I took a sip of coffee as Ms. Ellie patted the empty spot on the sofa beside her.

She wore a plain white buttoned shirt with the sleeves rolled up, paired with a long green skirt that reached all the way to her shin; it made her seem old fashioned. Red shawl, red hair, and red eyes. Her eyes stood out the most.

"June." She stared at the girl and spoke flatly. "Leg."

"Can't we just... I dunno, not? It's not that bad!"

Silence, then compliance. I took another sip as June lay down awkwardly on the couch.

Too sweet, if you asked me. The coffee, I mean. But it isn't bad. It's quite warm, too. Better than lukewarm water, that's for sure.

"Bite down on this." The older lady handed over a rolled up towel to her daughter. There was a frown on the younger one's face as she hesitantly brought it up to her mouth.

I couldn't see the resemblance, really, apart from the hair. June probably took after her father. Or maybe it was just how she always kept smiling.

And just as I was thinking that, she bit down with a frown and just looked away. There was no point in protest, apparently.

"I didn't expect guests," Ms. Ellie's voice was softer as she turned her attention towards me. "So forgive if the house seems a little... unkempt."

I looked around, and honestly, I don't see the problem. There wasn't clutter, the wallpapers were intact and nothing seemed to be broken. It was lived in, and wasn't that more than enough?

"Mm." I didn't really know what to say so I just gave her a polite nod. She didn't seem to mind.

She retrieved disinifectant from the medkit on the coffee table and applied it on her daughter's leg. Afterwards, she grabbed some thread, then a needle. She threads the needle and then begins sewing, but not without giving me a spare glance.

"There's ice in the fridge." She worked slowly, completely unconcerned by how June clawed at the arm rest, or her muffled grunts.

"No, it's fine..." Her hands stopped at my answer, and then her eyes met mine.

"There's no need to be polite. I insist."

I held back a sigh as I sipped and set the mug down on the table. I heaved myself off my seat and stepped—

—right into their kitchen. It had a checkered floor, plain wallpapers, and generally looked functional. There was a stove, an oven, a cupboard, and a sink with a few unwashed plates. I looked around till I saw the fridge; it looked quite old. Bright colors, scratched paint, and small patches of rust.

I opened the freezer and paused. There was an ice tray but I didn't want to touch it just yet.

"There should be a towel in the cupboards." I heard her voice, a bit distant but audible.

I checked, and sure enough, there they were. The first cupboard I opened was filled to the brim with nothing but towels.

I know being prepared is a thing and all but there's clearly a point where you go way too far!

That aside, I had a hard time pulling one out without disturbing the rest. The towels were packed a bit too tightly for any sort of finesse.

But I managed. Somehow. They won't fall, right? I closed the cupboard doors, giving it an extra nudge, just in case, and waited.

Nothing happened.

Good. Moving on.

Get ice. Shove into towel. Close freezer. The towel was larger than it had to be, so I might've looked dumb as I—

—let myself fall back into the empty seat, shoving all that to bruise below my chest.

I saw a raised brow and a slight smile on Ms. Ellie's face as she spared me a glance. I must look really funny to you, eh?

There's a muffled yelp as the younger girl's leg twitched. Luckily for her, there was enough loose thread that it at least didn't tug at the wound.

She shot her mother a rather harmless looking glare, which was answered with a quick and flat "My bad". As you can see, she wasn't sorry at all.

"Anyway," The older lady said as her hands went right back into work, maintaining the same lack of urgency as before. "You can stay here if you want. There's lots of room."

The place did seem a bit too big. Not like I have a choice in the matter, even if she thinks I do. I took one quick glance at June, looking for an answer. She doesn't seem to notice. I don't know what to feel about her being in charge, but well...

It's something.

"Mm." A quick nod, and Ms. Ellie seemed satisfied by that.

"I'll whip up something to eat after I'm done here." Looks like that'll take a while. "Preferences?"

I paused at that. Preferences? As in taste? Never thought about that, come to think of it. Food's food. Anything goes. I often hear people saying "I like that" or saying something's "tasty", but I've never quitefelt that way. Though I guess I am a bit hungry.

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"...Anything's fine." I answered and noticed the slight twitch on her brow. What's that supposed to mean?

"Pizza!" June cutted in suddenly seeming lively as she spat the towel out out of her mouth, only to get a light smack by her thigh. "Hey!"

"I just fed you." Ms. Ellie's hands stopped moving.

"That was 3 hours ago!"

"My point exactly."

"I threw up!"

"You what?"

June did say something about that... For some reason. What was she doing there anyway?

I grabbed the mug and took another sip. It was rather lukewarm by now, but I didn't mind. I leaned back into my seat, letting myself relax for a bit. It was quiet. Well, not exactly quiet, but peaceful.

It reminded me of the few times when the lab decided to leave us alone for a while. Eight and Nine always argued over the dumbest things. Five made sure none of it ever got too far. Four was kind, always made sure we were all fine. Six fucked off to somewhere, and I don't remember much about her; all I know is she's what put the idea of collars into their heads. And now Five's dead, and I had to—

No. Don't think about it. Put the mug down, take a deep breath. Remember the breathing excercises.

1...

2...

3...

Breath out.

Red lights. Alarms. A smashed remote. All the choking. Can't breath. Garotte. White lights. Lab coats. Syringes. Scalpels. Medicine. Nicotine. Caffeine. Morphine. No. Kill. Eat. Starve. Wait. Thirsty. Watch. Hide. Move. Fight. Breath. Live. Cut. Stab. Steal. Poker. Monster. What the fuck am I doing?

