Number Thirteen (12 page)

W
e don’t see Number Three for two whole days, and we don’t hear from Master William. By the time Number Three gets back, we’re all beside ourselves with worry. We have no idea what he did to her. She comes into the room with Bill, and she walks right into the shower, not looking at any of us. Number Seven asks her if she’s okay, but she acts as if she can’t even hear her.

It scares me.

We’re sent out onto garden duty before she gets out of the shower. Our group is helping group one, and we’re to set up the gardens for the summer, making sure everything is arranged nicely, and all the flowers are perfectly trimmed. The sun is high and warm in the sky today, and sweat trickles down my skin as I drive the spade into the soil over and over again, trying to dislodge a weed.

I can’t stop thinking about Number Three. What happened to her? Is she okay? Is she going to be okay? What did they say to her in there? Did they finally break her down, or did they vlliame, and Ijust make it worse? My worry for her intensifies as I wait for her to come out, but as the time ticks on, I wonder what’s going on. It doesn’t take that long to shower, and Bill wouldn’t just let her sit and do nothing.

“It’s not a wise move,” I hear someone yell suddenly, cutting through my worrying.

I lift my head, and what I see has all the blood rushing from my body. My entire body prickles as I stare up at the roof, where Number Three is standing. No...she wouldn’t...she wouldn’t give up now. Maybe it’s not what it looks like. I get to my feet quickly, and run over towards her. The other girls are already up and following me. The guards are standing on the roof with her, their faces concerned. They have their arms stretched out.

“Come down,” one encourages. “We can get you some help.”

“You’re all just going to hurt me,” Number Three cries, rubbing her arms. She looks completely crazy, like she’s finally let it take over her body.

“No,” one of the guards says. “Come down, and we’ll take care of you.”

“You’re liars!” she screams, shaking. Her eyes are wide and frantic. “Liars!”

“No. We’ll make sure you get the help you need.”

“Stop lying,” she wails, taking a step back. I feel my heart leap into my throat.

Is she going to jump? My knees wobble and I try to open my mouth to call her down, to encourage her away, but all that comes out is a desperate squeak. My eyes are hazing over, and I can hear a loud ringing in my ears. Tears form in my eyes, and I hear Number Twelve begin to coax Number Three down.

“We’re in this together,” she cries. “You are stronger than this!”

“I need to be free,” she yells. “Like an angel, I need to let go. You have to let me go.”

She stares down at us, her expression empty. It’s like there’s nothing left, like whoever was inside has exited, and all that is remaining is an empty shell. She turns, and relief floods me as her back faces us. She’s going to walk away; she’s going to let us help her. Oh, thank God.

Then she stretches her arms out like an airplane and she just lets her body fall backwards. As if in slow motion, she soars down towards the ground. I hear myself scream, but I can’t force my legs to run forward. My head spins, and flashes of memories soar through my mind as I finally get myself to move.

“Lanthie!” I scream.

I don’t even know why.

I hear the loud crack as Number Three hits the concrete below. I can hear yelling, and screaming, but I can’t focus on anything else. My body is close to hyperventilation, and my heart feels like it’s stopped beating. My vision blurs as I finally reach the lifeless form on the ground. There’s blood everywhere, most of it coming from her cracked skull. I drop to my knees, coating myself in her warm blood as I lift her broken head into my hands. Her mouth is open, and there’s blood coming out of it in thick rivulets.

“Lanthie,” I sob. “I’m so sorry. It wasn’t my fault.”

“Get the master,” someone yells.

“Is Lanthie her name?” a guard whispers.

“No, her name is Isabella.”

“Lanthie,” I cry, feeling my head spin. “I’m so sorry, so sorry. He wouldn’t stop, I tried to get him to stop so I could get to you.”

“She’s lost it. Someone get her away.”

More yelling, and more orders. I {ore1; s scream, and grasp at the bloody body as a set of hands hook under my arms. Horrific flashes of memories fill my mind. I can see her head, all that blood, but it’s being replaced with the image of a blonde girl. I shake my head, gripping the sides of it and screaming as I’m pulled further away. Another set of arms wrap around me, but my body is too weak to fight.

“Lanthie,” I sob. “Lanthie, baby, I’m sorry.”

“Hush, Beauty.”

I begin to squirm in his grasp; it’s his fault she’s dead.
My Lanthie
. “Let me go. No, it’s all your fault. You stopped me from going to her,” I scream, thrashing.

“You’re hyperventilating. You’re imagining something that isn’t there. Be calm.”

“Let me go,” I wail. “Let me help her. Please, let me help her!”

“George,” I hear him bark. “Get me an injection.”

“No,” I scream so loudly my own ears ring. “No, don’t! Let me go, please, God, don’t let her die. Please, it’s all my fault, I didn’t get to her in time. Please, let me go back.”

“Hush, it’s not real. Lanthie is not here.”

“You’re a liar! Don’t you take her from me.”

“Number Thirteen,” he barks. “The girl on the ground is Number Three. It is not Lanthie, it is
Number Three
.”

“You’re a liar, liar,
liar
!”

His arms tighten around me, and another person takes hold of my shoulder. I feel a sharp sting in my neck just before my legs give way.

“Lanthie,” I whimper again, before darkness consumes me.

“She’s gone, sir,” George says, walking into the room. He’s covered in blood, and his head is hanging.

A sharp pain rips through my chest, and I take a deep, ragged breath.

“The police?”

“They are finished, they will call if they need more.”

“She jumped to her own death,” I whisper, glaring at my hands.

“It isn’t your fault, sir. She was damaged.”

