by DeVere, Taya
Enyd slides the bolt back, thrusts it forward. Oliver backs away from her, tries to run but stumbles over Thomas’s limp legs, which are blocking his escape. Enyd takes a step toward the boy.
“All this time. I thought the Beast was inside my head. In my chest. My blood. But no. It’s been here, with you. Lurking. Sneaking. Molesting. Right under my eyes.”
She aims the barrel at Oliver’s head. Enyd lifts her chin and fingers the trigger gently. “You’ve lost your place in the heavenly paradise. You and that filth, lying next to you. But you won’t take baby Samuel from me. I will save him. If it’s the last thing I do.”
The rifle’s second bang stops the ringing in her ears. It stops the screams. When the second body falls limp on the stairs, Enyd doesn’t hear the thump. She’s gone deaf to all sounds. Deaf to all that once connected her with this earthly reality.
CHAPTER 5 — AFTERGLOW
Her head hurting and her ankles barely keeping her upright after climbing over the two dead bodies, Enyd collapses on the top stair. She’s left the two corpses where her rifle dropped them. There’s no one to pick them up. To drag the sinners upstairs and out of Kinship Care. The only ones strong enough to do so would be, well, the boys themselves.
Enyd needs to get that door open. She needs to reason with Hannah, tell her that once the baby arrives, it will belong with Enyd. Once the baby is up here with her, she’ll know what to do. The baby. Their savior. Samuel’s return. It’ll all be clear then. If only Enyd knew anything about giving birth, about babies. Hannah might be too weak when the time comes. Is baby Samuel in danger? She needs a new plan, needs to be prepared. If only there was a nurse she could talk to—
Enyd forces herself back to her feet. Her ankles are on fire. Her body’s sore and tired, but a new hope—a new plan—gives her the strength to take a step, and then another, and then a third, toward the library and finally her office.
The drawer is still open. Inside, most of the granola bars and root beers are gone. Margaret needed them to bribe the boys to take her side.
Enyd sits on the wooden chair and rummages through the drawer. Way down between the empty soda cans, Twinkies wrappers, and remaining granola bars, a red light blinks. The second set of AR-glasses. The ones Enyd has not yet crushed like a sinner’s fingertip.
She grabs the AR-set and puts it on. The trailer flashes in front of her eyes. Smiling Beasts jogging. Shopping. Consuming. Sinning.
“Arnie, call…” Enyd takes the glasses off and takes a long look at the smashed camera in the corner of the room.
“Shit, shit, shit.” How does she initiate the call?
“Call Nurse Saarinen.”
Nothing.
“City of Finland, ring ring.”
The trailer goes on. The three dots don’t appear on the screen.
“Just bloody call Nurse Saarinen and City of Finland! Initiate this fucking call!”
The three dots appear on the glowing red background. Enyd waits. But unlike every other time she’s ever called, Nurse Saarinen doesn’t pick up.
Enyd takes the set off, folds it, and places it inside her chest pocket. Fine then. First, we open the door. Then, we talk to the nurse.
With her ankles and mind on fire, Enyd leaves the office. She’ll get that damned door open if it’s the last thing she does before redeeming her place in the heavenly paradise. Baby Samuel will be saved. The Lord’s son must be protected from sinners. From the granola-nibbling, porridge-begging scavengers that are his biological parents.
Minutes. That’s what it takes for Enyd to climb upstairs. The bedroom doors are shut. The house is quiet. Quieter than she remembers it ever being. It’s the same thing downstairs: a hundred and twelve kids have tucked themselves in, without lunch or tea or questions asked. Margaret must have told them to do so.
“Good,” Enyd mumbles, leaning against the railing. A door opens to her right. A familiar round face peeks out. Owena walks out and heads straight to Enyd. The little girl takes Enyd’s hand and places something against her palm. Then she closes Enyd’s fingers around it.
A granola bar. With chocolate chips. Enyd looks down at the girl. Owena gives her a careful smile and says, “Sister Margaret said we need to hold on to the bars. That they’re all we have to eat now.”
“Then why are you giving it to me?”
“Because I don’t want you to be hungry, Sister Enyd.”
