I was escorted down some more winding corridors until we came to a door. A rge, metal door. A bst door. The sort of door you’d use on the cage for a killer hippopotamus. The guard pced his palm on a metal panel. A red light went out and a green one came on and the bst door began raising. Quickly for a bst door, but that still takes time. Once it had risen I was directed to walk under it. I noted it was about 2 feet thick on my way under. I was now in a ten yard corridor ending in a second bst door. The first bst door was closed behind me. I noted there were controls on the inside too. Four panels. Inside up, inside down, outside up and outside down presumably.

  They had to be palm scanners, right? They wouldn’t respond to just anyone surely. That would be terrible operational security. The outer door finished closing with a soft but sonorous cng and the inner door began to rise. As soon as it was high enough to duck under I passed under it. I stepped out into a very weird cell. There were trees and picnic benches and some other garden furniture. I even saw a barbecue. I suppose one might be less inclined to die for their captors if they were kept in a concrete cage with no sunlight.

  I looked up. The entire roof was one great gss skylight. I saw little pinpricks of light. Not clearly, there must have been some sort of filter to stop aircraft or satellites seeing in, but in the daytime it must have been indistinguishable from a true sky. The cell was around 9 football fields rge, and supported by four great stone columns. I could guess that skylight was at least as thick as the bst doors, and must have been remarkably heavy. Hopefully it was well maintained. It was in their best interests to keep their little project alive. I couldn’t die in Iraq if I was crushed under 10 million tonnes of gss on American soil

  There were several caves cut into the walls along my left side. They had gss front walls and afforded little privacy. But they had doors at least. The first three were occupied. So this was a communal prison cell. Fantastic. None of the occupants were awake. I walked up to the 5th cell. I didn’t want a neighbour if I could help it. The door was unlocked.

  The room contained a bed, a sink, a toilet, a chest of drawers and a suspiciously rge mirror. Probably two way. I’d probably have a lot of fun practicing Greenday songs in front of it to piss off the watchers. I opened the chest of drawers and found several very rge sets of pajamas, none of which would fit me. Fair enough. I took off my shoes and climbed into bed as I was. I lowered my underwear once I was under the sheets. They weren’t safe to wear to bed. Then I closed my eyes and tried to get some sleep.

  The bracelet irritated my skin so I pulled all energy from it until it stopped. I took a deep breath and let it out. And again. And yet again until I drifted off to sleep. It was not a restful sleep. The blood pooling from private Aaron’s neck disturbed my dreams. The quiet panic and fear in his eyes as he tried to hold onto his precious life blood. I awoke with a start. The bracelet was glowing brightly beneath the bnket and my arm felt pins and needles as if I had slept on it funny. I took a few moments to remember where I was, then very carefully withdrew the energy from the bracelet once more.

  At least my new neighbours were spared my nightmares. They didn’t deserve them. Okay, maybe whoever was watching me through that probably two-way mirror deserved to see that. A premonition of what I might do to them on my way out of here. But then again, keeping the fact I had a power at all close to my chest would improve my chances of a successful escape. I looked through the window and noted it was still dark. I closed my eyes and tried once again to sleep.

  Private Aaron continued to haunt my dreams. Also Leah and Elder Sampson. I suppose I had technically killed them too, even if they got better. Each time I woke up, I carefully drained the energy from the bracelet and then returned to sleep. In one dream, he was begging for his life. “No! You don’t have to do this!” he gasped. But I slit his throat anyway. Because in that dream logic like way I was scared of him. Terrified. And then I heard a familiar voice from the passenger seat. “Don’t mourn for him son. You only did what you knew you had to”.

  I turned toward that voice that scared me more than a thousand dead soldiers. My father was sitting in the passenger seat, and he was giving me the same sad smile he had given me after I shot my first bear. “It was your life or his. You did what you had to. You’ve taken an important step towards manhood this day, and I’m proud of you” he said. Just like that day with the bear.

  And in the dream I was suddenly no longer the person who’d finally found the strength to run away and escape that nightmare forever, even at the cost of my own life. I was a scared little girl who needed her daddy. I threw my arms around the dream man and cried into his chest. I won’t say that dream was pleasant. But it at least allowed me to sleep until morning.

  A awoke to the noise of fingernails tapping on gss. I opened my eyes. Where was I again? Prison I think? Prison for killing the guy from the dream? My eyes snapped open. There was a girl with pink hair in a blue polka dot dress tapping on the gss. She was 4′1″. A child by the looks of her. I sighed. Of course they’d imprison a child. Indoctrination works best on the young afterall. I routed around under the bnkets till I found my underwear and jeans. Without my “I’m a girl” bubble I had to fall back on lighter forms of armour. Once I was decent I threw off the sheet. I walked over and opened the door.

