Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

‘One…two…three…Fou-’ my breath hitches; feeling the pain course through me again, distracting me from counting droplets. Akin to liquid fire going through my veins, my muscles tense in a way that makes my bones break; as they have done hundreds of times before. Though, as much as it hurts, I can't move. They learned their lesson and started giving an anesthetic, it’s not strong enough to get rid of the pain but just enough to keep me immobile ‘punishment for earlier I guess; though, they could have gone without the chains’ .

I can't scream anymore, the blood dripping out of my mouth explains the droplets. My vocal cords have healed and ripped apart with each advancement of what these; Monsters have done to me. ‘ow’ . I can smell the iron of my blood, the stench of chemicals and I can taste it too. My blood is like a rusted metal rod; different from the way it used to be, when I would feel it coming from my nose after a fight ‘eugh’ . Everything else smelled of it too; and a faint smell of coffee, and cinnamon cologne. 

‘One of Them is outside’ Embodiments of cruelty in white coats, blathering on about the betterment of mankind, ‘ Liars ’ . They just want to feel powerful, like they can control anything; Like they can control Me , sticking needles in me, and examining the effects like I'm nothing but some cadaver ; Their experiment, their work of science, their 0R1-397 . 

I can feel my mind fogging; giving up, ‘where do I start and the experiment begin, or am I gone; replaced by what these scientists made me into?’ I steel my nerves at that thought ‘ No ! I'm still here, I'm still me , I need to Keep going’ I feel the pain surge at its peak again, my thoughts slipping again. ‘I need to Hold On! ’ I breathe out of my nose and focus on my thoughts; my memories, ‘Okay, let's start from the beginning’ . 

Chapter Text

Headmistress said that we are going to the doctors today; she told me I have to talk to the doctors. “[REDACTED] we are leaving now; do try not to fall down the stairs again, clumsy girl” the Headmistress bellows, mumbling the last bit, but i still hear, ‘like i do everything else’. I shuffle towards the blurry spot I have come to know as the stair rail and shuffle down the stairs cautiously, trying to keep haste. Emma and Ethan are laughing and talking, ‘so Loud, why can’t they be more quiet? they’re more obnoxious than the birds outside’ they always are, and I can always hear them, even when I'm not in the room.

I reach the bottom of the stairs and head to the door ‘one step, two steps, three steps,’ I feel the floor bend a little bit. ‘There’s the loose floorboard, only seventeen left to go, five, six…’ I keep counting till I reach the door frame, the Headmistress takes my hand and pulls me down the stairs of the orphanage to the car, buckling me in *Click*. The seats are scratchy as always, so I avoid touching it with my skin by pulling myself in a ball and covering my ears and eyes. ‘If all cars have scratchy seats and that bad buzzy sound, then I don’t like them at all’.

After a long while, I feel us park and I'm pulled out. I hold onto the Headmistress so I don’t fall as we walk into the doctor's office. She sits me in a seat and I touch the fabric of the chair, ‘huh, it’s soft.’ the corners of my lips pull up ‘nice’. I look around at the blurry room before me, hearing strangers speaking, but they aren’t as loud as usual. ‘Well, the voices here aren’t bad; though there's a buzzing noise, a REALLY annoying buzzing noise, and the scratching of pens on paper’ I start to feel jittery, as always whenever i have nothing to keep my mind occupied, so I tap my fingers in a pattern ‘Bum, bum, bum, bum. Bum, bum, bum, bum. Bum…’ I keep playing a tune of notes in my head that I've heard in the halls of the orphanage as I tap my fingers together.

I do that for a while, losing track of time, until I hear the nurse shout “[REDACTED], you can come back now!"' She's raising her voice a lot, just for calling me in’. The Headmistress leads me to the examination room, placing me on a cold surface as the nurse checks my: height,
weight, blood pressure, and oxygen. “Name and date of birth please.” the nurse questions on routine,

“[REDACTED], March 29th, 2007” the Headmistress answers. “No last name Ms. David?” the nurse says confused. “She’s an orphan, she has no last name until adoption.” Headmistress answers coldly; ‘yea, my parents are dead, just like Emma's and Ethan's’ “I see, today is September 12th, 2011, so she's four years old. What is she here for today?” I can hear the flipping of pages and scribbling of a pen. “she keeps running into things and REFUSES to speak.” the Headmistress says, irritation clear, ‘she always has that tone when these things happen, I've tried talking before, but it’s too loud’.

I see a blur move towards me, I hear shuffling, I smell hand sanitizer; “can you follow this pen with your eyes for me sweetie” the nurse is in front of me. I try to follow the movement but I hear her sigh ‘disappointment’; “Open your mouth please and say: ah” she urges. I do as asked and open my mouth and try to say, “A-” I feel the sound ring in my ears and wince, covering my ears, closing my eyes and mouth tightly though it did nothing to soothe the pain.

“OH” the nurse exclaims, making me flinch again from the noise, then takes a second and lowers her voice “sweetie, are you okay?” The pain has died down a little now, so I nod a bit. “Okay, so I see the issue isn’t your mouth or voice; it's your ears right?” I nod again, her voice isn’t loud anymore. “I’ll grab the doctor now, is that alright Ms. David?” The nurse's voice was still quiet, “Go ahead, I don't want to be here all day." The difference is clear, the nurse is now quiet and softer than before, but the headmistress is still loud and full of authority. The door closes and I curl up in a ball; shielding myself from the coldness of the room.

The ticking noise from the corner of the room is what I focus on, though the Headmistress is muttering something under her breath. ‘She does that a lot; I wish I could ask her some questions like, why does she want me to just call her Headmistress and not Ms. David for starters. Second, what's with that screaming I keep hearing from the other bedroom next to my room?’ I fell into that train of thought for a bit.

Then I heard a knock, “Finally, took you long enough, did I not mention I didn’t want to be here all day” the Headmistress bites out, tone sharp enough to cut the concrete floor of the storage room back at the orphanage. “I got here as fast as i could Ms. David,” the doctor sighs out “[REDACTED] can you come here for a moment?” She sounds exhausted; ‘must be a long day for her’ I slide off the examination table, kicking my legs a bit before I hit the ground in an attempt to catch myself better. I turn to where I heard the doctor's voice and follow the blurry blob of...blue? ‘At least I think that's blue’

As I get closer she gets clearer; not by much but I can tell she's person shaped, kinda. “Okay, can you sit in this chair for a moment while i look at your ears;” i put my hand out to find it and take a seat “thank you, now i have to put this in your ear for a moment, is that okay?” I nod, then she starts her examination. The thing she put in my ear is cold, and she seems to be making humming noises while she switches ears and peers in; then she pulls away. “It seems that your ears are configured in a way that amplifies sound much more than others; we’ll need to run more tests to see the limits but-” I feel something placed over my ears “-there we go; does that sound better?”

