The Inquistion: A Beginning
Aug. 15th, 2015 10:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
k_a_webbIt has had a very basic edit.
Chapter 1
No-one would come until it was too late. The Government didn’t mind it when houses got burnt down if they had witches in them and it was getting easier to prove that someone was a witch, even if they weren’t. Nadine stood watching as her home burnt with her family inside. Tears streamed down her cheeks because she knew there was nothing she could do to save them. It was too late. She should have been in there with them, but she had come back late after going to a friend’s birthday party, so she would be the only one to survive.
All Nadine could do was brush the tears off her face and go to the shed. It was useful that the arsonists never seemed to touch anything that wasn’t the house, as though they were scared of the people they believe were witches. Knowing that was why the emergency bags were kept in the shed, even though it wasn’t all that easy to get to it. Nadine picked up hers, choking back tears as she touched her sister’s bag, before going to the third stepping stone. That was where her mother kept their supplies, so she took that as she had been told to if the very worst should happen, even though they were sure they were being careful enough.
Obviously they hadn’t been, or they simply had enemies they didn’t know about. Slowly Nadine walked away from everything that she had known as that was the only thing she could do. The box of supplies felt heavy in her hands because she knew she held her family’s entire heritage. It was just her now to pass on the knowledge to her children, if she ever dared to have children, when she knew what might happen to them.
***
Zach was intensely against the burning of houses, especially when there was no proof that the people inside were even witches. This time the arsonists had burnt down a family home that had held two parents and their three children. Now they were probably all dead, the scene of crime officers would find out soon, simply because someone had assumed they were witches. Sighing, he leant against a lamppost.
He wanted his father to stop it. As Prime Minister he was the only one who could stop it. It was something they’d been arguing about for the last three years, ever since the burnings started, but he thought it was a good sign. Before he’d been elected people seemed to be getting more lax about looking for witches and now they were searching them out so they could get rewards from the Government if they were found to be witches.
Unfortunately none of the dead had ever been found to be innocent of the charge of witchcraft. Zach couldn’t help wondering if some of the evidence had been planted but there was no way for him to prove it. Even if they were witches he couldn’t see why it was that much of a problem. Their differences didn’t make them evil.
***
Another family down, Skyler thought, as he stared at what had once been a house, and they were such nice people. He hadn’t known them well, but he had seen them at meetings. His father knew them much better, so he would feel their loss much more. It was difficult now that it seemed like everyone who wasn’t a witch was searching for witches to either turn into the Government or burn to death. The Government was sometimes better, because at least then it was possible to pretend to be converted, although it didn’t happen often. Most witches preferred to be hung than to pretend.
Slowly Skyler started walking away. Usually everyone waited until the scene of crime officer came out to give his verdict on whether the house belonged to witches, but he needed to tell his parents what had happened. The local group of witches was decreasing rapidly and everyone was worried that the time would come when no-one was left to teach the young. When he was sure he was going unnoticed he started walking faster.
Skyler couldn’t stop himself from feeling the need to run away, but he knew that would draw attention to him, and that was the last thing he wanted to do. His job was to find out what had happened before slipping away quietly. It was something he was getting better at even though he still wasn’t comfortable with it. At the end of the street he turned once more to make sure that he had gone unnoticed.
***
When the scene of crime officer walked out and nodded. Zach felt his heart sink. This was another family of witches, so he couldn’t argue that innocent people might be getting killed with this addiction to arson. If he ever got the chance he was going to change the world he was living in, because he couldn’t understand the one he’d found himself dealing with. His father was absolutely against witches, and he never talked about why, but Zach had heard stories about his mother. She’d committed suicide when Zach was eleven, his younger brother Scott was nine, and his younger sister Tabitha was just six. Everyone said it was because she was a witch who’d been blackmailed into marrying their father. There was no way to know if it was true or not and he wished there was because Tabitha clung to the tale to give her even more of a reason to hate their father.
He was stood close enough to the Prime Minister to hear the scene of crime officer speak to him. “We only found four bodies in the house, Prime Minister, so we have to assume that the oldest girl was out at the time of the fire. As they were witches it may be best to let the media know about her.”
