Chapter 7 : Different

MAXINE. “It would be fun to see you try,” I say, but the conviction is gone. My voice has shrunk and I feel no kind of defiance now. Amarantha knows that. She can only answer me with a soft smile. She knows that I wouldn't be so brave now, because her claims are already heavy with the evidence. The Humans who have been turned are now all the same. All in gray, with sallow skin and tired eyes. There isn't a single spark of happiness in these people. You can tell all their joy and all their hope has been chipped away for however long they’re here. “You can try,” she tells me. “But we all can see where that is going. So if I were you, I’m going to shut up and follow. The only thing I need to hear from you now is yes ma’am.” I say nothing. I might end up like one of these people, but the least I can do is savor the moments when I’m still not a useless husk. She starts to walk again, and this time I follow her willingly. The sight of the people in uniform working on the grounds is depressing enough for me. Little did I know that there would be a lot more in the hallways of the apartments she takes me to. One cleaning the elevator. One wiping down windows. More on their knees scrubbing the gray tiled floors. And all of them are wearing a single band on their neck made of black leather, with a single little chip that is emitting a small green light. I don’t even ask what it is. I have an idea, but I don’t want the full truth. Finally, we arrive at the corner of the apartment, the end of the long hallway. She opens the door with a keycard, and it swings open to reveal two women sitting on the bottom of two bunk beds. The two women shoot to their feet and bow. A very low bow. It’s almost like they’re trying to break themselves in half. “The Goddess grants us another day,” they both say in unison like robots. “May she grant you a better one, Overseer.” What the fuck? I almost laugh out loud, but it wouldn’t be out of humor. This is looking more and more like a cult and I can’t believe I’m here to witness all of this, soon to participate in this madness. Amarantha grins victoriously and motions them to stand straight. The women snap back into position, their backs as straight as boards, staring ahead like robots. “Ladies, this is Maxine Kane, our latest case of lycanthropy.” She stares at them with a bored expression. “She will be staying here with you—” “There are a lot of vacant rooms,” I blurt out, remembering the creepy way the women talked in unison and their flat tone as they mumbled that stupid greeting to this hag. I don’t think I will be able to live with that. “I saw it. When we were outside. Some of the windows don’t have lights on them. I think you have plenty of room for me—” SLAP. I fall to the floor before I can even tell what’s happening. Amarantha’s hand flies so fast to slap me across the face, her strength and the absence of it in me sends me crashing down. My head nearly hits the corner of the metal bedframe, but one of the women wedges her hand between my temple and the unforgiving blunt edge. “Did I ask you to help her, Bianca Weiss?” Amarantha explodes. “Let her go, or you will be spending a day in the basement!” The woman named Bianca slips her hand away, but she already did a good job breaking the impact, so I just fall limply to the side with the distinct taste of blood in my mouth. Amarantha picks me up, dragging me by the back of my shirt. With surprising ease, she tosses me to the corner. “I make the rules here. I say what’s going down. You will be cleaning the latrines tonight, and if I see a single speck of dirt… well, you better wish your teeth have strong purchase.” She turns around to leave, but then she comes back with an even wider sneer. “You know what, the three of you. Latrine duty. Bianca Weiss and Vivienne Dunne, you better make sure she’s up to date with what’s going on. Or it’s public lashing for the three of you.” They both bow, and the girl named Bianca drags me to my feet and pushes my head forward so I can bow too. “Just do it,” she says. “Just do all of it.” * * * The latrines, as it turns out, are a horrible place. It’s full of excrement and piss and all sorts of things that I don’t even want to mention. But now, I’m dressed in a gray overall with that little contraption around my neck, down on my knees with gloves and a rag soaked with a cleaning agent that I’m sure burned all my nose hairs. Bianca and Vivienne are down on the floor with me, cleaning everything with such efficiency that tells me this is not their first rodeo. But the guilt inside me is still screaming. “I’m sorry,” I whisper, swallowing hard as they both look at me. “I didn’t mean to say anything bad and get you both in trouble. I just… I don’t know. I guess the way you greeted her weirded me out and I wanted to stay the same as long as possible.” They exchange looks. Bianca pauses and smiles softly. “Don’t apologize. That’s just how it is here. We get punished for the smallest things.” “I think I got locked in the basement for breathing wrong in her direction, so don’t fret,” Vivienne puts in. “Welcome, by the way. We would introduce ourselves, but she already did it for us. She said you’re Maxine Kane?” “I am.” I nod. “I guess these cases are so rare that you already hear about who’s coming before they arrive, huh?” “No,” Bianca says. “We just heard about you because they reported you to be a Level Four Unstable. That means you’re dangerous and most likely to sneak out. They warn us about that sort of stuff.” My face heats up. Great. Now everyone thinks I’m some sort of psycho. I grit my teeth and try to shake it off. “So, how long have you been here?” “Four years,” Bianca says. “Six,” Vivienne replies. I frown. “But I thought this is just a temporary place for us to stay until we get assimilated into the Werewolf life or whatever?” “It should be, but it’s actually a long process, and I think the Overseer will explain it to you once she gives you your own schedule.” Bianca resumes cleaning. “It’s not really that bad, considering that both of us actually chose to be here.” “You did?” They both nod. Vivienne frowns as though recalling a memory that’s hard to fetch now. “I went here because I had cancer.” Confusion steals over me. What does that have to do with anything? I want to ask, but Bianca speaks again. “I had lupus, and it was hell on earth. How about you, Maxine? What did you have?” “Nothing,” I say in complete bewilderment. “I was bitten.” They freeze. “I was bitten by a Werewolf one night, and then I just became… this,” I continue. “I don’t understand. What does sickness have to do with this camp? Am I in the wrong place?” “No,” Vivienne says, but she sounds unsure. “You see, if you’re a human who has a long-term illness that looks incurable and is costing you a lot, you can go see the Ambassador and have yourself turned into a Werewolf. You see, their venom cures everything. I am now cancer-free, and once I get assimilated into their world, I’ll have a normal life.” “But you said you were bitten?” Bianca asks. “That’s so strange. You only got bitten once?” “Yeah,” I say. “That’s all it takes.” I pause when I see their eyes going wide. “Right?” Bianca rolls up her sleeves, showing a series of scars that look like big animal bites. “Actually, no. I had to be bitten three times for the venom to kick in. Vivienne had to go through it four times. It’s unheard of, really.” “What is?” “Humans can’t be turned with only one bite. You’re different.”