‘It’s…quiet?’ I don't hear the buzzing as much any more, and the ticking in the corner: I can barely hear it. A smile pulls on my face and I nod my head vigorously “That’s good;” she chuckles, “let's get your eyes checked out, see if your vision may be the reason I hear you’ve been running into things.” The doctor moves something in front of me, “Can you see this?” she points at the object, but it's blurry so I shake my head. She moves across the room and grabs something and brings it over to me. “Okay, so I’m gonna put these-” she holds something up “-eye drops in your eyes, then I'm gonna do some testing.” She sits me back, and holds each of my eyes open as she puts the drops in ‘COLD’.

“What exactly are you doing to check her vision, Doctor?” the Headmistress demands. The doctor moves again and I hear something scraping against a table, ‘Metal?’. “I’m going to use an invention provided by Oscorp Industries to check her vision-” The Doctor remarks. “-It will scan her retinas and see if her eyes are in need of glasses, or if we need to find the problem elsewhere.” I hear the Headmistress make a sound; then the thing is placed over my eyes. Heavy and cold as the doctor tightens it to my face and I hear something press.
I Shut my eyes as I feel the thing vibrate and make a raucous noise “[REDACTED] keep your eyes open, so we can get a clear scan please.” I can barely hear the doctor over the machine, its’ noise making the things on my ears pointless, but I open my eyes. As my eyes open up I feel blinded by bright light and have to fight to keep them open, as my eyes water and burn. ‘OW! OW! OW! OW!’ “Just keep your eyes open for a couple more seconds” the doctor insists. ‘Okay, one, two, three, four- OW!’ the button is pressed again and that thing is taken off my eyes.

“Good job, now we can see the results and see what we can whip up for you” the doctor chimes. “So we’re almost done now?” the Headmistress hisses, ‘Geez, she really needs to chill.’ “Just a Moment…And, There!” the doctor exclaims, “Looks like she has severe myopia; Nearsightedness, which explains the running into things.” The doctor explains “She’ll need some glasses; so I'll grab a pair, and we can see how they’ll fit” the doctor states. I hear the door close and the Headmistress lets out a huff. “Of course you’re broken; I should’ve known, you couldn’t be a nice, pretty, Normal Girl.” The Headmistress Snaps out ‘what?’

“I should have known, given how I found you: on My doorstep Shrieking like a swine, all the while covered in Filth that even the rain couldn’t clean off” She spits out. ‘I was…’ “It’s no wonder your parents left you, I had hoped such a…Disgusting display was a one off, it seems I was incorrect.” she sneers, i feel my heart drop into my stomach and my throat tighten. ‘My parents…Left me…On a step…in the rain…’ my eyes start to water, threatening to flow with tears as my breathing picks up. ‘They Left Me…They…Left Me…They were alive…and THEY LEFT ME!!!’

My mind and heart race as the door opens, and the doctor walks in, I barely register when she says “okay, I've got a pair of glasses for you, and-” the doctor stops talking “ -the machine must have freaked you out a bit huh? It’s okay you won’t have to put it on again." she says as I feel her pat my head ‘why would they leave me…How could they leave me…it’s not fair.’ I feel a tear start to fall and I wipe it away, my brows furrowing, ‘you know what; that doesn’t matter, if they didn’t want me then that's their problem’ I think to myself, though a pit in my stomach lingers.

“Will you hurry up and give her the glasses, I have other children to look after” the Headmistress commands. “It would do you well to learn some patience Ms. David,” the doctor reprimands. ‘Ha, get SERVED’ “I need to remove the headphones to put the glasses on you, Okay.” she says softly towards me; ‘ah, rats’ I think as I feel her pull at the headphones, shifting them off my ears gently. The noises that were gone or muffled come back: the ticking, the buzzing, and incessant tapping on the floor that I barely registered before, is Loud.

I feel something cold touch my face near my ears and I close my eyes, hissing slightly at the chill. Just as I do, I feel the same coldness rest on my nose as the other part rests on my ears. Once it stops moving I start to open my eyes, blinking a few times then opening them completely. I see the doctor first; Her face has small spots all over, her eyes are a similar color to her shirt, she has sharp angles and lines around her face, her mouth is upturned and I can see her teeth.

‘She’s clear, I can see her!’ My eyes race around the room to find where the ticking noise is coming from, It’s a circle with lines and…other things around it. “That’s a clock, it helps tell time” the doctor informs me and I turn towards the direction of the buzzing and see the lights of the room. I turn my head to where I heard the tapping and I see her: the Headmistress. I look down toward the source of the tapping and I see her shoes, pointy with sticks on the back, she's on her toes.

‘That can’t be comfortable’ I think as I peer at her outfit which also does not look comfortable with the tight fabric wrapped around both legs. ‘Pencil skirt; I've heard her say she likes wearing them, now that I see it…I don’t get it’ I look further up and see her shirt ‘looks flowy’. Finally I look at her face; the same lines are apparent on her face as the doctors but they’re more intense. Her eyes are sharp and the look in her eyes ‘i don’t like that’, her lips are in a tight line and her head is held high looking down at me from her nose. I shiver a bit and see her hair; some parts brown but a good amount grey, some covers the sides of her face as the rest seems to clump on the back of her head.

“If you are finished, we will be leaving now” the Headmistress bites out, almost literally from how much she shows her teeth in those words. “Yes; you can leave now, have a good day” the doctor places the headphones in my hands before opening the door for us. The Headmistress scoffs and grabs my hands quickly pulling me through the doctor's office before I can look around at anything. Tossing me into the seat and shutting the door ‘the belt…’ I look around for it, remembering what I heard people say about car safety. Then I see it and grab it looking for the buckle to put it into as I hear the car start. Moments before the car starts to move I find it and put the metal bit into the hole hearing the *Click* and I let out a breath and put the headphones on for the ride back to the orphanage.

I peer out the car window seeing the roads and people on the streets; along with objects littering the ground. Looking up I see the occasional shoes on lines; with people wearing big jackets hanging around those areas, passing things by hand to others. ‘I wonder what they’re doing’; I see people under pathways wearing tattered clothes and covered in dirt ‘they look sad’. I hear the Headmistress scoff at the sight of them and I feel my blood boil slightly. ‘Why are you the way that you are?’ I think with a glare, and ignore her for the rest of the trip.

Chapter Text

The car pulls to a stop in front of the orphanage; I unbuckle the seat belt and push open the door. The familiar colors meet my eyes as I see it in true detail; the browns that I knew built up the outside are made up of rectangular shapes ‘big word: rectangular, I think I've heard Emma call them bricks’. I see the bushes around the entrance; they look more like sticks in the ground. I move to the steps and look at the other places around; the trees and bushes full of red and brown leaves. ‘The Headmistress said she likes flowers before, why not the bushes too?’

