Journal 150

I thought Cain had died long ago. I had no idea he was the leader of the Black Cobras. I could have sworn it was someone else I had seen previously. I stood there in the middle of the floor looking up at the loft. Cain was standing there looking down at me with that giant toothy grin on his face. (That face used to haunt me in my dreams.) The girl who had been tied up with the explosives yesterday stood beside him, all happy and smiling. She had Hess tied to a rope. Leading her like a dog. Cain must have had Hess beaten. She looked like the walking dead.

I was trying to think of something clever to say and at the same time hold the nausea I was feeling in check. The past I had tried to forget had suddenly rushed forward. The hunger, the cold, the abuse, and the awful things he made me do. It was an awful winter. Our resources were few and we were starving to death. I hadn’t eaten in days. Some of the other kids were already walking skeletons. I went out to search for food.

I was so hungry that I would do just about anything for a bite to eat. I ran into Cain. He had an incredible smile. I thought he was an angel sent to save my friends and me. I didn’t realize until it was too late that the smile he enjoyed showing off was hiding the face of evil.

I must have been a nice shade of green because Yates whispered for me to relax, he had things under control. I didn’t see control. Cain demanded Yates and his soldiers toss their weapons out the far window or he would blow up the room.