Freegans part 55

Madiza
Ivy. IvyivyivyivyivyivyivyivyivyivyI.V.I.V.I.V.I.V.I.V.I.V.I.V.IVYIVYIVYIVYIVYIVY-

My name.

Hearing it again, for the first time in years, drove the shadows and voices from my mind. I stared at the girl: Paris. I remembered her. She had been a spy, sent to get information from me, pretending to be my friend. Now she was staring at me, and her expression was a combination of horror, pity, and remorse. I couldn't bear it, and turned from her. I looked at my new friends, and saw that they were all staring at me.
"That's your name?" Cara asked. "Ivy?"
I nodded, and whispered, "Yes." Memories flooded my mind, of my childhood, my mother calling me, and catching me in her arms. A memory of looking at myself in the mirror. My hair had once been reddish-brown, before the shocks and tortures had turned it white, and very nice. It was like my mother's, and like my uncle. He was a great speaker, and always willing to spend time with his little niece.

More images and words came crowding in, horrible, nightmarish ones: being captured, and the tortures. Screaming, screaming, and the nights spent in the cell, silently weeping, wanting it all to end. And then-the Project, being hooked up to the machine, all the knowledge being poured in, too much, too much, all voices at once, facts, thoughts, stories, all too loud, can't hear, no no no no NO NO STOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOP!!!!

Freegans part 48

Madiza
We all live in a yellow submarine, yellow submarine, yellow submarine! Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink! Lots and lots of water! Going down! Ooh, fishies! Little little fish, Cynoscion nebulosus, spotted seatrout! Where where where are we going? Ask the Professor, he'll know. Ox is the Professor. Does that make me Ginger or Mary Ann? Hee hee hee hee!

"We're going to the Golden Church's Prison Sanctum, out in the middle of the ocean."

Gold gold gold all that glitters is not gold. Still really pretty, though. That's the place of the KillCode, need to remember that. Of course I can, not hard at all. Wonder how far we are under the sea. Not quite 20,000 leagues. Under the sea, under the sea! Nobody beat us, fry us and eat us, in fricassee! Wouldn't put it past them, nope, nope, nope. Ooh, bright shiny lights! All in gold...

Freegans part 45

Cara
The woman in the mask cried out jubilantly, "Monsieur Boeuf! You and the rest are alright! It is magnificent!" She nearly threw her arms around Ox, who quickly took a step back.
"Yes, Masque, I'm quite alright, thank you. It's very fortunate that you came to us so quickly."
"Oh, it was not all my doing, non? It was mainly due to the ingenuity of La Tour, and his knowledge of the tunnels." She indicated a small, dark man with a small, scruffy beard. I noticed that Kestrel gave an involuntary smile upon seeing him.
"Tower," said Ox in a relieved-sounding voice. "You made it, too."

Le Masque, Tower, and the others peered over at us curiously. When she cast her eyes on Madiza, Masque gasped.
"Is that-"
"Mais oui, c'est moi, Le Projet 112!" Madiza exclaimed, in perfect French. I can't say I was surprised; nothing she could do surprised me anymore. Looking delighted, Masque broke into a rapid conversation with her.

Though his face seemed more accustomed to smiling, Tower looked very grim as he sidled up to Ox, Kestrel, and Max. He said, "There is no more time. We need to get to the Church and free Deep Thought and the others now." He spoke in a foreign, but very nice-sounding accent.
Ox nodded. "Alright. Kestrel, you and I will take 112 and a few others, and go to the Church. Max, you can take the others back home-"
"What?!" It took us a moment to realize that the shocked cry had come from Madiza. She had evidently finished talking to Masque, and was behind us, listening in. Her green eyes were wide with shock, and slight terror.
"You're going to take them away? You can't! I need my friends! I need them!"
"The Church of Golden Light is no place for them. They can't help us. You can," said Ox.

Then I was forced to eat my words. Madiza did something that completely surprised me (and probably Lucy, too, since she was so hostile towards the looney). She folded her arms stubbornly across her chest, and said, "Not without my friends!" Then, even though they didn't say anything, a conversation passed between Ox and Madiza. The problem was plain. He needed her, and didn't want to try to force her to give the code. He didn't want us in danger, but saw that she wasn't willing to be separated from us. It was a struggle for power that only one of them could win. Finally, he sighed and nodded.
"Alright. They may come too."

