years before they were killed. I was about fifteen when they turned. They were murdered three years ago. Before they were killed, they lost themselves. I knew they were still there, I just didn't know how to deal with it. One day, they started going wild. I tried so hard to get them back, but they were gone. They had turned into these things with claws, and spikes, and scary eyes. They went on a rampage through the house. I tried to fight them, tame them, but they were too far gone. My dad was worse than my mom. Mom kind of recognized me, and stayed away from me, but my Dad just didn't. I stood in his way, and he lashed out." I took a deep breath, and unzipped the back of my uniform. There was a ragged scar there. It ran from my left shoulder blade, down my spine, and to the right side of the small of my back.

Candor ran his hand down the jagged line, his breathing coming out rough, and labored. He traced the scar back up and down, then he zipped me up, and wrapped his arms around me. 

"Why? Why did you tell me this?" he whispered into my hair. 

My back was to him, and I felt his chest pressed against me, and his chin on the back of my neck. "Because," I whispered. "I want you to understand me. I can't explain it, but there's something here, something about you, that makes me feel like there's a lot we're going to have to go through. I don't know why, but I trust you."

He squeezed me, then turned me around, his eyes blazing. "I feel it too."

Six

I stayed in Candor's cell for a few more minutes, then I stood up and left. This time I left the lights on, the lucky turd. I was in a better mood, and willing to deal with a few girl-crazy Hunters. I walked back to my desk and waited for Mika to be released. I organized and reorganized everything on our desk. I sharpened every pencil, tested every pen, filed every last scrap of paper. I did everything I could to pass the time. I was starting to feel like something was up. Check ups and tests never took more than a few hours, not almost an entire day. It was late at night, and all the guys were gone. Only a janitor stayed, slowly mopping the tile strip leading to the interrogation room. Suddenly my phone beeped. It was a message from Mika.

Run it said.

a second later it beeped again. 

Grab Candor and run. I'll be fine. 

I looked up confused, and saw the creepy janitor eyeing me suspiciously and mumbling to his mop. That was all the incentive I need. I grabbed everything I could, tossed it in a bag, and dashed through the interrogation room. I skidded to a stop in front of Candor's cell. I jabbed at the button and bounced on my toes until it opened all the way.

"Let's go." I shouted.

He stared at me like a deer in the headlights. I grabbed his arm and practically threw him over my shoulder.

"What's going on?!" he asked as we ran through the office.

"Just run, questions later." I said over my shoulder.

I grabbed the keys to one of the tankers as we called them, as I ran by my desk. I heard a weird hissing sound. It took me a second to recognize it, but when I did, I yelled at Candor to get down. I threw myslef over him, hoping my suit could withstand huge impacts. Less than a second later, the Janitor was running for his life, and chucking something away from him. I rolled Candor under the nearest desk, and crouched in front of him. The blast went off.

In seconds, the office was ablaze, and everything seemed like it was moving. I looked at Candor, his eyes roaming around, obvioulsy dazed. I shook my head, pulled him up, and we made a mad dash for the tanker, a high security, pretty much invincible truck. I threw open the door, and he slid across the back seat, and I started it up. I slammed the door shut as I roared through the parking area by the loading dock. Candor looked at me, his hand still clenched in mine. His eyes were a brighter and more frightened than I'd ever seen them. I knew he was probably more freaked out than I was, but I had a feeling there was more behind the Mutes than we were taught in school.

"Question time?" he whispered.

I nodded. "Question time."

"Why did that janitor blow up the office?" he asked.

"No clue." I replied.

"How did you know that would happen?"

"Mika." I murmured.

"Why did you get me out?" he continued.

"She told me to. We would've been out sooner if I hadn't thought so much about it, but I think that phsyco jnaitor dude would've blown the place either way."

He nodded. "So why was that supposed to happen? Why would they blow the place?"

"I have absolutely no idea."

"Where do we go? The Sill?" he asked.

"No, they'd expect us to go to the least populated area. We go to Center." I stated.

"Center?" he questioned, fear seeping into his voice. It was obvious he was freaked.

I nodded. "Center."

He looked forward. "How am I not going to be killed there? It's kind of obvious I'm a Mute."

"It's winter, wear long sleaves and pants. Not much we can do about your eyes, but they can't kill you because of your eyes, and