The Prime Minister, his father, nodded. “The last thing we need is a witch in the loose.” He stroked his moustache thoughtfully. “We may not have to do anything about her at all if the media knows about this. I’m sure our friendly arsonist will feel annoyed about the unfinished job.”
“You can’t do that, Father,” Zach said quietly. “Murder is something that shouldn’t be condoned, even if it is the murder of a witch.”
“Stay out of this Zach. You have no understanding of the problem.”
“I think I probably understand it better than you do. The witch is probably young enough to be reconditioned if you put the effort in and then you have proof that it can be done.” He hated saying what he was saying but he was desperate to save the girl’s life, even though he didn’t know her. “You need that proof more than you need another dead witch.”
His father turned to look at him, still stroking his moustache, which made him look like the villain from a really bad movie. “For once I think you’ve actually had a good idea there.” He ruffled Zach’s hair as though he was six-years old. “I’ll see what I can do about getting her brought in alive so she can be taught the error of her ways.” He laughed. “I didn’t think you’d ever be able to take over after me, but I think I was wrong.”
Zach apologised to the girl in his head, hoping she would believe that living, even as a reconditioned witch, was better than being dead. Sighing, he looked back at the house. A family was dead, their daughter was on the run, and this was 21st century England.
***
Nadine kept walking. It was the only thing she could do and she knew that she needed to get as far away from the scene of the fire as possible. She could still smell the smoke all over her which made her feel naseous because it was the scent of her family burning to death. Fortunately she was able to push that thought to the back of her head, because she knew she had to get away. They would find out that she wasn’t dead in her bedroom soon and she wasn’t sure what would happen once everything known about her was told to the media.
Nadine had no idea where to go. All the borders were closed, so there was no way she could get to Wales or Scotland. There was no chance of her getting a ferry ticket, even if she did manage to disguise herself, because she didn’t have the money to pay for it. Every plan she thought of fell flat before she got further than the main idea. Sighing, she moved the box so it was slightly more comfortable, wondering why she had ended up in such a difficult position. They’d never missed church, they’d never missed a meeting, and it seemed impossible that someone had found out that they were witches. Nothing they did was out of character.
Her feet hurt more than Nadina thought was possible. She’d been walking all night, so it wasn’t exactly a surprise, but she was full of the worry that she had been walking around in circles without getting anywhere. When she had been told about the possibility of this happening she had memorised a phone number that she could call if she needed help. Now that she actually needed the number she couldn’t remember what it was. A couple of times she thought she had the first couple of numbers but that wasn’t enough.
***
When Skyler walked into the house the news was on. There was nothing about the fire yet. Usually the Prime Minister kept everything quiet until it had been proven that the people who had died were guilty of witchcraft. The only reason they knew it had happened was because the witch grapevine had told them.
“It was bad,” he said to both his parents, sitting down on the sofa with them. “There was no chance of anyone getting out of it alive.”
“When everyone has left the area I’ll go back and get what’s left,” his father said sadly. “I can’t believe that anyone found out about them. They were always so careful.”
“Not careful enough obviously,” his mother said angrily. “This is the third household in the last six weeks.”
“I knew them well and they were intensely careful.”
“That flighty daughter of theirs, what was her name? Nadine? She probably said something to the wrong person.”
“Nadine was more careful than her parents.”
To stop his parents from having the same argument they’d had the two times before he said, “We could have a mole.”
His dad looked at him thoughtfully, but his mother just laughed. “You’re even more of an idiot than your father is. There is no chance of a mole entering our circle. I check everyone who wants to enter carefully.” She glared at him. “All of those families had idiotic children who could easily have opened their mouths at the wrong time. It’s that simple.”
“Skyler’s asking the right questions. You seem to want to believe it’s the family’s fault all the time, but we could easily have a mole even though you’ve been checking everyone. It could be someone from one of the older families. Can you check everyone again?”
“Do you think I don’t have better things to do with my time? I checked them all when they entered and that took long enough. You do it if you’re that worried about there being a mole, but I think you’re wasting your time. The answer is simple and right in front of your face, but you don’t want to believe that your precious favourites might have done something to cause their own deaths.”
