Free Hold Me Never (Holding Never) by Natalie Kristen Page B

standing like I am standing now on the
platforms, being stripped and waxed and polished.
    Before these women were Matrons, they were Sirens. They
were...like me. And I—will be like them!
    The scars on their faces and limbs, their missing
fingers and slashed lips scream out my fate.
    The room suddenly tilts at a precarious angle and I
careen off the platform onto the floor with a crash.
    Gwin and another Matron rush to help me up.
    “ Are you all right?”
    “ Are you hurt?”
    “ What happened?”
    I nod weakly. “I...I'm okay.”
    I'm not, I'm not okay .
    Mam Mallisa comes marching up to me, her stiletto heels
clicking sharply. “What the hell happened?” she demands,
her multicolored eyes flashing. “Why did she fall? Is there a
bruise on her? Any obvious marks and discoloration?”
    “ N-no, Mam,” Gwin stammers, her eyes darting
frantically over my body. “No bruises, Mam.”
    “ Good. The Sirens must be perfect, flawless. It
is your job to make them perfect. Not a mark on them. Now, Zoey—”
Mam Mallisa looks down her nose at me. “You will need to be
fed a few hours before the Midnight Feast. Come with me.”
When I stumble after her, and fall flat on my face again, she whirls
around with a curse.
    “ You and you!” she snaps, pointing behind
me. “Don't just stand there, hold her upright. She can't seem
to walk on her own, so you'll have to do the walking for her. Chop
chop!” Mam Mallisa snaps her fingers and two Matrons shuffle
to my side. They wrap their chilly, shivering hands around my arms
and keep their heads down as they walk silently beside me. I open my
mouth and shut it again. No point protesting. I'll just get these
poor women into more trouble. And Mam Mallisa is right, for once.
My legs don't seem to be functioning too well.
    “ Thank you,” I whisper instead.
    One of them nods, and we move as quickly as we can after
Mam Mallisa. She is heading towards a flight of narrow, winding
stairs that is tucked behind a broad, stone pillar.
    As we climb down, the lights and smells from the
Grooming Room fade and it becomes darker and gloomier. It feels like
we are descending into a dungeon.
    With fear and hunger gnawing in my gut, I feel too weak
to struggle. Looking at the downcast faces of the Matrons, my hazy
eyes keep drifting to their scars and maimed hands. What happened
to you? I want to ask. What will happen to me? Will I
become...you?
    Will I die tonight?
    At the bottom of the stairs, Mam Mallisa pauses.
    I squint hard at the stone arches that lead deeper into
the dungeon. I hiccup a laugh, but what comes out is a small,
strangled sound. So it is true. All those rumors. There is indeed
a dungeon under the magnificent, gleaming facade of the Palace. This
is where they keep their Sirens.
    Mam Mallisa clicks her tongue and beckons us forward.
We turn to the left and duck through a crumbling doorway.
    There is a semi-circle of steel doors in front of us.
    Beside each steel door is a tiny red button. Mam
Mallisa strides to the door at the far corner and jabs the red button
with a long, pointed nail.
    There is a soft, electronic click, and the steel door
hisses open, sliding sideways into the stone wall.
    Mam Mallisa doesn't enter the cell. She merely steps
aside and orders, “Put her in with Hani.”
    As I pass her, my stomach lets out a growl loud enough
to wake the dead.
    Mam Mallisa rolls her eyes. “And feed her, for
God's sake. Hurry up! The door will close automatically after ten
seconds. Hurry up, unless you want to be sealed in with her,”
she snaps.
    The Matrons leave me in the cell and scurry out, just as
a whirring sound is heard. Ten seconds is up and the steel door is
starting to slide shut.
    I stand in the middle of the pitch dark cell for a long
while, my brain and body completely numb, until a small sound to my
right tells me that I am not alone.
    I tense at the soft shuffling sound. The sounds seems
to be coming closer. I can hear breathing, and sighing.
    Something