Freegans part 43

Lucy
Madiza and Ben looked very sweet, snuggled up together like that. He couldn't use his voice to say 'ssh, ssh', so he was softly hissing through his teeth. It was all very cute to watch. So why did I have bile rising in my throat, and feel churning in my stomach? I turned away, only to see Cara and Matt smirking at me, and looking as though they were trying not to laugh.
"Shut up!" I snapped.
"What?" asked Cara, her green eyes going wide and innocent. I just glared, and looked for somewhere else to look. My options were becoming smaller by the second. From behind me I heard small explosions of giggles.

It was a relief to me when Kestrel announced that it was times to go. We got up, and began to quickly pack our things. I tried to carry as much as possible, but didn't do very well, I'm afraid. Most of it had to be taken from me, and distributed among the others. But I didn't mind much. I was used to being the weakling. The tall woman, Max, opened the secret door, and we slipped out. To my dismay, I found myself walking near Madiza, who was mumbling and humming to herself, perfectly happy again. I tried to ignore her, instead focusing on the sides of the tunnel, or my friends, or anything else.

Suddenly, Madiza looked right at me and said, out of the blue, "I've been considering words that begin with the letter J. Jealousy. Jaundice. Jack-in-the-box. Juvenile."
"What's that supposed to mean?!" I demanded, stung by the first word.
"Oh, nothing, nothing at all," she replied lightly, looking up at the ceiling as if there were something interesting there. "Just-beware of the green-eyed monster. Oh, and you can't lose what you never had."
Then she went back to her demented mutterings. I felt flustered and angry. Had she just given me a threat? My wonderings were interrupted-by an attack suddenly made on our small group.

Freegans part 42

Ben
For a while all I did was watch Madiza draw. I could tell something was wrong, because her hands were trembling slightly, and she was writing an essay in Latin. That only happens when she feels agitated. I reached out and touched her shoulder. She stopped her frantic scribbling, and looked up at me. Her green eyes were bulging with fear.

Hey, are you okay? I signed at her with my free hand. Madiza had taught me sign language, but we didn't use it that often, unless I had no writing materials handy. She replied, No. Well, not really. If you want to know the truth, Ben-ben, I'm really scared. I'm expected to turn off the Drones of Golden Light, for crying out loud! It was clear that she was in one of her more lucid moments. She looked down, and suddenly stuffed the chalk in her pocket.

I don't know if I can take all this pressure, Ben! she signed. I reached out and put an arm around her bony shoulders.
Madiza, I signed with my right hand, you're a genius. You know the KillCode. And we'll all be here to protect you. You'll be fine.
She smiled at me gratefully. Thanks, Ben-ben. But what happens afterward? What will they do to us? They seem nice, but who knows what their real motives are?

I pulled her close, leaning her head against my shoulder. Gently I began to rock back and forth, hissing through my teeth. It was a guaranteed way to calm her down.

Freegans part 41

Cara
"No, not yet. We have another hour to go before moving," said the Ox to her. She glanced at her watch again, and said, "Oh. Sorry." Then she lay down and went back to sleep.

There was silence, as we digested this little bit of news. I happened to glance over at Madiza, and suddenly noticed that one of her already-ragged shirtsleeves had torn, and I could see her bare arm. To my surprise, it was covered in hundreds of long-healed, pale scars, overlapping and connecting. They stood out against her fair skin. Madiza seemed to instinctively know I was staring, and pulled up her sleeve quickly. I turned to my friends, who I could tell had seen it too. Ben handed me a piece of paper. It had written on it, Don't ask her. She doesn't like to remember. They're all over both her arms and her back, too.
"What happened to her?" I asked.
Ben took back the paper, and scribbled on it for a long while. When he finally gave it back, Matt and Lucy and I read it over.

It was at least a year ago. We were in the cage, doing nothing, when the vice-president came down, accompanied by a squadron of soldiers. They unlocked the cage;then they unchained Madiza, and dragged her out of the cage. Then, before my eyes, they suddenly began flogging her! Right there, in the middle of the floor, for no apparent reason, except to satisfy Gwilliam's angry mood! When he'd finally had enough fun, they brought her back in, and re-chained her! As if she could even crawl, in her weakened and battered state. After they left, I did my best to care for her wounds, even using some of our water to clean them. Even so, it took weeks for them to completely heal.