She left the room without a backward glance at either of them. Skyler and his father looked at each other, sharing the same bemused expression. It wasn’t unusual for her to get angry over another lost family and blame the younger members, but neither of them had expected her to be so adamant that it had to be them without exploring the other options.
“I hate to ask you to do this but can you go over all the checks that your mother made?” his father asked.
“Of course I can,” Skyler replied, “but are you sure I’m the right person to do it?”
“Right now you and your mother are the only two people I trust. I think there is a mole considering who’s died in the last three months. There’s no chance of any of those families doing something stupid that would get them found out. The children had grown up knowing that saying the wrong thing could get the whole family killed.”
***
It was the first time Zach had been involved in anything to do with the Inquisiton, but his father thought it was past time for him to understand what they did. He couldn’t help shivering at the cold expressions on the faces of everyone in the room, even the women Inquisitors, and wished that his father had kept him out. This was not something he wanted to be involved with.
“How likely do you think it is that I will be able to recondition a witch?” his father asked.
“It’s not at all likely,” the Inquistor with the coldest face answered. “They are born that way. Nothing you can do will change breeding. The best thing you can do is kill them at birth.” Zach couldn’t help feeling like all of the Inquisitors were staring at him as though he should have been put to death at birth. “You should give up the reconditioning programme and just give them to us. We’ll get them to tell you all the witches in country.”
“I don’t trust answers that are given under torture. It’s much too likely that they will just accuse their enemies and then it will be a big cycle of lies.”
“You are weak. Just like the last Government. We had much more work to do when Conway was in power.”
“That’s because Conway was insane. He had no understanding of how important it is to get honest answers from people. Honesty is what will lead us to more witches, not torture.”
“We have no reason to exist if you don’t give us any work to do.”
“I’m afraid that’s not my problem. You were created to be the coldest killers in the country and I’m not going to let you free to roam because I know that you will just end up killing innocent people.”
“There’s not such thing as innocence. Every single person is guilty of something. They should all be put to trial to find out if they are witch sympathisers or have some witch blood in their veins.” The Inquisitor smiled coldly. “Nearly everyone in this country will have witch blood in them. If we wipe that out then you will be able to start afresh.” He looked at Zach. “We’ll start with him.”
Zach was glad that all the Inquisitors had been chained to chairs before they’d been let into the room. The Inquisitors would happily kill anyone they felt had tainted blood so his father had to be very careful about who he let into the room to chain them down. It was what they had been trained to do and they terrified Zach. He just wanted to be out of the room, as far away from them as humanly possible, so he could attempt to warm himself up after being frozen by the room and their expressions.
“That’s enough. Come on, Zach.”
Thankful it was all over Zach walked out of the room in front of his father. He was glad he didn’t have to walk behind him, because he could feel the cold looks enough as it was. Once he was out of the room he breathed a sigh of relief and started walking towards the nearest patch of sunlight.
“I’m sorry I had to take you in there, Zach, but one day you may have to deal with the Inquisitors.”
“No I won’t. I have no interest in being Prime Minister and if I ever change my mind on that I will have the Inquisitors executed when it happens. They are inhuman.”
“They’re useful tools to be used if and when a reason arises.”
“Father, you’re living in a dream world. They’re dangerous people who’ve have been trained to be killing machines. It’s wrong.”
“You’re being narrow minded again, Zach. If we ever catch Him I will be using the Inquisitors to find out what he knows.”
Him was the leader of the witches in England. It was extremely unlikely he would ever be caught, because there was a whole group of people under him and they were all absolutely loyal. Zach had never known a witch to turn on his own, not even when they were reconditioned. His father still thought that it might happen some day but it was unlikely.
“Torture won’t make Him talk, if you ever catch Him.”
“I will catch him and when I do I will put every single witch in this country to death, unless they are young enough to be reconditioned. I’m not sure this Nadine girl is really the right candidate to find out whether it is possible but I know that you want to try to save her. You’re much too good a person sometimes.”
“I’m glad I’m a good person,” he muttered as his father walked off. “At least I don’t automatically assume that all witches are evil just because they believe something diffferent to me.”
