Citizen

Chapter six

A sharp rapping sound cut through the silence of Kyra's room. "It's time!" a familiar voice sang.

Before she could close her book, the door to her bedroom swung open, shedding light on the figure leaning against its frame. "Mum!" With a small smile on her lips, Kyra got to her feet and padded the length of the room, straight into her mother's arms.

"How was your day?" Faye asked. She played with Kyra's hair, twisting it through her fingers – holding her captive.

"How do you think?" Kyra's voice was muffled by the embrace, but her words were clear enough that Faye let her go.

Kyra turned away from her mother and walked towards the right wall, sighing as she reached the menacing metal machine built into it. From the outside it merely looked like an empty box, but as soon as Kyra inserted her arm, glass came down over the entrance, trapping her elbow. As if that wasn't enough to keep her still, a claw dropped down like a metal spider, equipped with many different tools and instruments, some so sharp Kyra gulped. Why the citizens had to take their bracelets off at night was a mystery to her, but at least it gave Kyra time to think, to dream, without someone inside her head.

The spider like machine ran around the length of her bracelet, before stopping to scan Kyra's wrist with a blue light. The metal of the bracelet began to writhe as it expanded, sending a searing pain running up her arm. The light was too bright for her to see what had caused the pain, but Kyra suspected it was the needles - or whatever kept the bracelet on - being pulled out of her arm. As fast as the pain had come, it disappeared, and was instead replaced by a gentle numbness. The perfectly intact ring of silver fell into the machine with a dull thump as the claw snaked upwards, freeing Kyra from its grasp once more.

Kyra's mother frowned. "I'm sorry I couldn't make it. I was tied down at work."

"It's fine. Really." Kyra turned around with a tight-lipped smile. Almost unconsciously, she glanced towards her bedside table, where a stack of leather bound books sat. The top one was lying open where she'd left it. That was how she'd spent the rest of her day. Though most of the books were about politics and maths, reading was one of the only things that distracted Kyra from the real problems in her life, something she was very grateful for.

"It was the busiest I've seen it all year! You wouldn't believe the amount of kids being treated for shock today." Faye eyed her daughter thoughtfully, her grey eyes narrowing a fraction as she stepped forward, lips pursed. "Or maybe you would. But that doesn't matter. I came in here to talk about you."

"What about me?" Kyra asked, eyebrows raised as she sat down on her bed. Whether it was because she was being defensive or not, Kyra wasn't sure, but she pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them like a vice. As much as she loved her mother, Faye had a way of making you feel small, weak and insignificant, no matter how sincere she sounded, and Kyra simply couldn't handle her mother's sympathetic smile or caring eyes - not yet, at least.

"Well," her mother began, crossing to the right corner of the room and sitting down at Kyra's desk. "I just assumed you would want to talk about the test. I've been through it myself, I know how hard it is. The things I saw, the things I did-"

"Mum, I really don't want to talk about it." Kyra looked up to meet her mother's gaze, hoping her eyes would say what her mouth couldn't.

"I know you don't. I didn't after my test - neither did your father. But talking about it helps. I know you won't believe me, but the blood on your hands does not make you a killer-"

"Stop. Please." Kyra clenched her stinging eyes shut.

"Kyra-" Faye jumped up from her seat, reaching out for her daughter. The look on her face made Kyra feel even worse. It was a mixture of sadness and understanding, but surely her mother wouldn't understand. Surely her perfect, kind mother would have thought of another way.