Sallas 2: The Gilded Cage

Chapter Description: Anna and Ryan are back at home, but Anna is depressed. The Rose Resistance had failed them, and Jane was back to being regressed. It seemed like all the risks were for nothing, until Jane draws a rose in a colouring book...

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“Anna, please, you have to eat something.” Ryan said, practically pleading with his wife.

Anna didn’t respond. She was sitting on the floor in the living room and completely unmoved by the smells coming from the kitchen. Ryan bit his lip. He was getting very worried, and as much as he was trying to give Anna time and space to process everything, he also felt like he was operating close to the edge. He hadn’t slept much in the few days since they were allowed home. It was difficult to sleep when every night brought nightmare flashbacks of the daycare.

Ever since getting home, Anna had been acting… differently. The strongest woman he knew, who seemed to be able to take everything Sallas threw at her and maintain her sense of self was now on the floor and playing with toys next to Jane.

Anna wasn’t regressed, certainly not in the same way Jane had been, but she was acting in certain babyish ways that just seemed so wrong coming from her. At first Ryan had tried to get her interested in more age-appropriate activities but it hadn’t worked, so he let her do whatever it seemed she needed to do. Perhaps, even for an independent woman like Anna, there was a certain therapeutic quality in just letting go of adult concerns, if only for a little while. The problem Ryan was having was that dealing with his own trauma whilst also taking care of the two women was stretching him to his limit.

“I made this Daddy!” Jane said when she saw Ryan in the doorway. She held up the colouring book to a picture of a childishly drawn orange cat with mismatched eyes.

“Well done.” Ryan said with a half-hearted smile.

Anna looked up. She was blushing a little, but Ryan just gave her a friendly smile and turned away. He didn’t want his wife to feel bad about whatever she had to do to cope with recent events, he just hoped he’d get his old firebrand of a wife back sooner rather than later. He made his way to the doorway when he was suddenly stopped in his tracks.

“Jane? What’s that?” It was Anna.

Ryan turned back around to see that his wife had grabbed Jane’s colouring book away from her. Anna looked from the picture to Jane and then up to Ryan. She turned the book around to reveal a red rose. Jane had turned the page in her colouring book to a page that didn’t have the outline of anything to colour in, but someone had drawn a stylised red rose that looked very familiar.

Ryan and Anna turned to Jane at the same time. She seemed completely unaware of anything going on around her. With the colouring book taken away she had pulled over and a couple of dolls and was holding one out for Anna.

“Jane, what is this?” Anna asked as she held up the colouring book and pointed at the picture.

“Flower.” Jane said absent-mindedly.

“Why did you draw the flower?” Anna asked. She sounded almost manic, that if Jane didn’t tell her what she wanted to know she would suddenly leap on her and demand answers.

“Garden.” Jane replied.

Anna looked at Ryan. As one they quickly scrambled out of the room. Ryan went to the front door and stepped outside whilst Anna ran to the back. He couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary as he looked around the yard. Then he became aware of how weird it could look to other people. The last thing he wanted to do was draw more attention to himself as he backed up and went back inside.

“Ryan!” Anna’s voice came echoing down the halls.

Ryan ran past a bemused looking Jane to the back door. Anna was standing halfway down the backyard and looking at a flowerbed. Ryan quickly went to stand by her side, he looked down to see a single, very red, rose in the middle of the flowers. It was the only rose on the property as far as Ryan could tell. That specific type of flower not being particularly favoured thanks to the freedom fighters with the same name.

“What should we do?” Anna asked.

Ryan tried not to notice that this was out of character for Anna. That before the daycare his wife would’ve already been yanking the rose out of the ground. Ryan looked around. The fences were high, but if someone wanted to look in, they probably could.

“Dig it up.” Ryan said, “Just… act natural. Like you’re gardening.”

Anna bent down and gingerly touched the rose and then lowered her hands to the soil at the flower’s base. For a second, Ryan was reminded of war movies, and the characters gently checking for mines. That disappeared as Anna started to scoop dirt away. A gust of wind came by and blew up the bottom of her dress just enough to show off the bottom of her diaper, Ryan chose not to say anything.

“There’s… something here!” Anna said excitedly.

Ryan stepped closed and squatted down next to his wife. He saw, in the dirt a wooden box. Anna had to shovel more dirt away to get it out of the hole completely. Anna was growing impatient and she rapidly threw dirt to the side and pulled on the box until it came loose.

“Careful of splinters.” Ryan said.

Anna pulled on the box whilst it was still wedged. When it finally came free, she ended up falling backwards on to her padded butt. Ryan picked up the box as Anna scrambled back up to her knees in the dirt. Ryan held the box and allowed Anna to lift the lid. When she did so, her eyes went wide.

“What is it?” Ryan asked, the lid blocking his view.

Anna held up two plastic bags. One contained the phone they had been contacted by Thorn on, and the other held a whole bunch of syringes with the safety caps on.