***
Skyler wasn’t entirely sure where to start with the checks he’d been asked to make on every member of their circle. He sat on the desk chair and span in circles while he thought, wondering why exactly his mother was so against checking people again. Maybe she was really worried they had a mole which might mean that her checks weren’t good enough. Once he felt dizzy he stopped spinning, focusing on the file that was labelled ‘Circle Checks’.
Sighing, he pulled the file down. Papers scattered from within it and suddenly he knew why his mother hadn’t wanted to bother with the rechecks. Her filing system was crap. It basically consisted of doing a check before stuffing the paper at random into the file without even bothering to use a hole punch. Shaking his head he knelt down to pick them all up so he could begin by sorting out the original checks.
When he finally had them all in an almost organised pile someone opened the door and they blew all over the room. “Sorry, Sky,” his father said, kneeling down next to him so he could help gathering together all the papers. “I thought your mother was more organised than this.”
“So did I. Apparently we were both wrong.”
His father wasn’t much help. Instead of gathering the paper together he started reading. When he had finished with one sheet he would pass it on to Skyler, who would put it on the desk while watching his father with a smile on his face. Eventually they did have all the papers together again.
“Your mother’s checks aren’t as in depth as I would have liked. I should have looked through this before, but I’ve been so busy.”
“You can’t do everything, Father.”
Skyler’s father had set up a house for the children who were left behind after house fires or executions and there had been a couple of major problems. He’d needed to focus on that as well as the increase in house fires, so he’d left some of the work to Skyler’s mother. It seemed as though his mother wasn’t very happy about having to take on any of the work, considering the mess she had made of the checks.
“I know that, and I thought your mother wanted to get more involved, but I think I was wrong. I’m going to have to contact all the old members of the circle to tell them they might be in danger, because I’m an idiot.”
“Don’t say that.”
“I should have double checked what she was doing even though I was busy. Keeping everyone safe is meant to be my job.”
“You do your best. I’ll check everyone, but I’ll start with the newer members, because it’s most likely to be one of them rather than someone who went to school with you.”
“That’s probably a good plan. Do you think it will take long?”
“I honestly don’t know. All I can do is work quickly and get as much information as possible.”
***
Yawning, Nadine sat down with her back against a tree. She was hungry, but she had nothing to eat so she tried not to think about it. That wasn’t working as well as she would like because her mind seemed to be obsessed with the idea of food. Everything she loved to eat swept past her eyes and she could feel herself get hungrier.
To take her mind off it she opened the box. It was something she had never been allowed to do before. The box belonged to her mother as matriarch of the family and it had been passed down through the generations. She had been hoping that she wouldn’t receive the box until she was a lot older, like her mother had when her grandmother had died. Using her sleeve she wiped the tears off of her face.
Nadine had kind of been hoping for food, even though she knew that was very unlikely. Instead she found the book that her mother had told her about, the book that had been passed through the generations and written in by many different hands. Without really stopping to think about it she turned to where her mother’s handwriting would be. There was a note there for her.
‘Dearest Nadine,‘ she read, ‘If you are reading this then my vision came true. I should never have looked in the crystal ball, but I did because I felt something was coming and I saw fire. There is no way for me to know when it will happen unfortunately, otherwise I would save both of your sisters. I know that you will survive. You were in my vision watching the fire. I’m sorry we left you so soon, I’m sorry that you’re alone, but I am glad that you survived to pass on our heritage.‘
Nadine used her sleeve to wipe away her tears before they could drip on the book. There was a little more to read but her vision had blurred so much that she couldn’t see it. After a few minutes she looked back down at the book.
‘If you need help go to Arthur. I love you and I will always love you. I’ll see you on the other side. Mum.‘
***
Skyler went with his father to the house. They had no idea when it was that the scene of crime officers left, so they walked past to make sure that there wasn’t anyone left there. Once they were sure that no one was there they went around the back of the house. It meant they wouldn’t be seen if anyone looked out but they would have to be careful when they were in the garden. If someone saw them they were in trouble. His father had to visit gardens at least once a month usually. It was Skyler’s first time.
