Women of the Grey- The Complete Trilogy

by Carol James Marshall

  She needed to get out soon or she’d die in here. The only thing that kept Sunny from complete despair was Kia. She had a friend. Remembering that is what got Sunny through hours of hunger, loneliness, and the constant throb of wanting to kill.

  Sunny stood on her bed, running her hands over her face. Running her fingertips over her teeth. Anger surged through her arms. She felt strong. She didn’t know why, but she felt like she could break down a door, squash a mountain. Kill them all. Kill them all.

  She could stomp on their heads. She could pound them flat and walk out the door. She could smell the outside air. She would shove Superior Mother’s ring up her nose while yanking out her tongue. Sunny was shaking now, looking down — her fingernails had turned sharp.

  She bent down and quickly shredded the sheets on this pathetic bed of hers. Her vision was so clear. She could almost see the whole room at once. Sunny was standing still, but the feel of power was now almost knocking her to the floor.

  Without thinking, Sunny jumped up and grabbed a bar, hanging from the top of the cage. She pulled and the bars bent a bit. She pulled again and the bars bent further. She was furious. She was hungry. Tired of being locked up. Tired of being the monster.

  The monster was Superior Mother. Not her. She was just a little girl. “Monster, monster. I am not the monster.” Sunny hissed this to herself as she pulled at the cage bars. There was a gap in the bars now and Sunny pulled herself through it. She was free of the cage. “Kill them all. Kill them all.” She would finally get to go out and play with her friends.

  Sunny let out a noise, loud and electric. It startled her a bit, but it felt good. It felt like she had just let something loose.

  Standing outside the bedroom door of the mother that was in charge of them, Kia felt excited. She knew what she was going to do tonight. The mother had been sleeping for hours now and Kia knew she’d be sleeping for hours more. She had time to hunt for keys.

  Kia thought she might throw up from the excitement until she thought of Sunny, locked up and all by herself. Along with the thought of those naughty girls. Who would save them all? She had to be brave. Kia told her nerves to “hush up” and reached for the doorknob of the mother’s room. Kia blinked her eyes, swallowed hard, and turned it.

  “Stop! You are going to get into so much trouble.” Turning around Kia looked at Laura, and without hesitation she rolled her eyes, putting her hands in her hair with annoyance at the other girl.

  “What do you want, Laura, and why do you care?” Kia allowed these words to roll off her tongue though she was not inclined to respond to Laura at all. Kia poked Laura in the stomach then. She did it just to be mean. Laura was constantly shadowing Kia and was a big tattletale. Laura was the type of girl that told the mothers what the other girls were up to.

  “Because,” Laura whispered, “you are going to get all of us into trouble.” Kia wanted to slap her. She had things to do and Miss Nosy was ruining her plans. “The only person that is going to get into trouble is you, when I punch you in the face for being nosy. Now go back to your bed and stop following me or I’ll get my best friend to bite your head off.”

  Laura wrinkled her nose at Kia then snorted “What best friend? You don’t have any friends!”

  Kia raised a fist in the air. “Oh yea, my best friend is the girl in the cage. I’m going to get her out. If you keep bugging me, you’ll be the first person I introduce her to. I’m sure she’ll do something about you being so damn nosy.”

  Laura took a step back from Kia, and her wrinkled brat look turned soft. She looked at the floor, then back at Kia. “I’ll go back to bed, but be careful, Kia. Just be careful.”

  She turned then and walked away from Kia without another word. Putting her hand down and unclenching her fist, Kia watched Laura slowly walk back to her bed and get in. “What the heck was that about?” Laura suddenly caring what happened to Kia was confusing, but she didn’t have time to think about it.

  Kia felt a sense of urgency. This was something that needed to happen now, tonight, right now. She didn’t know why. Willfully, Kia swung the mother’s door open. She knew that mother wouldn’t budge.

  Eyes darting across the room, Kia watched the mother’s face for any signs of waking. It gave Kia a knot in her stomach to really look at this mother. “This is what I’ll look like when I’m grown.” For the first time Kia wished that wasn’t so.

