I thought long and hard about it, considering the options I had at wording the question I needed to ask. “How many transporters to Absolution are there?”
She placed three fingers on the table before relaxing her hand again.
“Do they come once a week?”
Silence.
“Once a month?”
Silence.
I studied her carefully. “Do they come when they are called?”
A single tap.
Of course, because they couldn’t schedule when a Favorite disobeyed or wasn’t wanted anymore.
“Is it your belief that it is here in Washington?”
She angled her chin ever so slightly before tapping her finger.
That answer had given me something. They thought of her as nothing more than a beaten kitten but forgot that she still had a working mind in that skull of hers. She could still listen, she still cataloged, she just did it in a way they would never know. It worked well for me.
“Thank you, little sinner,” I said, pushing myself to a stand. “You have given me exactly what I needed.”
She stood abruptly, causing me to slow.
I looked her over, my eyes lingering on the racing pulse in her neck, my curiosity growing. “Yes?”
She gestured with a shaking hand towards her bedroom, her delicate throat bobbing, a few muscles in her face shifting to show the fear she was trying desperately to hide.
I glanced towards the dark room and back. “Go.” It was progress, I admitted to myself, watching as she quickly headed for her bedroom. She was trying to force herself to become more…herself. Finding her voice, the mouse would say. Breaking through the bars with her feeble arms.
Perhaps, one day, she would actually speak. I wouldn’t hold my breath, but I couldn’t deny that I was pleased with this sudden outburst after only a few sessions with her. I was curious about what she would be after several weeks of just her and I. No church, no rules, just me pouring acid on the bars they had used to cage her in.
A few moments later, she came out holding more paintings.
“You did a lot in the last three weeks, haven’t you?” I hummed, watching as she set them out on the table.
Three paintings she had brought out. All three beautiful. One of a shining yellow daffodil, blooming under the sun. One of a little gray mouse enjoying a crumb of cheese, and the last of a blooming blood red rose, surrounded by vines of thorns.
More proof that she was always listening. Always watching without actually seeing a thing.
“They aren’t my Favorites,” I told her, knowing exactly what she needed confirmation about. Did she know that she was jealous? Because now I did, and it did something to me. “But I assume you might have already come to that conclusion.” I looked over just in time to see her tap.
“Jealous of people who spend their time with me, little sinner?”Most would be scrambling to get away as soon as they possibly could, but here she was,jealousof those I mentioned.
It only encouraged my raging thoughts. “I spoke of my family three weeks ago, of how I had too many people in my world. They are the most recent additions.” I studied the pictures, studied the delicate curve of the petals, the soft fur of the mouse. They looked as if they could come right off the page.
After a moment, I gestured to the mouse. “Emily Navarro.” I pointed at the daffodil. “Rae Ashrin.” And finally the rose. “Olivia Kingsmen.”
I could feel the tension in the air before she finally stepped up, so close, I could smell the cheap soap they had filled her shower with. She had been so happy with the citrus I had picked out for her, perhaps I would stock her bathroom before I saw her again. She placed a finger on the rose.
“She was the most recent to join. The one we saved from the compound.”
Her body tensed and she tapped it again, this time with more vigor.
I looked over, finding her so close that I had to look down. She was inches from my chest, and so much shorter than I. I would have to guess a mere 5’5” to my 6’ 3”. “They kept her there for two months and 7 days. I believe she has told her husband what happened while she was there, but not in detail. Alascer was scheduled to pick her up the day we found her. She has a loyal dog who goes by Lucy, and a little mouse whom she met while she was there. His name is Merlin. He stays behind to be protected by a little girl named Baily, whose mother is now in a relationship with one of my other brother’s friends.”