When his dad pointed his head at the shed he went to get the backpacks full of clothing that every family left, just in case someone managed to get out of the house. He hadn’t expected to find four bags in there instead of five, but he couldn’t help smiling. Someone had got out and until that moment he thought it would have been impossible for anyone to get out.
“The box is gone,” his dad said quietly, still managing to make Skyler jump.
“There’s only four packs of clothing.”
His dad sighed in relief. “Someone got out. We need to find them before the Government does. When we get back home we’ll check the bags and find out who it is.”
“I think it might be Nadine.”
“How can you tell?”
“There are two younger girl bags and a couple that look more like they belonged to adults. That makes me think it was Nadine. Plus if it was one of the adults then they’d have come straight to our house and one of the younger girls would probably have been outside the house.”
“That’s very well thought out.” His father looked thoughtful. “Surely Nadine would have come straight to us too.”
“She’s just got out of a house fire or walked home to find the house is on fire and you expect her to remember us staight away. That’s not going to happen. It will take her some time.”
“Hopefully not too much time or she’ll be found by the Government. I want to get her somewhere safe.”
***
Of course Tabitha wasn’t pleased with Zach. She’d heard from their father that it had been his idea to tell the media that they wanted the witch girl, Nadine, alive so they could try reconditioning her. When she finally saw him the first thing she tried to do was slap him, but he knew what his sister was like so he was ready for the hand when it came. He took hold of it, and her other hand, to stop her from trying again.
“I’m trying to save her life, Tabby,” he explained gently. “You know I’m not like him. The only way I could stop him from giving people the ability to legally murder her was to talk to him in the only language he understood.”
“Why should I believe you?” she asked, her voice wavering with tears and anger.
“Have I ever given you a reason to distrust me?” She shook her head. “I’m not going to let her get hurt. She’s just a girl, probably not much older than you, who needs some understanding because her parents have died. If I can get her into the reconditioning unit then I can do that.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
He let go of her arms and she threw them around him. “I didn’t think you’d have done something like that for a bad reason, but I was worried Dad might have started to change you. It was illogical I guess. The last thing I can see is you changing your point of view so suddenly.” She blushed. “I know I’m over-emotional sometimes.”
“It’s fine, sis. I know what you’re like, especially when you think that some poor girl is going to be harmed by our family.”
“She’s just lost her whole family and I can’t help feeling for her. I remember what it was like when we lost Mum. It must be utterly devastating to lose you whole family in one go because they don’t have the same beliefs as us.”
“I understand. We need to do something to change the world. Dad should not be condoning arson, even if he is glad that witches are dying. They’re people just like us and I think it’s inhumane.” He bit his lip. “He took me to meet the Inquisition.”
“What are they like?”
***
Nadine wasn’t sure she wanted to rely on Arthur for help. Arthur was lovely, and she’d never had any problem with his son, but Arthur’s wife was a nasty piece of work. There was something about her Nadine really didn’t like so it was impossible to trust her. She also seemed to dislike every woman she ever met, especially Nadine’s mother. However she knew that Arthur had set up a safe house which would mean she wouldn’t have to spend much time around his wife.
Sighing, Nadine put the book back into the box and stood up. Her stomach felt painful, but she couldn’t let that get to her. As she had no idea where she actually was it took her a while to get onto a road that she knew would lead to Arthur’s house. Once she got there she couldn’t knock on the door, because she was terrified of his wife answering the door.
Instead of doing anything Nadine ended up sitting behind a bush, so no one could see her from the road. No one was likely to see her from the house either, which was both a positive and a negative.
***
When Skyler walked down the path that led to his front door he was sure he could hear something unusual. For a moment he put it down to the long day, but then he heard something rustling and there was the recognisable sound of someone sleeping. Confused, he turned around, because it wasn’t normal for someone to sleep outisde his house, and that was when he saw a girl he recognised as Nadine. He raised an eyebrow, wondering why she wouldn’t have knocked on the door, before walking over to her to wake her up.
“Nadine,” he said quietly, gently shaking her. “You need to wake up.” Instead of waking up she snuggled closer to her bag. “I know you’ve had a long night, but you need to wake up now.”
