Cage

I feel terrible from the fight, my body hurting on all sides, but I still can’t help but feel happy because she’s pregnant. She’s finally having my baby. Our baby.

The stripes on the stick show that she’s pregnant. Father taught me how the stick works, so I can alert him. But now I don’t want to … I don’t want him to know.

I place my hand on her belly again, wanting so desperately to feel our little one inside her.

However, the look on her face makes me doubt she’s as happy as I am.

Biting her lip, she shakes her head. “This can’t be happening.”

I know why she’s upset. Being in here means being subjected to my father’s whims and that includes the baby. I can’t let him do the same to our kid as he did to me. She has to get out of here.

I nod. “You will escape.” I grab her hand. “Whatever it takes.”

She nods too, her face darkening. She finally understands what must be done.

She has to leave me here.

It’s the only way.

Father only takes her out of this room without me, so that’s her only shot.

“I’m not giving up on you,” she says, placing a hand on my face. “I’ll get us both out of here. I promise.”

I place my hand on top of hers, forcing myself to vividly remember her touch, so I won’t forget once she’s gone.

I know she means best … but I know my father better.

He values his business more than anything in the world. He’d never, ever let me leave.

Suddenly, I hear a clicking noise, and we both look at the black door. That sound means it’s open again … but more important is the reason.

Father’s voice booms through the speakers. “Get back in your room.”

He’s talking to Ella, but she’s reluctant to go, still holding me tight.

“Go. I’m fine,” I lie, but I don’t want her to worry.

Right now is not the time to defy him. Not yet. It won’t work if we’re both stuck in the same cell. He’ll never come in here. She needs to go to him to make it work.

“But—”

I place a finger on her lips and whisper, “Escape.”

I want her to be safe. For our kid to grow up somewhere good instead of in here. She knows how important it is to me because she nods, biting her lip.

I pull her in for another deep kiss before releasing her from my grip. “Go.”

She slowly gets up, grabbing all the items from the box, and then walks backward out of the door, taking everything with her. When the door closes, I sigh, but even that is painful. My body aches with every inch of movement, but I don’t want to show her weakness. Not now. Not ever.

For her, I will be strong, no matter how difficult it is.

Because I owe it to her … for bringing me something no one else could.

Compassion.

* * *

Ella

I go back into my cell and sit down on the bed, watching Cage carefully from where I’m seated. I don’t want to go, but I know Graham will come to get me. It’s only a matter of time until he knows I’m pregnant. Maybe he already knows.

I can’t let him have this baby. Nor can I have this baby inside this cell. Cage is right. I have to escape, no matter the cost.

I stare at the camera hanging in the corner, wondering how long I have to wait. It’s the first time I’m actually prepared. Why? I took the small scissors from the first-aid kit and tucked them below my dress, right between my thighs with the sharp end pointing down, of course.

I’m hoping the mess I created when I patched up Cage covered it up. If not, I always have plan B.

The moment the gas turns on, I move into action. I quickly wrap up the sheets, douse them in the water from the faucet, and wrap them around my head. Then I lie down on the floor and start fake coughing.

Cage watches me from his cell with a worried look on his face. He attempts to reach out to me, but the pain stops him halfway through.

I nod at him, and he does too. I know we’re thinking the same thing.

It’s okay. I’m going to be okay. We’re going to be okay.

Soon, the gas stops. I breathed in enough to feel drowsy and weak but not enough to pass out. It’s just enough to fool Graham into thinking I’m incapacitated.

So I wait and wait until I hear the door creak open. Graham steps out, tentatively checking on me and his son.

“Learn your lesson?” I hear him ask.

I can’t open my eyes for fear of discovery, so I just listen.

Cage groans, the noises going through marrow and bone, but I have to stay still. Have to surrender in order to win.

“Good,” Graham says. “Now behave while I examine her. If you do as I say, you’ll be fine. I’ll have doctors come and visit you. Agreed?”

“Yes,” Cage grumbles, immediately coughing afterward.

Graham walks past my cell, and I hear him enter the black door. I quickly take a peek at Cage, who’s gotten up from the floor and is now stumbling to his bed. He lets himself fall onto the soft bed, groaning out loud again, clearly in a lot of pain.

I hate the sound of it, but I know I have to ignore it. This moment is my only chance. My last shot at freedom. I can’t waste it.

However, I can definitely feel the gas take effect, causing my body to feel numb again. I can’t move any of my limbs, and the moment Graham lifts me from the floor, I feel like a ragdoll. He pulls the sheets off me and chucks them onto the bed and places me in the wheelchair. Then he rides off with me while I pretend not to be awake to witness it all.

When the door closes behind us, I know I’ve left the room I shared with Cage. A button is pressed. A beeping sound ensues. We go in. The elevator goes down. Another beep. The door opens, and he pushes me out again. We go through some hallways, which feel endless, but I refuse to open my eyes because I could out myself.

