She moved to sit in my earlier spot under the tree and tapped the seat for me to join her. I stared at her, contemplating whether I wanted a friend or not. Whether I needed a friend in this place. Silently, I lowered myself to the raised platform on which the tree stood.
“The quote is a warning, Lily.” We looked at each other before she explained. “When you fight something bad, you should be careful not to take actions that make you as bad as the thing you are fighting. Your own darkness can consume you and make you the very monster you fought against.”
“Then how do you know when to stop?” I asked, my gaze riveted on Matilda’s drying blood.
“Practice. Patience. Perseverance.”
I looked at her, my lips pursed in a grimace. “I guess in a place like this, we have all the time in the world to learn that.”
“Would you like to leave this place, Lily?”
“Is that a trick question?” I scoffed.
“You know you can’t get out of this place the normal way, don’t you? As in you can’t walk out the front door and wave goodbye like you would in a normal prison.”
“I kind of figured that out.” Cupping my hands behind my head, I laid back on the ground and stared up at the sky.
Over time I’d noticed just how clear the sky was at night. The stars were so brilliant, you could reach out and almost touch them. Maybe because we were so far away from civilization or cities, there was no pollution to clog the sky. Yet we were equally exposed to their brand of poisoning life in this place. Now, the blue sky was just as clear with gentle puffs of cloud like a painting. It was comforting and I felt the need to talk.
“I loved once, Lotus. So deeply, I was blind to the obvious. I was abused twice. Not physically but emotionally. By one man who called himself my father. Yet he abused my free will and condemn me to marry the devil. And the devil, who called himself my husband. Yet he abused my emotions and condemned me to this hell.” I paused, playing connect the dots with the clouds while reflecting on the men in my life. “I was betrayed thrice. Once by each of those men. In that time, I lost four important people in my life and with each one’s death, a little of me died. So, you can understand why after all of that, losing my child would make me a monster. Why I’d kill again if I had to?”
“What if I gave you what you want?” She turned slightly to look down at me.
“What’s that?”
She stared at me as if assessing my brand of insanity. “With what you’ve been through the only thing you need now is to be Indestructible, so that no man can hurt you again, ever.”
I sat up, intrigued. “How would you do that?”
“I’ll train you to take care of yourself.” At my quizzical look, she added, “I’ll teach you martial arts and make you streetwise. Once you’re ready, I’ll get you out of here.”
My laugh lacked mirth. Her offering sounded like a fantasy gone stupid. “How do you plan on achieving that when this place is locked down tighter than Fort Knox?”
“If you can suffer this place for a year, I’ll take you out.”
Once more, interest sprouted. “Why a year?”
“That’s the minimum time it will take to train you enough for you to handle anything and everything that’s thrown at you.” She tipped her chin at the spot Matilda had been lying. “You’re keen and that’s a start. I also need to teach you the Japanese language.” At my puzzled expression, she leaned closer. “When we escape, Japan will be our destination, and to seek the help you need, you have to learn the language. They will test your loyalty and once you pass, they will be friends for life.”
I glanced down at my tunic and despair shot down my blooming hope. “What happens when they force me out of orange and into gray?”
“Our first lesson would be patience, Lily but seeing as you waited to get your revenge on Matilda, I’d say you’re already learned that.” Then she touched my tunic. “Let me handle this.” Rising, she winked and walked away.
Something clicked. “Lotus?” I called out and she looked at me. “You were my savior that day I lost my baby, weren’t you?”
Smiling, she resumed walking, leaving me with hope for the first time since I arrived here. Perhaps miracles do happen.