“I was meant to help her,” I bark, lifting my eyes and shooting daggers at him.

“Some people can’t be helped.”

I don’t bother to answer. He doesn’t understand. No one does. These girls are here with me for a reason, and I’m meant to be teaching them to trust me. They’re supposed to understand that they can have a good life here if they do the right thing, not jumping off a building out of fear. It makes me question everything I am.

“Is Number Thirteen still out?” he asks.

I turn my head and stare at my closed bedroom door. Number Thirteen hasn’t stirred; she hasn’t even made a sound.

“Yes.”

“May I ask, sir, but who is Lanthie?”

“Lanthie is her sister,” I murmur, still staring at the door.

“Oh.”

Yeah, oh.

Oh
means that Number Thirteen had a memory flashback; it also means she’s beginning to remember. There is only so much I can push back now. There is only so much I can keep from her. I lift my hands, and grip the sides of my head, tighten {hear. Thing my jaw.

“The other girls?” I grate out.

“They’re all asleep, sir. I gave them tablets.”

“This is going to damage them.”

“We will get through it.”

I’m not so sure about that.

Hell, I’m not so sure about any of this anymore.

“F
aster, faster!” Lanthie cries, her blond locks splaying out as I spin her.

“I’m going as fast as I can,” I cry.

“Don’t drop!” she coos.

“I’d never drop you.” I giggle, stopping us both. We flop to the floor, smiling.

I stare down at my tiny little sister, and she grins up at me. She’s just coming on three years old. I love when my momma is away, because it means we can just play and have fun. It means he doesn’t come around. When he’s around, bad things always happen.

I flutter my eyelids open, and it takes me a second to realize I’m not in my own bed. I reach up and rub my eyes. My fingers tingle, and my hands are numb and heavy. I shift my body and groan, feeling like I’ve been lying in this spot for days. I sit up, wincing as everything strains and pulls. I peer around the room, and notice I’ve not seen it before.

Where am I?

I try to remember what happened, and while it takes a moment, it comes to me. Number Three killed herself. A strangled sound leaves my throat, and I press my hand to my chest. Tears tumble down my cheeks. How could this have happened? Why didn’t I realize she was so far gone? I promised I’d take care of those girls, and I let her down.

The door creaks, and I lift my head to see it open and close. It’s still dark, so I can’t see who has come in.

“Who’s there?” I croak.

“It’s me.”

Master William.

Anger bubbles in my chest. How dare he come in here? How. Dare. He? It’s his fault more than mine that Number Three jumped. If he’d let her remember, if he’d let her process her own memories then this would have never happened. I take a steadying breath, but bile rises in my throat.

“Get out,” I finally rasp.

“I’m very sorry about...”

I cut him off before he can continue. “You’re sorry,” I snarl. “You’re sorry? She’s dead. She’s dead because of you. You starved her of herself. You took a piece of her away, and wouldn’t give it back. You had no right!”

“I was protecting her, the same way I’m protecting all of you.”

“Protecting us?” I cry. “How are you protecting us? You’ve stolen us from our lives. You’ve erased our memories. You punish us like we’re dogs.”

“I. Did. Not. Steal. You.”

His voice comes out like ice, and it’s clipped.

“Then give us back our memories.”

He makes a growling, throaty sound. “Did you ever think I was keeping those memories for a reason?”

“And what reason could that possibly be?” I demand.

“You’re not ready to process them. I’m trying to make you stronger, trying to build you up before I let you deal with something like that.”

“That’s a poor excuse that̵ {used I lif7;s used by a man with a sick fetish. You tell yourself whatever you need to, William, but we all know what you are!”

“And what is that?” he hisses.

“A
freak.”

The room falls deadly silent. I realize I’m crying heavily now. I swipe the tears from my eyes as I wait to see what he’s going to do. The room becomes eerily still, and I hear nothing for the longest moment. Then I feel him move closer to me. His warm breath comes down to my ear, and I flinch, jerking my head away.

“That was a mistake.”

He takes hold of my arm, and hurls me up from the bed. He tugs me towards the door. He swings it open, and drags me with force out the door and down the halls. I can only see his back, and his dark hair swishing around his shoulders. He yanks me towards the basement, and I dig my heels in. No, he can’t send me down there. I just lost a friend; he can’t do this to me.

“Let me go,” I cry. “Don’t you hurt me the way you hurt her.”

He doesn’t answer, nor does my struggling stop him from pulling me along. He opens the basement door, and we step down. It’s dark down here, but has a faint light that’s enough for him to see what he’s doing. He throws me onto the ground, and yanks my hands up, shackling them to the wall above my head. I try to kick out at him, but he’s too quick. He’s on his feet before my foot even gets close to hitting him.

“All I am trying to do is...”

“I don’t want to hear it,” I shriek. “I don’t want to hear your excuses. You’re a monster.”

I feel something move fast, and then his hand is pressed over my mouth. Hard. I cry harder, and clench my eyes tightly shut.

“Instead of screaming me at every chance you have, maybe you will stop and realize what I’m doing here. I did not steal you girls; I
saved
you. I took you all out of a hard, painful life and I put you in my care. All I ask for is respect. This is my home, and I control what goes on here. If you understood that and just listened, things would go as they needed. Number Three was damaged. She was fragile in the mind, and her life before this was less than desirable. Her mind was scarred; it didn’t matter how much I took from her. Very soon you will learn that if you want my respect, and my kindness, then you will do the right thing. What you did in there was disrespectful, and the act of a bully. I
despise
bullies. Now, you will be punished for it.”