Fliers Read online

  “Would you idiots shoot her down already?!” the woman in the lab coat cried out.

  She panicked at the woman's words, and her hands became useless, full of sweat. As soon as she decided she should just give up, she felt a sting in her neck. The same feeling from Willow’s house. The next thing she knew, she plummeted to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

  She woke up with a massive headache and blinded by the bright florescent lighting. It appeared she was back in the same room from her arrival. Without skipping a beat, she opened her mouth and called out for her mother.

  “Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk,” a man to her left shamed her as he sat beside her bed. Dr. Malik shook his head with disappointment. His demeanor was drastically different from their last visit, and he seemed less enthusiastic. Once she fully awoke, she noticed her arms were restrained again. She wondered why he didn’t have the restraints taken off this time. Was her act during the flying tests going to have serious repercussions? As long as they didn’t hurt her parents, she was ready for whatever he threw at her.

  “Where are my parents?” Sydona quivered.

  “You need not worry about them,” he said in a much deeper, more serious tone.

  Although she tried to stay strong and not cry, her eyes turned auburn. The doctor smirked at her changing eyes.

  “Such an ugly color,” he said softly and began to outline her metal bracelet. “One thing about you people I don’t care for. Doesn’t interest me. But, I’m not here for your eyes.”

  Sydona’s heart raced again as the doctor’s body language changed, and he seemed like a completely different person than before. He grabbed a wooden tongue depressor from his coat pocket and used it to trace the bracelet.

  “I need to punish you,” he continued. “What you did out there… what you did…” he gritted his teeth and inserted the stick underneath the bracelet and twisted to make it shock her.

  An extreme jolt of electricity bolted through her body like a lightning strike. Her hairs stood up on end and goosebumps ran all through her skin. Squeezing her eyes shut from the sudden pain, she dared not cry out in agony.

  “You could have really screwed things up for me, do you know that?” He kept his jaw tight.

  Tears ran down her cheeks without her even realizing it. Her body felt as if it were on fire, and there was no escape. She wriggled from side to side, trying to free herself from the restraints, but it seemed he had all of this planned. After what felt like forever, he finally stopped and removed the wooden stick.

  Her entire body experienced tingles left over from the extreme bolts. Nothing she could have done would have prepared her for this kind of torture.

  “Do you know why I do this?” Dr. Malik asked.

  Sydona tightened her jaw and glared at him with green eyes.

  “When I was growing up, I lived in the states with my parents in Southern California. Well one day, I was just outside, minding my own business, playing with toys or something. And I look up and there is this little girl with blonde hair flying around the streets. All I remember was the look on her face of just pure joy. Like nothing else in the world could make you feel that way. That happy and free. From that point on, I have made it my life mission to bring joy like that to the world.” His smile faded. “And nothing is going to stop me from making that happen.”

  He leaned in, standing only an inch from her nose and staring down into her green eyes. “Nothing.”

  Backing away from her, he returned his chair to the side of the room.

  “You’re a coward,” Sydona said before he reached the door. “You can’t make your own happiness, so you have to steal ours. You’re pathetic.”

  She could see both his hands folding into fists. He then reached back in his pocket and revealed the tongue depressor again. He stormed back over to Sydona and leaned into her again as he placed the stick back under the bracelet.

  “You’re lucky I’m choosing not to kill you instead.”

  As he twisted it, her whole body seized up again with the electricity pumping at full speed through her. She closed her eyes and arched her back in pain. Through the current that she could hear through her eardrums, she also heard his clanky shoes walk away and through the door. He had left the stick under the bracelet. Unable to hold back the agonizing pain, she cried out as loud as she could. Sweat soaked through her clothes and her throat was dried up from crying so hard. Her entire body shook violently, unable to move much under the tight restraints. She knew she screamed loud enough for guards to hear her, but no one came to help.

  Next thing she knew, the shocking stopped. The sound of the wooden stick hit the floor, and it was the sweetest sound she ever heard. Exhausted from the heinous act, her eyes closed, and she wanted to lie there in silence. She didn’t care that she was still tied up; her body was too tired to move. Only minutes later, two guards entered the room and took her restraints off. All of her muscles felt dead, and she couldn’t take revenge on the guards even if she wanted to. They had to sit her up, and she felt like a complete rag doll with no control over anything that happened. Even her eyelids struggled to stay open, so she kept them closed. The men carried her by her feet and armpits as they walked out of the cabin. She could hear laughter coming from the men as they passed through the cabin.

  She thought about what she looked like: a lifeless body made a fool of in front of everyone. Could her actions jeopardize her seeing her parents? It was too hard to think about that. All she wanted was for her body to stop tingling. Soon, the guards dropped her onto her cot carelessly and left her there. Curling up into a ball, she turned away from Maverick, who was staring at her, and let more tears out.

  “What did they do to you?” Maverick asked softly.

  Sydona heard his question but couldn’t bear to speak.

  He touched her shoulder, making her jump.

  “Are you okay?” he asked as he knelt down beside her cot.