I looked up, and was startled when I saw that Ben had the scariest look on his face. It was similar to the look Lennie had in the 1996 version of Of Mice and Men. All three of us backed away slightly. As soon as it had come, the expression faded. He smiled apologetically, and went and sat down by Madiza, and watched her draw. I couldn't help noticing that Lucy was scowling at them. Matt and I both rolled our eyes. It was becoming a little obnoxious the way Lucy kept mooning over Ben.

Freegans part 38

Lucy
The Ox looked at each of us carefully, almost like he was searching for something. Then he asked,
"Madiza, do you know what the KillCode is?"
Her eyes widened, and I could practically see the gears inside that warped brain of hers turning. She looked up at the man, and nodded.
"Can you tell me?"
"I could, but should I? After all, three can keep a secret, if two are dead. Hee hee hee!"
The Ox nodded, looking slightly pleased. "Good idea. You can reveal it when the time comes."
Seeing our perplexed expressions, he said, "It's a special code that can shut down the Golden Church's Security Drones for at least an hour."

We knew what the Golden Church was. About the same time the Amish had been eliminated, the consumerists created a new church advocating the idea that their wealth was a gift from God, and that they should revel in it. It was very similar to some of the ideas of the tycoons of the early twentieth century. We'd learned about it in school. The Golden Church, or the Church of Golden Light, was one of the main problems the Freegans were facing. Because of the faux religious fervor, they were better able to spread their propaganda against us.

"Isn't the Golden Church full of a bunch of wacko flagellants?" asked Cara, with her typical bluntness.
"Some of them. More importantly, they have a Prison Sanctum, where they store heretics and anyone who opposes them. It is guarded by vicious robot-androids known as Drones, which are controlled by the Sacred Computer and ATM of Light. Madiza happened to see the KillCode, therefore memorizing it, and if she types it into the computer, she can shut down the Drones."
"What will that do?" Matt wanted to know.
"It will help us to enter and save our missing comrades-" The Ox stopped talking with a small gasp. He was looking down at the floor. We followed his gaze, only to see more of Madiza's scribblings. In the middle of them, she had written the number 42, which was also circled. She looked up at him with a smile.
"Yes," said the Ox unsteadily. "Exactly."

Freegans part 36

Cara
"What's that thing he's using?" I pointed to the thingy the Ox (as Ben had told me he was called) was holding to Madiza's head.
"Come here, and I'll show you," said the Ox. We dutifully trooped over to look. It was rectangular, made of some odd metal, and had a view-screen on the side facing us. The Ox was pressing a button on it with his thumb while he examined Madiza.
"This is used to study the brain waves in a person's mind, and calculate how much brain power they use. I invented it." The Ox seemed mildly proud of himself as he said this.

"How does it work?" asked Matt. By way of reply, the Ox held up the scanner thing to the side of Matt's head, and pushed the button. There was a loud humming noise, and then on the screen there appeared a lot of lines, kind of like a graph. The Ox studied it, and then gave a nod of satisfaction.
"According to this, you have the normal brainwaves of someone of your age and intelligence." They were wavy, and changed at a nice, slow rate. Then the Ox held it up to Madiza's head, so we could see, and pressed the button. Loud beeps and chirps came from the thing; the lines, when they appeared, were disjointed and uneven. Some were very jagged, and some were curvy, and one was perfectly straight.
"As you can see, her mental capacity is alarmingly high for someone her age, and also very out of sync. Her thoughts are not evenly organized, and keep changing rapidly. This proves that she is, in fact, Project 112."

When the Ox finished speaking, Madiza stood up and peered into his eyes, looking suspicious. Finally she smiled and said, "You're a good boy, too." Then she reached up and patted him on the head, like she had the Kestrel. He looked at us quizzically. I said, "She had to make sure we could trust you."
"Ah. I see."
Then Lucy spoke up. She asked, "Why is Madiza so important to you?" It was the question all of us had been wondering, but hadn't quite figured out how to ask.

Freegans part 33

Ben
Kestrel led us into a small alcove, and tapped part of the wall. To my surprise, it slid away, revealing a hidden cavern! He brought us inside, and tapped the wall again, closing it. Lucy gratefully sank to the floor in exhaustion. Kestrel said, "We'll wait here until reinforcements arrive."
"Reinforcements?" asked Cara. "There are more of you?"
"Of course," Kestrel said with a smile. "You didn't think I was the only Resistance member, did you?"
"Well, no," she admitted. I noticed that Madiza was sitting on the ground too. She had her chalk out, and was writing again. This time it caught me by surprise. She was writing over and over the number 112. Kestrel had noticed it too. His eyes widened.
"112?" asked Matt, staring at it. He looked up at the Kestrel. "Does this mean anything to you?"
"Maybe. But I can't explain right now. Later."