  “Can I help you?” I asked groggily. “Irene says breakfast is ready” she chirped. I looked over towards the barbecue. It was smoking and it was being “manned” by a tall buff dy with snow white hair and the wrinkles of middle age. She could be Elder Sampson’s sister. “Thanks” I said with a forced smile. I walked over to the barbecue. Irene’s face broke into a grin. Welcome to civilization she said with a refreshing hint of sarcasm.

  I let out a snort. Her smile gained a mor or two and then she let out a hiss of ughter herself. “Burger?” she asked. Wait, when was the st time I ate? Or drank anything for that matter? I don’t even know what timezone I’m in right now. My watch read 6AM but it could be anywhere from four to eight. “Thanks” I said with a smile. She handed me a pte with a burger and a gss of orange juice. “Drink, its good” she smiled.

  Should I act annoyed that she thought I didn’t know what orange juice was? Then again, it would be possible to interpret that statement as “this orange juice is good” not “this liquid you’ve never seen before is safe” and that’s what a normal person who had never met someone who hadn’t heard of orange juice before might think… UGH! It’s too early for this death-note shit! I took a gulp of orange juice and a bite of burger.

  The pink haired girl sat next to me. A little too close honestly. She too was served a burger and orange juice. Pretty good for prison food honestly. Then again, it was exactly what I’d feed my super soldiers so they grow up big and strong. “Hi, I’m Charlotte” she said. Her foot was bouncing excitedly. She was shaking the whole picnic table. “Vanessa” I responded coldly. “Are you a beastshifter too?” she asked. “I don’t know what that is” I said and then took a bite of burger. “You know, do you turn into an animal?” she asked. “Only when I’ve had way too much to drink” I joked.

  She gave a confused head tilt. “Okay… so what’s your power?” she asked. “My… what?” I asked. “Like what do you do that makes you special?” she asked. How to answer that like I didn’t believe in magic. “I can drive round an obstacle course blindfolded” I ventured. That was at least partially true and I didn’t need magic to do it. “You can DRIVE!” she gasped. “Sure. My father started teaching me when I was 7” I replied with a smile.

  “That’s very cool Vanessa, but I believe what she was asking is what’s your witch power” said Irene, sitting down with her own burger and orange juice. She also pced a pte with more burgers in the center of the picnic table. “I don’t… have a witch power! Witches aren’t real?” I snapped. “What? Sure we are. Look! said Charlotte. And then she turned into a 6 foot tall pink rabbit. How does a normal person who doesn’t believe in magic respond when a 4 foot tall little girl turns into a 6 foot tall giant rabbit? Oh, right. I screamed.

  Charlotte scooted down the bench. “I’m sorry!” she gasped. I kept screaming. A person who just found out magic is real would scream a lot. “I’m sorry!” Squealed the rabbit. Poor thing. Didn’t even know what she did wrong. I felt strong hands on my shoulder. “Vanessa! Rex, she wouldn’t hurt a fly” Irene assured me. Was this a good time to stop screaming? My throat was beginning to hurt. Yeah, probably a good time to stop screaming.

  I instead began gasping for air. Irene patted my head. “There there. Charlotte, what have I told you about shifting” she said. “Don’t do it too close to people?” she said quietly. “And…” chided Irene. “Take my clothes off first so I don’t tear them” she replied meekly. I noted there were bits of her dress still on the seat beside me. Shame, it had been a nice dress. I wonder how many she ruins a week on the taxpayers dime. A lot I hope. I hope this pce has cost more money than can ever be justified to congress. I hope it gets shut down due to abuse of funds. Given its military ties I knew the chances were slim but a girl can dream.

  “Now go to your room and go change” said Irene. “Okay” said Charlotte. It took her a moment to untangle herself from the picnic table and then she hopped off. I turned to Irene. “What the hell just happened” I gasped. She frowned. “Oh dear. I think there’s been a huge misunderstanding” she said. At that moment a thin 6′4″ blonde man marched over from one of the individual rooms. “Charlotte didn’t I tell you the next time you disturbed my sleep I would RIP OFF YOUR HEAD AND… Oh. Um… well this is embarrassing” he said. This probably would have been a good time to scream again but my throat was too sore, so I just shrank towards Irene instead.

  The blonde gentleman turned out to be Peter. He was apparently Charlottes father. He said he was being hyperbolic about tearing her head off. I gave him a suspicious head tilt. “I’d never hurt her in a way she couldn’t take” he assured me. “My father thought that. I stabbed a guy dead yesterday. I did not turn out fine” I said. “Was it one of the hunters?” he asked. “I… think so?” I responded. “Then if she turns out like you I’ll be the proudest father in the world” he chuckled.

