Beasts and Savages (The Beastly Series Book 1) (12 page)

“Are you alright?” Beth’s head was floating off of her body.

I blinked. “No.” I wasn’t sure how loud I was talking. I wasn’t even sure I was speaking aloud. “No! No! No! We can’t. I can’t!”

“Ms. Corre!” Ms. Dawning’s voice came from far away.

Eyes glared at me from every direction. Ms. Dawning was still talking, but I couldn’t understand her words. I ran for the exit, knocking over chairs and people as I went.

I burst through the door and into the wall. The shock and pain stopped my spinning head. I leaned against the wall. Ms. Dawning was at the door and coming closer.

“Want to tell me what that little episode was all about?” She crossed her arms and tapped her foot, glaring at me.

“I can’t do it!” I cried as I sunk along the wall to the floor. “I can’t practice cutting out a man’s heart!”

“It’s a pig’s heart, dear, not a man’s.” She huffed, “They don’t pay me enough for this drama,” as she closed the gap between us.

“This time,” I wailed. The tears flowed freely down my face, and I wiped snot with the sleeve of my tunic.

“First of all, men are savages. Do you remember all the war and destruction ancient men caused? How many of those,” She paused, thinking of the word, “countries were led by men? Savage men that almost destroyed Earth with war, pollution, and destruction for the sake of entertainment?”

“All of them.” I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand.

“Exactly. And how many wars have we had since women have taken over the planet?” She put her hand on my shoulder, slightly digging her nails into it.

“None,” I sniffled.

“Men had a choice. They could've chosen to live among us, share in our peaceful way of life.  Instead they chose to exist like savages... Despite their primitive ideas, we still gave them places to live, medicine and means to keep themselves alive.” She pulled her hand off of me and brushed it, as if it were dirty. “Of course, we need them almost as much as they need us, so we have to sustain them. Their cost is sacrificing young men to be hunted. Ours is becoming barbaric enough to hunt and bearing their children.”

I stared at her incredulously. Men chose to live apart from women? Our society chose this way of life and called it peaceful? I wanted to scream out, “How can you call systematic killing peaceful? Because it could produce a child?” I wanted to, but I didn’t. Instead I asked, “Why do we kill them?”

She chuckled and shook her head. “Lea. Most hunted men are seriously injured or dead once mating is complete. Our reasons are twofold. First, it puts any injured male out of his misery. Second, it provides much needed nourishment to the mother.”

“Think of it this way,” She sighed. “If you knew you were going to die, would you want to be in agony for hours while you wasted away? Or would you be grateful to someone who ended your pain? If someone was carrying your child and needed nourishment to help that child grow, wouldn’t you give anything you could to make that happen?”

“I guess so.”

“Well, that’s exactly what every hunted boy does. Now let’s go back inside.” She turned me to the door and gave a slight push.

“But why do we practice?”

Ms. Dawning sighed heavily and murmured, “Seriously,” before answering me. “Your hunt is instinctual, but your instincts can’t help you do something you aren’t acclimated to. Practicing makes sure that you have the physical strength and knowledge to enable you to carry out the act. We can’t have girls panicking and hurting themselves.”

Ms. Dawning grabbed my arm and pushed me to the door. Once inside, she motioned for the girls to continue. I went back to my table and stared at the pig. Beth picked up my knife and plunged it into the pig, following the directions on the screen. She placed my hand on the handle and guided it until the knife tore a long cut into the flesh. When she was finished, she let go and I pulled my hand away, as if burned by the handle.

“What happened?” mouthed Rally from across the table.

“Later,” I mouthed back.

“At lunch,” Beth mouthed to both of us.

***

“So what happened?” Beth leaned across the table.

“I don’t know,” I lied. “I didn’t think I could handle the gore.”

“Aren’t you going to be a nurse?” Rally gave me a skeptical look.

“Yeah. I don’t know. Something about it was different. It wasn’t medical.”

