Chapter 3
The man across from me fell to his knees and let out an agonized howl.
He broke down, banging his head against the wall. No matter how hard he hit it, his dead brother never opened his eyes again.
“Oh, ripe! Ripe! What a good seed. A good seed!”
An old farmer followed the noise over and peered happily through the bars.
He wore a straw hat and a white undershirt, with a towel slung over his shoulder. Carrying two woven plastic sacks, one red and one black, he deftly unlocked the cell.
The man charged him with a terrifying look in his eyes, like a lion driven to despair.
The farmer’s expression didn’t change. Still beaming, he stepped forward, gripped the attacker’s arm, and twisted. It snapped.
“Grown well. Grown well.”
Admiring him, the farmer pushed his dark, shriveled fingers effortlessly into the man’s temple.
He dug and stirred with two fingers, then gouged out a seed smeared with red and white fluids.
My stomach churned. Suddenly, I wanted to throw up.
He tossed the seed into the black sack, took out a translucent one, and pushed it into the man’s skull.
“A fine flowerpot.”
Taking the man by the neck, the farmer gave him a little swing and threw him bodily into the red sack.
I held my breath instinctively, terrified of attracting his attention.
But I had forgotten that I wasn’t alone in this cramped space—
The cellmate I had strangled unconscious chose that moment to wake.
Finding the violent person who had hurt her so close, she couldn’t help crying out.
Holding his two sacks, the farmer slowly turned his head and gave us a smile that made my blood run cold.
However hard I prayed, he still turned and came toward us.
The instant he unlocked the door, I hurled myself against it with all my strength, trying to escape. He caught me as easily as a grasshopper.
“Hmm?” His thin, sticky fingers pressed near my temple. “Where’s the seed?”
My heart lurched. Before I could react, he flung me angrily onto the floor.
“Both alive! Where’s the seed? Where did my seed go?”
I groaned inwardly. How was I supposed to know where his seed had gone?
He dragged my cellmate over. After checking her for two seconds, he let out a frantic roar.
“Neither one! Neither one! Where have you hidden my seeds?”
“We don’t know. We haven’t seen your seeds. Please let us go.”
He glared savagely at me, seized my long hair, and threw me toward the red sack.
The sack opened an enormous black mouth like an abyss and swallowed me whole.