It's not working. Again.

1...

2...

3...

Shit.

...

..

.

..

...

I felt something press against my side as the sofa shifted beneath someone's weight.

Who? I didn't look. My neck was still somehow feeling both hot and cold at the same time. I must've curled up on the seat at some point.

"You alright?" Her voice was soft, soothing. Almost familiar. It didn't sound like Four though, and it definitely wasn't Five either.

I raised my head, peeking through flaking sheets of black cloth. I don't remember putting it on. I caught climpses of gray pupils watching me from the corner of her eye.

It was June.

She looked... quite calm, actually. After a second of staring, we make eye contact. She didn't look away.

"...Was the coffee that bad?" Was the first thing that came out of her mouth as it curved into a slight smile.

"...Maybe."

"You hear that, Mum?"

"Wait, that's not—!"

Before I could finish, I saw a tiny blur of white fly from the kitchen.

"Hey—Ow!" June flinched as something landed squarely on her forehead with a resounding thunk. Somehow, she easily caught it as it bounced right off of her. "What the hell? she said it, not me!"

"I'm not deaf, girl." I almost smiled at that one.

"But garlic. Really?" She held it up for a few seconds, looking annoyed as she threw it into the mug. Why?

"Would you rather have a knife instead?"

"As tempting as that sounds, I'm afraid I must respectfully decline." That was a quick change of heart.

"Oh, please. I insist." I could practically hear Ms. Ellie preening as she continued, voice laced with mocking condescension. "I'm a charitable soul and I have much to spare. Losing a knife or two wouldn't bother me in the slightest."

"Ohohoh, truly, I assure you, there's no need to trouble yourself with the likes of me!"

What's this supposed to be? A skit?

I watched them for a while, it was a welcome distraction.

I placed a hand to my neck, trying to get a feel of the collar, and thankfully, it seemed to be completely quiet. No whirring, no buzzing, no beeping.

That's good. Great. Amazing, even. I had an easier time breathing, now that I'm sure I wasn't being choked.

Focus; right here, right now. How long has it been?

June's leg looked all fixed up, though I'd say the bandages were a bit excessive. Must've been a few minutes.

The other two kept talking, and I didn't mind. The noise was fine. Voices, boiling water, something scraping against metal, and the tapping on wood. I've never been so close to a kitchen before, now that I think of it.

June kept leaning on me, and I could see her eyes occasionally glance my way, even as she talked to Ms. Ellie.

I didn't really know what to feel about that, but I'll stay quiet. That little trick of hers aside, I think it's nice that she isn't asking me questions.

I wouldn't say that I'm comfortable but I've been worse, so I guess this is just fine.

It didn't take long before dinner was ready, though I do think that it's a little too late into the night for that. What do people call this anyway? A midnight snack? A little too much for a snack, I think. A midnight meal, then? Is that really a thing?

Ms. Ellie was gone, and the next thing I noticed was June leading me towards what must've been a break room. It was small and the walls were almost featureless. There was a whiteboard, covered with a thin layer of dust, along with scribbles and the occasional here and there. A schedule, maybe. I couldn't make out the words.

The blankness of the room made it seem bigger than it was. Too big for just the three of us.

They said it was better than eating at the cafeteria, or the living room. The former was just... too empty, apparently. Definitely larger than this room so there might be something to that. And the latter only had a coffee table. The kitchen didn't have a table yet.

There was the scent of... something good. I'm not sure, really. Only that it was basically meat with not much of anything else.

We sat down. Folding chairs and plastic tables. A far cry from the sofas back in the living room but I was used to harder furniture, so it wasn't that bad. It was familiar, at least.

The meal was bland. Stew over rice, it wasn't bad. Definitely warm, and I'd say it's the best I've had in a long while.

And so I ate. Words were unnessecary, and talking was tedious. I just listened as I ate, giving the occasional nod here and there. We didn't talk about anything important. Just pointless things.

Like how it rained the other day, or some story about how noisy this place used to be.

Apparently, June's older sister was a bit of a troublemaker. Not that hard to see, to be honest. Ms. Ellie aside, June seemed to be enough trouble on her own, so I didn't really want to know what they both meant by that.

That said, I did found myself curious, in spite of myself. Not really about the older sister, but just the everyday things they kept talking about.

Like how June keeps sneaking out to do... anything, really. Lots of backhanded compliments there. I heard her mother groan as soon as she realized I could take people with me when I move. She shot me a quick glare after that. It wasn't very effective, for some reason.

Ms. Ellie's apparently a really good fighter. I could see that. She definitely seemed... confident, I guess. June seemed eager to tell a few stories about that but a spoon to the forehead quickly shut her up. Shame, really.

Despite the fact that she didn't talk to me all that much, she seemed nice. Caring, even if she was quick to resort to violence. Well, petty violence, if anything, but still.

I don't really know that much about them. They seemed friendly. It made the idea of staying seem... tempting.

I'll have to wait and see, I guess. If that guy was telling the truth, then I'll get rid of the collar.

I'm... still not sure of that. Sounds a little too good, to be honest. The fact that things are looking up for me now seemed awfully suspicious.

Ah, whatever. For now, I had food and a roof over my head. And that's... More than enough.