As I walk up the steps I take in the intimidating building; dark brown bricks make up the walls with dark wood windows hidden in between arches of brick. I approach the massive doors; details looking like it is weeping, handles stark against the dark wood, a chill coursing through me at it. I look around again, I scan at the other places around the orphanage ‘Homes and a grocery store’. As I inspect them I see a blur of movement and turn my head to focus on it. Before I see it I hear it; laughter, my eyes catch up to my ears and I peer at what made the noise. A child, playing with their parents without a care in the world ‘they look so…happy’. I feel a tugging in my chest and my throat tightens, ‘Lucky kid…’

I turn back to the door, grab the handles and pull…It doesn’t move. I try again, planting my feet firm on the brick under me…nothing. ‘OH COME ON!’ I slap my arms to my sides and turn in a circle; seething. My face contorts in anger as I pace in front of the door; I hear a noise behind me and jerk my head in the direction of it, seeing the headmistress heading towards me from the car. ‘Took you long enough, though I can't really blame you for taking a while given your outfit.’ I look at her heels again and shudder. ‘They can NOT be practical’

I watch as the Headmistress ascends the stairs, her face scrunched up in what I can only think is irritation. ‘Hey! it’s not my fault that this thing won’t open’ I think as she approaches the door and…pushes it open, a smug look pulling on her face. ‘Well…uh…maybe it was my fault’ my face gets warm from my embarrassment and I start scuttling into the orphanage. “[REDACTED], you back!” I hear Ethan squeal, I flinch at the noise, though unlike when he usually does it, it only hurts a little. I try to turn in the direction of his voice, but before I can fully turn I'm tackled into a crushing hug by the younger boy.

I wheeze and my glasses fall down my nose from the impact, and peer down at him incredulously. Though after the shock wears off, I take in his features, I take notice of his dark hair and round face covered in tears. ‘Oh…oh no’, I think as I move my hands to his back to calm him. “Emma said-id tha you lef for good! Don leav” Ethan sobs, ‘Emma said that you left for good, don’t leave…huh.’ I look over at the older girl sitting near the fireplace, a smug grin on her face until I lock eyes with her and her face drops, a strange look on her face.

‘Yeah, keep that look off your face, you pretty packaged dung beetle!’ I scowl at her. “Bug!” I hear Ethan exclaim as feel his hug ease up. I look around for it, finding nothing my face contorts in confusion at him. Backing up slightly, moving my glasses back up; I see he’s pointing at my face, at my glasses. He releases me completely, and scrambles to grab what I can assume is a picture book. As I watch him shuffle through the books the Headmistress moves past me and goes into the kitchen. “Got it!” I turn my head back to Ethan to see him scamper over holding a book with both arms, which makes sense given it’s bigger than his head.

He opens it and I see a drawing of a worm with big eyes, “Bug!” Ethan exclaims in excitement. ‘Oh, I look like a bug…pfft’ I start laughing, pushing my glasses back into place as they slip down again. *BUM,BUM,BUM,BUM…BUM,BUM, BUM,BUM* my laughter stops as I hear the chime, ‘there's that tune, where's it coming from?’ I whip my head in the direction of the sound and I see a clock. A big clock with a swinging thing inside, covered in intricate designs: wood and metal bent like vines ‘Pretty’.

“Time for din-din, Bug!” I hear Ethan say as he tugs on my sleeve pulling me towards the dinner table ‘guess that's my name now…bug…pfft’. As we get close to the table, I hear the Headmistress from the doorway of the kitchen make a scoffing sound and stomp over to me. “No, you go to your room. You’re grounded, and don’t even think of coming out until I say so” she orders. My eyes widen and I look at her in confusion ‘It’s dinner time…I can’t just go to bed without dinner’. I open my mouth to say it to her but she interrupts me “Oh, don’t try talking now; you spent so long being silent, you can stay that way.”

I look at Ethan who stares at me from his chair and I give him a nod goodnight, then head to the stairway. As I walk to my room I feel the loose floorboard creak under my foot ‘only four steps to the stairs’ I think solemnly. My hand grabs the rail as I ascend, one foot after the other, trekking up the old wood. Before I reach the top, I look towards the dining room for a moment, seeing Ethan, Emma and the Headmistress sitting and getting ready to eat. I quickly turn my head back to the stairs and start heading up to my room faster.

I walk past the first door and get to my door in moments, turning the knob and going inside. I peer at my room; the place I spend most of my time. My bed, which is over twice my size, is a mess. With the covers and blanket thrown about from this morning and the pillow on the edge of it threatening to fall off. My dresser drawers are holding on by a thread, I sigh at the mess and start to fix it up. I begin with the drawers, lifting them back into place and making sure all the clothes are still in there. It’s strenuous work due to the weight and at one point I take the clothes out to make it weigh less, having to get on my tiptoes to reach the opening, but I manage to get it back to normal.

I wipe my brow and look over to my bed, ‘one down, one to go’ I pick up my pillow with both hands and take it off the bed, placing it on the floor. I then grab my blanket and try to drag it off the bed but it gets stuck. ‘Come on…’ *tug* ‘get!’ *tug* ‘out!’ *tug* I pull on it harder than I did the other times and it comes free, but I fall back to the floor with it. *THUD* ‘ow…’ I feel my eyes start to tear up from the stinging feeling but I shake them off before they can fall. I bring myself back to my feet, and I wrap up the heavy blanket in my arms then place them on top of the pillow.

I move to the side of the bed and grab the edge of the cover and I pull it to the corner of the bed and tuck it beneath the bottom edge. I do the same to the other side, then I try pull myself onto the bed, hopping three times and slipping off the side each time, then on the fourth try I kick my legs and shimmy up onto the bed. Once I get on the bed I crawl over to the other edges and tuck them in too. I hop off the bed, grab the blanket again and toss it on the bed and then even it out and feel the soft fibers. I turn and grab my pillow and throw it onto the bed haphazardly, ‘eh, good enough’.

I lay back on my bed with my limbs spread out, still dwarfed by the bed. *growl* I jolt at the noise and grab my stomach, eyes wide. I look towards the door and move off my bed again, shuffling towards the door. I take off the headphones and put my ear to the door listening out for anyone, but I hear nothing. ‘I’m sure she won’t notice if I grab just a little bit of dinner’ I try to convince myself as I place my headphones around my neck, and slowly open the door. I peek my head past the door frame and see the lights turned off. ‘huh, fixing my bed took longer than I thought.’

As I take a step forward I hear the sound of screaming from the bedroom next to mine. ‘That scream again?...Wait…CRAP, IF THE HEADMISTRESS HEARS THAT I’LL GET CAUGHT!!’ I rush down the hall and into the room the noise is coming from and shut the door quickly. Breathing heavily I look around the room to find the source of the noise, and come across a thing made of wood bars. ‘What is that?’ I pull my headphone onto my ears to shut out the sound as I move closer to the barred object. I come to the edge with a piece of fabric over it, and I pull it off.