  “That’s messed up. They may be child abducting bastards but they’re still people and we shouldn’t ugh at their deaths” I pouted. He rolled his eyes. “So you’re not a witch?” asked Irene. “No. No I’m not” I responded evenly. “So why’d they abduct you?” she asked. “I dunno. Maybe their magic detector malfunctioned” I said. I raised the arm with the bracelet, which was glowing a faint blue. I flicked it twice and it went out.

  “Bastards!” snapped Irene. “What?” I asked. I mean they were but what did they do specifically? “They’re meant to take those off before they put us in the holding area. How did you manage to sleep with that thing on?” she asked. “… I slept fine” I lied. “It doesn’t hurt or anything, honest!” I continued. That part was true. Once I moved my body’s energies away from the thing it ceased to annoy me. I probably still couldn’t use my power while wearing it though.

  She gave me a skeptical look but dropped it. “Ugh. Still, they must have it out for you” noted Irene. “Well yeah, I did kill one of their number” I said. “Bah! I killed 3 of the fuckers when they took me in. And they weren’t half as nasty to me after. Who’d you kill anyway?” she asked. “Private Aaron” I replied. She sighed. “Well he hadn’t been here that long. What was he doing on a strike team anyway?” she asked. “I’m not sure myself. It was actually just him and his partner from what I remember” I replied.

  “Strange. Maybe they found you by chance? I heard the guards talking about a new system where they try find witches by standing near high traffic roads with a magic detector. But they’re meant to pursue at a distance, not engage” she mused. “Not an option with my driving. I tend to drive like the devil’s on my tail. I’d have lost them before long if they hadn’t impersonated cops to hail me down” I guessed. “Why’d you stop for cops anyway?” she asked. “I’m white, I thought they just wanted to tell me my tail light was loose or something” I replied.

  That hadn’t been smart. I should have just teleported out with Victoria the second I heard that sirens. But that might have caused other problems, and if they hadn’t been witch hunters there would have been an empty car barrelling down the freeway at “70 miles an hour”. People could have died.

  “Well there’s nothing to be done about it now. Maybe they’ll realize your not a witch and let you go?” she said. I gave it a bit of thought. “That won’t work out well for me either. I killed one of their friends. If that nasty dy running the base finds out I’m no use to her, I’m going to die in shadow prison” I mused. “I won’t let that happen!” said Irene. “We’re all in this together. I’ll protect you”

  I smiled. “Thanks Irene… I promise I won’t leave without you either” I said. “Oh honey, you ain’t ever leaving until they’ve broken you and filled you up with their nonsense” said Irene. I smiled darkly. “I do not intend to stay long enough for that. Trust me, our days here are numbered” I said. She gave me a concerned smile. “Well if I can help you get out I will. But if I could get you out I wouldn’t be here to meet you and neither would Peter or Charlotte” she said sadly.

  After breakfast the door was opened and a voice bred out over the loudspeaker. “Vanessa, please exit the containment zone” it intoned. I gave a smile to my new friends and then made my way to the door. Once I was inside it descended again. Once it had sealed the outer door was opened. I walked out. “Please hold out your wrists” said a guard. I did so and he noted I was already wearing the power sealing bangle. His eyebrow creased in confusion and annoyance. “Who forgot to! Ugh. Why didn’t you say something. Next time come knock on the window of the observation deck and tell us if someone forgets to take that off you. They’re very expensive, I don’t want one of the animals breaking one” he sighed. I made a note to break as many as possible.

  I was escorted back to the interrogation room. I sat there with the bracelet. I let my energy pour into it. That nasty feeling returned. I pushed until it was almost unbearable. The bracelet glowed brightly under my sleeve. I withdrew power and it faded again. I turned on the power and set it to maximum. Then drained it. I kept turning the power on and off, draining and filling it rapidly until it made a soft “tch” noise and went out entirely. I withdrew all my energy again. If they had sensors for magic I didn’t need them to notice me leaking it.

  A few minutes ter the base commander arrived. “Good morning miss Wolfe. Did you sleep well” she asked. I maintained my silence. She sighed. “Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot yesterday. Why don’t we take it from the top. My name is General Jade Von Wasserv?gel. And you have to believe me when I tell you I only want the best for you, your friends and every citizen of this country” she said.

  “Wasserv?gel. Is that German?” I asked. “That it is. My Grandfather came here from Germany in the fifties” she said with a smile. “Operation paperclip?” I asked. Her smile froze into something far less pleasant. “My Grandfather was a good man” she bit out. “I’m sure he was to you. I’m sure Private Aaron was a good man to his friends. Judge a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him” I recited.

