Page 6 of Cut Her Strings (Fractured Puppets #1)

Chapter 5

Mistaken Identity

T ime moved differently throughout my life. When I was young up until I was five, it was basically a blur of bright colors and happiness. Then once Jayce joined me, it passed in waves. The crests were the times the three of us were together when we would play and laugh and, for a moment, act like the children we were. Then the troughs would come. My sister and Jayce would shut down and they wouldn’t speak to me for weeks. I discovered later the unspeakable evil they were forced to endure.

I learned of my parent's involvement in keeping me safe by offering my sister up. That Jayce’s parents weren’t his real parents but a couple that found him and used him as a sacrificial lamb.

I noticed as I matured, and the leers became more regular, that safety was not a guarantee unless I did something myself. For a while though, I simply didn’t grasp the realities of what Jayce and my sister went through. When they shut down, I would cry and yell until they pretended everything was okay. Even then they shielded me. Everyone did. Until they couldn’t anymore.

When my teenage years hit, time passed in beats. I would have one amazing day with either Jayce or Anadil and then they would disappear. Sometimes for days at a time. When they came back, they would be visibly injured and emotionally at war with themselves. Occasionally it was worse than others. As the time passed, I felt my feelings toward Jayce grow, while simultaneously my relationship with my sister dissipated.

There were other boys around and I spent time with them as well; Julie, Matty, and even Quinn were fun to hang with sometimes, but it wasn’t the same. Jayce always made my heart beat to its own speed, he always made me feel safe.

Even back when he was the furious eight-year-old boy with his turbulent oceanic eyes, I knew we would always be connected.

Finally, a day came when I couldn’t stop at just asking the questions. I was fed up with being brushed off. I needed to get my own answers. I needed to know what was happening to Jayce and my sister. Why was I always left alone, and they came back to me a little bit more broken every time. I was sixteen at this point, half in love with Jayce and I likened my sister to an untouchable angel.

I made a plan; I took my time. I noticed a pattern and I waited a couple weeks. When the time was right, I acted.

I wore one of my sister's outfits and put my hair exactly how she always had it and when Jayce was escorted from his home by a guard, I followed. I had long since learned to live in the shadows and I did just that as I followed them to a part of the facility I was not allowed to venture. I heard the screams before I saw the cause.

“Please, I promise I will be better. I just want my mommy!” a child cried from a cracked door we passed, Jayce didn’t even flinch. I peered inside to see a boy no more than six on his knees being paddled. There were several dozen lined up in the same position down the line.

“You disrespected your country and our guard. You will learn,” the man paddling him stated. “What do we say children?”

In unison with some sobbing, they stated back, “We deserve this. We will do better.” I choked back a sob of my own.

“Filthy, the lot of you!” the man growled.

I shivered violently and stumbled past trying to catch up with Jayce as they turned a corner. I settled behind a pillar as the guard pushed him inside a room.

“Today you will fight Julian. If you win you will be given two weeks of rest. Lose and you will be punished.”

I gasped audibly as Jayce removed his shirt revealing purpling that colored his entire body. The guard whipped his head to me. I had broken the first rule of hide and seek. Always stay silent.

“Ana? What are you doing over here, baby?” The guard’s tone turned to a sickly poison as he called me by my sister Anadil’s hated nickname.

Jayce’s eyes widened as he instantly recognized me through my facade. “She was going to help me wrap my hands, sir,” he added, putting his head down in a show of mock respect.

The guard eyed me as if I were naked and the clothes were just an obstacle, he licked his lips. “It isn’t your week, but we can always make an exception.”

“Uh, I-”

“She has been feeling unwell, sir, you may want to wait until she returns to the floor.”

The guard sneered at Jayce before returning his disgusting eyes to me. Snakes slithered in my belly as I stood there, petrified.

A noise down the hall pulled the guard’s attention away. “You better come visit me soon before we find that sister of yours.”

Jayce’s head snapped back up, and he motioned for me to enter the room he was in.

