Page 39 of House of Kallan
I shook my head. “Once the kids begin showing up, we can decide.”
On cue, footsteps sounded from down the hall and we turned to look. My gaze locked on the first cage. I was thankful that all the doors were extra wide. As if we’d anticipated this very scenario would happen.
Inside the cage was a child, maybe a year old. Covered in dirt, blood, and what were unmistakably bruises. Their eyes glowed with white fire, but their hands and feet were webbed. There were bumps down their back as if they’d grow plates or something.
I stepped aside to allow them to pass.
It was quick after that. Cage after cage was brought up, and they lined the walls and then stacked on top of each other, which I only found more horrific.
“They were found in what could only be described as storage shelves. Each cage stacked on a shelf in rows like an animal kennel,” Anakin said as he stopped next to me. He shook his head. “I’ve never seen something so awful.”
There were so many cages. Thirty-six. The entire room was filled with growls, hisses, and low-frequency tones that I couldn’t quite name. The cages rattled as the agitated children moved around.
When the parade of cages stopped, I urged everyone from the room and closed the doors behind me. All eyes were on me as I moved to the middle of the room and sat on the floor.
I took a few minutes to look into each cage and came to the conclusion that these kids were anywhere between one and four years old. They weren’t infants. For which I was grateful, even as my stomach churned as I wondered where they were being held.
“Hi,” I said quietly, moving toward a little girl that was on the ground level of the stacked cages. She was lying on the harsh metal latticework, staring at me. I moved a little closer, but she didn’t so much as flinch.
Her skin had scales here and there. She wasn’t completely covered, and her eyes weren’t reptilian. Positioning myself in front of her cage, I lay myself on the floor with her. The room quieted. It didn’t fall silent, but it was very clear that everyone was listening and watching if they could see me.
I decided to act on my suspicion and speak to them as if they understood me.
“My name is Tatum,” I said. “You’ve been brought from the nightmare that you’ve known your entire life to a place called Haven. You’re safe here. No one will hurt you again.”
Silence fell over the room. It was so quiet, I could hear movement outside of the door. Still, I remained right where I was, staring at this little girl. She looked so tired, her eyes filled with fatigue that is only often seen in old age.
“We want to let you all out of the prisons you’re being held in, but I know you’re scared and when you’re scared, you hurt those around you. It’s not your fault. Cruelty is all you’ve known, isn’t it? It’s going to take some time for you to trust us, and I understand that.”
The little girl nodded. Just a small movement of her head.
“Do you have a name?”
She blinked at me but didn’t answer.
“Maybe a better question is, can you speak?”
“She can’t,” a small voice said from somewhere behind me. “But she hears you and understands.”
“You all understand me, don’t you?”
“We do,” the same voice said but there were others who spoke in agreement.
“I can only imagine the horrors you’ve been through, but I promise you, you’ll never face that again.”
“How do you know?” a different voice asked.
“Those people who were hurting you have been hunting all of us too. They’ve been making you as weapons to help them hunt the rest of us. Some of the people who rescued you were once their prisoners and suffered much the same things you did.”
We all knew Adeline had been tortured and experimented on for most, if not all, of her childhood.
“You’re going to let us out of the cages?” someone asked.
These kids were much too young to have this kind of speech. And yet, they articulated clearly.
“We will, but first we need you to trust us. We’re prepared to earn your trust. Then we’re going to help you heal and find families who will take care of you so you can be kids. Is that what you want?”
“I want to hurt them,” someone said. “The people who hurt us, I want to hurt them the same way.”
