GREEN [complete]

CHAPTER 27: Sekam

There was no blood. There was never any blood.

Sekam could scratch and tear and howl her frustration, her anger, her hopelessness, but her skin always put itself back together again. Over and over. Until her hands cramped and her fingers seized and all the fight drained out of her. Her shoulders slumped and her sobs dried up. She knew her fur wasn't going to come back—she knew—and crying only brought her more humiliation.

Disgust still writhed inside her, slithering beneath her fake skin and worming its way into her bones. Her fake skin. Her fake bones. Her prison. But none of them had to know; none of them ever had to know.

In the minutes that followed her defeat, Sekam tried to put herself back together. She straightened her back, leveled her breathing, lifted her chin, and waited for the door to open.

And it did, eventually. Many minutes minutes after her tears stopped and her eyes cleared, two of the security men ushered Dylan and Bek into the room with her. They closed the door behind them, taking posts on either side of it. They barely offered Sekam a second glance, but one of them handed something to Bek. A key.

"Sekam," Bek said when she was only a few paces away. Her smile was forced.

A dark feeling skittered down Sekam's spine. Something was wrong. Dylan hung back, their hand shoved deep in their pocket and their eyes fixed on Bek. Bek unlocked Sekam's cuffs. Sekam said nothing as she drew her hands in front of her, rubbing away the ghosts that wrapped around her wrists like bracelets.

Dylan only came close when Bek retreated. They sat down next to Sekam. Then, under their breath, they said, "Bek worked for ORCTech."

ORCTech? Bek had lied.

"It's not like that." Her words fell flat; she'd already given up. "I promise. It's not like that. I wasn't—I'm not—involved in ... in any of the things that are going on now. Or anything that happened before."

"You did though," Dylan spat. "That's the funny thing. You did. And now you're trying to claim that it didn't happen by-by lying to us, by pretending that you didn't know anything about ORCTech, by ..." They sounded like they wanted to continue, but they couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Honey, I promise—"

"Your promises don't mean shit to me. Not after everything you've lied about."

"I didn't-I didn't lie."

"Yeah but, you did actually—didn't you? That's what's so great. You're lying again. Right to my face—right to our faces." Their hand bunched into a tight fist and dark spots colored their cheeks. They were furious.

Sekam didn't blame them. But there was more Bek wasn't saying, and she wanted to know what it was. "Let her explain."

"She's had enough time to explain. And she used it to lie to us. Just ... just kill her. Right here. Right now, she fucking deserves it. Do it."

"She helped us," Sekam said.

Bek took Dylan's silence as an opening to speak. "They said they'd help my babies." Worn down. Defeated. Tears brimming in her eyes. Bek hadn't mentioned having a family, but Sekam couldn't blame her, especially if they were lost.

Sekam understood the feeling all too well.

She leaned forward. "Did they?"

"What?" Bek said through a sniffle.

"Did they help your babies?"

"Oh." Bek didn't say anything else. Her face crumbled and she clamped her hands over her mouth, shaking her head. She didn't have to say anything else.