Alicia looked nervous. “S-Serena, nobody's killing anybody.”

“Yes. Not kill Sir,” insisted Chase. “Look taste but not kill.”

“Why not? It's like I told you...I became a monster to make my squad win,” said Serena. “I have no illusions about the wrongs I've committed. I realize what I am and what I deserve. If you decide it's safer to kill a monster than turn it loose, then so be it. That's the risk I took, I guess.”

Her eyes watered. Her makeup was already washed off, so there wasn't any damage to be done. “And the sad part is...it was all for nothing. I did a horrible thing...I became a monster...and I couldn't even make us perfect. I thought if I made us perfect the sacrifice would be worth it. I could handle being a monster if it meant being perfect. But I did it for nothing. Don't you see? I did it for nothing.”

Lindsey pointed at her. “Oh, shut up. Don't go feeling sorry for yourself and acting guilty,” she accused. “You're only sorry because you got caught.”

“Lindsey...” said Caitlin gently.

But Serena looked up at Lindsey and gave a wan smile. “I suppose that's true,” she admitted. “I'm sure I'd still be controlling my squad right now without any reservations, had you not intervened. But you did, and you beat me. That does change things. You wouldn't have beaten me if I was the leader I thought I was. You wouldn't have beaten have been me if I was flawless.”

She turned her eyes to Alicia. She observed her in silence, one captain to another. The smile didn't leave her face. Alicia could almost see the thoughts swirling behind Serena's calm eyes. “They should have a captain who's flawless. They should have someone who can make them perfect,” Serena said finally. “I see now that that isn't me. Therefore, I don't deserve to be their captain. If you're not going to kill me, I'll have to resign. Maybe I'll just quit the squad altogether. That might be easier.”

“And we're supposed to just take your word on that?” asked Lindsey skeptically.

“My word on it?” asked Serena. Some of her despondence eroded as her tone became amused. “I'm not trying to convince you of anything. Do what you need to do.”

She looked back out at the river, smiling to herself. Then, a hollow, oddly hysterical laugh burst from her that made them all jump. “You control MY fate, now.”

The Sunnycrest cheerleaders watched her for a second, then looked at each other, clearly conflicted. “We did break her patch,” Alicia pointed out.

“She could just build another one,” Lindsey argued.

Caitlin pointed out, “She'd be starting from scratch.”

“She did it once before,” was Lindsey's answer. “There's no way we can let her go, you guys. We can't. She might be acting all helpless and defeated, but just look at her. This chick is fucking crazy. She could wake up tomorrow and decide the right thing to do is try again. Right, Chase?”

Chase looked at Serena. Tried to get a read on her. If they let her go...what would she do? No matter how she looked at it, it seemed foolish to trust her. “Sir is cheer,” said Chase helplessly.

“If we let her go, we're turning her loose on her poor helpless friends again. Can we really do that?” posited Lindsey.

“What's the alternative?” Alicia wondered.

There was movement at the edge of the woods. People were emerging from the forest. The other Paranske Falls girls, looking very confused. Upon spotting Serena, the disoriented, ragged squad made their way over to them.

“Jeez, waking up in the woods...we must have been WASTED,” one of them commented.

“I don't remember going to a party last night,” said another one. She looked at a third cheerleader. “Do you?”

“I don't remember ANYTHING,” she replied, rubbing the spot on her head where Chase knocked her out. “I've got a hell of a hangover though. Damn.”

The first one to reach Serena put a hand on her shoulder. “What about you, Serena? Do you remember-” She saw Serena's face, then quickly dropped to one knee by her side. “Oh my god! Serena! You're bleeding! A TON!”

Instantly Serena had her whole squad fretting over her injury. The Sunnycrest girls stood back and watched, unsure what to do, feeling slightly sick. These cheerleaders had no idea what the girl they were so worried about had done to them.

“Did you bash your head on a rock or something?” asked one of the girls, helping her up to her feet. She laughed. “Damn, what the hell HAPPENED last night?”