So I keep them shut until Graham lifts me up again and throws me down on a metal table. Just like the one from before when he took the ultrasound pictures.

I wish I could run, but my body doesn’t respond to any signals except for a few twitches. I try not to flinch as he firmly ties the straps around my body, locking me in place. I hate being tied up, but I’ll have to sit it out and wait until my body regains the strength it needs to fight.

Suddenly, the radio is turned on, and I hear that awful song again, “Don’t Worry Baby.”

“So … pregnant, huh? Let’s have a look,” he mumbles, and I hear something like a chair roll across the floor.

I don’t know what he’s doing, but he’s quiet for a few seconds while he taps on some kind of device. Maybe he took the pregnancy stick with him. I can’t tell, but the sound freaks me out. I hope to God he won’t start probing me while I’m awake. Anything but that.

When he comes closer, I tense up as he starts taking my temperature and swabs the inside of my mouth with a cotton. The second time he comes back, he pushes a needle into my skin, forcing whatever liquid inside my body. It could be anything, poison for all I know.

But he wouldn’t do that now that I’m pregnant, right?

He wants this baby more than I do.

He needs it to be safe, so everything he’s doing right now is probably beneficial to my health. At least, that’s what I hope.

This probing and stuffing and checking goes on for about half an hour until he’s done all the tests he can. My body has already begun to get rid of the numbing agent inside my veins, as everything tingles. It’s not long before I can move my fingers and lift my arms properly again.

“I see you’re waking up,” he mumbles, smiling. “Well, you’re all checked up and pregnant indeed. Finally.”

“Why …” I mumble back, hoping I can finally make the words I want to say come out of my mouth. “Why m-me?”

“Why you?” He laughs. “We already went through this. My son chose you. How? With pictures, obviously. But you know this. You’ve seen them. Why are you asking me again?”

“How d-did … you f-find me?” The words feel like they’re stuck in my throat.

“I already told you I was keeping my eyes on you. You were one of the candidates, and when he picked you, I went to your house and pried open the lock. It wasn’t that hard. Wasn’t the first time I’ve done it either.”

I don’t even care how he got in. All I can focus on is that one word … Candidates. That must mean all the girls on the pictures were supposed to get pregnant too. Did he pick us because of our disability?

“It doesn’t matter. What does matter is this baby inside you. It will grow up here, and you will stop trying to escape, or I will make all your lives a miserable hell.”

But he said that if he had what he wanted I would be free again.

“What?” I mumble. “B-but you s-said …”

“I said if you behaved … but you did not. You and Cage betrayed me.” He grabs my arm, squeezing so hard it hurts. “You think you’re the first who tried? Think my son is going to run off with you? Like he could live in the outside world? Bullshit,” he growls. “Cage isn’t my first experiment.”

Experiment. Not the first.

I’m overwhelmed with information that I can’t place.

“F-first?” I ask.

“Yes,” he says with a smug smile on his face. “I had another son.”

Another son. Cage has a brother?

* * *

“B-brother?” I repeat, shocked.

“He was the first to grow up in that same cage, and I gave him everything he needed. Everything he could ever want. When he was good, I’d let him go out into the real world as a reward. First, just a couple of minutes to look around and then hours to see the cities. Then days to explore, but I always told him to stay away from the people. Soon, it became a week. I even taught him how to drive because he kept asking me to.” He snorts. “I didn’t care as long as he fought the fights I wanted him to fight. I should’ve stopped myself and him before it was too late. Now he’s … gone. I haven’t heard or seen from him since the day he escaped.”

Cage had a brother … who was out of the compound … but came back?

It’s too much information to process in one go. I don’t even know why he’s telling me this, but maybe he feels like it’s his duty to inform me … now that he’s decided he’s going to keep me.

“He was a good son and listened to me in ways Cage can’t seem to do. Although he wasn’t great socially, he was very smart. He was born much earlier than Cage was, and I kept them away from each other. But he had a taste of the real world, saw what it had to offer, and he wanted more.” He chuckles as if it’s funny, even when it isn’t. “Do you think Cage would ever be satisfied with his cell knowing what was out there? Of course, not. And you want to repeat all that with Cage?” He shakes his head. “I’m not going to make the same mistake.”

“M-mistake?” I mumble, trying to make sense of it all.

Cage never mentioned a brother. Maybe he doesn’t even know he exists.

Graham creepily smiles at me. “The outside world, honey. It was a forbidden fruit. Something he could almost grasp … but never taste.” He sighs. “Which is why Cage can never go outside.”

Graham turns around, sliding his chair toward his desk again, and he leans over as if he’s contemplating something. It’s silent for a few seconds, and I wonder what he’s doing. He’s … looking at something in his hands.

“What h-happened?” I ask.

When he turns around, I catch a brief glimpse of the thing in his hand. My heart stops, and my lungs forget how to breathe for just a moment.

It’s a picture of a man.

The same man … who killed my sister.