Warning: This section contains depictions of child abuse.
Disclaimer:
Standard disclaimer. Zoey, Karen, Race, and Grace belong to me.
Please ask before using. You can draw them or anything else
pertaining to Blood Ties as much as you want with out asking.
same
day as part 10; early morning
There was daylight, she
could see it. At least she thought it was daylight. She had never
actually seen daylight before. But this had to be it. She didn't
remember anything being so warm and bright before. It shimmered and
danced, tempting her closer. She wondered if she could take some and
put it in her pocket. Take a bit of sunlight with her.
Inching
her way slowly to the half open window, the small mouse child was
determined to get to that sunlight. Out there was the daylight where
he parents were. Out there no one could hurt her, she'd be safe.
They couldn't reach her out. No more pain.
She looked
cautiously up and down the long bare hall way. Fallen plaster lay in
pills on the floor, the paint had worn away to reveal grimy metal
walls. Seeing that only she was there and as she could hear no one
coming, the child stepped out of the shadows. She had blended
perfectly into the shadows. Her white fur was almost dark gray, for
weeks without a bath and due to the escape route she took through the
air vents. It had been a dangerous and daring thing to do, but days
without food or water had made her reckless. The child known as Zoey
figured the worse that could happen was for her to die. And compared
with all the alternatives--death didn't seem so scary.
Though
Zoey was only three she knew what would happen were she caught. And
she knew it wasn't pleasant. About a month before, another prisoner
had attempted and failed to escape. Zoey had been forced to watch has
to poor creature took three days to die. And that had been a merciful
death.
The baby was tired, dirty, and hungry. A combination
when added to the fact she was three and her genetic background made
Zoey a daring young creature. But it was obvious this was a last
despite attempt on her part. Her ears and small antenna, which had
she been a normal Martian child (her antenna) would have been
considered deformed being so small drooped noticeable. She was
clinging to what was left of her crushed sprit and hope.
Zoey
did have to admit that all this danger and threat of death was kinda
exciting in a way. It all seemed fun strangely. Vinnie would have
been very proud. Charley would have said insanity must be genetic.
Taking small, soft steps Zoey grew closer to the window and
her freedom. Her heart threatened to beat out of her chest. She was
surprised the sound of it hadn't been noticed by someone, it seemed
so loud. Her green eyes were so focused on the window she didn't
watch where she was stepping. Just when she seemed about to reach her
goal, her bare white furred foot came down on something very sharp.
She cried out, forgetting herself. Her voice seemed to echo
around her as the sound of her cry of pain filled the hall way. Not
bothering to see what caused her pain, her back went ram rod
straight. Zoey froze like an animal caught in headlights. Like a
timid rabbit her eyes grew wide and scared. Her head whipped from one
direction to another as she looked up and down the hall, looking to
see someone coming to drag her back to her painful life. Every fur
stood on end as she stood there.
After several moments of not
breathing, she inhaled sharply. Dragging her wounded left foot behind
her she hurried to the open window. Reaching it she grasped the dirty
ceil with her small hand and pulled her self up. Out the window was a
long alley way that led on to street. She could her voices coming
from that street, she could see people. People who would take care of
her and keep her safe, they'd help her find her parents. Wish I
hadn't left teddy...
She was just lowering herself to the
ground, when a large hand grabbed the back of her ragged shirt.
Another hand clasped over her mouth as she screamed. AS she was
jerked back her forehead was banged into the edge of the window
frame. A trickle of red blood, another thing that distinguished her
from most Martians, traced a red line down her dirt face, mixing with
the dirt.
The blow dazed her long enough for her captor to
drag her back into the depths of the lab. The thug had a grip on her
brown and white streaked hair, pulling her along the floor by it. The
already bawling child, cried harder. It wasn't fair; all she wanted
was for all the hurting to stop. For all the pain she knew daily to
go away. All she wanted was her parents. Was that to much to ask?
Zoey found herself hoisted into the air by her abused hair.
Her poor scalp screamed in pain. Everything around the child was a
blur. She blinked trying to see straight, but only saw more hazy
images. Then she saw the blurry image of the mean old Doc.
Karbuncle sneered at the offending child. Haunted green
sphere closed against the offending images. She wished her world away
once again. A silent river of tears escaped from the tightly shut dam
and flooded her fur, carving new paths in the dirt and blood. The
tears turned read as the mixed with the blood.
Zoey could
hear voices and knew they were talking about her. But she couldn't
make them about. All the words were a jumbled mess. Even with her
eyes clamped shut everything seemed to spin out of control. Don't
feel good, .tummy hurts.
She hurt every where. Her small
head throbbed in pain. The swirling emotions around her, severed to
confuse her more. Her developing empathic abilities couldn't handle
it all and left her open to all of it.
Suddenly she was being
dragged again. Her already bruised and battered body was dragged down
flights of stairs, her head hitting the floor with everyone. Zoey
howled and struggled, but her hair was held tight by thug.
She
was again hoisted into the air as she was thrown head long into the
small room where she spent most of her life. Zoey slammed into the
wall, her battered head bang against the wall. Slumping down on to
the mattress the child cowered. Grabbing her teddy she held it never,
sobbing and howling. After a while her cries died down and her
shoulders only quivered every now and again. Then, finally she fell
into blessed oblivion.
