Posted on 08/08/2019 by oswiniarty
Categories: Fiction
When she was five years old, her teacher explained why she was locked in the cage. He told her about how the cat of the Zodiac was tricked by the rabbit, and how because of that, the cat’s soul became warped and violent. How the whole family was scared of her because the cat’s spirit doesn’t have a kind reputation.
She’d countered by saying that she was only five, she couldn’t hurt anyone. And the cat’s spirit was always kind to her, so how could he be mean to anyone else?
Her teacher had just laughed and told her to wait a couple more years before saying that still.
It was the first time she’d realized that her teacher, too, was scared of her.
She was five and a half when the abuse started. The rabbit yelled at her through the barred window of her cage - called her all kinds of bad names.
She was thirteen when she first felt true rage.
She was thirteen when she was out of her cage for more than five minutes.
She was thirteen when one of her fellow Zodiacs got bold and pulled her bracelet off.
She was thirteen when half of the Zodiacs almost died.
She was thirteen when they decided to never let her out of her cage again.
She was sixteen when her teacher finally helped her escape, but at the cost of, presumably, his own life.
She was sixteen when she scrounged up enough money to fly to America, passport in hand and hardly anything else.
She was sixteen when she found her best friends in New York, and they accepted her no matter her curse.
She’s eighteen now and sitting on a roof in a place that had always felt more like a cage than a home.
A door slams below her, and she jumps, startled out of her thoughts. Her heart pounds as she stands carefully, trying to be as quiet as she can.
Someone shouts - “Have you seen her? Hoshiko!” - and she wishes she didn't know the voice.
She leaves the roof she was lounging on, headed to a more secluded part of the compound.