Page 50 of Kill Me

“Don’t worry about those two. They won’t know we’ve been until after we’re gone. There are no cameras within the property for them to watch, and the electric fence is off. Can you tell me what’s happened?”

“She was taken to the treatment room earlier and given ECT therapy. I heard her crying before it happened and then again afterwards, but the patients can’t get out of here and over to there. I was stuck. I couldn’t help her.” Rhiannon sobs as she recounts what happened earlier on.

I reach out to comfort her. “I’m going to check the rest of the building,” X says.

“Be careful of Richard. If he spots you, she’ll be punished for it.”

“No, she won’t. She’s coming with me. What brings you here?”

“My parents died a few years back, and I had a mental breakdown. I was sent to the hospital, and Dr Stephanie found me. She told me everything would be okay, that she would look after me. I’ve been here ever since.”

“You’ve been here for years?”

She nods. “I’ve had no way of getting out. We’re under constant supervision. No visitors allowed. No contact with the outside world.” She shrugs. Almost like what I said earlier finally sinks in. “Hang on. So there are no cameras for them to watch? I’ve been told since the day I came here that they were hidden in places we would never find. And the fence isn’t alive? I could have left?”

For once, I’m at a loss for words. “This is my life, now,” she mutters, melancholy sinking in.

X walks back through the door. “Not on my watch, Little One.” Her head shoots up as if his voice commanded her attention, a small sparkle in her eyes. He looks at me, and I smirk. Little One, hey? “Whatever thoughts are going through your head right now, keep them to your fucking self, H.”

I hold my hands up in surrender. “As if I would ever…”

“Everyone that’s in the building is asleep. Or at least, it seems like they are.”

“What do you mean?” I ask him.

“Well, they didn’t even stir. Not one of them.”

“Dr Stephanie drugs us in the evenings to make sure we sleep.”

Ted drops next to Rhiannon, his head on her lap, pawing at her for attention. It’s a distraction technique we taught him to enable us to keep the transitions from place to place as smooth as possible. There are a lot of feelings and emotions in an extraction; some really want to go, others are still in denial. And when the kids are involved, he’s priceless.

“So how have you managed to be here for Quinn?”

“I told her today I’d come and find her after dark. I squirrelled my evening meds so that I’d be awake when they brought her back. Usually, I take them for the escape, but when I met Quinn in the cafeteria, something just drew me to her.”

“She seems to have that effect on people.”

I reach out and touch my knuckles to Quinn’s forehead. She's cold and clammy, but her hair is soaked to her head.

“How has she been for the last few hours?”

“In and out. Lots of crying. Nightmares. She’s been mumbling incoherently like she’s experiencing flashbacks. I’ve tried to comfort her by stroking her hair or her back, but I don’t think it’s helped.”

“It’s helped, trust me.” I nod at her reassuringly.

“Little Magpie…” I keep my voice soft so as not to startle her. The last thing I want is her waking up scared and having to start from the beginning again.

Nothing.

“Little Magpie, I need you to wake up for me.” I stroke her cheek.

She stirs.

“Come on, Magpie, you’ve got this. Wake up, baby.”

A whimper comes from her as her eyes flutter open. A moment passes, and then recognition floods her face as the whimper becomes a sob, and before I know it she’s flinging herself at me, her arms are wrapped around my neck, and I’m pushed on my ass. I circle my arms around her waist and whisper in her ear. “Ssssshhhh. It’s ok, Little Magpie. I’m here. I’ve got you.”

She sobs. And sobs. “You came for me. “