---

It was an anxious time. Anna and Ryan were, at first, extremely paranoid that they were being watched inside their own home. They scoured the place, under the pretence of cleaning it, looking for any kind of spying devices or cameras.

“Let’s do it.” Anna had said after their second sweep found nothing.

“I don’t know.” Ryan replied. He rubbed the back of his neck, “Maybe one more run through, to make sure?”

“Ryan, we’ve looked everywhere… Twice!” Anna said with impatience, “There’s nothing here.”

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far…” Ryan muttered.

Indeed, some things had changed about the house. Whether it was for a practical joke or some other nefarious reason, Ryan’s bed had been replaced with a large crib. A reminder of exactly what would happen if he messed up again. Anna wasn’t supposed to be sharing it with him, she was supposed to be in the nursery permanently, but after their time at the daycare, neither of them had any inclination to be alone. There was more than enough room in there for both of them to cuddle up. A level of intimacy growing between them, perhaps through shared trauma or just a lot of time together.

“I’m doing it.” Anna finally said as she picked up the clear plastic bag of syringes.

Anna looked at Ryan, seeing if he would attempt to persuade her not to, but he didn’t. That was how Jane got a shot of the anti-regression drugs given to them by, presumably, The Rose Resistance. Just like the first time the drugs were administered, it still took a while for the effects to start being felt. One day, a week or so after the first shot, the three of them were sat in the living room. Jane had her head in her hands as she tried to think.

“If it’s too much we can-…” Ryan started.

“No, no… I think I remember.” Jane said.

Anna put a hand on her friend’s back as she looked up and frowned slightly. She shook her head a little, as if trying to shake off literal cobwebs in her skull. She let out a long breath.

“After you two were taken away I was left here with a couple of guards. I had to pretend I was still fully regressed.” Jane blushed slightly, “They were really lax with watching me. They left me in the nursery after dinner, in the crib. I heard a noise outside, like a scraping on the wall. I remember kneeling on the mattress and looking at the window as a hand appeared there.”

Jane paused and took a sip of a drink before sitting back again.

“I don’t know who it was, but she was dressed all in black.” Jane said, “She had her face covered. I remember just staring in fear. She looked at me and put a finger to her lips, telling me to be quiet, then she went through the door to the landing. When she came back, she had a little box with the phone and injections in.”

“Did she say anything?” Anna asked.

“The only thing I remember her saying was “Remember the rose.”” Jane said, “She came right up to the crib and said it. Repeatedly. Over and over again. Any time I tried to say anything she stopped me. She stayed there, saying the same thing to me, until we heard footsteps on the stairs. Just like that, she swept back over to the window and left.”

“Do you think it was Thorn?” Ryan asked.

“No.” Anna replied before Jane had a chance, “But it must’ve been one of her agents. They came here and hid the incriminating evidence.”

“What happened after that?” Ryan asked.

“Without the shots I felt the regression taking over again.” Jane said, “The next morning they took me to a “foster family.””

Jane shivered and Anna didn’t press the point. It didn’t seem like it was an experience that Jane wished to re-live, it was likely scarcely any better than the daycare was, perhaps even worse because Jane was on her own. Anna rubbed Jane’s back and placed her other hand on her knee.

Anna felt reinvigorated. After sinking into despair and almost losing herself, she now found that spark back in her life. Getting out of the daycare, and getting away from Mr. Sawyer, had allowed her to finally have a chance to recover. That night, she slept for fifteen hours and when she woke it was like emerging out of a cocoon, her fire re-lit and her passion ignited. That was until she went down for lunch, having slept through breakfast.

“I can’t believe you’re just going to forgive them.” Ryan said.

“I’m not!” Anna replied crossly, “But if they contact us again, I’m not going to just ignore it.”

“They left us in that daycare.” Ryan said, “If we’d gone to Finishing School that would’ve been it, and it would be no skin off their nose. No, The Rose Resistance would’ve just moved on to find some other rube to do their bidding for them.”

“That’s not fair.” Anna said. She looked at Jane who was sitting at the table and seeming to plead with her eyes for everyone to calm down.

“Isn’t it?” Ryan asked.

“What did you want them to do?” Anna asked, “When we were in there, I wished they would just roll through the wall in some armoured car and break us out, but that isn’t very realistic.”

“They’ve done bigger things elsewhere.” Ryan countered.

Before Anna could reply, Ryan stood up and left the room. Anna slumped down into a seat next to Jane. She hated to say it, but Ryan was at least partially correct. The Rose Resistance had asked her and Ryan to risk everything, and when it all went wrong, they weren’t there to help. She had to admit that she felt some bitterness towards them, but she still recognised them as her only real hope of getting out of the country.

“What’s the world like?” Jane asked, “Outside of Sallas, I mean.”

Anna looked across at her friend and smiled. It was strange to think that she was the only person, out of basically everyone she had met, to know life outside the island Sallas.