  The General chuckled. “Hows that treated you so far” she ughed. “I’m talking to a Nazi. I know how you people treat those who you do not value. Which begs the question: what use for me do you have that’s keeping me alive?” I asked. “I’m not a Nazi! My family have been proud Americans for the st three generations thank you very much” she said. “Being American and holding Fascist and Eugenicist views are not mutually exclusive, especially these days. In fact, given that you seem to be in charge of a super soldier project… If I were looking for a Nazi, this would be one of the first pces I’d check” I replied evenly.

  “What makes you think this is a super soldier project” she asked. “You believe I killed a man. You put me in a rge, bright cell with people you thought I was associated with and provided me with food of far greater quality than would be found in a prison. You’re buttering me up. This tells me you want something for me. You work for the United States Army. You believe I have magic powers. Knowing all of these things, super soldier program is the obvious guess” I mused.

  General Wasserv?gel ughed. “Clever girl. Yes, I suppose you could call this a super soldier program. The United States has enemies closing in from all sides. China. Russia. Afghanistan. Canada. We maintain a fragile peace by maintaining military superiority. But at any moment, everything could change. We never know what the next evolution of warfare is going to be. We need to be ready to protect our country! So yes. That is what I need of you. I need your help to protect our country!” she expined.

  “Alright. Who do you want me to kill? Jews I’m guessing?” I said. “JESUS! What?” she cried. “You want me to kill people. That is how war works, yes? I wasn’t born yesterday. You can’t protect a country without spilling some blood. But don’t worry. I’m willing to be your pet murderer!” I said with an evil grin.

  She looked at me with something approaching fear. “Okay… I suppose I can work with this” she said. “There’s just one little problem” I noted. “And what would that be” she asked uneasily. “Well, I don’t have any special powers to speak of. I don’t know what your instruments told you but I’m not a witch” I expined. She frowned. “Excuse me” she said and walked briskly out of the room.

  She returned about two minutes ter holding an instrument that looked a bit like a meat thermometer. I adjusted the flow of my magic to where the bracelet would be giving off the slightest amount of light. “Hold this” she instructed. I took hold of the end. She observed the readout. “You have some magic, but its faint” she said. “Well that won’t do. Is there any way to power it up” I asked. She thought for a moment. “We did some experiments a while ago to see if that was possible. The overdose of magic wound up killing several test subjects but its worth a shot if you’re that desperate for power” she said. “Well they do say God loves a trier” I ughed.

  “It will take a day or two to get that set up. In the meanwhile would you mind answering a few other questions” she said. “Ask away” I said. “Is Vanessa Wolfe your real name” - “Names aren’t real to begin with, we kind of made them up. Like music” - “You know what I mean” - “No, its an alias. I’m hiding from somebody” - “Who are you hiding from” - “A very scary man” - “What is your real name” - “None of your business” - “…” - “…” - “Where were you living before we picked you up” - “A mermaid colony under ke Erie” - “Be serious” - “A trailer park in Florida” - “We picked you up a long way from Florida” - “A girl’s entitled to a little holiday” - “Weird pce for a holiday” - “Yup” - “…” - “…”.

  “Had you ever killed a man before private Aaron” - “Only a fool would answer yes” - “That’s not a no” - “And its not a yes” - “…” - “…” - “Do you expect anything in exchange for your… co-operation” - “Money” - “We can handle money” - “And a house. A big one” - “That can be arranged” - “And free rein of California when I’m not on duty” - “… I can’t just leave you alone among civilians” - “There’s plenty of non-Americans in California” - “I’ll see what I can do. Any questions?” - “None that come to mind” - “Alright… dismissed soldier”

  The guards escorted me back to the holding area. I maintained a faint and somewhat genuine smile the whole way back. I should really take up the fiddle at some point. Once we reached the outer door they asked for my wrists. I held them out and the guard waved a fob on his keyring over the bracelet. Nothing happened. I must have fried the locking circuitry when I was experimenting with energy manipution. He sighed. “I’m sorry, it appears to be malfunctioning. Would you mind accompanying me to the tech bay to see if they can remove it?” he asked. “I doubt I have a choice” I said.

  They escorted me to a b a good ways off. After a cursory examination the technician decred its circuitry had been fried and the only way it was coming off was with a bolt cutters, which luckily they had to hand. The poor guard looked dead inside as they cut it off. (Not before putting another on my other wrist, because god forfend I use the powers I was pretending not to have against them). They then escorted me back to my cell. For no particur reason, they forgot to take it off again on the other end. It was a little strange they didn’t have magic detectors on their belts like the te private Aaron. Maybe those are expensive too? Still seems like an obvious precaution to take… Oh well…