“I see you’re waking up,” he mumbles, smiling. “Well, you’re all checked up and pregnant indeed. Finally.”
“Why …” I mumble back, hoping I can finally make the words I want to say come out of my mouth. “Why m-me?”
“Why you?” He laughs. “We already went through this. My son chose you. How? With pictures, obviously. But you know this. You’ve seen them. Why are you asking me again?”
“How d-did … you f-find me?” The words feel like they’re stuck in my throat.
“I already told you I was keeping my eyes on you. You were one of the candidates, and when he picked you, I went to your house and pried open the lock. It wasn’t that hard. Wasn’t the first time I’ve done it either.”
I don’t even care how he got in. All I can focus on is that one word … Candidates. That must mean all the girls on the pictures were supposed to get pregnant too. Did he pick us because of our disability?
“It doesn’t matter. What does matter is this baby inside you. It will grow up here, and you will stop trying to escape, or I will make all your lives a miserable hell.”
But he said that if he had what he wanted I would be free again.
“What?” I mumble. “B-but you s-said …”
“I said if you behaved … but you did not. You and Cage betrayed me.” He grabs my arm, squeezing so hard it hurts. “You think you’re the first who tried? Think my son is going to run off with you? Like he could live in the outside world? Bullshit,” he growls. “Cage isn’t my first experiment.”
Experiment. Not the first.
I’m overwhelmed with information that I can’t place.
“F-first?” I ask.
“Yes,” he says with a smug smile on his face. “I had another son.”
Another son. Cage has a brother?
Accompanying Song: “Moira And June Escape” The Handmaid’s Tale
“B-brother?” I repeat, shocked.
“He was the first to grow up in that same cage, and I gave him everything he needed. Everything he could ever want. When he was good, I’d let him go out into the real world as a reward. First, just a couple of minutes to look around and then hours to see the cities. Then days to explore, but I always told him to stay away from the people. Soon, it became a week. I even taught him how to drive because he kept asking me to.” He snorts. “I didn’t care as long as he fought the fights I wanted him to fight. I should’ve stopped myself and him before it was too late. Now he’s … gone. I haven’t heard or seen from him since the day he escaped.”
Cage had a brother … who was out of the compound … but came back?
It’s too much information to process in one go. I don’t even know why he’s telling me this, but maybe he feels like it’s his duty to inform me … now that he’s decided he’s going to keep me.
“He was a good son and listened to me in ways Cage can’t seem to do. Although he wasn’t great socially, he was very smart. He was born much earlier than Cage was, and I kept them away from each other. But he had a taste of the real world, saw what it had to offer, and he wanted more.” He chuckles as if it’s funny, even when it isn’t. “Do you think Cage would ever be satisfied with his cell knowing what was out there? Of course, not. And you want to repeat all that with Cage?” He shakes his head. “I’m not going to make the same mistake.”
“M-mistake?” I mumble, trying to make sense of it all.
Cage never mentioned a brother. Maybe he doesn’t even know he exists.
Graham creepily smiles at me. “The outside world, honey. It was a forbidden fruit. Something he could almost grasp … but never taste.” He sighs. “Which is why Cage can never go outside.”
Graham turns around, sliding his chair toward his desk again, and he leans over as if he’s contemplating something. It’s silent for a few seconds, and I wonder what he’s doing. He’s … looking at something in his hands.
“What h-happened?” I ask.
When he turns around, I catch a brief glimpse of the thing in his hand. My heart stops, and my lungs forget how to breathe for just a moment.
It’s a picture of a man.
The same man … who killed my sister.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Accompanying Song: “Fall Into Me” by Alev Lenz
Ella
“He … ran away from me and never came back,” Graham says, but I can’t focus on anything he says.
My ears are ringing. Voices in my head screaming at the top of their lungs.
“After he killed a little girl too,” Graham mumbles.
Little girl.
My sister.
“Well, I assume he was the one who killed her. I don’t know what happened. I wasn’t there. I just saw the ad in the newspaper asking for tips on the killer along with a sketch of him. But I know in my heart he never meant to kill her. He was always just looking for someone to talk to. Like a pet.”