‘It’s…’ I stare at the small thing in the barred object, a crib, wriggling around with their face almost as red as the curly hair on their head. ‘A baby?’ I reach my hand down Into the crib toward the little red screamer. I look towards the upper wall of the crib and I see a paper, hand pausing in place. I look at the letters and remember faint blurry images of when I was shown them a year or two ago alongside Ethan, and what they sounded like vocally. Though this time I don't need to have it almost right against my face to see it, so I decipher it by going through what sounds it would make. It reads, (D.O.B.: July 8th, 2011 SEX: F) ‘she's a girl, and only two months old’. My hand resumes towards her, and I grab her hand gently.

She hiccups and looks at me with big eyes full of tears then grabs my hand, only a bit smaller than mine. I smile as she squeezes my fingers, still crying slightly but she's quieter now, calmer. Her face shifts from red to pale white, I can see small dots spread across her face just like the doctor from earlier. ‘How can a person so small make so much noise?’ I think with a smile. ‘So loud like...Like a T-rex!’ I chuckle at the thought of a t-rex in a diaper then I pause. ‘T-rex…’ I ponder the name for a moment then look at the little redhead. “Rex… you are Rex.” I say smiling down at her small face. ‘Man…speaking feels weird’

I look her over to try and find what was making her cry, but I don’t see anything. ‘No bruises or cuts, rash maybe? Nope nothing what could it-’ *growl* I look down thinking it was my own stomach, remembering why I had left my room in the first place. Then Rex starts crying again, and it hits me. ‘You’re hungry too; the Headmistress has to have food for you around this room…if not in the kitchen.’ I start to survey the dimly lit room, adjusting my glasses to look for anything baby related. My eyes land on several things: an almost empty bag of diapers, an old pacifier, a completely empty container of wipes, and a book with a baby on it.

I pick up the book and read the first pages, finding a table of contents. I quickly flip to the page of feeding, skimming the page on diapers as I pass it. ‘Okay, so they need to change every two to three hours…and use wipes…apply baby powder to fend off diaper rash…’ I make it to the feeding page and it says that the formula is commonly heated, kept in a cool and dry place when not being used, and to keep the lid tight… ‘Okay, so a refrigerator or a cool pantry, so not in here.’ I put the book down and I move back to Rex, patting her head. “I’ll be back Rex, and we can give you some nom-noms” I try to squeak my voice in a funny way I’ve heard others do, but it comes out with a cough following on its tail.

I pull my hands away from her and turn towards the door, holding my head high and marching out. Almost as soon as I step out and peer into the dark expanse of the orphanage, I feel my blood still. I pull off the headphones, hanging them around my neck and sneak down the stairs keeping my footsteps light. I avoid the loose floorboard with little trouble, glad I had memorized where it was. I quickly make it through the archway into the kitchen, and head straight to the fridge. I open the doors with a bit of effort, looking for the formula, but I find nothing. I can feel my stomach twisting and not just from my own hunger.

I see no leftovers from tonight's dinner, but I see some baby carrots in the bottom of a drawer. I reach for it for a moment, but I stop myself. ‘No…Rex needs her food first. I can find food later…it might be in the Headmistresses office.’ I close the doors to the fridge gently and creep towards the Headmistresses office, jingling the handle then pushing it open and closing it behind me. I look around the room, heart racing. again finding nothing, but I see a paper on her desk. I rush to her desk feeling the hairs on my arms standing up and my heart pound against my chest. I lift the paper and I see basic notes on the other orphans seeing the same information I saw on the paper attached to Rexs’ crib.

I peer at the page for a moment and I notice that the headmistress has scrawled all over the paper in pen. Writing the same type of things she said about me in the doctor's office, but this time she wrote notes on (devilish looks). I feel my stomach and heart twist around within me, my blood boils just as it did before with those people under the bridge as I continue to read. I find a final note reading (Buy formula only when necessary, let the evil be starved from her.) I crumble the paper in my fist, feeling my breath leave me in huffs as I throw it back onto the desk; mind going a mile a minute. I storm out of the room, Not caring to keep my feet light anymore and I glare at the door. ‘If she won’t get her food, then I will!’

I stomp to the weeping door; now I feel no chill, I feel no intimidation, it does. I reach the door and unlock it, gripping one of the handles in vice grip and pulling one open with all my might swinging it open and closing it behind me as I descend the cooled stairs. The stone is cold in the autumn season under my bare feet, but I care little for it scowling against the cold weather. I look down the street to see the small grocery store and start rushing to it fists at my sides. ‘How could she say those things, what is wrong with her!’

I make it to the store in minutes, pushing into the doors and pulling my headphones up, making my way towards where the signs say (BABY PRODUCTS). I scan the aisle and grab the wipes, the formula, and a bottle then I storm out the door. I balance the items in my arms as I make my way back to the orphanage. I rush up the stairs and push the door open with my body, heading to the kitchen and assembling everything from what the instructions say. I place the baby formula in the back of the fridge knowing that the Headmistress won’t look that far into it, while the formula warms. After the formula is finished I go up the stairs, not caring if the Headmistress can hear me anymore. I push open the bedroom door, placing down everything but the bottle and head over to her, placing the bottle down in her crib and looking at her crying face. I sit her up, holding her with one hand to sit in the way that I saw from the book. Then I use my other hand to pick up the bottle and bring it to her mouth. As the tapered cap of the bottle reaches her mouth she latches on and grabs at it with her hands.

My heart slows in my chest, feeling my head clear a bit as I see her eat. I rethink what happened leading to this: the note, the walk, and the supplies. I pause for a moment looking down at the bottle in my hand and my heart drops. ‘Wait, I didn’t pay for this stuff!’ my eyes start to dart around a bit, my heart picking up again, breath rushing in and out of me. ‘I stole it, oh no…nonononono-’ *burp* my head jerks to the source of the noise and I see Rex looking at me again, this time the only tears on her are dried. I wipe them off her face and I hear her laugh, the sound ceasing any thoughts that I had done wrongly in an instant.

I settle her back into laying down and wipe her mouth with my sleeve, she yawns and closes her eyes almost immediately. ‘Okay, stealing may be wrong but…maybe if you have a good reason then it’s okay.’ I gently pet her head, threading my hands through her fiery curls with a smile. “Don’t worry Rex; I won’t let anything happen to you, no matter what. If the Headmistress thinks I'll let her treat people like that she has another thing coming. I don’t care what she does to me, but she won’t get to you or anyone else she decides to treat like this. I haven't spoken much for well…ever but, I promise that I will care for you and anyone else who needs it. You and any other person who needs me will have me, even if I'm busted up. I swear it.”