His father looked over at him. “Do you think she’s going to wake up?”
Skyler shook his head. His father walked over and picked Nadine up. Carefully he cradled the girl in his arms while Skyler picked up her bag and the box that had been above her head. Thankfully the door was already unlocked so all he had to do was open it, which was hard enough as it was with all the things he was holding.
“What have you got there?” his mother asked loudly, as they stepped into the living room.
“It’s Nadine,” his father replied quietly. “Be quiet so she can sleep.”
“Why should I?”
“The poor girl’s had a really hard night and she’s allowed to sleep. When she’s awake I’ll take her to the safe house.”
“There’s no point in keeping her here. She’s probably the reason that her whole family is dead.”
“Why would you assume something like that?” Nadine asked coldly. Skyler watched as his dad put her down carefully, making certain she was able to stand, and she smiled at him. “I have never said anything that would put my family in danger. They meant everything to me and I don’t appreciate your poisonous tongue talking about things that you don’t understand.”
“You’re a stupid little girl. You always were. I know what you’re like for running your mouth.”
“I’m amazed you know anything about the people around you. You’re selfish and you hate everyone. I have no idea why someone as wonderful as Arthur married you.”
“He couldn’t have your mother so he chose me.”
“That’s not true and you know it,” Arthur said, sounding shocked. “I loved you so I married you. I thought you loved me too.”
She laughed. “Of course I loved you. Then I realised that you were never in love with me. There were so many women that you had close relationships with and I could tell that you loved all of them rather than me. It was so obvious when I thought about it.”
Nadine sidled closer to Skyler. “Grab everything you need and go,” she whispered. “I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen soon. Take the box with you. Pack in every bit of paperwork you can so no one will find out who Arthur was or what he was doing.”
Skyler didn’t know if she was right, but he knew that her mother had been gifted with visions so he was going to give her the benefit of the doubt. He left the room without drawing attention to himself. Once he was in the study he gathered everything that he knew his father wouldn’t want found and then went upstairs to get the things that he needed to keep. It didn’t take him long to gather everything as there wasn’t much that he needed, before leaving the house quietly.
***
Skyler had only just left in time. Nadine watched him close the back door and less than a minute later the front door was busted open. Arthur’s wife watched in triumph as her husband was arrested, which made Nadine feel sick, before that triumph turned to total surprise when she too was arrested.
“What are you doing?” she screeched. “I was the one who told you about Arthur.”
“That may be true, Ma’am, but until we are told that by the boss you’re under arrest.”
Nadine watched as they were read their rights, feeling slightly bemused. The last thing she had expected was for someone to arrest Arthur, but she was glad she had warned Skyler. If he was free then she had done something good with her feeling, which was something she didn’t always manage. Once they were done with Arthur and his wife one of the officers turned to her.
“Are you Nadine Cunningham?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said, understanding that she might also be arrested or possible killed.
“I was asked to look for you. You’re to go straight to the reconditioning centre.”
Nadine looked at him blankly as he took hold of her arm and lead her out to a car. When she was pushed gently she got into it, even though she didn’t really want to. She had no idea what the reconditioning centre was, but she was sure she didn’t want to go to it. There was no chance of her being recondition, because she was who she was, and nothing would change that.
Chapter 2
Relief filled Zach. Nadine had been found when Arthur Blake and his wife were arrested, so she was going to be brought to the reconditioning centre. He’d managed to convince his father he was the man to take control of her reconditioning to give himself the time he needd to help her as much as he could, even if that meant trying to get her out of the reconditioning centre. When she arrived he was the first person she saw and she didn’t look very impressed.
“Good morning, Nadine,” he said, taking her arm from the police officer and nodding at him. “I’m Zach, and I will be your mentor during this time.”
“Interesting,” she replied, her eyes running over him.
Zach tried not to do the same to her, but he felt intensely uncomfortable under her eyes, so he had to do something to take his mind off it. She was pretty even though she was obviously tired. Nothing about her attracted him, which was good. The last thing he wanted was to be attracted to the girl he was trying to help.
