The Perfect Machine: Kingdom Of Glass (GxG

6. Let her go!

I reach out for air, breathing in the fresh breeze that blows over my face. It's been a while since I was outside. The sun was burning onto my skin, but Eden and I sit on a bench underneath a roof. Funny enough, there were cheeseboards on the tables. I try to teach Eden how to play, but she finds it complicated.

People of different ages are either training, playing ball, or just hanging around chattering. You can tell who is with who and which ones to stay away from. There is a major group behind the ball court, making fun of those who are playing, mocking them as if they are waiting for someone to throw in the first punch.

It's dreadful to realize that sooner or later, somebody can come up and assault you. It's a fear that is stuck in your chest each second of the day. You can't rest, eat, or pee without being alarmed for your life.

"Do you mind if I sit?" I recognize the voice as I turn around.

"Sure, you can," I say, friendly to the woman with the hoodie. The guard helps her to sit down and then leaves her side.

She pulls down her hoodie to uncover her head, which astounded me. Her hair is short, pushed back, and shaved around the sides and the rear of her head. She still has the band covering her eyes.

"I need the bathroom," Eden says as she leaves the table and stumbles away to the entrance.

"Do you wish to play?" I question and tilt my head as I hope she will say yes.

"That would be pleasant," She says, and I move over to the opposite side of the seat and spread out the pieces on the board.

We play peacefully as I am aware she enjoys it in that way; her moves are incredibly strategic. I think that it's odd she doesn't care for the game. However, she appears to be so well at playing it.

"Why don't you like chess? You are excellent at it," I compliment her.

"Just because someone is good at something doesn't always mean that they enjoy it," She says and moves a piece to corner my queen, and I playfully frown at her. But then roll my eyes at myself. She can't see me, of course.

"Well said," I smile as I try to figure out how to save my queen. Unfortunately, she has put me in a complicated situation now. I thought about sacrificing my horse for the queen but found no options to do so.

We continue to play and she brings down my queen eventually. I observe her movements and come to learn that to be so tall and muscular. She is quite tender with the way she moves. The stealth to her calm shifts of her body is extraordinary. I appear like a deer on the ice in comparison. Not that I have ever seen one, but it's something my grandfather used to tell me when I was a child. I was clumsy when I was younger. I ran faster than I had control and hit a few limbs here and there.

A pack of women comes towards us, which removes my concentration from the game. A lady plunks down on the seat and grins at the two of us annoyingly. Her mischievous blue eyes stare at Harlow and me as if she is waiting for someone to react to her uncomfortable behaviour.

Then the woman hits all the pieces on the chessboard away. Her friends start to grin in amusement, and I grasp my hand into a clenched fist.

"Was that necessary?" I question with a raised voice as I glare at her. Noticing her arms are filled up with tattoos as she has cut off the sleeves on her shirt.

"Yes," She smiles to provoke me, and it works. I know what she is doing, but I am still boiling. I get up from my seat, but so does the woman with brown hair.

"What are you going to do, little girl?" She taunts me. I may be short, thin, and have no muscles, but it doesn't mean I can take up a battle.

"Leave her alone," Harlow says as she stands up from her seat. She is almost a head taller than the woman in front of me, and she is a head taller than I am. The blue-eyed lady swallows roughly after seeing that Harlow is more dominating than she is.

"What are you doing to do, blind girl?" She laughs with fright. Harlow ventures forward to the lady, but I come in the middle of them before something can occur. The brown-haired woman took a few steps backwards and almost fall on her friends.

"Go away," I say to the woman, but she won't listen. I am not going to let Harlow fight; it would be unfair. To whom I do not know, it can go either way at this point. Harlow is taller and stronger, but the lack of sight might be a problem for her.

"Harlow, let's go," I advise her, but she won't move. I attempt to push her by the shoulders, but I can't even make her take a step back. Either I'm too weak, or she is simply that powerful.

"You might want to listen to your girlfriend," The woman says, and before I know it, Harlow reaches out her hand and grabs the woman by the throat.

"Harlow!" I yell as I snatch her arm to make her stop. The lady attempts to inhale and to get free from the tight grip.

"Let her go!" I shout, and it's like Harlow woke up from a trance as she moved her head to my side. Not long after she loses her grip and lets the woman go. She falls to the ground as she reaches for air and coughs a little.

"Come on," I say and take Harlow by the arm to make her follow me away from the scene. The last thing I want is to get into trouble with the guards.

"What was that?" I ask astonished. I'm a little in between if that woman deserved it or not. She was mean, yes, but Harlow almost made her take her last breath today. I might not see her eyes, but her clenched jaw exposes her anger.

"It's what I do," She tells me, and as confused as I am, I'm also concerned.

"What do you mean?" I ask baffled.

"Nothing.I am going to go," She says and I let go of her arm, and she walks awayfrom me. Not long after, a guard approaches her to help. She disappears insidethe prison and leaves me with more questions that I know are not going to beanswered.