There was an old paraffin stove and some provisions in the cavern, and the Kestrel soon had things rather nice and cozy. He produced some sleeping bags when we were done eating, and Lucy (of course) was the first to crawl into one and fall asleep. Matt and Cara soon followed, and I didn't keep my eyes open for much longer. The sleeping bag was wonderfully comfortable, much better than the old pile of rags I'd slept on for the past five years. Madiza was now drawing cross sections of several different eyes, and I left her to it.

I woke abruptly, after what seemed not a long enough amount of sleep. The Kestrel was still keeping watch, and Cara and the others were still asleep. I realized what had woken me. Madiza had dozed off some time previously, and was now tossing and moaning.
"No...no...no, you can't have it! No! Go away! It's mine! My preciousssss!" The last word came out in a loud hiss. She snapped awake, eyes wide. Her eyes darted this way and that before she suddenly realized, "Oh. It was a dream." Then she lay down and went back to sleep. Kestrel raised his eyebrows at me. I shrugged; things like that had happened so many times that I was used to it. Kestrel asked, "Does she always do things like that?"
I nodded. He then asked, "Do you know why she can do that?" He indicated the chalk drawings. I got out my notepad and wrote, 'It's because of the experiments the government did on her, right?'
He replied enigmatically, "Basically, yes." I was about to ask on paper what he meant, but suddenly the door to the cavern began to open!

Freegans part 32

Madiza
Mustn't think about it, no, don't think of it, don't want to remember. Not worth the pain, not worth it at all.
In the leafy tree-tops the birds sing good morning! Where did that come from? Don't really remember tree-tops. Or birds. Haven't seen them in so long. Wonder what they look like. Maybe ask Cara-cara orange. Do you think the bird man's friends will be okay?
He's nice! He wouldn't be with bad people, would he?
Can't be too sure. Have to keep an eye on him.
Well, we'll see, won't we?
We already can see.
I mean, we'll find out.
Oh. Yeah. Right.

Freegans part 31

Matt
Kestrel said, "We need to keep moving. The Junkmen will probably send out more robots."
"Where do they get all of them?" asked Cara.
"They were prototypes the government created. However, they turned out to be defective, so they were thrown down in the basement, like everything else the government fails at. The Junkmen found them, and decided to reprogram them for their own use."
"How do you know all this?" I asked.
"I'll explain later. Come on."

I shot a glance at Lucy. She looked about to collapse...again. However, she caught me watching, and said, "I'm fine, Matt. Really." She gave a smile that didn't look very convincing. However, Ben gave me a note that said, "I'm helping her. It's no problem." As if reading my thoughts, Kestrel said, "We just need to go a little farther. There's a place where we can hide and rest."
Now reassured, we headed out.

As we crept down the tunnel, I noticed that Madiza was acting strange. Well, stranger. She was wringing her hands as she walked, rocking back and forth slightly. Her eyes didn't seem completely focused on anything, and she was muttering something under her breath. I cocked my head to the side, and managed to catch that she was saying, "...almost there. We're almost there."
"But what will we find?" she asked herself in a different voice. "They might try and take your soul again. In fact, I bet that's just what they'll do."
"Don't be ridiculous!" she said in her regular voice. "He's a good boy, isn't he? He won't hurt us!"
"HE won't. We don't know about the rest of them!"
"Do you think he'd be with trashy people?"
"You can't be too careful nowadays. Remember the Eiffel girl?"

I turned to Ben and raised an eyebrow. He grabbed out his pad and pencil, and scribbled for a long time. Then he handed me the pad.
'A few months before she went mad, a fellow inmate was placed in her cell with her. It was a consumerist girl named Paris, and they sort of became friends. She told Madiza that she wanted to escape and go to the Freegan hideout. However, it turned out that Paris was actually a spy trying to get information out of her. Madiza found out in time, and told her that she knew. Soon after they took Paris away. And a few months later, they did something that drove Madiza absolutely bonkers.'

