Among the Betrayed

CHAPTER SEVEN

By morning Nina was thinking about a fairy tale. But this time it wasn't one about a beautiful princess falling in love with a handsome prince. It was "Rumpelstiltskin."

I'm like the miller's daughter, Nina told herself.

The king told her she had to spin straw into gold or die. Given that choice, of course she didn't speak up and say, "Oops, sorry, I can't do it. Kill me." I'm not going to say that, either.

But the miller's daughter wasn't supposed to hurt anyone else. She was just supposed to do something impossible, not wrong.

What Nina was going to do was definitely wrong.

Maybe these other kids will be horrible and nasty, and I'll be glad to betray them, Nina thought.

Maybe they deserve it.

She couldn't make herself believe that.

Nina was still sitting wide awake in the dark when she heard the door of her jail cell scrape open. A guard came over and yanked on her arm.

"Come on with you," he snarled.

"The handcuffs — I'm chained," Nina protested. "I'm chained to the wall."

The guard swore and kicked her in the stomach. Nina doubled over in pain.

This was how the Population Police treated people who worked for them?

The guard stalked out of the jail cell and came back moments later with a key. He unlocked the chains on the wall, then jerked Nina to her feet. Nina hadn't stood in two days. Her legs felt stiff and useless beneath her.

"Come on\" the guard commanded, pulling on her arm.

Nina stumbled after him. They went down stairs and through long corridors, past dozens of barred doors. Nina wanted to peek in some of them, but it was too dark, and the guard was rushing her too fast. They descended a final set of stairs, and the air got clammier. Nina tripped and fell, and her bare knee touched standing water before she could right herself. She ran her fingers along the stone wall, and it was moist, too.

They were in the basement. Maybe it was even a cave.

They reached yet another door — this one solid wood— and the guard gripped her arm tighter. With his free hand he unlocked the door, then propelled her forward.

"And if you make any more trouble, you'll get even worse!" he yelled as he released his grip on her arm. Nina flew forward, landing in a heap. The door slammed shut behind her.

"Hello?" Nina called tentatively. She peered into the darkness around her but couldn't make out anything. For all she knew, the walls could be inches from her nose, or miles away. "Hello?" she called again. "Is anyone there?"

There was a rustling off to her right. Nina wondered if it was just rats or mice, and this was all a cruel trick. But in the next second a match flared in the darkness, and someone whispered, "No, I've got it…."

And then a candle glowed. In the dim light Nina could make out two — no, three — faces. These were the kids Nina was supposed to betray. In horror she cried out, 'Are any of you older than five?"