Chapter Text

*Beep* *Beep* *Beep*. ‘Ugh, wha…’ I reach my hand to the shelf on the wall that holds my glasses, putting them on and blinking my eyes to the dark room. I rub my face to get the sleep out of my eyes, grabbing the ladder to the floor of my bunk. I carefully climb down the ladder and turn off the alarm on my desk. (5:30 am) it reads, I grab the chain on my desk lamp and turn it on. ‘Found it near a dumpster, only took a few adjustments in the wiring to get it working again’. Walking over to my dresser I grab my clothes for the day: a dark green t-shirt, brown shorts, my lighter green jacket, and some socks. Once I finish putting on my outfit I move over to my desk, grabbing what I need for school.

On my desk is one of my report cards ‘all A's, everyone thinks I'm working hard for it but I'm not, it's just easy’ I let out a huff and look at my calendar, (October 9th, 2013). ‘I turned seven only six months ago, then I had to start primary school. I wish they had more complex books, the only one that's been able to “make my brain work” as the teacher said, is the dictionary, which isn't that fun.’ I grab my book bag, covered in marker drawings, and pull out my pencil pouch, taking out a pencil and a note card. I hop into my chair and start writing, (Rex, read this out loud please. I'm at school, I will be home around four o'clock. You two stay out of trouble, the food is under the floorboard in my room, you know where. Do your reading I told you to do and practice navigating. Love you both very much, Ollie.)

After I finish my note I put it in my pocket and look over to my skateboard, the reason for my new name. ‘I only did that trick once, but everyone's been calling me that since. I like it.’ I put my pencil back in its pouch and place it back in my book bag's front pocket. I hop off my chair and swing my bag across my shoulders. Walking over to my bed, I grab my shoes and put them on. Next I go to my little cubby on my dresser and put in my earplugs, ‘they work just like the headphones but they're easier to keep on, or well: in.’ I grab my skateboard and adjust my bag before walking out the door of my room. I walk into the room next to mine, checking for the new nursery lady Mrs. Miller. As expected she's there feeding Meo while Hanuel lays in his cradle. “She came to work here a couple months ago, all she does is make sure the baby's are fed and taken care of…I don’t know how she hasn't realized that I'm the one bringing the food and the stuff to care for them, the Headmistress won’t.”

I approach to grab the dirty bottles and trash, out of courtesy for her help. “Ollie! I always forget you're an early riser.” She jumps as I grab the trash and take it to the bin in the corner. “Oh, thank you but you don't have to do that sweetie. You're getting ready for school huh, you always check on the little ones when you leave.” She places down Meo, and comes over to me at the door. “Most kids your age don't think about the things you do,” she places her hand on my head and ruffles my hair “these little boys are just fine. Now you head to Rex and Peta's room, they're actually awake this morning, I'll hold down the fort here.” She winks at me as she ushers me out of the room, closing the door behind me.

I shake my head and smile as I head to the next room, knocking then opening the door. I look around the room for Rex and Peta, eyes catching onto them almost instantly. “Come on Peta, Ollie is gonna be up soon.” I hear Rex complain, her red curls swishing back and forth as she sways about. ‘Quite the attitude for a four year old, Peta’s only three months younger and she's still bossing them around. Which reminds me, what should I get for their birthday.’ I look over at the toy I got Rex back in july, a venus flytrap plush, she really loves plants. “What are you two doing up?” I ask with a chuckle, crossing my arms in a mock fashion. Both Peta and Rex’s heads turn in my direction, Rex’s green eyes meeting mine as Peta’s merely look in my direction ‘They’ve gotten good at looking in the direction of the person speaking, though I gotta admit it has to be annoying facing something you can’t see.’

“Rex wanted us to be awake, so we could say goodbye before you left for school.” Peta explains as Rex moves away from them and grabs their cane from where it’s leaning on the dresser. “Cane” Rex says before placing the handle in Petas hand “now get up, we don’t have much time before Ollie has to leave” Rex orders. I hold in a laugh at her bossy behavior, watching as Peta gets off of their bed and slides the cane fast in the direction of Rex. “Ow!” Rex yelps hopping away from them, “Ollie, they hit me!” She complains to me while Peta grins mischievously. “Sorry, I couldn’t see you there” they say, grin growing even bigger at their joke. I clear my throat as Rex opens her mouth to say something in retort, “enough bickering you two,” I pause “now give me a hug, cause Rex was not wrong about me needing to go.” I place my skateboard behind me and open my arms. In a flash Rex runs into my waiting arms, followed shortly by Peta who hugs me with one arm the other holding their cane in another direction.

“You two behave alright,” I say as I wrap my arms around them, patting their backs softly. I pull away and hand Rex the note, “these are your instructions of what to do today.” I turn and grab my skateboard from the floor, “and before you say it, no Rex i’ll behave too.” I pat both of their heads before opening the door and going through, turning back one last time. “I’ll see you around four o’clock okay, I love you, bye.” I say as I close their door and head to the stairs, descending down to the common area. I step over the loose floorboard and head to the door, looking at the grandfather clock as I pass, (6:46) it reads. I pick up the pace, getting through the door and down the steps.

I walk quickly to the sidewalk at the edge of the road, and place down my skateboard. I step onto my skateboard and push forward, rolling towards my destination. I sway with the board, moving to and fro, leading with my head, my limbs behind me. Tilting back and forth, moving myself and the board in tandem. My body is like a string, the fixing point and the board is like a stone attached to me, as one moves so does the other but they limit each other. ‘A pendulum’ I muse as I finally get to my destination, hopping off my board.

I take a deep breath and gaze at the road; “I've gotta stop getting lost in my head when skating” I mumble. ‘As fun and freeing as it is, I doubt getting hit by a driver would free anything other than me from life.’ I adjust my bag on my shoulders, ‘I've got siblings to watch over, so no thanks.’ I retort to my own thoughts.

I hear a rumbling noise and look towards the public bus. It careens down the road, loose parts of it shaking, I wince at the shrieking noise of it pulling the brakes and head to the opening door. “Same place as always, ey kid?” the bus driver, Gary says, ash coming off his cigar as he speaks. Holding my breath a bit going up the stairs of the bus, I give him a thumbs up heading to my seat. “A’ight kid; GET IN YER SEATS, NEXT STOP IS MIDTOWN!” he barks out. I settle into the seat, and the bus rattles to a start ‘and away we go’ I think as we start moving down the road.
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I startle awake as I feel myself getting shaken, “Ay kid; get up, it’s yer stop.” I look at the direction of the voice and adjust my glasses, Gary’s frowning down at me, standing outside the seat cigar nowhere in sight. I sit up grabbing my things, and standing to move out of the chair. Gary moves out of the way as I shuffle out of the seat, “sorry Gary, w-” I start to say but Gary interrupts me. “Don’t apologize fer Fallin’ asleep kid; yer not in trouble. ‘sides I’ve seen how ya move about with them kids; even the babies, imma’ older brother myself, it’s a lot of work taken’ care of em’. I’m jus’ glad yer gettin’ some sleep.” He says as he pats me on the back, and adjusts his hat on his head. “Now get on to school, them books ain’t gonna read themselves” he says, taking the driver seat again and opening the door.

