The Pearl

Stage 28: We're All Good People Here

They throw me into a dim lit room with dusty floors and what seems to be a bed in the right corner that had been stripped of all bedding. The mattress laying on the bed's frame resembles a slab of gray wood more than it does a place where I am to sleep. There is nothing else in the room besides a paper and pen lying on top of the mattress.

"I can handle it from here," Zach mutters to the other guards. The Creator, however, stays. "Um, sir, I can handle her from here. I need to have a word with her."

"And you don't think I don't? She killed my daughter!"

"Yes sir, I know. But may I speak to her first? Please?"

He pauses to consider Zach's request. "I suppose that I will take longer than you, and I don't want to keep you waiting of course. You need to tend to other things as well."

"Thank you."

The Creator leaves muttering things under his breath. I hear the creaky door close, and feel Zach's eerie presence behind me.

"We're in the basement of the castle," Zach rambles, "which explains the run-down state of everything. However, that doesn't mean that we can't keep an eye on you. We have technology hidden all over this room. Don't try anything."

I snort accidentally. "I don't think you should tell me you have secret cameras watching me in here. That defeats the purpose, don't you think?" He frowns, unamused.

"Anyway, you know why I'm here."

"It couldn't be because you want to sleep with me in that thing that's supposed to be a bed." Why am I acting so bold right now? I bite my lip hard. I see Zach stare at me incredulously for a few seconds, his eyes straying from mine for a millisecond.

"Pardon?"

"It was nothing." I shield my face from him with my hair; thank goodness it's long. Zach raises an eyebrow at me, and the side of his lip is twitching with a smirk - not that I was paying that much attention, of course.

Damn, why did he have to be handsome? It would be easier to hate him if he looked mean and evil like the creator, but he just looks like a normal guy who's supposed to be going to college. Although, there is fire in his eyes burning with his hatred of me. That tends to bring a guy down a few notches in my book.

"Why did you do it?" he whispers. He's standing too close to me, so I approach my bed and take a seat.

"She was possessed, Zach," I say sadly, "And she was going to kill Jett, Manda, Mura, and I. I'm sorry, but I can't have four lives taken rather than having one." I cringed at the words that came out of my mouth, even though they had been the truth. Zach notices this.

"I'm sorry."

"Why?" I ask, the pitch of my voice skyrocketing.

"This has probably been a big blow on you too. I just - Lil was practically my sister. I was closer to her than to the rest of the girls. I'm just in shock and denial mostly right now."

"Sorry," I say hoarsely. He nods. "By the way, who was that man who was trying to kill me? The one with the pale face and severely angled eyebrows?"

"We hired him to...control Lil whenever she had one of her moods. She missed Stina and Lyn a lot. But, the Creator needed her for certain things, so if she wouldn't comply, we made her." A strangled sob leaps from Zach's mouth, but there weren't any tears on his cheeks. "I know that sounds terrible. I'm sorry. Oh my god," he looks upwards, "I'm so, so sorry Lil. Fuck."

Should I hug him? Initiate a pat of support? What do I do?

I settle for the pat.

"Um, thanks. This is so unproffesional, great."

"I won't tell anyone if that's what you're thinking," I say with a playful lilt. He grudgingly manages to smile at me.

"I know you killed her by accident," he says sourly, "and I will despise you forever for tha-"

"Forever's a really long time," I point out. He simply rolls his eyes, his lips turning up ever so slightly.

"And I will despise you forever for that. But, other than that, you're not that much of a monster."

"I don't need your approval."

"Of course not. I'm just letting you know."

For once, I felt unafraid, bold, and brave. All because I didn't need a backstabbing boy's approval. The smallest of actions change one's state of mind more than you would think.

"By the way, can I punch you? The Creator may be weirded out if he doesn't see you hurt or something since he knows that I'm pissed about what you did."

"Hit me with your best shot."

Zach punches me, although we both knew it wasn't his hardest. I grazed my fingers over the area that had been punched, and it felt as if nothing had happened.

"I said hit me with your best shot."

"Keilani, there's a bruise. It's fine."

"You want to punch me. I know you do. Do it." I close my eyes, waiting for the blow. I wait too long, so I slowly open one eye. Zach is cradling one hand in another, staring at me with some strange expression, as if he couldn't believe my nerve.

"Well?" I ask.

"You're right. I do want to punch you. I want to punch you so hard that all your teeth fall out and your cheek becomes disfigured." He pauses. "But you know what? I'm not going to, because I'm not the Creator, and if Lil were here, she'd hate for me to hurt you. It's sick, disgusting, and undeniably wrong, no matter how much I believe it to be right."

I grin at him. "You're a good person." He scoffs.

"It's like you would've never assumed so."

"I wouldn't, since you were the one that had stabbed me in the back and probably sent that crazy madman to kill me."

His eyes harden. "I didn't do that. I don't kill. Not to people like you, anyway."

My eyebrows raise suspiciously. People like me?

Zach opens the door, and while looking behind his shoulder, he says, "People who protect who they love, who never leave their friends no matter how much they want or need to."