Free Harbinger by Sara Wilson Etienne Page A

returning in strange bursts. The musty smell of the stone floor. Distant shouts. Scuffed boots coming closer. The world sped up again, and we were yanked to our feet. I was pulled to the front of the line and Kel to the back. But my eyes stayed glued to him, still fitting the voice from the dark with the person in front of me.
    Kel’s stark face was framed by coal-black hair that made me think of ravens. His lips were pale against his brown skin, and his nose was a little crooked, like it’d been broken in a fight. But it was his dark hazel eyes that I couldn’t look away from.
    I wasn’t used to people meeting my eyes. And Kel didn’t just look at me. He looked
into
me, like he could see every thought in my head. And whatever he saw there now, he must have liked. He gave me a slow smile that made me blush.
    Then the line pushed forward, and I tripped over my own feet. The Marine reached out to steady me, and I pulled my attention back, nodding my thanks. We moved forward as a group again.
Well, we’re pulling together as a “family,” just not quite the way Dr. Mordoch imagined.
Half stumbling, half dragged, I led our perverse parade down the path to the dorms.
    Back in my room, a pair of fluorescent orange jumpsuits greeted me, laid out neatly on the two beds. Other than the hideous outfits, the room was empty.
    “They took it,” I mumbled, feeling numb to any more surprises. And I’d thought there was nothing left for them to take.
    With my last ounce of energy, I searched the room. Under the bed, in the desk, in the bathroom, everywhere. But I already knew my sketchbook was gone.
    Something inside of me shattered. I crawled onto the bed, letting the tears that had been building for the last twenty-four hours burn down my cheeks.
Fine. They win.
    The lock clicked and the door opened. Meat-Is-Murder Girl, holding an ice pack on her arm, was “helped” into the room by Nurse.
    “Get changed,” she ordered. Nurse was the same height as Meat-Is-Murder Girl but her cropped hair and rigid stance made her much more intimidating. “Both of you.”
    “Where’s my sketchbook?” I didn’t bother to wipe the tears off my cheeks.
    Nurse stone-faced me, not meeting my eyes. “I’m not here to answer your questions. Now both of you, get changed and hand me your clothes.”
    “The hell I will.” This girl wouldn’t give up that easy. But after Solitary, after getting tased, after Kel’s look had split me open, I didn’t have anything left to fight with.
    “If you don’t start changing in the next thirty seconds, I’ll come over there and help you.” I could see the Taser peeking out of her pocket. Meat-Is-Murder Girl scowled and grabbed a jumpsuit, heading for the bathroom.
    “No,” Nurse said. “Change out here where I can make sure you don’t hide anything from your pockets.”
    The girl, who thirty seconds earlier had been gearing up for battle, now skulked into a corner. Facing the wall, she went through an elaborate maneuver of changing into the jumpsuit while keeping her other clothes on as long as possible.
    Her humiliation was palpable, and I turned around to give her privacy while I stripped to my underwear. The woman could’ve just as easily checked our pockets, but the goal was obviously to degrade us. To leave us with nothing. And there wasn’t anything we could do about it.
    The jumpsuit chafed as I pulled it on. The cheap fabric was stiff, and the huge zipper running up the front scratched my skin.
    “Now take this.” Nurse handed us each a pill.
    I swallowed it without a word. It would almost be a relief to get away from this place and these people. But there was no escape yet. Nurse pulled my jaw open and squeezed my cheeks, “checking for compliance.”
    “Lights out in five,” she snapped, grabbing our bundles of clothes. With a loud click the door shut and locked behind her.
    “I’m getting out of this Nazi camp tomorrow.” Meat-Is-Murder Girl had also swallowed the pill, but