I smile and head down the stairs, “thanks Gary, have a good day i’ll see ya later.” I shoot a finger gun at him as I hop off the last stair onto the sidewalk. He shoots one back at me and closes the door, then drives back down the road. ‘Man, I slept the whole ride from the Bronx to here’ I yawn, ‘doesn’t feel like it.’ I shake my head and start down the sidewalk, following the signs to the school. After a while I approach the brick entryway of Midtown South Primary School, picking up the pace with my steps towards the open doors, passing other students left and right.

As I push through the ocean of students I make it to the lunch room, going into the breakfast line. The lunch ladies are serving: dry biscuits, sausage, eggs drenched in water from defrosting, and bags of apple slices. I shudder at the state of the eggs, grabbing a ladleful alongside a biscuit with sausage and one of the bags of apples. As I pass the milk fridge I check the dates of the cartons, and pick the one with a date that's two days away. ‘If this one is expired I'm gonna lose it’ I think as I shuffle over to an empty table. I eat my food quietly thinking back to last weekend's breakfast, remembering how Rex and Peta ate the sandwiches I made. How after they were finished they were still hungry, so I cut my sandwich in half and gave them both one side each. “I’m not that hungry, I’ll eat later” I said to them; but I was hungry. I’ve gotten used to the feeling of hunger at this point, I only realize when I've gone too long without it when the dizzy spells start. Thankfully I can excuse It as having dirty glasses, and not being able to see.

*RING* I startle out of my thoughts as I hear the bell, getting up with my empty try and heading to my first class of the day: math. The halls are as crowded as usual, Students shoving one another giggling as they bump into walls. Without the earplugs I’d certainly be going deaf, given how loud they sound even with them. I slip into my classroom, grabbing the worksheets for today as I pass. Then taking a seat, putting my skateboard upside down under my seat, and pulling my pencil pouch from my bookbag. I grab a pencil from the pouch, then my math notebook from my bag. I look at the worksheet and read the worksheet title, (Addition and Subtraction tables). I put my name at the top then start the assignment, quickly going through each question, occasionally I tap my fingers on the desk to double check my counting.

After a short while I finish the work, and head to the front of the class to turn it in. The teacher, Ms. Addams stops me before I put it in, taking it from my hand and looking it over. “All correct answers,” she places the paper on her desk and marks it as an (A+), then she grabs another paper. “Here, try this-” she hands me another worksheet. “The ones I've been giving you don’t seem to be challenging you, so I thought we’d try this.” I look at the page and read aloud “Multiplication tables.” She smiles at me and starts to speak again, “with these equations you treat the number like you are adding it to itself-” the points to the fist number, then to the next “-this many times.” I nod in understanding, it’s a pretty straightforward thing so I walk back to my desk and start working on it.

By the time I finish it’s almost the end of the class, I head to the front of the class once again and again Ms. Addams stops me and takes my paper. “My goodness, Ollie, all correct again! Though we should work on memorization so you don’t have to make such big tables.” She says excitedly, *RING* I jump as the bell rings, and most of the kids put their work into the (Unfinished) tray as they leave the room. One person catches my eye, as they struggle to put a worksheet into the (Finished) tray. A kid in a wheelchair wearing a hat and half of a heart necklace, they’re wearing a grey cardigan with a red striped shirt under it and a black skirt.

I forget all about the worksheet as I walk over to them, “want a hand?” I ask them. “Wha- oh, uh, sure yeah” they mutter, about to give me the paper as I instead grab the trays and move them to a lower shelf so that the kid can reach. “There, it was difficult for the shorter kids to reach too” I state plainly. The kid looks at me with a less sullen look on their face, “thanks, I'm Penelope by the way.” She says placing the paper in the tray, the skirt makes sense now, girls usually wear those. “No problem, I’m Ollie” I say as I push the door further open so she can come through. She smiles a bit, as I look at her face I notice that she doesn’t have any hair on it, and that she has dark circles under her eyes. ‘She must not have slept well’ I walk over to my desk and grab my things before turning around to walk out the door. Then I see her waiting there looking at me, “why aren’t you going?” I ask as I walk over to her and she starts moving. “I was waiting on you, now hurry up” she says impatiently.

I blink for a second then start walking beside her as we enter the hall, “why were you waiting?” I ask. “Because you’re the first person here to put something to my level instead of just doing it for me.” She states as she rolls down the hall, “that's not asking a lot” I reply “and i still technically did something for you” I recall. “Yes, but you didn’t do everything for me.” she explains. “Oh, I guess that makes sense” I respond, then I hear some shouting down the hall. “What class are you headed to next anyway?” I ask, “English, you?” she answers “same.”

*CRASH*

I see a student slam into a wall display as a boy follows after them, laughing loudly. ‘What the-’ the boy who was laughing looks over at me and Penelope, “well look who it is, four eyes and baldie” the boy taunts. I feel my blood start to boil at how he spoke of Penelope, and I clench my fists. He starts to approach and he grabs something shiny from his pocket, “you know, I wonder what would happen If I-” The boy starts to lunge at Penelope before he finishes his sentence. I don’t think before I feel my feet move me in front of her, putting my arms out to shield her. Before the boy realized I moved, his hit lands on me. I feel the impact move me back and stabilize my feet.

He keeps his hand where it is for a moment before pulling it away: a pocket knife in his hand. I look at the blade for a moment, blood dripping from the tip, I feel a burning stinging feeling In my stomach. I grab where he hit me and wince then look down and see it; blood, spreading through my shirt onto my hand and starting to drip on the floor. My heart quickens and I feel the pain worsen by the second, tears forming in my eyes. “Well would you look at that, little orphan Ollie has some guts!” the boy laughs, catching my attention.

‘He meant to hit Penelope, that little…’ I let go of my stomach and put both hands on my board, lifting it over my shoulder. “You know; I knew you had a weird brain four eyes, but I didn't think you’d try to protect a crip-” I swing my board across his face before he can finish the word. *CRACK* “AUGHHH!!!” the boy screams as blood floods out of his now bent nose. I turn around to see Penelope looking at my face with wide eyes confused: then she looks down to my stomach and the confusion turns to worry. “OH MY GO-” she pauses her exclamation then turns to the hall, “MS. ADDAMS HELP!!!” She yells. Ms. Addams bolts out of her classroom purse over her shoulder, looking at Penelope confused before she looks over at me and her face turns pale.

