“How did you get hurt,Warbler?” I struggle to keep my voice level, my hands clenchinginto fists under the table.
“I confronted him aboutit, and he told me how he’d heard us fighting. He was so angry. ‘Ithought you liked me,’ he raged over and over, spitting in my face.When I told him that our arrangement was over, he lost it. That’show I got these bruises and the cuts on my hand. He attacked mebecause of our fight! This is all your doing, Mynah!” Warblerquivers as she speaks, her breaths coming rapidly as her eyes dartback and forth searching for Creeper, as if telling this storymight make him magically appear.
“How the hell is it myfault? I voiced my concerns—obviously justifiable now that he’sinjured you—and you assured me that you had everything undercontrol!” I pound my fist into the table just to keep from grabbingat Warbler.
“If you had just kept yourjudgements to yourself, none of this would have happened!” Tearswell in Warbler’s eyes as she holds her wounded hand out tome.
“Of course it would have!He’s an abuser! Can’t you see that he is perverse? He will never beable to stop himself from watching women. There’s no telling howmany others he’s probably hurt in the past. You are lucky that hestopped when he did. Most women who get stalked do not survive theattack.”
“I want you to leave mealone,” Warbler murmurs, turning back to her cooking pit. “If ourpast friendship meant anything to you—”
I knock over my chair, regretting theaction immediately as pain radiates along my stitches. However,this pain is nothing when compared to the agony in my heart. “Don’tyou dare throw our friendship back at me! You’re mad because Itried to protect you from yourself!”
“So now you are blamingme?” Warbler cries, a spoon trembling in her hand as she raises ittoward me like a weapon.
“Nothing gives a monsterlike Creeper the right to hurt a woman!” I exclaim, pointing at herbandaged wrist. “However, you’re not exactly innocent in thissituation either, are you? You liked having control over Creeper.You enjoyed using your body to keep him in line. You tempted him,indulged his proclivities, and fed his fetishes! You want to cryfoul now that he’s showing his true nature, but in the moment, youenjoyed your power. That makes you nothing but a prostituteparading around this House like a wannabe queen!”
Heavy tears roll down Warblers cheeks,a sob cracking her melodious voice. “Mynah!”
“No! You’ve been spoiledby me for far too long. I’ve protected you from the things you finddistasteful. I’ve allowed you to live a sheltered life in thesafety of this House. This is the first time you’ve felt theconsequences of your mistakes. Well no more! You want to be takenseriously. You want to be seen as an adult, well you got it! You’lltake shifts in the forests just like the rest of us. You’ll killand skin meat, make your own clothes, everything!” Picking up thetray of food, I stride toward the door, desperate to get out of thekitchen.
“So, you’re going topunish me? I hate you!” Warbler wails, throwing a skillet at thedoor, narrowly missing my head.
“And I’m ashamed that Iever called you my friend. I hope that you and Creeper work throughyour differences. You two deserve each other,” I snap, hurrying outinto the hallway, desperate to get away from her. I replay ourargument on my way to the staircase, my thoughts tormenting me witheverything that I did wrong. She deservesbetter than Creeper—I wish I hadn’t made it seem like I wanted themto get back together. If she had only listened when Bittern,Grouse, and I tried to warn her!I wish I would have controlled my temper. Shedoesn’t need my anger right now, she needs myhelp!
“Not going to have anyhalf breed mutants running around here anytime soon, right, Mynah?”Goldeneye spits at me distastefully as he saunters into thekitchen. “You know birds and dogs can’t—”
I do not stick around to hear hisvulgarity, nor do I answer any of Warbler’s feeble attempts to callme back to her. “Foolish child,” I mutter under my breath, not sureif I am speaking of Warbler or myself as I push open mydoor.
“Mynah? Is that you atlast?” Antero’s sleepy voice calls out to me as heyawns.
I slip into the room, startled by itsstark change from how I left it. I am not an extremely tidy person,but my space is spotless. My clothes are folded and neatly layingon the open shelves, patches sewn over the holey places. It hasbeen freshly dusted; the carpets even look like someone gave them aonce over with tape to pick up fallen particles of mud and dirt.“What did you do? Why?”
“You made me stay in herefor three days. I needed something to do,” Panther retorts, hismask dangling from the chair. I run over to it, throwing it intohis lap.
“You idiot, get that onyour face right now!”
“You do not truly expectme to sleep in it, do you?”
“There are holes in thesewalls!” I shriek, my voice growing louder. Holes that could providesomeone with the perfect place to listen into thisconversation.
“So, what is the plan?”Panther demands as he ties the mask onto his face once more. Hestares after me as if I’ve gone crazy as I wander around the roominspecting my coverage of Creeper’s peepholes.
“Did anyone come in here?”The one just below the doorknob is still covered by the wax seal Iput there a month ago.
“Not that I know of. Ilocked it like you said,” Panther whines at me, a look ofindignation on his face.
“And you locked thedeadbolt too, right?” The hole right above my shelves close to thenails that secure it to the wall is still good too.
Panther does not answer, his fingersshaking as he points at me accusingly. “You never said I had to doboth locks!”
I swear under my breath,my eyes searching for the last hole that I am aware of in thisroom. This one is waist high, right along the edges of my closetdoors. When I find it, I