The guard laughed once and shut the door, locking us both inside. I waited until I could no longer hear him retreating.

“I’m so sorry!” I cried and fell into Jayce’s open arms. “What are they making you do?” I asked the question without really wanting an answer this time. While I always imagined nightmarish images, it was nothing to what I had quickly deduced.

“It’s okay my sweet Raven, one day we will leave here and you will never have to endure these hardships.”

I continued to cry, “What happens to my sister? What are they doing to her?” I wasn’t sure I wanted the gruesome details but a part of me needed to know.

Jayce began petting my hair. “That is her story, don’t make her tell you until she is ready.”

We both jumped as we heard new footsteps down the hall.

“Listen Raven, you can’t be caught here, especially not resembling your sister. We have done our best to keep you safe. You need to hide. You still know the secret path in the walls, don’t you, my sweet girl?”

I peered up at him through glassy eyes and nodded my head.

“Good.” He turned into the room towards a dresser and moved it aside. “Quickly,” he stated.

I saw the discoloration on the wall and pushed until a small door was opened inwards, with one last backwards glance at Jayce, I jumped inside. I turned back in time to watch him shut the door, sealing me in darkness.

I heard the noise of the dresser being put back in its place as the door to the room was pushed open.

A new person entered the room whose voice I did not recognize. “We need an answer. This will take time to put into motion and we need to know soon,” the masculine voice stated.

“Not-” Jayce was cut off.

“It’s getting closer, you need to decide. You and Night are either with us or you stay with that girl,” the voice snarled.

Who was Night? Was I the girl? And what about what the guard said prior? Why was he fighting our friend Julian? What did they do with my sister? I had gone on this trip for answers, but now I had even more questions and a pit in my stomach. Could I even handle the full truth?

With no other option and tears still in my eyes, I used my hands to guide myself back to my home. It took longer than usual, as I was not familiar with this section, but eventually I found the familiar exit that ended in my closet.

I was a ghost, a shadow, and because of that, I was safe.

For now.

This time when I awoke, salty liquid dripped down my face and the ocean’s depths stared down at me.

“Jay,” I moaned.

“It’s okay, sweet girl, I have you.” He gathered me into his arms, placing a kiss on the top of my hair.

I hadn’t cried for quite some time, and I did not want to unleash years of emotions now while we were still here. Trapped.

“Where are we?” I asked, pulling myself together and out of Jayce’s arms. This wasn’t the same boy that would keep me safe no matter the cost. In fact, maybe he never was. I felt the typical numb facade wavering the longer I was in Jayce’s presence. He brought out a side of myself I had kept firmly buried in the last five years. I hadn’t allowed myself to grieve or to truly accept the reality of the life I lived as I worked for my Faction.

I distracted myself from the turmoil of emotions pulsing through my body, by examining my surroundings. We appeared to be in an apartment, and I was on the coarse carpeted floor of a living room. They’d changed my clothes again. I now wore silk pajamas. An unpleasant crawling feeling extended over my skin. The thought of being touched while unconscious brought forth an entirely different slew of memories. I subconsciously stroked my left wrist. Jayce followed the movement and while his eyes darkened at the scars, he did not question me, for which I was grateful.

I wasn’t sure if I would ever be ready to speak into life the evil that was Ivan or what being in his clutches had led me to try to do. To finally give up.

“Our lodgings.” Jayce grimaced. “I hadn't had a chance to look around yet, but I’m not sure that we are alone.”

Almost as if on cue, a door to the left whipped open.

There stood 182; he examined us, quirked an eyebrow and turned his head. “Found our roommates y’all!”

The twins popped out behind him, a sizable smile forming on 173’s face, but 174’s lips remained a tight line.

“Well, just our luck, the smart girl.” 173 laughed while walking into the room, passing us and settling on a couch to my left. His intense rusty hair was no longer pulled back, instead it hung shaggily around his face. His mask, collar, and bandage were still in place, but now he wore similar silk pajamas to mine, the number 173 stitched across the chest and back.