The little girl walks back to her bedroom door. Before she closes the door, she turns around. Her full, round eyes investigate Enyd’s face. “Will the bad things go away soon, Sister Enyd? Did Arnie use a mind control machine too?”
Enyd stares at the girl. The AR-set starts buzzing against her chest pocket. She forgets the little girl, drops the granola bar on the wall-to-wall carpet, and fiddles with the glasses. The familiar red glow fills the screen, “Nurse Saarinen?” she says, her voice raspy and throat dry.
The line is quiet for a few seconds. Then a voice Enyd hasn’t heard for a long time echoes through the invisible earpiece. “No, dear. It’s Doctor Solomon.”
Images of the drill, the chip, white hospital sheets, and Laura Solomon’s friendly and motherly face flash through Enyd’s mind. Why is the doctor calling her now?
“Are you alone, Enyd?”
Enyd leans against the upstairs railing with one hand, and with the other, she turns and focuses on the images behind the red glow. Her reality. Owena stares at her with her mouth open, eyes filled with horror.
“The bad things,” she whispers and bangs the bedroom door shut. Multiple bangs follow as curious eyes escape back to their hiding places. In Owena’s room, furniture is moved around and set against the door.
“I’m with the children, Doctor Solomon. But I need your help.”
“That much I’ve gathered. Why don’t you step away and find a more private place so we can have a nice, long chat? Would you like that, dear?”
***
Enyd’s rubber-soled slippers stick in the mud. She abandons the footwear and continues across the yard in her bare feet, carrying a rolling pin in her hand. Unlike Nurse Saarinen’s slightly nasal voice and words, Laura Solomon is hard to resist. The lies she tells. The support she offers.
“It was never our intention to leave you high and dry, Enyd. If your chipping procedure had succeeded, we’d have brought you to the City of Finland and kept you here until the cleaning was completed. Then you could have chosen to either return to the City of England or stay here with us. Your employer didn’t mince words when he spoke of your skills. Sounds like you’re one hell of a counsellor, Enyd.”
“Sister. Sister Enyd.”
“Ahh, yes. I was told it was your idea to control the kids with religion.”
It wasn’t. It had been the reverend’s idea, but Enyd doesn’t correct the doctor.
“I would have suggested karma and rabbit feet. Talismans do well in the City of Finland. I guess it’s just the nature of humanity that people always believe in something higher than themselves. Let it be a Norse folk tale or a hairy keychain. Most of us need to believe there’s something greater out there. But maybe we just need to understand that the greatest powers we can ever find are already within.”
“You mean the chip?”
Doctor Solomon’s laughter caresses Enyd’s ears. It’s too easy to like this woman. Too easy to stay quiet and focus on her calm, reassuring words. It’s like a warm breeze from her past. From the time before Samuel.
“Your inner strength, Enyd. But the chip is part of it, sure. The Happiness-Program is created to lift us up so we can be the best versions of ourselves. When all you want is a warm bath, and all you have is a bucket filled with cold water… there’s nothing wrong with creating an illusion of a bathtub with warm water and inviting bubbles. The Chipped are quite happy with what they’ve got. A safe and secure reality away from the chaos. Isn’t that what we all want and need?”
Enyd nods, unsure if the doctor can see the gesture. Doctor Solomon hasn’t turn
ed the camera on.
“But no system is perfect. I’ve never claimed ours to be perfect either. Some people get restless. Some refuse to take their pills. Some wander to places where those with a chip were never meant to go. I’ve lost a lot of my people, Enyd. And it’s all because of an Unchipped woman who spreads lies and poisons my people’s minds. I believe that woman is now coming your way. Kaarina travels with a Chipped woman called Niina. Her daughter, Ava, is one of your students there in the school, isn’t that right?”
Enyd stops and leans against the broken horse statue by the front gates. She sets the rolling pin down on the ground. In the distance, white boxes rest against a green-brown hill. The warm winter has finally started to kill off the grass.
“It’s not a school. Just a home. The Lord’s haven.”
“But Ava is there with you?”
Enyd thinks of the girl with ten purple fingertips, locked into a basement room with Margaret, a boy, and his pregnant friend. She thinks of baby Samuel. Their savior.
“She’s here. Yes.”