  Sydona shook her head. His hand never left her shoulder as he gently caressed it. She found it sweet that he was trying to comfort her. But all she wanted was to see her parents and make sure they were okay. The possibility of them being put through the same torture gave her a headache. Grabbing the thin blanket, she scrunched it up and pressed it close to her to dry her face.

  A loud bell rang several times throughout the park, signaling food.

  “Lunch. You coming?” asked Maverick, getting back to his feet.

  She shook her head again.

  As Maverick left the tent, it took her no time at all to fall asleep once the tingling stopped. Her brain was unable to think about anything but resting and recuperating. She feared that with the amount of electricity that pulsed through her, she might have serious long term damage. The thought quickly went to the back of her mind as she slept a dreamless sleep.

  A loud, obnoxious snore woke her as it roared across the tent. Crickets came out to play sometime in the night, and the air felt cooler. She assumed she slept for a solid eight hours and felt somewhat refreshed. A grin spread across her face as she looked down by her stomach where Raoul was curled up and sleeping. She stroked his wing that laid across his body and closed her eyes again, dreaming of better things.

  The sound of finch and starlings, and the bright rising sun woke her slowly. Raoul still slept next to her, lying partially under the blanket with drool on his mouth. The events of yesterday were still fresh in her mind, but she tried to focus on the upcoming day. She would finally find her parents, and that thought alone made her smile.

  “Morning, Syd,” Raoul said sleepily.

  “Hey, buddy.” She smiled down at him.

  He sat up. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m better.” Sydona lay on her back with her knees propped up.

  Raoul smiled in response and said, “I have some good news for you...”

  “What?”

  “I know where Ian and Evey are,” he said as he did a little dance on the cot.

  “Really? How?” Sydona’s eyes lit
up.

  “I went to go find them once you saw them and made that big commotion. No one saw me.”

  Sydona smiled briefly as she thought about his words. He flew away, vulnerable to being captured or killed. How could he be so careless? But on the other hand, he was able to find them, and she settled on talking about that instead.

  “How are they?” Sydona asked.

  “Good! Maybe a little skinnier than they should be, but that could be because of their age, too,” Raoul said. “I told them you were coming to breakfast today, that way you could see them. You know, up close.”

  Sydona laughed. “Yeah. Thanks. I should probably eat something soon anyways, before my stomach devours itself.”

  A guard yelled a few tents down from their own. “Peterson! We got another one!”

  The conversation stopped. They didn’t realize how close the guards were. Sydona’s heart sped up at the thought of them catching Raoul in the tent with them. They sat silently as they tried to decipher what he was yelling about.

  “Name?”

  “Uh, Lydia Garrison.”

  “How’d it happen?”

  “Looks like it was a plastic knife, up her wrists.”

  “How long was she here for?”

  “I don’t know. Couple years, maybe? Does it matter?”

  “Yes, Dr. Malik needs to keep track.”

  “She makes three this month. Useless bi--.”

  “Hey. Not here.”

  The guards faded off.

  Sydona couldn’t help but peek out the opening in the tent entrance. And she wasn’t alone. As she looked around, others also looked out to see who the victim was. The guards exited tent 46, carrying a body with the blanket covering up most of her. The blood on Lydia’s lifeless arms looked bright against her snow-white skin. The blanket didn’t conceal much, and Sydona caught a glimpse of her face. She was pretty and young, maybe in her twenties.

  “Back in your tents!” the head guard shouted, carrying her feet.

  Sydona did as she was told and went back inside with a heavy heart.

  “How’d she do it? With a plastic knife? Idiot. Now they’re gonna take them away from us,” Maverick scoffed without a trace of empathy in his voice.

  “How can you say that? A woman just died…” Sydona whispered angrily.

  “The last time someone killed themselves that way, they fed us liquid crap for months. Sometimes don’t even give us spoons! Selfish...” Maverick grumbled.

  “Selfish? You are a heartless--”

  “Look. When you have been here as long as I have, you see a lot of death. Fliers are killing themselves all the time. This isn’t anything new. And she’s selfish because when she dies, they go out and find someone to replace her. Putting us more at risk. People need to learn to be more positive.”

  Sydona and Raoul sat flabbergasted by Maverick.

  “Don’t look at me that way,” Maverick said. “You think I’m heartless. I’m realistic. I’ve stayed around this long, so they don’t bring new people in. I can’t comment on why they brought you here and others as of late. But I know for a fact, every time someone commits suicide, someone else has to take their place.”

  Maverick then pulled out his book and flipped to his bookmark in the middle.

  The thought of having to witness so much death was hard for Sydona to fathom. She wondered if Maverick had any friends left. Did he fear making new friends with the risk of losing them? It made her depressed to think about, but she could tell he was done talking about it as he had his nose in a book. After several quiet moments and getting past what she just witnessed, she tried changing the subject.

  “How many times have you read that book?”

  “About twenty times now.” Maverick turned a page.

  “Do you know every word in it now?” she asked.

  “Pretty much. But it’s still a great story.”

  “How did you get it?”

