Barbie and Ken, a Modern Love Story Ch. 02

"Does he go by any other name."

"Not that I know of. I told me to refer to him as Father and he would call me Son." Kai wiped tears from his eyes. "He would bring me food and water, encouraged me to continue my training. He knew if I worked hard, I could prove to my superiors that I was strong, worthy."

"Worthy of receiving Ken's harvested parts?"

"Worthy of being made whole again." Kai flicked the lighter, holding the flame to his palm. "Through the process, I got really sick; developing cancer antibodies is a real bitch. Father gave me this lighter to divert my pain."

"How?"

The more I burn myself, the less pain I feel. It put me in control.

"I guess that makes sense."

"And that's kinda how I escaped.

"Um, what?"

Kai closed the lighter and turned to me. "My father told me you were kind. You would care for me like a mother."

"A mother?"

"I'm not a clone. I know I was a child, I lived in an orphanage, in Russia or someplace like that." Kai wiped tears from his eyes. "But I-I can barely remember."

"But you can remember. You remember a life other than Kenneth's?"

"I know what I lost, what never had, and what got replaced. But mostly

I have an archive of Kenneth's data; his childhood, his memories, his military training, and his brilliant mind."

"What about his face? Did you always look like him?"

"When I was thirteen, the people in charge of me, they broke my jaw, fractured my skull and rebuilt certain parts with metal implants."

"We're your eyes always blue?"

Kai nodded. "My eyes are my own." He closed his eyes, sobbing even harder. "Or maybe they were my mother's eyes."

"You know, I love Kenneth." My words had little context, maybe it was a question at the front of my mind. What would become of Kai if we made it to safety?

"You saw what he did to me. They changed him, he's savage, he'll hurt you."

I fell asleep holding Kai's back. It felt right, there was where I needed to be.

"What the fuck, Mom!" said a female voice, in a deep, breathy whisper. "Why is he still alive?"

"Kai is an innocent victim."

"An innocent victim?" The woman moved closer, bathing her face in the moonlight. It was Becca, she was older, maybe in her thirties, wearing camo-gear and a pack. She reached her arm back and pulled out a live rabbit. It was a calm creature, like someone's pet. "Sometimes innocent victims need to die so others can live." she snapped the rabbit's neck with her bare hands. "For tomorrow's breakfast."

I awoke to the morning sun and one very dead rabbit.

I don't know what to do. I still have my cell phone and I'm typing this out while Kai and Kenneth sleep. I just feel so stuck, the only 'help' I have is already in this cabin. There's no one else. I think the best course of action would be to head south, towards France. Hopefully, my cellphone will still work. I can only assume I'm racking up a massive amount of roaming charges.