“Excellent. We’re sending a team right away. I was told that Kaarina travels with some Americans now. I’m not sure how that’s possible or why they’re here, but those who come from the green city are known to be heavily armed and extremely dangerous. But our team will eliminate this threat, Enyd. I need you to remain calm until they arrive. Just don’t use that CS-key. Not until you see my team. They’ll be wearing blue uniforms. Okay, dear?”
What is she to believe in? The red luminosity in her eyes? Solomon’s smooth and fulfilling words? The Beast curing the plague? Enyd sits down on the horse statue’s concrete base. On the ground, a piece of the sculpture—a horse leg—is partly buried in the muddy ground. Enyd turns her back on the limb. It reminds her of rolling pins and basement rooms.
“This team you’re sending. Will they have a medic traveling with them?”
“What’s that, dear?”
“Will there be a nurse?”
The line falls silent for a while. Doctor Solomon doesn’t understand. She doesn’t know about Baby Samuel.
“Are you hurt, dear? Or is it one of your students?”
Enyd shakes her head. What is she doing? Why would she trust the Beast to help her? Medics or not, it’d be foolish to trust Baby Samuel in the hands of evil. No—Hannah must stay in the basement until the baby is out. Doesn’t matter if it takes months. She must be kept away from all evil.
“Never mind. It’s just a scratch. I don’t need a nurse. Or a team. Blessed be the Lord. My rock, who trains my hands for war. And my fingers for battle.”
Enyd takes off the AR-set and throws it on the ground. She reaches for the rolling pin on the ground, still staring at the devilish device in front of her. Her hand gropes and fumbles. Nothing.
Something smashes hard against her leg. Enyd falls forward and hits her head against the base of the statue. Eyesight blurred, she pushes her hands against the wet ground. She starts to crawl, but a foot pushes her back down. The rolling pin falls, landing next to the AR-glasses.
“Open the. Gate. Enyd. You need to. Let us. Out.”
“All I want is to save them,” Enyd says, pressed against the ground. “That’s all I ever wanted.”
“Violence. And starvation. Is not going to. Save. Them.”
The reverend’s voice appears. “Sister Margaret is right, Enyd. This is hardly what your friend Samuel represented. What his religion was about.”
“But the Bible—”
“The Bible has many meanings. It’s more about how you read it. More about you, than the written word. Can you imagine Samuel ever hurting another human being?”
He would never. Samuel had been kind. Devoted.
“The reverend. Is right. Enyd. You lost. Your way.”
“Unlock the CS-key and let the kids go, Enyd. The plague didn’t kill this Kaarina or those who travel with her. This should tell you the city is safe. Let them go, Enyd. It’s not too late to fix this. I want the Chip-Charity to excel more than anyone. But this is too much.”
Enyd opens her eyes. Moving her head seems impossible.
“And you’ll save him? You’ll save Baby Samuel?”
Margaret and the reverend ponder her words. Margaret snaps out an answer first. “We will. Save. Samuel. Just open the. Gate.”
She needs to decide between the Beast and the She-Devil. And she needs to do it fast.
“And how am I supposed to get to the gate? You broke my leg.”
Margaret kneels down to investigate Enyd’s injuries. At the same time, her intermittent words reach out for the people around them. Those who should be here and those who shouldn’t. Margaret keeps the connection open for Enyd to hear. Enyd’s head fills with Unchipped voices.
“Ava. Bring them. Out.”
“You’re doing the right thing, Enyd. God will forgive you for what you’ve done.”
“We’re coming out, Margaret. Is Kaarina nearby?”
“We’re here, Ava. Just get this gate open.”
Enyd opens her mouth again, but the words fail her. All she can do is watch. Watch the She-Devil walk to Kinship Care’s gates, a shadow following right behind her. A man with broad shoulders and big, strong hands. He’s the size of a mountain.
A young woman with thin, white hair and bulky winter clothing grabs onto the metal bars, trying to shake the gate. “Ava!” she yells, but there is no answer.
A man with dreadlocks tied in a knot. He’s not dressed in winter clothes, not like the others. His dark skin stands out from his pale companions.
Another man dressed in a women’s black and purple winter coat and matching pants investigates the CS-key, rattling it against the front gate.