  Maverick closed it quickly. “From the guards’ break room in the cabin. When you’ve been here as long as I have, you can get away with getting things as long as you stay quiet.”

  “The breakroom, huh?” Sydona played with her messy hair, trying to brush it with her fingers.

  Maverick made a confirmation sound and buried his nose in his book until the bell rang.

  It was the first time Sydona actually felt excited for mealtime, and she thought that maybe she would actually eat, too. As the crowd of hungry fliers piled into the tent, she grabbed her tray and went through the motions of getting her food, which smelled much better than she remembered. When she turned to face the crowd after getting her meal, she instantly began to look for her parents. She spotted a couple with white hair at the table farthest from the entrance. Like a little kid, she ran to them with a smile stretching ear to ear. She threw her tray down on the table they sat at and gave her mom a tight hug, not wanting to ever let go. Then she transitioned over to her father, squeezing him as if he was going to somehow slip out of her grip.

  No words were needed; the touch of her long lost parents’ hands and staring into their eyes made her feel as warm as the distant sun. Evelyn gently caressed her daughter’s cheeks. She studied her mother's features that had changed so much over the years. Her hair was pure white, straight, and came down to her shoulders; she used to look like Sydona. The wrinkles around the curves in her face were soft yet deep. Evelyn used to stand up proud and straight, but she now suffered a slight hunch, making her a tad shorter than Sydona. But her purple eyes were exactly the same, almond-shaped and sparkling.

  The three finally sat down with Sydona in the middle. Her cheeks were sore from her uncontrollable smile. Then, she ate. And ate--and ate. Her hunger never seemed so strong, and she didn’t care what it tasted like because she was in the presence of her family after fifty heartbreaking years. Evelyn reached into her pocket, looked at the guard to make sure his back was turned, and slipped a scrap of paper over to Sydona. She opened it underneath the table, and it said “ We are in tent 5 ” in her mother’s beautiful, familiar handwriting that Sydona always admired. Glancing around for where the guards were looking, Sydona put the paper in her oversized pocket.

  Once it was announced that breakfast was over, the three got up, emptied their trays, and walked together to number five. Raoul already sat waiting in the tent as he peeled apart a small orange. They embraced one another once again. Sydona took a moment to finally absorb everything about her father. He had the same weathered wrinkles as her mother, but his darker skin made them much more defined. His once brown and feathery hair had become thin, gray, and receding. Her father’s purple eyes seemed sunken and lackluster. She assumed it was just a part of getting older, but maybe it from being imprisoned for decades.

  “I’ve missed you guys so much!” Sydona cried out, almost choking on her words.

  Her mother nodded quickly and played with Sydona’s long blonde hair.

  “We’ve missed you too, Syd. We’re so happy you’re okay,” Ian said, lovingly grabbing her shoulder.

  “Same here. I still can’t believe I’m talking to you right now--” Her voice cracked. “Look, Raoul! It’s them! I found them…”

  Raoul grinned and flew over to her shoulder. “ We found them,” he whispered.

  “You’ve been okay? They treat you alright?” Sydona asked.

  Evelyn shrugged. “Considering. We do what they tell us, for the most part, and they leave us alone. They really don’t like when we talk. Luckily, most guards don’t care, but some take it very seriously.”

  Sydona nodded. “What do you know about the breakroom?”

  “The breakroom? You mean for the guards?” Ian asked.

  “Yeah, my roommate Maverick said that fliers who have been here a long time can get away with certain things. Like getting books from there. Do you guys do that?”

  They gave her frightened looks. “No. Never,” her mother answered.

  “Too risky. You could get caught, and they’ll do bad things t
o you.” Ian shook his head and sat on the opposite bed.

  Sydona furrowed her brows with confusion. “But Maverick made it seem like he does it all the time, and nothing’s happened to him.”

  “Yeah, he trades books with them. They have a whole library of books I’m sure none of them can read.” Raoul laughed.

  Her parents were stones. Just then, it occurred to her: had they never done anything? Never tried to escape this place? It was as if they had been broken like wild stallions; they were nothing like the parents she grew up with. The fight they put up when they were captured seemed to have been left in that house in California.

  “What happened to you guys?” Sydona changed the subject, almost upset with them.

  Her parents both stayed silent and sat together on the cot with Sydona standing over them. They stared at each other and rubbed each other’s hands. Evelyn finally confessed.

  “A couple years ago, we all knew of a couple here, Devon and Kiara, who had just gotten married a few months before they were brought in. Well, being as most newlyweds are, they were all over each other and would talk a lot in their tent when they first arrived. They were warned time and again to stop talking, and they ignored it. So they were separated into different tents. Well somehow, Devon kept finding out where his wife was and always got caught in her tent, even though it was forbidden for him to be there. Until one day, they went to his tent and saw he was missing again and went to Kiara’s tent. Three guards dragged him out and--beat him to death in front of his wife... Later on, I heard they didn’t mean to kill him, just teach him a lesson, but it didn’t matter anymore.”

  Evelyn paused. “About a month later, during our baths, Kiara drowned herself in the stream.”