“OLLIE!” she yells as she rushes over to me, “WHAT ON EARTH HAPPENED TO YOU!” she shouts. “THAT BOY STABBED HIM!” Penelope shouts back pointing at the boy; at this point everyone in the hall is shouting. Ms. Addams grabs my stomach and tries to hold it tightly, but it's no use. She’s looking at the boy who hit me and then my board then back at me, “OL- Ollie how did this happen, talk to me.” She starts off loud then quiets her voice in a calmer manner, “He hurt another kid then he tried to hurt Penelope, I couldn’t let him do that” I answer. I feel myself getting light headed and I look at Ms. Addams’ purse. “Do you have one of those tanpox things in your purse? I know some adults have them, Gary said they stop bleeding.” I ask as she looks at me confused then her eyes widen in realization. “OH! A tampon, yes I do, um, here” she says as she quickly grabs one then gives it to me.

I quickly pull off the wrapper and examine it, ‘it’s like a syringe, it pushes the blood stopping stuff.’ I pull up my shirt to see the wound; blood seeping out of it, and position the tampon at the middle of it. “Ollie what are you-” Penelope and Ms. Addams question before I push the end of it into the wound, and inject the pseudo-gauze into it. I suck in a breath at the pain of it all, squeezing my shirt then looking at the blood flow, “It’s slowed, I’ll be fine.” I say as they both let out a sigh of relief. We all look as the door opens and a police officer comes in then grabs the kid who stabbed me. I feel better for a second before the kid points at me and shouts: “THAT’S THE ONE WHO BROKE MY NOSE DAD!!” and my heart drops. The police officer stomps over to me and yanks me to my feet. “What are you-” I start before the cop starts to drag me out of the school “shut the hell up, you're gonna pay for what you just did: you little rat” he growls out. He tightens his grip on my arm before he yanks me again, “OLLIE!!!” I hear Penelope yell as I look back at her, worry on my face. ‘I’m not gonna make it home tonight’ I feel the tears that had formed in my eyes start to go down my face: ‘Rex, Peta, I’m sorry.’

Chapter Text

I wring my hands together as I look around the office. I expected to be taken out of the school, but the officer just took me to his office. I look at his name tag as he taps away at his computer: (Scott Bailey S.R.O.). ‘School resource officer, that explains why he’s keeping me here.’ I grab my stomach, and look at the bandages that were put by the nurse. ‘She showed up earlier and patched me up. She didn’t let me see what she was doing either: It hurt a lot.’ I look up at officer Bailey, and remember what he shouted at me when I tried to explain what happened. “I don’t care what you say happened, you little delinquent! You humiliated my son, and broke his nose with a skateboard you’re not even supposed to have! I don’t know who applied you to this school: nor do I care. I never should have let you through that door; an orphan from the Bronx, Hunts Point no less. Everyone knows the only things to come from there are: muggers and junkies!”

My nose scrunches at the memory; the disgust he looked at me with still seeping in his face as he looks at his computer. He confiscated my bag and skateboard after he put me in here; I look at the clock, ‘that was at ten o’clock in the morning, It’s almost three now.’ I look at the lunch trash in the bin near officer Bailey's desk, he ate it right in front of me earlier. ‘I’d be mad he didn’t let me have lunch; I kinda am, but I don’t really have an appetite right now.’ I pick at my hands with my nails nervously, and speak “Officer Bailey, it’s um…It’s almost three. Am I expelled, or suspended or…” I pause; thinking back to my siblings, ‘he doesn’t care what his son did to me, but if I apologize for what I did to him. Maybe I might make it home…’

“I’m…I’m sorry for what I did to your son, I-” “Adam” he interrupts, and I pause then start again. “I’m sorry for hurting Adam, and humiliating him. I-" I get partially through my, admittedly not that genuine, apology before he interrupts me again. “I don’t care how sorry you are,” he looks over at the clock and my eyes follow (3:00 pm). I feel my heart clench in worry as I look back at him. “Get up” he barks out, I stand quickly and look at my things in the corner. I take a step to get them; but he grabs my arm, “I didn’t say you could grab that, now come on.” He tugs my arm and starts pulling me out of the office; I look back as he pulls me, stumbling behind him.
As he pulls me through the halls, we pass the place where me and Adam had our fight. There's still blood on the floor; it’s smudged from people moving through the hall, I can see wheel tracks in the blood. ‘Penelope’ I think wistfully, “where are we going?” I say as we pass Ms. Addams’ class. As we pass she comes through the door and looks at the officer, “Scott, wait!” she calls out. Officer Bailey turns around and looks at her, irritation clear on his face. “What is it Margaret” he bites out, “I was told by another student that Ollie was acting in-” she starts but he cuts in. “In what self-defence; and who told you that, Margaret.” he says sarcastically, “Penelope Mark-” Ms. Addams starts but is interrupted again. “Marko. The criminals kid, the system said his name’s {NAME NOT FOUND}, same as this one being called [REDACTED].” he says in a mocking tone.

I whip my head in his direction, ‘what did he just call her?’ “Scott, they go by Ollie and Penelope” she reprimands softly. “I don’t care what they want to be called, they’re both trouble” he counters with disgust written on his face. “I- you know what; nevermind, do what you will. I’m not putting my neck out, and getting fired over this” Ms. Addams huffs out. ‘You-’ I whip my head and look at her with wide eyes ‘are you-’ I feel my blood boil under my skin as tears form in my eyes. “Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME!!!” I scream at her as I try to pull my arm from Officer Bailey’s grip, tears falling down my face. Ms. Addams jumps away and Officer Bailey starts pulling me down the hall.

I try to pull and kick out of his grip as he drags me, heart racing a mile a minute. “LET ME GO!!!” I shout as we pass the library; his grip tightening, painfully so. “SHUT THE HELL UP!!” he yells as we pass the lunch room. All the rooms of the school pass in a blur as we head to the lobby. I look towards the people at the front desk and they just look away as I'm dragged out the door. I look where we’re heading as he pulls me down the steps: his S.R.O. car. My eyes widen as we get closer, and I see some straggler students staring as I'm pulled to the vehicle. As I’m getting pushed in I see Gary’s bus on the corner. He’s looking around a bit while I look at him: then he sees me. We lock eyes for a moment; and his face. Which is usually either an expression of irritation or boredom; falls to something I never thought I'd see: fear.