“I don’t really remember much.” Anna admitted, “I was just a little girl when I ended up here.”

Anna saw Jane look away in disappointment. It was too much for her, she had to give Jane something to believe in. Some kind of idea that the grass was greener on the other side of the fence.

“I remember feeling… free.” Anna said with a wistful smile, “Well, as free as a kid could be at least. My parents always tried to get me to explore any and all passions. They told me I could be anything.”

“So… everything’s equal?” Jane asked. It looked like the very concept amazed her.

“No.” Anna said, “At least not when I was a kid. There was no real forced separation between the sexes, but men still held the power for the most part. Things were getting better though, slowly but surely. There was no being forced to act like a child, no devotion to “your man”, you could get a job, start a family… or do neither of those things. It was entirely your choice.”

“Sounds like a paradise to me.” Jane said dreamily.

“I’ll show you that world one day.” Anna said as she reached across the table and took Jane’s hand, “I promise.”

---

The phone sat on the table vibrating. Anna, Ryan and Jane were all staring at it, no one moving a muscle.

“I should answer it.” Anna said.

“Don’t.” Ryan replied, “I told you. They’re taking advantage of your hope.”

“That hope is all I have.” Anna said, “I’d rather false hope than none at all.”

Ryan’s lips pursed. Anna could read what was going on behind his eyes. He wasn’t going to stop her, but he wasn’t going to encourage it either. It seemed like he wanted nothing to do with Thorn. Anna reached over and picked up the phone. Jane let out a small squeal of excitement, it was clear what she wanted Anna to do.

“Hello?” Anna said as she answered.

“Anna, it’s good to hear your voice.” It was Thorn. The voice was unmistakeable even through the filters designed to make it anonymous.

“After what happened, I don’t know if I should be talking to you.” Anna said.

“Listen-…” Thorn started.

“No! You listen!” Anna retorted loudly. She was looking at Ryan, wanting him to know that she wasn’t going to let herself be pushed around by The Rose Resistance, “We did what you asked of us and it nearly cost us everything!”

“It was… regrettable.” Thorn said, “Our operational security wasn’t quite everything we thought.”

“Yeah, well, it nearly cost us everything.” Anna replied, “You should know that Ryan thinks I shouldn’t even be talking to you.”

There was a momentary silence. Anna wasn’t sure if she should continue talking, perhaps Thorn wasn’t saying anything just to see what Anna did. She really didn’t have the patience for this kind of subterfuge; Anna would much rather everyone come out and say exactly what they were thinking. She shifted on her seat and her diaper crinkled. She hoped that it wasn’t picked up by the phone.

“Anna, I’m sorry.” Thorn finally said. There was another pause that seemed to stretch for a long time, “But we still need your help.”

“What’s in it for us?” Anna asked. There was laughter from the other end of the line.

“Not many people have the balls to say that to us.” Thorn said. Her good humour was edged with steel, “Is the cause of female liberation not enough anymore?”

“For me?” Anna said, “Maybe. But I can’t risk Jane or Ryan. They’ve been through enough. This place isn’t so bad, not bad enough to risk it all on a longshot.”

“Do you really believe that?” Thorn asked.

Anna didn’t answer. Everyone, including herself knew that it wasn’t true. She was willing to risk her life if it meant even the slimmest hope of getting back into the regular world. The very thought of it tortured her, the impossibility of her dreams making her heart ache. Wanting to be anywhere else in the world was the last thing she thought about at night and the first thing she thought in the morning.

“What is it you want from me, Anna?” Thorn asked when it became clear Anna wasn’t going to answer.

“I want the same thing I wanted when you first called me.” Anna answered.

“To get out of Sallas?” Thorn paused, “You’re in luck.”

“What do you mean?” Anna asked. Her eyes wide and her heart hammering.

“I mean, we want you out of Sallas as well.” Thorn said.

Anna didn’t immediately respond. She was looking at the other two people at the table, they almost certainly couldn’t hear what was being said but they could read Anna’s reactions. Anna bit her lip and waited for more information. Whether it was coincidence or not, her weak bladder emptied into her diaper, filling the silence with a soft warm hiss that she could only hope wasn’t audible to anyone else.

“You’ve become a big celebrity.” Thorn said, “Both in Sallas and outside. We want to get you out so you can spread the word of what is happening here. That’s how you could make the difference in this revolution.”

“But… how?” Anna asked breathlessly.

“It’s very risky.” Thorn said, “But we want you to make one more broadcast for Sallas.”

“Huh?” Anna frowned.

Thorn proceeded to detail a plan that sounded impossible for Anna. A plan that felt like it relied on a miracle set of circumstances to work. Thorn said that her people on the inside of the government had informed her that the next thing Anna would be asked to do was a live segment on the country’s state-owned broadcaster. If Thorn got what she wanted, things wouldn’t be going to the government’s plan at all.

“I won’t lie. Chances are the plan will fall apart. It’s all or nothing. What’s it to be?” Thorn asked.

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