A girl’s bruised arms—Ava’s arms—block her view. Enyd closes her eyes but is too weak to protect herself from the blows to come.
But Ava doesn’t hit her. No one does.
Enyd keeps her eyes closed and folds her hands. A dozen sets of hands hold onto her.
“Okay, guys. If we lift at the same time, we’ll be able to carry Sister Enyd to the gate. Are you ready?” Ava says.
“Look!” It’s Owena’s voice. Her little finger points at the AR-glasses. “It’s the machine that controls minds. Satan got to Sister Enyd!”
Margaret picks up the statue leg and the AR-glasses. “It’s not. That. Simple. Owena.”
“But we need to crush the devil.”
“Owena, not now,” Ava says. “We need to carry Sister Enyd to the gate. Okay? On the count of three. One. Two. Three.”
And then she’s flying. As Enyd floats across Kinship Care’s front yard, the image of Samuel’s smiling face flickers on her closed eyelids. It wipes away all other images, those that have haunted Enyd for such a long time. Bruises. Blood. Red digits on the wall. Blinking glasses and trailers. Only Samuel remains. Waiting for Enyd to join him.
And then the floating stops. Enyd sits down on the ground, her back resting against the metal gates. The CS-key’s green light blinks next to her head. The She-Devil kneels down, her green eyes locking with Enyd’s.
“Hello, Enyd. I’m so sorry it all came down to this.”
When Enyd stays quiet, Margaret kneels down next to her. She places the rolling pin and the AR-glasses next to Enyd on the ground.
“She is. Badly. Hurt.”
“The Chipped will come for her. Laura’s probably already sent her team. We must hurry, Margaret. Markus and Bill here will get Hannah from the basement. We just need to get this gate open.”
Enyd reaches for the CS-key. It’s close enough. All she needs to do is place her hand on it, and the gate is open. Her hand hovers and falls limp at her side. “I need to know that Samuel will be okay.”
The She-Devil looks at Margaret. “What is she talking about?”
Shaking her head, Margaret kneels down next to Enyd. “I give you. My word.”
Enyd closes her eyes again, but the image of Samuel is gone. All she sees is a red glimmering.
Margaret takes Enyd’s hand and folds it in her own. “Enyd. Please.”
Eyes shut, the tears start flowing down Enyd’s face. “I’ll give you all the chocolate bars. You can have my office. The AR-glasses. Just don’t let it get Samuel. Don’t let the Beast take him away.”
Margaret squeezes Enyd’s hand, pressing it against her chest. “I will save. Him. If you. Open. This gate.”
When Margaret places Enyd’s hand on the CS-key, she doesn’t resist. The lock pops open, and the metal gates start sliding aside.
Ava slips through the gates and rushes to hug an older woman that has the same high cheekbones and sharp look in her eyes that Ava has. While Ava hugs her mother, the She-Devil and her flock enter Kinship Care. Enyd lets her body relax and fall against the wet ground. Margaret takes off her thick sweater, bundles it into a pillow, and places it underneath Enyd’s head. The red, fuzzy fabric is ticklish against her cheek.
The lock-bundle and another man—the one with the women’s winter gear—start running toward the house. A barking terrier runs in circles, then sits between the Devil and her mountain.
A dog? Am I dreaming? Is this the end?
The She-Devil makes her way to the children. “Don’t be afraid.“Her voice is pleasant, like the creamy filling inside a Twinkie. “My name is Kaarina, and I’ve come to help you.”
Don’t believe her. Don’t fall for it.
None of the children reply. Instead, they eye the man that stands next to the Devil-woman. She turns and points at the man, then waves him off. “You don’t need to be afraid of him either,” she says, chuckling happily. “At first, he might seem intimidating and rude. But at the end of the day, he’s quite friendly. Like a gigantic and clumsy Yeti.”
Some of the children giggle when they recognize the character from one of the library’s fairy tale books. The story of a Yeti had been Owena’s favorite. She steps closer and reaches for the She-Devil’s hand.
“I’m Owena. This is Sarah and Marie. We are Ava’s roommates.”
“Hi, Owena. So nice to meet you. I know Ava’s mother, and we’ve come to take her away. Would you like to come with us?”