Two hours passed and Zoey hadn't
moved. If you hadn't known she was alive, it would be easy to
mistake the child for a very dead child. Her small chest barely rose
and fell with each breath.
Zoey woke to the mattress under
her being ripped away. With a cry of terror, she scrambled to her
feet. Her head was still hazy from the blows it had received earlier
in the day. So disoriented was she, that she didn't see the large
figure move towards her in the blackness. But she smelled it.
Zoey
was grasped by the collar of her tattered shirt. She was thrown into
a small cold metal cage, which sat where her mattress only recently
had. Hugging her teddy tight Zoey shook in fear. The blackness
wrapped around her.
The small child tired to sit but, raising
her head to look about her. Her deep green eyes met the icy glare of
Doctor Victor Hamburg. Zoey knew him only as man. Though she heard
Karen call him a doctor, she didn't dare call him that. In fact she
never dared speak to him. He terrified her to no end. More than
Doctor Karbuncle or that fish-faced man with the bad purple suit
(though he was more stinky than scary). While the doc just made her
body hurt bad, this man made her head hurt too.
"So you
tired to escape, freak" the man cooed, a horrible sound.
Zoey
opened her mouth to speak. Instead she screamed. Her young voice was
pushed to the breaking as it filled the air. In the offices far
above, people raised their heads swearing they had heard a child
screaming.
"You are an animal." He reached through the
cage bars and grasped her neck. He dragged her up so that her face
was pressed again into the rusty metal bars. "Aren't you?"
Her sobs threatened to shake her to pieces.
Large hands grasped her shoulders, shaking her hard. "No one wants you. No one." Zoey could smell his foul breath and sweat, as he screamed profanities at her.
I'm gonna be sick...
Numbly Zoey nodded, her hair fell into her face, hiding her tormented green eyes.
"Good," His voice had changed to a pleasant tone, as if he was a pediatrician and she was a frightened child getting her first shot.
Zoey felt her chin lifted, but refused to open her eyes. "You aren't going to try to escape again, now are you?"
Zoey shook her head, crying out at the pain the movement caused.
"And you're going to be a good little lab mouse aren't you?" Zoey nodded her chin quivering. "And we're not going to have this conversation again, are we?"
She shook her head.
"Good girl," he patted her head.
He let go his grip on her throat. Zoey scrambled to the far side of the cage. Cowering in the corner, she could hardly see him. But assumed he had left her alone now that he was done.Quivering in pain and terror, her blood and tears damped her fur. The pierce of plaster had been pulled out of her foot at some point. But her red blood soaked through the thin bandaged.
Zoey's tired abused and broken mind kept drifting. Not letting her eyes stay open.The heavy shutters closed against her will and refused to re-open. Sleep had almost completely invaded her young mind when she felt cold metal touch her neck.
She screamed.
In panic she scrambled forward away from it. Only to be pulled back by some unseen force. The coldness encircled her neck and sat heavily upon it.
Zoey frantically tired to get free but to no avail. With a sob of defeat slumped down into a ball. Her body was pulled backwards. The cold iron collar was attached to a very short chain.
Laughter drowned out her loud sobs. Her shouldered jerked and heaved with every painful sob. The chain was shook violently causing her neck to hurt.
"Just so you don't get any ideas, little freak of nature." She could hear the smile in his voice. Her empathy could sense his pleasure in this. It sickened her. This wasn't right, was it? This man doing this was sick and liking it was even sicker. Wasn't it? She was so confused.
Deep jade eyes watched with growing hopelessness as the chain was fastened to the metal wall. The white furred baby watched helplessly as another shackle was placed about her ankle. That chain was also hooked into the wall. Zoey sat silent and still, not even crying any more.
Dr. Hamburg reached into the cage again, reaching towards her. Zoey sat motionless, her eyes blank.
"Animals and freaks don't need pretty necklaces or stuffed bears," he cackled as her roughly ripped the sliver locket from about her neck.
Zoey's head jerked forward as he did. The chain dug deeply into her neck then broke. The child made no sound. A deep cut and darkening bruise were covered by the iron collar.
Zoey didn't even blink when her beloved teddy was ripped away from her. Green eyes were bleak and empty. Her face was a blank mask. No tears ran from her eyes. Only blood ran down her face.
"They were never coming for you, animal. Who would want a filthy creature like you? This is all you have. This is all you'll ever have or be. Get used to it."
With that he left her, sitting still as stone in her cage.
Never coming for me.....animal...freak...
Zoey's sprit crumbled, her hope darkened. It had to be true. Nothing else made sense to her.
Zoey curled into a ball on the cold metal floor of the cage. Her eyes stared unfocused into nothing. She hurt so much. She wanted it all to end.The white furred child, who could have easily been mistake for a brown or black furred child now, curled into an even tighter ball. Instinctively she groped for her teddy. Then she remembered.
A solitaire tear ran down her cheek as she closed her jade hued eyes. She said a voiceless prayer not daring to speakI'm an animal....