“Brother, she might just give you a run for your money.” 173 waggled his eyebrows at 174. The two were incredibly difficult to tell apart by their appearances, but their countenance told a different story. 173 was clearly the easygoing one.

174 pushed past 182 and looked down at me with a sneer. “Doubtful.” He then plopped on the couch with his brother.

I sat up and mentally stitched myself together. I separated further from Jayce and gestured around. “Do you know what this is?”

182 walked further into the living room and sat on the armchair near me. “Well, pretty lady, it appears our home for the foreseeable future. We checked all the rooms while you two were still out. They’re all clear. There’s a bedroom for each of us and even a lock on ‘em for our safety .” He laughed humorlessly at the word.

I raised an eyebrow at Jayce trying to convey my thoughts without words. Friend or foe? Jayce gave a small incline. Friend it was.

I stood, brushing myself off, and dragged Jayce with me. Very unhurriedly, I walked to the loveseat on the other side of the twins and across from 182. I tugged Jayce down with me and made a show of placing my hands on my lap, face up. I nodded at Jayce to do the same.

The three men eyed us speculatively almost unsure of what had just happened.

“I get the feeling that y’all two know each other pretty darn well. I also imagine you both have some interesting pasts,” 182 stated.

Jayce’s eyebrows drew together in sadness, and I lightly bumped his shoulder with mine in reassurance.

“For people seeking revenge, you both seem mighty calm,” 174 murmured, watching us both with eagle eyes.

174 and 173 exchanged a look and 182 watched the pair guardedly.

“I could say the same to you three.”

174 turned bitter eyes towards 182. Interesting.

“Revenge doesn’t keep me alive,” I stated. All three men turned aggrieved eyes to Jayce. Before they could get the wrong idea, I continued, “And I think they might have gotten the wrong person.” It was beginning to seem more and more like my sister had been the one they had wanted, unless it was her that Sponsored us. That would make sense too. “All I request is a chance to explain before you all react.”

The three men stared in silence. I felt around on my mask, I found what I had noticed on the other men’s masks. The latch on the back that was locked shut prior, now opened easily. I took a chance. Jayce didn’t seem to understand until I reached back with both hands to remove it.

“Ra- no!”

As the mask fell everyone jumped up as if to lunge at me. Jayce leapt from his seat and stepped in front of me. “Let her explain.” He turned to me. “I would like to know, too.”

I didn’t blame the men. When looking at the face of the previous, assumed leader of the Resistance, the woman who bombed an entire Government facility, killing innocents and the reason this reality game had the traction to start in the first place, I would be irate too. She ruined everything.

“My name isn’t Nightingale,” I stated plainly.

“Bullshit! We saw you. We know what you did!” 174 snapped out.

I, too, was furious when I realized my sister, Anadil, had lied to me. I didn’t know that my sister was the notorious Nightingale until she was stabbing me as our country watched in person and through their screens. It was a pivotal point. The entire day and late into the evening was broadcast live. She stated she represented the Resistance, that they would take control of this country. That nothing would get in the way of their mission, including her own flesh and blood. Then she stabbed me and bombed the entire Government facility for good measure. Stating it was for the greater good. All it did? Cause most of the Resistance to have to go further into hiding, to restart everything over from scratch. The three Factions held steady, but at what cost? Even five years later, our numbers were nowhere near what they had been. She single-handedly crippled a movement that was years in the making.

Right before she pushed the knife into my stomach she told me why. She wanted her revenge. On me, for being safe while she was forced to endure daily cruelties. And on any and everyone that was involved in those cruelties. She didn’t care about the collateral damage. That she killed others that went through the exact same traumas she had endured.

I was barely coherent when the bomb went off, but I heard about the deaths in detail when I awoke from my coma. Our parents were among those that were confirmed dead.

I wasn’t quite sure where to begin telling this incredibly tortuous memory, so I just did. “My name isn’t Nightingale,” I stated again. “It’s Raven and I am her younger sister. The one she tried to kill.”