“You come ta kill me?”
All the fear drains from my body and my heart sinks to the floor. The voice is soft and light. Nothing like I’ve heard from any demon, even one in disguise.
“They try ta kill me before, but I don’t die.”
I lock the door and place the key in my pocket.
“What is your name creature?”
“Ain’t got one.”
“In the name of all that is holy, speak your name.”
Pitch black eyes turn up towards me and there is a glint of light in them even in this lightless room.
“Ain’t got a name. They ain’t let us have names.”
“How did they get you into these chains?”
“Always been in chains.”
In my pouch I have a small lantern. I set it and strike my sword against a flint to light it. I kneel down and pull the creature’s wild hair back so that I can see her face more clearly. She doesn’t seem much younger than I am, but her skin… It’s black as coal.
“What are you?”
“Monster I guess. Mamma say I always had a temper. But she love me. Temper and all. But Mamma say ain’t nothin she love more than a honeybee. Guess she love the honeybee more than me cause I do bad things sometimes.”
“What kind of bad things?”
“Well. I got real mad one night and hit Massa. Don’t know why. Guess cause I’mma monster. Massa got mad at er’one. Chain us all up and take us to the river. Seem like the whole town was there ta watch. They was hittin us and spittin on us, and cussin us somethin bad. I was scared…”
I feel it again. The fear. And something else… Sadness. Regret.
ASH 9/17 
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