"Were you there?" I asked. Ben shook his head no. He took back the paper, and wrote, 'She told me. In one of her more sane moments. It really shook her up. It's a wonder that she trusted me.'

Freegans part 24

Madiza
What what why leave door unlocked? Don't know, don't know. Light light lamp funny funny smell bad bad not good no no NO! Trouble bad Radix pedis diaboli! Help help help my- friends- need- help. Must help them. Got- to-get-out. Door, door, who's got the door? There there there good good good now help friends.

Find Lucy, she's weakest. There she is, there she is. Come on, out out out door's not locked take her out. Should clear senses. Now find Ben-ben, where's Ben-ben? Oof, what was that? What what what oh, Matt. Better take him out. Get to the door. Put him out. Now find Ben-ben and Cara Cara orange. Found Ben-ben. Looks scared, face gone white, not good not good. Here, up he goes, get out with others. Yes, now Cara Cara. Cara, where are you? Come out wherever you are. Yoohoo? Cara! Got to get out, before you toss the bucket or go my way. Fear's not good, not good at all. Come on, little old Madiza's got you. Each who bears his cross. Ha. Bearing my Cara instead. Hee hee hee hee! The door! Where's the door? Bad, bad, bad no no no not want to have Cara die...there! Out out out...and it came to pass that the lunatic did rise up and move her friends before the terror got to them. Now- got-to-close-this-DOOR!

Freegans part 19

Cara
I didn't want to admit it, but my eyelids were growing heavy, and it was all I could do to keep from dozing off. But as the (rather self-appointed) leader, I had to try and keep a good profile. I was doing my best, but I could tell Matt wasn't fooled.
"You should go to sleep, Cara. I can take the first watch," he said aloud.
"Don't be silly. I'm fine," I said indignantly, pinching myself quickly. Matt gave me a skeptical glance.
"Cara, you are tired. If you don't go to sleep this instant, I will make you."
"How?"
"By physical force, if necessary."

I glared at him, and then betrayed myself by yawning. Matt grinned triumphantly. "Fine," I muttered. Lucy and Ben were already down and out, and Madiza was just sitting by herself, muttering and drawing using one of the pieces of chalk that had been in the pack. I barely stopped to wonder what she was drawing before I was asleep too.
My dreams were mainly nightmares. I was chased by a giant, fanged helicopter, which kept trying to stab me in the back with its blades. No matter how fast I ran, the helicopter was always right on my tail. Then I stumbled, and was falling, into a giant mouth. The mouth began closing. I screamed in pain as one of the fangs stabbed me in the ribs.

I awoke with a start, and realized that Matt was poking me. "Whassup?" I mumbled, sitting up.
"Cara, I think you should see what Madiza's doing," he said. Giving me a hand up, he pulled me over. Madiza's chalk had been halfway used up by now, and what its purpose had been surprised me. She appeared to have drawn first the cross-section of an eyeball, with all the parts labeled and everything. Then she had scrawled some kind of complicated calculus equation, followed by a couple more mathematical formulas. Now she was writing a set of instructions for something. I read it quietly.
"To put together your computer, insert-" I stopped. Madiza had frozen, and was looking down one of the corridors. If she had been a dog, her ears would have been pricked.

"Madiza, what is it?" asked Matt. Madiza only cackled softly, before saying in a singsong tone, "Mr. B, Mr. B, Big Sister doesn't like you playing with me!" She snickered. I grabbed her shoulder and looked straight into her glassy eyes. "What are you talking about, Madiza?!" She didn't have to answer. Suddenly we all could hear a loud, creaking noise, heading straight for us.

Freegans part 7

Cara
I took a look at this girl. I kid you not, she was one of the scrawniest, most half-starved looking people I have ever seen. Her hair was white, and stood out in shocks all over her head. It looked like she had stuck her finger in an electric socket on a repeated basis. Her body type was tall and scrawny, as if instead of bones she had bits of wire covered by skin. She was also very pale, as if she had never seen the sun, or at least not in months. What interested me most was her eyes. They were a lot bigger than any eyes I had ever seen, and looked a bit like glass green marbles. On closer observation, as she gave a demented grin, I got the feeling that she didn't have many marbles up top.

