Ravensborough by Christine Murray

of my neck that I sometimes got when things didn’t feel right. The guys were around my age, in jeans and dark jackets. Their faces were grim and they walked with purpose. For some reason I couldn’t explain I kept my eyes on them as they walked away from me and Mei. There was something about them that I found compelling, though not in a good way.
    They walked up to a man who was getting out of his car. In a few seconds, one of them produced a flick knife and stabbed it into the man’s abdomen.
    I stared, stuck to the spot. My mind was struggling to comprehend what it had just seen. I didn’t know how the knife had managed to make its way through the layers of padding of the man’s heavy jacket, but it must have done, because when the attacker pulled out the knife its glinting surface was marked with thick, fresh blood.
    Some distant part of me was screaming at me to run, to get away before these men turned on me. The rest of me was paralysed, unable to get away. I was dimly aware of the screeching sound of a siren getting closer, but it was still a surprise when a police car shot into the street behind the men. The gang turned and ran, one of them hitting me full force and sending me sprawling to the ground. I felt a dull pain in my cheek as I landed.
    ‘Scarlett, are you ok?!’ I heard Mei cry from above me. From the ground I saw the policemen pursuing the gang, and heard of one of them radioing for an ambulance.
    ‘It’s ok, tell them I don’t need an ambulance,’ I said to Mei as I sat up.
    ‘The ambulance isn’t for you, it’s for the man who was stabbed!’ Mei said holding out her hand to pull me up.
    ‘Oh,’ I said feeling foolish.
    ‘Are you ok?’ she asked, giving me a concerned look. ‘That was some knock you got there.’
    ‘I might have a few bruises in the morning, but that’s about it. What was that about?’
    A police officer came over and tapped me on the shoulder. ‘Sorry miss, one of the men knocked you over as they escaped, is that right?’
    I nodded.
    ‘Can I take your name please?’
    ‘It’s Scarlett Edwards.’
    ‘You’re not from around here?’
    ‘I moved here from Ireland a few weeks ago.’
    ‘Affiliation?’ he asked.
    ‘I’m only here a few weeks, but my mother’s fiancé is a Rationalist,’ I answered, my fingers seeking out the side of my face which was beginning to really hurt.
    ‘What about you?’ The officer turned to look at Mei.
    ‘Mei-Zhen Miller, Rationalist.’
    ‘Ok, I’m going to have to take you both down to the station and take witness statements from you.’
    I rang Mum on the way home and tried to explain what had happened. She started panicking, and kept interrupting me, thinking that I’d actually been involved in the stabbing itself. Once I’d got her to understand that I’d just been knocked over as the gang got away, she was too worked up for me to calm down. She said she’d come straight down to Bessborough police station to collect me.
    They brought me in to an interview room where I gave my statement to the police. They were disgruntled that I had no official Avalonian identification, and therefore no identification number. I promised to get one as soon as I could.
    When they had asked all their questions, a female officer walked me out to the front desk to wait for my Mum to arrive.
    ‘What was the attack all about?’ I asked. I was feeling innocent and naïve, but I couldn’t work out what justified that kind of violence.
    The police woman sighed. ‘It was an FPL attack we think. The victim was a Rationalist who was dating one of their sisters. Luckily we had a squad car in the area, or who knows what could have happened.’
    Two officers then brought in a youth. He looked around twenty, with hair cut close to his skull. They made him empty his pockets and take off his jacket. He must not feel the cold, because all that he was wearing underneath his jacket was a light t-shirt. A light blue and black elaborate tattoo decorated