Free Fighting for Infinity by Karen Amanda Hooper

treats you so horribly.”
    “That is true.”
    “How can you say that? You didn’t ask to be imprisoned here your entire life. You’re a victim of circumstance.”
    “No one is a victim.”
    “Rina.”
    “Maryah.”
    I let out a frustrated sigh. 
    “You attracted the good people too,” Rina said, trying to backpedal. “Your kindrily shouldn’t worry.”
    “I wish I could find a way to tell them I’m okay.”
    She slid off the table then poked me in the stomach as if I had a real body. “Stop wishing and start doing.”
    “I can’t do anything!” I was almost shouting. “I’m trapped here.”
    Her lips pursed inward like she didn’t believe me. She could see that I was trapped in my invisible cage. What did she expect me to do?
    “You act like I have any control over being stuck here,” I said. “I’m helpless.”
    “No one is helpless.”
    “So what do you suggest I do?”
    She flapped her hands at her sides like wings. “Break out of the jar, my narrow-minded lightning bug.”
    “Break out?  And how do you suggest I do that?”
    She mocked my earlier words. “Shatter the glass.”
    I pretended to knock on the air between us. “I would if there were glass to break, but there isn’t.”
    “Even easier. Glass is energy turned solid. There’s nothing solid about the energy confining you. It should be easier to break.”
    “I’ve tried reconnecting to the energy cords that link me to my body. They’ve been erased.”
    She giggled while shaking her head. “Energy can’t be erased. Energy moves and changes, but it never vanishes.” She giggled again then muttered, “silly, silly soul.”
    I still felt defensive, but also sort of ignorant. I should’ve paid more attention in science classes so I understood energy better. “If you know how I can return to my body, please tell me.”
    Her lips straightened into an unreadable expression. “You already know the answers to all of your questions. You just have to open your eyes.”
    Open your eyes . Those words had been haunting me since the night Dedrick and Gregory almost killed me. “I’m trying, but I don’t see anything.”
    Her midnight blue gaze pinned me in place. She leaned in and whispered, “Look closer.”
    I looked much more closely at Rina. Clearly, she wasn’t the scared, helpless soul she first pretended to be.

 
    M IS FOR MYSTERIOUS
     
    Maryah
     
    Sometimes hours passed without Rina and I speaking to each other. She slept a lot, and I didn’t have many reasons to wake her. While sleeping, she’d twitch and make sounds like she was trying to talk with her lips sealed shut.
    Did she dream of beautiful places, people who loved her, maybe even a knight in shining armor who would rescue her and take her someplace safe where she’d live happily ever after? Or was she reliving nightmares and imagining new ones?
    I watched her, curled on her side, asleep on her dingy bed. Even though she was helping Dedrick—hopefully not by choice—I wanted to help her break free. She was so young. She had her whole life ahead of her. If she got out now, maybe she’d still have a chance of living a normal life and escaping from Dedrick’s world of darkness and corruption.
    The black curtain fell.
    When it lifted, a woman with a long black ponytail and the signature Nefarioun snake eyes stood across from me. She held a tray in her hands that contained a dictionary, bowl of water, washcloth, glass of milk, a couple slices of bread, and a container of what looked like some sort of chocolate and vanilla spread. My mouth watered.
    I pressed my invisible hand to my invisible lips, amazed how real the sensation of my mouth watering felt. I could have sworn my stomach growled.
    The woman set the tray on the table. She soaked the washcloth in the water and wrung it out then walked over to Rina and knelt down beside her. Then, much to my surprise, as she wiped one of Rina’s hands with the washcloth, the woman sang.
    Wake up, darling girl,
    A