Saving Insanity

Chapter 2: Increasing Numbers

The next day was even worse. The Institution number had increased by four, just like it had everyday the past few months. It wasn't my decision, my fault to send so many beings to the Institutions as Mutts. There were simply simple rules and guidelines, and those choices were out of my hands. I was nothing more than the girl who pressed the buttons and ordered the jet.

My long eyelashes fluttered in the wind as I turned past the farming fields once again. The same Mutts seemed to curse at me, the same ones just giving me blank stares. There were children running through the fields, being trained by their elders. I had seen more than half of them in the very same day.

The trick was to look quickly between them, not to stare at one for to long. As Mutts, they were expected to look down to the Idols, never to make eye contact. They never did, even the ones cursing at me. Their eyes hovered at the level of my waist, but the pain that radiated through them was not any less obvious.

My eyes flicked to the next Mutt, an older woman with greying hair. She straightened her back and stabbed her rake into the dirt. Her eyes met mine. I stopped dead in my tracks, for the first time looking a Mutt straight into their dilated pupils.

"Hey!"

My body flinched as the Watcher, an Idol, cracked the woman on the back with a wooden stick. She fell forwards, her wobbly feet barely able to catch her. "Stop!" the word came out louder than I had ever spoken. I dropped my bag on the ground and sprinted towards the fence, my fingers wrapping around the metal chain links.

The Watcher raised the stick once again, his hands stopping mid-swing at my outburst. He lowered the weapon, his eyes glaring at me. "It's alright, move on," I told the Watcher sternly, the Sorter identification badge shining brightly on my chest. I was superior to a Watcher, therefore while on the job they were to obey my commands.

He turned his back towards me, the stick dangling in his hands while he walked away. The Mutt's body was still facing me, her old eyes grazing the ground below my feet. "Walk here," the command came out monotone, like I had been taught to do since I was five years old. The woman hesitated for only a moment before she closed the gap between her and I. Her feet were only a foot away from the bottom of the gate, leaving us with only the metal links themselves to separate us.

"Why did you look at me?" my question was short, easy, capable for anyone to answer, even someone with multiple souls. But this was a Worker Mutt, clearly outlining she had three or four. The old woman took another step back, my question shoving her down like I was about to call the Watcher back to strike her again. My fingers ached from holding the chain links. I lowered my voice, "I apologize for the Watcher."

The Mutt raised her head only an inch, her feet taking her slightly closer to me, "You seemed friendly."

I waited for another voice, another soul to answer the question. Nothing. My grip tightened on the fence, "How could you tell?" Growing up, we were always having the rules of the Mutts pounded into our skulls, ensuring we would never forget how our world worked. This woman did not follow any of them. It was something I had learnt when I was seven, or maybe eight. Mutts were not able to sense the emotions of Idols.

The woman shrugged her bony, aching shoulders and pushed her rake back into the ground, "I have eyes, Miss." Her voice was eased, no sudden pitches or enunciations. My hands released the chain links, now holding the metal pole in between the sections, "What do you call yourself?"

The Mutt smiled slightly, her gaze not lifting from the ground, "We've decided on Libya." She rested her aging hands on the top of the rake. My teeth sank into my bottom lip. I pressed my body against the fence, closing the gap between myself and the Mutt as much as I could, "Your souls. They can work together?"