  She would give anything to grow up looking different from everybody else in The Grey. To have her own face. One that matches her person on the inside. She didn’t want to look like this mother. She didn’t want to be like the mothers.

  Opening a desk drawer, Kia found a small wood box. It was plain, but there was something about it that Kia couldn’t resist. Opening it, Kia found a picture, just one of a man. He was smiling in the picture, holding a baby.

  Leaning against the wall, Kia studied the picture. In the background was a house. It didn’t look big, but it had flowers in front of it and was painted blue. It looked like a happy house. A house that humans would live in, watching TV and chatting. The man was older, but not too old. Kia could tell that the smile on his face was real, no faking. He was happy holding that baby.

  Looking over at the sleeping mother, Kia put the photo back. She was sorry she’d seen it. She now knew that this mother that she hated so much actually had feelings. Kia didn’t want to know that.

  Opening another drawer, Kia found a key ring with a dozen or more keys on it. She snatched it and put it in her robe pocket. There were many doors in The Grey without doorknobs or handles, which Kia had never understood, but there were some with locks that these keys might open. Before she left, she took another key that hung on a hook by the doorway. This key she was familiar with. This was the key to Sunny’s room. She hoped there was a key on the ring that would open Sunny’s cage.

  Kia gently closed the door to the mother’s room. Sticking her hand in her pocket, she heard the keys jingle a bit. She held them still while she opened a door to a hallway that she was not allowed to wander in.

  It was the hallway that led to Sunny. Kia thought she’d explore first and then get Sunny, but she couldn’t wait. She didn’t know how she knew this, but she did. She had to get to Sunny out now

  .

  At the door to Sunny’s room, Kia heard noises. It sounded like something was being torn open. She quickly shoved the key in the lock, opening Sunny’s door.

  Kia’s hands shot up to her mouth so she could muffle her scream. Right in front of her was a monster with eyes spread to the back of its head and sharp teeth. It hissed at her and lunged forward, knocking her down. Kia’s eyes darted about as her body fell to the floor. Where was Sunny? Did this thing kill Sunny?

  Kia’s head slammed on the pavement behind her. Dizzy, she felt her eyes close, but she wouldn’t let them. Sunny was her friend. Kia let out a whimper and a sob, yelling “WHERE IS SUNNY?”

  The monster put its face against hers, mouth open wide. Kia could see each tooth. They were tiny and sharp. She was sure that this monster was going to bite her, but then it pushed its forehead forcefully against hers.

  Slinking back, the monster crawled over to a desk, got underneath it, and settled in to watch Kia, who was desperately trying to keep her eyes open. Her head was thumping, and the room was backwards, upside down, all screwy.

  “Where’s Sunny?” was all Kia could say before she passed out.

  Sunny held herself under the desk, waiting for her anger to pass. Waiting for the hate that covered her in cold and made her change to go away. She did this by staring at Kia. Poor Kia laying on the floor. She needed help, but Sunny wouldn’t go near her.

  Rocking, Sunny thought about her mom. She remembered being in her womb. Sunny remembered the feel of the hate she had. An unborn baby so full of hate that she turned against her mother.

  She remembered frightening her father. Walking out of her mother after she ripped her apart. Sunny remembered the mothers taking her, locking her up. Flas
hes of different cages passed through Sunny’s mind. She should have memories of her mother’s laugh, songs, stories, anything. Instead she had memories of different types of metal bars.

  Sunny’s rage had turned her powerful today. She liked what she was capable of in that state, but didn’t like what she could have done to Kia. Kia, her only friend. The only person that cared for Sunny. Kia, her sister. Sunny wanted to slash at bodies, satisfying her desire for carnage. Rage fueled it. Sunny wanted more, but she didn’t want to hurt Kia.

  She was going to do all that and worse to Kia, but she had stopped herself. Sunny didn’t know if she could stop herself again. If she changed again, would she kill Kia? She hoped not, watching Kia’s lifeless body on the floor. She felt such sadness.

  Kia was breathing, she could see that, but she wasn’t moving, not even a small sleeping kick from one of her legs. Sunny could feel the anger bubble again. Her teeth felt sharp. Picturing Superior Mother and knowing it was her fault Kia was hurt made Sunny seethe.