“What wasn’t medical?” May plopped down next to Beth.

“We had to cut hearts out of pigs today in class. Lea freaked out about it.” Rally sighed.

“Ew.” May wrinkled her nose.

“Okay. So on to more important things. My party is only three and a half weeks away. May, are you coming?”

May pushed her food around her tray. “I don’t know,” She finally answered.

“Oh come on! I wouldn’t have invited you if I didn’t want you there!”

“You invited the twins.” May had a point.

“That was a pity invite. They can come and be rude to each other in a corner somewhere. I actually like you. Besides, aren’t you becoming a mother in February or March? Think of this as your last chance to be a kid and do something fun.”

“You make becoming a mother sound so completely alluring,” I chimed in. “One step away from dying of boredom.”

May giggled and Beth shot me a look before asking, “So then you’re coming, right?”

“I’ll ask my mother,” May finally answered. Rally and Beth squealed with delight. I gave May a knowing look. Her mother may conveniently say no.

Beth and Rally droned on about decorations and music while I was lost in my own thoughts. She would be disappointed if I missed her party, but I needed to be home early enough to prepare for my final coaching session with Mom.

“Mom said everyone has to be gone by ten. That’s plenty of time.” Beth said.

“What?” I focused back to the discussion.

“Rally asked about getting home in time before her change.”

“Oh.”

***

“Mom.” I walked into the kitchen with bleary eyes. It was early Saturday morning and I still hadn’t asked her about the party or the pig.

“Sweetie, it’s my weekend to work.” She plucked an orange from the basket on the counter and tucked it into her bag.

“I know. I just wanted to tell you something. Ms. Dawning's been making us cut out pig’s hearts. For practice.” I rushed the words as I exhaled.

“Still doing the same teachings, I see.”

“What? Why didn’t you warn me?”

“Well, I didn’t think they would still be doing it. Besides, you're to do everything Ms. Dawning asks.” Mother glanced at me. “There are consequences.”

“Mom,” I spoke quietly. “What do you mean by consequences?”

She raised her eyebrow at me. “You know it’s not always a girl’s choice whether she hunts or not. Girls have been forced into requisitions, even into surgeries.”

“How do you know?”

“Most women know. They have a friend or acquaintance that suddenly lost interest in hunting. They look the other way. How do you think conflicts within the government are solved?”

“What about after they have their babies? Why don’t women speak out then? They’ve already hunted and had the surgery.”

“They have daughters, and The Department for Fertility has a
long
memory.”

I shuddered. The happy, safe town I grew up in was not what it appeared. I didn’t feel safe here, not even in my own house. Mom wanted me to have a child and raise her here. I couldn’t bring another life into this place. I wouldn’t do it. I'd never been so sure about anything before.

I spent the entire weekend making escape plans. I wasn’t concerned about getting away. That was as simple as going on a bike ride early on a Saturday morning and slipping out of town. I was more concerned about survival once I was gone. I've never been outside of our borders. I didn’t know anything about the world. By the end of the weekend, all I'd accomplished was filling my wastebasket with crumpled papers.

***

“You going to stop by my house so we can ride over together?” Rally wasted the fluid in my syringe.

I winced as she plunged the needle into my arm. “Sure, pick you up at seven?” I was thankful that next week was the last week she would be jabbing me.

“Yes. I’m so excited! Tonight the party and next month we hunt!”

“Exciting times.” I didn’t try to hide my sarcasm, though it was lost on Rally.

Lunch was bursting with energy as Beth, Rally, and even May chattered about the party decorations, the band Beth’s mom had hired, and the rumor that the twins and a few other girls were going to sneak wine and champagne to the party.

I rolled my eyes. “Great. Just what we need: a bunch of drunken girls who have to get up by ten and get home before they change.”

“We’re allowed to drink at the feast before we hunt. How bad could it be?” Beth asked.

“Ooh, the feast. All that food!” Rally gestured at the table in front of her.