Shadows of the Past

The Scars She Hid From The World

REGINA MCBRIDE

The heavy iron gates of the Wilderness Correction Camp groaned as they released me after three years of state-sponsored hell. I stood on the dirt road, clutching a plastic bag that held my entire life, waiting for the family that claimed they sent me there for "rehab." My brother, Brady, picked me up in a luxury SUV only to throw me out onto a deserted highway in the middle of a brewing storm. He told me I was a "public relations nightmare" and that the rain might finally wash the "stink" of the camp off me. He drove away, leaving me to limp miles through the mud on a snapped ankle. When I finally dragged myself to our family estate, my mother didn't offer a hug; she gasped in horror because my muddy clothes were ruining her Italian marble. They didn't give me my old room back. Instead, they banished me to a moldy gardener’s shack and hired a "babysitter" to make sure I didn't embarrass them further. My sister, Kaleigh, stood there in white cashmere, pretending to cry while clinging to her fiancé, Ambrose—the man who had once been mine. They all treated me like a volatile junkie, refusing to acknowledge that Kaleigh was the one who planted the drugs in my bag three years ago. They wanted to believe I was broken so they wouldn't have to feel guilty about the "wellness retreat" that was actually a torture chamber. I sat in the dark of that shed, feeling the cooling gel on the cigarette burns that covered my arms, and realized they had made a fatal mistake. They thought they had erased me, but I had returned with a roadmap of scars and a hidden satellite phone. At dinner, I didn't beg for their love. I simply rolled up my sleeves and showed them the price of their silence. As the wine spilled and the lies crumbled, I sent a single text to the only person I trusted: "I'm in. Let them simmer." The hunt was finally on.

Modern Revenge Scheming

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"What are you going to do after the meeting today?" Lovette asked.

I pushed the hidden button on the side of the pillar, revealing a panel. Placing my hand on the scanner, I replied, "I have a ton of work that needs to get done."

"Of course you do," Aaron said, rolling his hazel eyes.

I gave him a droll stare and motioned for him to enter the newly revealed passageway. He chuckled and stepped past me. Lovette hid a laugh and followed, with Zara right behind her. I walked in after them, and the door slid shut.

"Come on, Rylan! You’re a twenty-two-year-old dark-haired beauty! You should be going out with friends and having a good time, not working every single night," Lovette exclaimed.

After the retinal scan the next panel, the door opened, and we walked through. I snorted, "As much fun as that sounds, I have to work."

"Good morning, Agent Rylan. Lovette, Zara, Aaron; it's good to see you," Logan said, scanning us to confirm our identities. The next door slid open.

"Hey Logan!" Lovette said cheerfully. "What kind of pie do we have today?" An x-ray checked for unauthorized tracers.

"I believe Miss Aria baked an apple pie today, Lovette," Logan replied, ever the polite super-computer. We reached the end of the passageway and stopped in front of a large steel door. Logan opened it, and we stepped through.

We entered a large room with metallic silver walls, cubicles on one side, and a kitchen counter on the other. A long table in the center was surrounded by chairs, some already occupied by agents. Victoria and her boyfriend, Austin, were laughing loudly. Josh and Anna were quietly chatting. An apple pie sat in the middle of the table, as promised.

Lovette, Aaron, and Zara joined the others at the table while I walked to the far side of the room toward the bathrooms and back exit. I stopped at a cage next to a door, where a bulldog was waiting.

"Hey Owen! How's it going, boy?" I asked, opening the cage. Owen ran out and jumped on me, his front paws resting on my legs. He licked my hand and sniffed my leather jacket pocket. I chuckled, pulling out a dog biscuit. "Looking for this?" He looked at me pleadingly, and I gave him the treat, patting his back while he ate.

"I just don't get it!" Josh exclaimed from the table.

I looked over to see everyone staring at me. "Get what?" I asked, confused.

"How he lets you get so close to him. If any of us try, he'll bite our fingers off!" Josh explained. To prove his point, Owen growled at him.

I shrugged, "He likes me better."

"It's more than that. It has to be," Zara stated.

I looked down at Owen, my mind racing through past memories. My voice sounded distant as I said, "It's just how we trained him."

"Who is 'we'?" Lovette asked, sensing they were missing something important.

Just then, the door to the only actual office among the cubicles opened. An older woman, around 50, walked out, wearing long flowing clothes and a braid dyed blondish-brown hanging over her shoulder. "Well, I best be off!" she said in a sing-song voice. I put Owen back in his cage and stood up. Aria walked over and hugged me. "I know how you get this time of year. Just take it easy and remember we are here for you." I nodded in response to her whispered comment. "Don't work too hard, dear," she said louder.

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