  She was about to warp when Kia lifted her head reaching her hands out to Sunny. Kia breathlessly said “That’s why they lock you up.” Kia sat up, rubbing her head. “But you didn’t hurt me.” Rubbing her head some more, Kia crawled over to Sunny, getting under the desk with her.

  Putting her feet on top of Sunny’s, Kia reached out and held her hands. “We need to get out of here, Sunny. We need help.” The girls huddled together they were truly nothing more than frightened children with no adults to scoop them away to safety. Daughters of The Grey, born motherless, raised loveless.

  Sunny started crying then, a cry of lost hope, a cry of loneness and despair. She wasn’t crying for Kia. Sunny cried because she wasn’t sure Kia would survive everything that was about to happen.

  “Don’t cry…be brave. We are going to go out that door and find the naughty girls and leave.” It doesn’t matter to me if you change again.” She squeezed Sunny’s hands. “You won’t hurt me.” Sunny wished she was as confident as Kia, but she just wasn’t sure of anything.

  The two girls walked down different hallways in The Grey trying different keys. Some doors opened and some did not. Sunny could feel waves of change happen to her every time they saw a sleeping mother. Her eyelids would feel tight and her tongue would swoop over the sharp teeth, but these were just flashes — they’d come and then fade.

  Once there was a mother that was awake, wandering down a hallway in a pair of pajamas. Kia pushed Sunny against a corner wall, never noticing that Sunny had changed completely and snarled. She hated them all.

  The Grey is a web hidden in the mountain, with rooms that go down deep underground. It was meant to be a fortress. A safe place for the Women of the Grey to hide. A place that is confusing to anyone that was unfamiliar with it. Every hallway led to another hallway that all looked the same. It was a network of puzzlement done with perfect intent.

  “This place is a trap.” Kia looked at Sunny, disgusted. There wasn’t a map or sign anywhere. They were wandering aimlessly, and everyone would be awake soon. They needed a place to hide so they could try again when all the mothers dosed on Red went to sleep.

  Sunny took the key ring from Kia and pointed to one last door at the very end of the hallway. That door was different, but not by much. It had a doorknob with a lock like many others, but it was slightly larger. Not large enough for anyone to really notice, but Sunny did. Having spent hours and hours locked up in cages, she had learned to see the small difference in things that were the same.

  It was just like the mothers and all of the women and daughters of The Grey. They were exactly the same, but if you took time to really look, they were not the same. Each one had a small difference that helped Sunny tell them apart.

  Key in lock, Sunny turned it and opened the door with Kia underfoot. The two girls stepped in and the door shut tightly behind them. It was dark. A dark that blinded both girls.

  “Oh no.” Kia said frantically, grabbing for Sunny. “Something’s wrong.”

  Teresa

  Teresa was sleeping when she felt herself fall to the bottom of Uni. It was a comical plop more than a fall. As if Uni set her down like a sleeping child. Opening her eyes, Teresa pushed herself up to sitting and leaned against the membrane of Uni’s insides.

  It was time. She knew this, but wanted to take a minute to gather herself and say goodbye to her friend. Problem was, she didn’t know how. Teresa was clueless on how to give Uni a simple “goodbye.”

  Goodbye is such a big thing. It’s massive, large, the size of a building. When a goodbye is said, it must be respected and acknowledged. Her goodbye to Uni was important to Teresa. She wanted it to have meaning and weight, but she was blank.

  Finally, she was unable to think of how to say or think goodbye so that Uni could hear her thoughts. Teresa simply leaned over and pushed herself out of Uni for the last time. One way or another, she couldn’t go back in. She just couldn’t.

  Teresa was aware of her nakedness, and aware, from the little she had seen of herself before, that she looked like a walking nightmare. She was malnourished and scared, with the look of death balanced on her cheekbones.

  If a mother saw her, she’d grimace and then look away. They’d all give her a “not my problem” glance, then step away just as Superior Mother did. Teresa knew this. There was no savior for her here except herself.

