Subject R - ON HOLD

chapter 9

I peek up at Subject R and nearly laugh out loud. His eyebrows are up so high his forehead is all wrinkles. He looks like he doesn't believe what he's seeing. I can't help but a smile at his reaction. He's so cute when he's surprised... And then something else hits me. Maybe he's never seen nuts, or a nutcracker before?

The question buries itself into my mind. He hadn't seemed to surprised by any of the food the others had brought in. The only thing he'd really given the hairy-eyeball was Winter's pudding (which doesn't surprise me, it was tapioca, and ew!). Were there not nuts or whatnot where he was from? What could it be like where he's from?

My curiosity completely overcomes me now.

As terrified as I am of Subject R, I know now that there is really nothing that will keep me from him. I know too much now, I'm in too deep.

Looking up at him again, I see how curious he is himself, with the slightest amount of suspicion. I give him an encouraging smile, and then take what I think is an almond and put it in the nutcracker. Almonds are easier to crack and I only need one hand. It splits open quite neatly and I take the nut from inside and pop it in my mouth.

As I chew I give him a kind smile, then cautiously hold the nutcracker out to him.

He studies me for a few seconds, obviously deliberating. His ice-berg eyes study the silver nutcracker intently, and then he looks at me. There is suspicion in his gaze. He takes a deep breath, his eyes never leaving mine. He begins to slowly move his arm, to take it from me, but as he does I can see a frightening promise steeling over in his gaze.

He will kill me if this object isn't what I'm portraying it to be.

I don't know how I know this. I can just suddenly feel it, feel the resolve and harsh intent as if I were the one promising to do the killing. Yet I know that they aren't my feelings. My feelings are separate; baffled, stunned, terrified. Somehow, from one long glance into his pale blue eyes I just know that if the nutcracker is not what I'm silently telling him it is, if it hurts him or the like, I will die. I know this as clear as day as if he'd told me.

I'm completely frozen with shock and fear when he takes the nutcracker from my hand.

Still utterly bewildered and frightened by what just happened, I watch him look at the little silver machine. It's barely even a machine, just two twin pieces of metal with grooves on the inside, attached at their heads by a small gear that allows it to open and close. Subject R seems to wait for it to do something, then clenches it together, still studying it.

Ohmygodohmygod what the HELL just happened?! I scream at myself. My heart is pounding it out at a mile a minute and my body feel clammy all over. Did that really just happen? Did I somehow just understand something from his eyes? No...I must be crazy...I'm imagining things...but...

I flinch when I sense him move towards me, and Subject R stills. He looks at me and I see the cruel promise gone from his eyes. He grins at me, cutely, and then carefully picks up a walnut. He holds it up close to his eyes and spins it around, studying. He sniffs it. Then he carefully puts it into the nutcracker, but it falls out.

I shake myself from my terror - still confused as hell though - and try to be attentive. He picks up the walnut again, and looks between it and the nutcracker. He looks at me and I give him what I hope is another encouraging smile, and he gives me this cutesy little grin back.

He looks at the nutcracker once more, then the walnut, and suddenly cracks the walnut in his fingers!

I gape at him for a few seconds, stunned. He pinched that walnut like it was a little grape! Pieces scattered all over the place and then he frowned down at them, and slowly started scooping them into a little pile. Snatching up a larger piece of walnut, he sniffed it once, and then put it into his mouth and ate it.