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"Baby, you can’t It’s okay It’s all right"

"No It’s not" I grabbed his shirt, hearing the desperate shrieks of that child beca but a whimper "He’s just a little boy"

"Mate," Mike called out "That’s enough!"

"I decide when it’s enough" The caretaker jaain, and this time, the child didn’t eveno to stand but stop Then, he took a larger breath and yelled in his thunderous cop voice, "I said that’s enough Leave the boy alone!"

The caretaker stopped roaned "As you wish"

Frorabbed the li hi a trail of blood behind in the last dregs of light from the lantern

Mike hauledcreak of the door sla up at the haggard oldso hard I had hiccups

"How could I?" he said "My lady, if I had not, you would have no scalp"

I jumped to my feet "There are other ways to deal with children! This is not acceptable"

"Baby--"

"No" I shoved Mike off me "I won’t stand for this"

"The boy will heal, Ara He’s immortal, remeht enough to taste blood "How can you think this is okay?"

"I don’t Not even a little bit But there’s nothing you can do for theht They live by instinct--like ani me "Even animals deserve better than this"

"And what do you propose we do?" asked the caretaker

"Try I don’t know But we have to try"

"Come here" Mike took "

Of course I was, but I couldn’t feel it I felt only nu itself in ht that it probably wasn’t the first time And for what? Probably to satiate the caretaker’s oicked needs to feel like aout in a piercing gaze "How often are you in charge of these children?"

"Only during feeding times," the caretaker said "Then, they’re on their own"

"How long have you been their keeper?"

"’Bout--" the ive or take"

"Well--" I walked away fro the ache of torn hair at the back of my neck "As of now, you’re fired"

"What?" both Mike and the man said at the same time

"You heard me," I said "Mike? See Mr Keeper to a new position in the "

"Ar, come back, baby," he called after me

"No!" I walked away, barely aware that Mike hadn’t followed, unable to see but in no state to care I feltwhen I found the stairs suddenly, then cla my hands to feel the curves of each one I have no idea how long I cli inch by inch, one at a time, on my hands and knees until my head hit a wooden panel--the door

I looked back into the darkness behind me; Mike’s torch was nowhere to be seen He probably went the other way

When I pushed the door open and landed in an exhausted heap in the calht, I’d never been so happy to breathe war,my heart beat its erratic tale until it eventually cal me to feel the pain of my broken flesh froo check on her" Mike’s scuffing steps came up the stairs; I jumped to my feet and darted behind the curtain "Okay, mate See ya later" He slipped his phone in his pocket as he surfaced, then stood for a second and looked around; I stayed hidden, peering out through a sap "Ar?"

I held ed, then walked away, closing the throne rooe open

Two decisions weighed on h a crack under the Throne Room doors, then back at the drafty depths of the cellblock And despite everything that hurt, I pushed the curtains aside and ran into the darkness again, closing the door behind ht

Navigating doard through the dark was trickier than it had been upward I sat down and felt for the ledge of each step withe the step behind ain, I let out the breath I’d been holding; the gentle vocalisation of that relief sat in the cool air like a heliuht acoustic reverberation--just a dense, flat sound, lingering right in front of me And I know it should have scareddown here--so behindmy footsteps exactly I felt like, at anywouldn’t be enough Running wouldn’t save ap in that brick wall, and it would be gone I would have to face hi what he wanted or what terrors he had lived through that s to young girls But none of those fears were enough to stop --toward those children They neededthe beaten for trying to eat It wasn’t right It wasn’t fair I just wanted to wrap theht Then ood It was ti felt like a bad idea, andin my throat so hard it was alertips felt sliritty; I lifted my hand every few seconds to wipe some of the smut away, but it stuck to my skin like a bad memory

"Why did you cry for us?" a little voice asked; I froze--round The voice sounded so close, like the child ned it was right in front of me

"Where…where are you?"

"To your left," it said very quietly

I turnedon ht I’d half expected to feel theof the leaky faucet I heard before, but there was nothing--not even thethe bars, I felt rab my hand "Are you--are you out of the cell?" I asked

"No"

"Hang on," I said, co man put them with the lantern," the child said

"Where’s the lantern?"

"On the wall"

"Oh Okay" On my knees, I shuffled slowly to the back wall and ran ers h, the matches were in the lantern I had to use all et the daertips, wrist and the base of the lantern showed under the fla relief, in case I blew it out The cinder of sh, despite holding my breath, and circled the calm spot of familiarity inside me

"Why did you come back?"