"So, they finally decided to feed us! Hee hee hee hee, I've been starving down here!" she cackled, coming closer to us. She crouched down, looking Lucy in the face.
"Hmmm, you're a little scrawny, but you'll do." Then she looked at me and Matt. "Oh, I'm afraid you'd be impossible! We'd need to fatten you up! There's not enough meat to feed a mouse on you!" The girl stood up, and set the candle down on the ground by Lucy. Speak of the devil, I was really starting to feel concerned for her. She was getting the same facial expression as that of a rabbit in a trap.
"P-p-please don't hurt us," she squeaked. "We really don't taste very good."

At that moment the person who was apparently 'Ben-ben' stood up. He was of medium height, and looked slightly Native American, except for the fact that he had very intensely blue eyes. He put a hand on the girl's shoulder, in a matter that seemed to say 'Enough.' She gave him a hurt look, then said, "Oh, all right, Ben. You know best." Then she turned to us, and said, "Ben says no-no. Don't be afraid, we won't eat you."

"Then why-" Matt started to ask. I elbowed him, then whispered, "Isn't it obvious? She's not all there."
"Aren't I?" asked the girl, who evidently had really good hearing. She held out her arms. "See? I have all my arms, hands, fingers, legs, feet, toes. How can you say I'm not all here?"
"I mean...forget it. Why are you here?" I changed the subject. Her eyes got wide, and she looked furtively from side to side. She leaned towards me, and whispered, "Promise you won't tell?"
"Yeah."

"The white coats know where I went," she said quietly.
"Where?"
"Down the rabbit hole. I've been down the rabbit hole, and now I know too much.They want to keep me quiet."
I tried to hide a smile as I asked, "Is your name by any chance Alice?" She blinked, looking puzzled.
"Alice?" Then comprehension dawned on her, and she laughed. "Oh, no. Not that famous. I'm Madiza."
"That's an interesting name," said Matt.

"Isn't it?" said Madiza with a smile. "Do you know where it comes from?" We, including Lucy, shook our heads.
"Because I'm as mad as a hatter!" she cackled, grinning again. We looked at each other. Our thoughts were clear: we had been placed in a cage with a nutcase.
"Why doesn't he say anything?" I asked, pointing to the boy. I heard a gasp, and saw Lucy staring at him almost like she had been hit by a truck. I didn't understand why.
"The white coats stole Ben's voice," said Madiza. "Boxed it up and shipped it away, along with my mind. Don't let them get you too. They'll take your mind, and your soul, so you'll never get to heaven." Her eyes went wide as she said the last phrase, and she stared at us with a fixed expression. I got the feeling that she was genuinely scared. I wondered if she had a right to be.

Freegans part 6

Lucy continued
Just then we touched down on the top of a landing site by a tall building. The next thing I knew, we were being roughly dragged from the net by several big men, and dragged through a trap door and down a long flight of steps. My legs had fallen asleep during the flight, and I offered no resistance. Matt and Cara didn't do much either, probably too weak. They pulled us down, down, down, finally going through a door and into the basement. It was dark down there, and I could hear water dripping. One of the men clicked on a flashlight, and shone it in my face. I squinted, turning away from him.

"What do we do with them?" he asked. One of the others replied, "Let's put them in with the other two rats for a while. Maybe they'll finish them off and save us the trouble." They had a good chuckle over that. I was less than amused. Then one of the others got out a ring of keys, and walked over to a big cage in the corner. I hadn't noticed it before, mostly because I'd had a bright light shining in my face. He opened it, and then the guys holding us dragged us over, then threw us into the cage. I landed on my face, which really hurt, and then someone else landed on top of me.

There was a loud clang as the door slammed, and then the sound of our captors walking away, and a final slam as the door to the basement was closed. For a few seconds there was silence. Then I said aloud, "Would whoever is lying on me please get off? I'm finding it hard to breathe."
"Sorry," said Matt's voice, and then I felt the weight move. I sat up in the dark, and put out my hands, feeling around.
"Where are we?" I wanted to know. "We're in a cage, Luce," said Cara's voice sarcastically.

"I KNOW that, I just meant... forget it." It was then that I heard a sound coming from another part of the cage. It was a scraping, scratching sound, like something waking up that had been asleep for a while. There was a loud yawn, and then the sound of a match being struck. A light appeared, causing me to squint. When I could look at it, I saw that it was coming from a candle. The candle was held in a hand, attached to an arm, belonging to a person. This person was a girl. She looked at us in surprise, then suddenly gave a loud, cackling laugh.
"Wakey wakey, Ben-ben! We've got fresh meat tonight!"