Blank Slates

Chapter 12

Kairo did not return for quite a while, much to her surprise. Instead, she was met with a girl with multicolored eyes who made her strip down and splashed her with cold water to wash her. She was then given a cup of water to drink and small crust of bread as food before being left in the room alone again. Without any way to know how much time passed by, she grew more and more uncomfortable and uneasy. She couldn't sleep even though she wasn't tied down and instead struggled restlessly through the hours. Her chest ached with an extreme emotional pain, but she feared crying or screaming to relieve it, remembering what had happened to her back at the school. As she usually did, she stuffed her pain and misery down to the deep depths of her soul and buried it with her firm and unrelenting resolve.

When the door finally opened again, she was seated in the corner of the room with her knees pulled up to her chest. Her white uniform was stained and crumpled and her tangled dark hair was hanging in front of her face. She did not raise her head to check who it was and instead stayed in a still, submissive position.

"Oof, you look rather rough," Kairo remarked, stepping in fully and shutting the door behind him. She did not even react to him, and a slightly concerned look crossed his face. "Hey..."

"Please don't," she spoke, her voice soft and almost like a whimper.

"Don't what?"

"Come closer."

He stopped. "Alright. But you know I won't hurt you, right?"

"I don't know that."

"You have my word."

"A man's word is as feeble as a house of cards."

"But I haven't hurt you, have I?"

"Not yet. And others have already."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Sorry I was gone for so long. It's not something I usually do, but something came up." She didn't respond so he took a seat on one of the chairs, still keeping his distance. "I brought you a change of clothes and some more food."

She shifted her eyes to look at him. "What are you trying to do?"

He shrugged. "Be kind, I guess."

"But why?"

"To make you feel more comfortable."

"So you can get information out of me?" she retorted bitterly.

"Well, do you really have something to hide from me?" he returned. She was silent for a moment. "What are you trying to protect?"

She fixed her eyes on him. "What kinds of things do you want to know?"

"Anything really. Even if it's just about you. I wouldn't expect you to know top secret plans and such because students like you wouldn't have access to that kind of knowledge."

"Then why take me at all if I am of little use to you? Were you targeting me specifically?" she asked.

He chuckled. "You think you're someone special? Do tell me why."

She paused, glaring at him. "I'm not telling you that."

"Then I'm not telling you anything either."

She bit her lip. "Then this is going no where."

"Aren't you happy you're outta there though? Shouldn't I at least get thanks?"

"Why should I thank you? I was perfectly fine where I was, thank you very much."

"You were fine there? If I didn't go to your room, you would still be in that hellhole."