Serena looked at the Sunnycrest girls, then down at the ground. “I don't know,” she lied.

“We'd better get you to a hospital,” worried one of her squadmates. “You might need stitches.”

“No. Give me a break, I'm fine, you guys,” said Serena, recovering her cool, collected front. She wiped her teary eyes and her sleeve came away bloodstained. “It's not as bad as it looks. It doesn't even really hurt. I'd honestly just rather be alone for a while, if that's-”

“Don't be silly, Serena. C'mon, hurry,” said one of them, as she and a couple others led her away. “Geez, you always act so tough and unflappable...You don't fool anybody, you know.”

…............

Director Abraham raised his hand. Agent Wohr tapped a button on the keyboard, pausing the video. An overhead view of Chase and her squadmates watching the Paranske Falls girls was frozen on the wall-mounted screen.

Wrist planted on his desk, the seated Abraham absently rolled a two ball forward and backward with his pointer finger. His blinds were open, and the ball's solid blue color looked brilliant and vibrant in the midday sun.

“The footage you've just watched was gathered yesterday,” he said. “You can see, I'm sure, why the cannibal girl is of interest to this program.”

Standing rigidly in the center of his office, facing the display screen, was a black-haired young woman. Her brown eyes stared unblinking at the screen, and her pretty, tapered face showed no visible reaction to what she saw. She subjected Chase to the kind of silent, emotionless scrutiny one might use to pick out a good melon at the supermarket or guess how many beans are in a jar in order to win a prize. Hanging at her side was a sheathed katana.

“Yes,” the girl said. “I see why she is of interest.”

“And why is that?”

“She is strong.”

“Strong, and...?”

The girl did not look at him. Her eyes remained fixed on Chase, considering the problem placed before her. “The cannibal girl is strong. I see no other attributes of interest to this program.”

Director Abraham smiled. He glanced at Agent Wohr, standing by the door. The smile wasn't returned to him. Wohr had never felt comfortable around their guest. “Do I detect a hint of jealousy?”

“No. I do not speak or act based on such emotions,” said the girl evenly. “I merely state a fact. The cannibal girl is strong. But she spared the other girl's life when it was not necessary. In that sense, she is also weak. Emotionally weak. It is my perspective that she is incompatible with the program's aims.”

Director Abraham stopped rolling the ball. Then, he snatched it up in his hand with a laugh. “I sometimes forget how young you are.” He gestured at the screen. “You've read her file, yes? You know she has the capacity to kill. She has it in spades. Solids or stripes, Agent Han?”

“That question, as always, is irrelevant to the matter at hand, and any answer I could give would be equally so.”

Smiling at this, Director Abraham said, “Do you see those girls she's with? The ones in the same uniform as her?”

“Yes.”

“She's been with them for about two months now. She was a savage two months ago, a person who thought less of killing her fellow man as you or I would think of hunting a quail. That one she was fighting...I'm not sure exactly why they were involved in such a tussle, but two months ago the cannibal girl would not have let her walk away.” Director Abraham gave a nasty smile. “Perhaps she'd be heating up the leftovers as we speak.”

Agent Han kept her cold eyes on the screen, unblinking. Director Abraham went on, “But two months living under the influences of these well-meaning civilians has changed her immensely, made her doubt fundamental aspects of herself that had been formed over the course of her entire lifetime. Do you know what that means?”

Agent Han thought about it for a long while. “I do not,” she conceded.

“It means she's impressionable,” said Director Abraham. He rolled the ball between his fingertips. “And impressionable people can be molded, by those who know how to do it. No...I believe that when all is said and done, she will be a perfect fit for this program.”

Agent Han gave Chase once last look, then turned to face Abraham's desk. “Your orders are to bring her in alive. Alive. You are also to do it discreetly. You of all people know the level of secrecy we must maintain.”

“Yes.”

With an approving nod, Abraham dropped the ball back in the ball rack. “Take a few days off to refresh yourself on her file. You leave on the thirty-first.”