“Are you done?” he asked eventually, when their eyes met.
“I guess so. You’re not what I was expecting. I thought you’d be older and maybe have that holier-than-thou look in your eyes.”
“Sorry for not living up to your expectations.”
“Don’t worry about it. I think I’d rather meet someone young and corruptible.” She smiled. “Do you feel corruptible?”
“Not particularly, but I suppose you can try if you want to.”
“It would be fun. I’ve got nothing better to do with my time right now, have I?”
“You’ll be staying here for the foreseeable future. The aim of your time here is to try to convince you that our way is the best way and the path you should be following in your life.”
“That sounds like it’s not going to be very interesting. I’ve been studying your religion ever since I was five-years-old and I don’t feel like it’s the path I should be following. My religion is much more interesting.”
“It’s not the path to the one true heaven.”
Nadine laughed at him. He knew if he was listening to himself he’d probably be laughing too, but he had to try to act the right way. Sighing, he began leading her to the room she was going to be staying in, which wasn’t actually in the reconditioning centre. She would be sleeping in the room next to his.
***
When Zach led Nadine into a house she was confused. She had thought she was going to be staying in the reconditioning centre, but obviously that wasn’t the case. He kept hold of her arm, which was useful because she had no idea where she was going, and she didn’t plan on running… yet. There was no point as she had nowhere to go. Soon she found herself in a bedroom.
Zach locked the door behind them. “This is the room you’ll be staying in. My bedroom is on the other side of that door.” He pointed at a door on the right hand wall. “The en-suite bathroom is in there.” He pointed at the door on the left hand room. “We want you to be comfortable during your stay, so if there’s anything you need then let me know.”
“You’re reconditioning me in a bedroom?”
“It’s something I convinced Dad to try. The reconditioning programme isn’t working and I think it’s because you need a mentor to guide you through our religion. Hopefully this will help you to become a loyal member of society.”
“Your society killed my family. It’s not something I ever want to be a part of. I’m sorry if that disappoints you at all but I’m not going to pretend that I’m actually going to try. I don’t want to be converted.”
She was surprised when he started writing on a piece of paper, but she didn’t say anything as she watched. ‘There are things we can’t talk about,‘ he wrote, ‘but I’m not planning on trying to recondition you but Dad doesn’t need to know that.‘
‘What?‘
‘I just wanted to get you somewhere safe before he decided to give a free for all on your life.‘
‘I guess I have to thank you for saving me, then.‘
‘You don’t have to. I’m just glad that you’re safe.‘
‘I am too. I’m not so sure that I’m happy about where I’m safe, but that’s something I can deal with.‘
‘If I can get you out of here without arising suspicion then I will. I just need some time to work out where you’re going to be safe.‘
‘I’m safe here. It may be best to wait. I can play my part.‘
‘Dad’s given me six months.‘
‘Six months is more time than I would have had if it wasn’t for you. We wait for two and see if we can buy more.‘
‘When did you become a part of the planning process?‘
‘When you dragged me here against my free will. I will do everything I can to make this easier for you but I want to be a part.‘
He nodded. ‘I understand.‘
***
Skyler kept walking. He knew where the safe house was, but he didn’t want to put anyone at risk by just walking in. Instead he went around the back, like he had just a couple of hours earlier, and entered through the back door. There was a group of people sitting around the kitchen table, looking worried at the TV screen.
“Arthur’s been arrested,” a boy he knew, Elliot, said to him. “So’s your mother, and Nadine has been sent to a reconditioning centre.”
“She got me out before I could be arrested too so I have a lot to thank her for.”
“That’s Nadine. Her and her visions.” Elliot smiled. “I take it you’re staying.”
“I don’t have much of a choice really.”
“True. You can share my room as long as you don’t snore.”
“I appreciate it.”
“He’s not staying here,” a girl said shrilly. “Everyone’s going to be looking for him.”
“If it wasn’t for Arthur you wouldn’t be safe,” Elliot replied calmly. “Skyler can stay here for as long as he needs and if you don’t like it then you know where the door is.”
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Date: 2015-08-15 10:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-08-18 10:34 am (UTC)