Free Six by Rachel Robinson

too. We stand face to face. Soul to soul.
    “You are like me,” I say automatically. Her eyes flicker snowy white. I back away. The disconnection I feel at her show of dark startles me. Lana grabs me by my shoulder and tries to pull me away. The darkling girl does not respond. Her hollowness runs deep.
    “Sorry about the arrow. All I saw was witchy eyes.” Lana wipes her palms on her pants nervously. “I didn’t send a kill shot because I wasn’t certain,” she says as her defense. The darkling’s glowing white eyes remind me of my mother’s death. My stomach hurts—my chest grows tight, my breathing speeds.
    The other darklings, the ones that escort her, finally speak. “You could have saved us some trouble if you released a kill shot,” she says. Lana’s eyes widen in shock. I swallow hard when I realize what the other darklings mean.
    “This one is too far gone. We brought her out here to dispose of her.”
    I suppress the urge to scream at them. The darkling that is too far-gone does not speak. She does not move to go against what they say about her. Lana looks at her quizzically and then back to me. She raises her eyebrows and bites her lip jokingly.
    “Don’t let us interrupt then,” Lana says, grabbing my hand to lead me away from the impending massacre. I have things I want to know.
    “Wait,” I say. “What does she feel? How do you know she is lost?” My mother always said she could see me inside. How do these darklings know she is not inside? The empty darkling finally responds.
    “I need the correction,” she says without a hint of emotion. I ball my fists by my sides as her words slide into my heart, suffocating it.
    The other darklings answer my question for her. “She feels fear. We’ve had her for over a year and she shows no sign of anything else. We’ve done all we can do. We’ll dispatch her into the forest and let the savages take care of her. If she stumbles into a dark witch first, perhaps they will take pity on her and escort her to the Dark Citadel.” Her voice is icy and I think she does not feel all six yet. I am angry she is the one making the decision.
    “Save her, Lana,” I say. I want her to be saved as I was saved. I think she has a chance. Lana shakes her head the second the words leave my lips.
    “She can’t even speak for herself, sweet cakes. This,” Lana points to her glowing eyes and blank stare, “is what happens to most darklings that escape. There is no way to fix those who don’t want to be fixed. She would have had a better life with the dark witches breeding for perfection.” Lana’s words drip with contempt. “Plus, what do you think will happen when Finn comes back and I have two of you?” At the mention of Finn I feel my stomach lurch. “You got lucky, Emma. You have a male darkling willing to die for your protection. Had you not, you’d be in those woods getting gnashed to pieces by stinking savages.”
    I shudder. I take one last look at the girl so much like myself and walk away with Lana.
    “Finn would die protecting me?” I ask when we distance ourselves from their murderous group. She peeks at me sideways and smiles widely.
    “Yes, and he nearly killed Louis for merely stating his attraction to you.” She clears her throat. I remember the puddle of blood in the store. I do not know why he feels so strongly about me, but I am glad. I hear a blood-curdling scream ring out behind us. Neither of us turn around to look. We trudge forward, but I see how the scream affects Lana. It disturbs her. I try to comfort her by talking over the death.
    “Why do you help me, Lana? Why did you come here to this desert circle that you dislike so much?” She exhales, either relieved the darkling’s screams have stopped or annoyed because of my questions.
    “I may be a badass but I still feel. You are different from the others I’ve found in the past. Maybe it was morbid curiosity about your freaky eyes and light hair that stopped me from killing