  Wobbly, Teresa pulled herself up and stood. She chose not to do this by the mirror. One look at herself last time was enough. Looking around the room, Teresa saw nothing but lab equipment. Funny, she thought, where are all the computers?

  In her short time in the outside world, Teresa had learned that humans use computers for everything. Did the Originals not need them? Looking down, Teresa made the mistake of looking at her hands. They were so boney. How could she kill anyone with these hands? She felt weak and foolish.

  Did she really think that this naked scarecrow could kill an Original? How? Teresa shook her head and whispered “stop, stop, stop” to all her poison thoughts. She needed to think of Uni. This wasn’t just her, this was them.

  Trying not to look at her hands, Teresa started opening drawers. Drawer after drawer was filled with nothing but more lab equipment. It occurred to Teresa that this was insane. They are aliens. Shouldn’t there be something special in this damn lab? Some laser guns? A sword that ignites and slices things in two? A special rock that shines like the brightest star?

  Slamming a drawer shut, Teresa stood in the lab, slowly becoming unhinged. This lab, like everything in The Grey, was bullshit. This is not a real lab. This is only an act, a stage production. She wanted to rage, but then a glimmer caught her eye.

  In front of her, shoved against a wall, was the dreaded stainless-steel table that she had been placed upon again and again. That table represented pain to Teresa. An unspeakable amount of pain that made every single one of her scars tingle with cold.

  She hobbled over to it, needing to touch it, to look at it from above it. It was just a table on wheels, made of stainless steel, clean and gleaming. This simple table was such an ugly device. Such a despicable accessory to the evil inflicted upon her by the Originals. She wished she could destroy it.

  Teresa wanted to take a torch to the table and melt it away. It was then that the knives caught her eye. They almost hummed, sitting on a small tray next to the table. Long, sharp knives that whispered of all the slicing they had done with pride.

  Picking one up, Teresa ran a finger over the blade, then pulled her hand away when she realized how incredibly sharp it was. This blade could slice anything.

  Walking back to Uni, Teresa stood looking at the beauty of her old friend. Such a gorgeous shade of purple. Uni’s inner light was iridescent and welcoming. She felt a pull to go back into Uni, cradle herself, allow the tentacles to nab her again.

  The urge to do this was powerful. Uni’s inner glow was otherworldly. Teresa felt her mouth open, her jaw drop, and her feet move forward. Inside Uni, it was quiet and safe in t
he beautiful light. The gorgeous nature of the purple glow told Teresa to come to Uni, come into Uni.

  Teresa stopped herself. This would not happen. Closing her eyes, Teresa reminded herself of life inside Uni. The light was not visible from the inside of the creature. There was no glow to seduce thoughts. Only hours of tentacles embedded in her flesh. Sighing, Teresa walked over to Uni. Her dear friend was a trap, a jail. This hurt Teresa in the worst way. She had never pictured Uni like that. Teresa wiped away a tear.

  “It’s time,” she said to Uni. Uni was paying attention; although it had no eyes, Uni saw everything. Teresa placed her hand on Uni. “Thank you.” She felt the tremble in Uni but told herself not to mind it. Uni shook with excitement. In death it would finally be free.

  Taking one step back, Teresa took the knife and sliced across Uni, a clean, long, and deep cut, all the way across. The knife divided its membrane all the way across. The purple radiance faded to black and Uni’s light was instantly gone.

  Pulling herself away, Teresa sat for a moment next to her friend. A feeling of falling came over her. She fell with relief. Teresa had been nothing in her life. A follower of The Grey. A believer of lies. To Teresa, that was nothing to take pride in, but this release of Uni to the void. To whatever happens to creatures like Uni after death, this was something Teresa could count. It was something she did. She was no longer nothing. Teresa’s life was not a complete waste. She had once, just once, been a good friend.

  She killed Uni to keep her promise. It was an act of kindness and love. If she was caught, Superior Mother would see her actions as hateful aggression. She’d see Teresa as defiant. Superior Mother would never see it as compassion.

  Compassion was unheard of in The Grey. Maybe the Originals and Superior Mother saw her being barren as an act of defiance. As if she had chosen not to be able to bring a daughter to The Grey out of some sort of temper tantrum.