Before I can try to react, I'm shoved into the back of the cruiser. I drop into the seat and buckle immediately. Then I hold my hands together and pull at my sleeves; as I do I look at my stomach as I feel it start to sting more again. It's bleeding more again. I hear the door open as Officer Bailey gets in the front seat and pulls out his phone. I take out my ear plugs so I can hear the conversation, “Hey Jeff,” Officer Bailey starts “you got the paperwork done?” I arch my brow confused for a moment ‘paperwork?’ “Yeah, I've got it Scott” the voice on the other side; Jeff, answers. “Good, so no court meeting? Where’s this kid going?” Officer Bailey asks. “Ryker’s Island” Jeff answers, and I feel my heart racing and I start to breathe faster. ‘Ryker’s Island is a prison. For adults; bad adults why would they send me there?!’ I think as my vision gets blurry, and I feel dizzy. Officer Bailey starts the car and I see spots; then everything goes black.
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I come to with foggy awareness; my body feels cold and heavy. Voices and other sounds blend in a raucous chorus. I can feel something under me; scratchy and irritating on my skin. ‘Where am I?’ I think groggily; I smell the familiar smell of sanitizer and rubbing alcohol over a strong smell of metal. ‘Am I in a hospital?’I wonder to myself. “The prisoner has paperwork, So they have to stay.” I hear a feminine voice say in an irritated tone. ‘Oh yeah…Rykers’ I realize, Officer Bailey said that’s where I was going. “Well then have ‘em un-paperworked; they’re a kid! It don’t matter what they did, they shouldn't be HERE!” I hear a man shout, the same accent that Gary has coming through his voice. ‘Texan?’ I ponder, Gary told me he was Texan after I asked why he sounded the way he did when we first met.

‘He was a little offended with how I said it at first, but he explained anyway. “I’m letting that slide cuz yer a kid and don’t really know better; but don’t ask questions all blunt like that, not everyones as understanding”’ I remember he told me. ‘Mrs. Miller introduced us, she pulled him aside and talked to him then he told me “I drive a bus that goes around the route to yer school, I can drive ya there if ya like.”’ I smile a little at the memory, ‘any time he saw someone get too out of line he stepped in: even if he could have just left it alone and walked away. “Here's a piece of advice I gave my brother when he was yer age kid; If someones actin’ way outta line, fix it.”’

I tune back into the conversation with the man and the lady; “oh for the love of- THIS AIN’T RIGHT AND YOU KNOW IT!!!” He shouts. “Mr. Brice, I would kindly ask for you to stop shouting. As much as I agree with you that a child should not be here, my hands are tied.” The lady says, a bit of guilt in her even tone. “The request for transfer has been sent and is pending, but currently we’re trying to find a place for the kid to stay. Seeing as this is a prison and not alot of people are safe to be around children.” she adds after a pause. ‘He certainly made her show more remorse for not being able to do anything, so I guess he fixed her behavior. This Mr. Brice seems nice; a bit aggressive, but nice. Or at least he’s got a good head on his shoulders as Mrs. Miller likes to say.’

I move my fingers; testing movement, ‘alright, I’ve had enough of just laying here. This guy; by Mrs. Miller’s and Gary’s advice, seems trustworthy. And I'm not just gonna sit here and let everyone talk about what's gonna happen to me without weighing in on it.’ I start to open my eyes; the light in the room immediately rendering me as blind as I was with them closed. ‘Augh’ I wince as I blink over and over, then brace myself on what I'm laying on and start to push myself up. Red hot pain shoots through the side of my stomach as I sit up; the brightness of the room is replaced by spots in vision in an instant. My breath starts to leave me in wheezing huffs as I try to breath in more and more air; my lungs feeling as if there isn’t enough, suffocating as I feel my body heat up.

“OH SH- KID!” I barely hear the man shout, my ears are filled with the sound of thumping: my heartbeat. I feel something grab me and hold me up gently, easing the thumping slightly by taking away the strain of holding myself up “Put the pillows behind their back so they ain’t gotta hold themselves up” he tells the lady. Another wave of dizziness comes over me, and my head feels both heavy and light at the same time. My head falls forward; the feeling of being held up is fainter, but I can tell that I'm being held up because I know my body would have followed my head and face planted. I can feel my glasses; which I had not even realised were still on my face, slide off into my lap. I can feel myself being moved as I'm laid back into a slightly upright position, my heart slowing down and the spots clearing slowly.

A wave of coolness comes over me; the overwhelming heat leaves, making my shoulders relax from the tension I hadn't realized was there. “Be careful of their arm; that IV has to stay in, they lost a lot of blood.” I hear the lady say, “I guessed that from the Texas sized blood stain on their shirt.” I hear the man retort sarcastically. I chuckle lightly and wince as I feel pain in my stomach as my abdomen tenses. “Good to know you’re awake [REDACTED]” the lady says to my right as I move my arm out to find my fallen glasses, only to have them placed in my hand from the left. “Thanks” I mumble as I slide them back onto my face and blink a couple times to clear my eyes. “I go by Ollie by the way” I say weakly to my right as I look to my left at who I assume handed me my glasses.

The man I heard earlier stands there in an orange prison uniform; the shade of it highlighting the red of his hair in contrast to the orange, a deeper shade than Rex’s. His hair is parted to the side; short, and a bit rugged, looking like he was running his hands through it in frustration. His nose has a bump in the bridge like mine does, and he has a similar resting scowl like Gary. He has broad shoulders and his uniform sleeves are rolled up to show muscular forearms: scars litterd over his hands and arms.

‘“Hey Gary can I ask you a personal question?”’ I remember asking once as he was driving me to school one day, I was messing with one of the poorly welded park bench seats that replace the normal bus seats. ‘“Sure kid, and that's good manners asking if it’s okay to ask before you do.” he said, taking one hand off the wheel and wiping his hand on his tank top. “Where did you get the scars?” I said, gesturing to his arms. He looked down then responded “well when i was younger; before me and my brother moved here, we lived on a farm in Texas. These kinda scars-” he takes a hand off the wheel and holds his hand up “-come from hard work.”’

I look back up to his face and I notice a big scar across his face; stretching across his face from his right cheek, over his nose and left eye, and stopping just above his eyebrow. His left eye is clouded under the scar, ‘blind; I remember looking stuff about that up on the computer when I started school so I could better help Peta. Their eyes aren’t clouded like that; just a greyish green, though I read that not all people who are blind have cloudy eyes.’ I look over at his other eye; it’s brown, looking right at me with a look of realization and apprehensiveness. “You said yer name is Ollie?” He says questioningly. “Yeah” I respond, arching a brow as I look at the IV in my arm and follow it to a blood bag.

“Bit of a rude question but, you wouldn’t happen to be an orphan would ya?” he says in a tone that gives off that he’s trying to figure something out, looking for confirmation. “Yep” I state plainly, looking at his face as the apprehension turns to recognition. “God dam-” I hear him start, but he stops himself and runs his hand through his hair then down his face. He sits on a bed that's next to mine and puts his hands together, resting his elbows on his knees. “Aight. Best that I introduce myself to ya; I’m Montana Brice, you may’ve heard of me from my brother Gary.” He says nonchalantly, my eyes widen and I think back on his behavior. “Oh…that explains a lot” I say quietly in realization, he sputters a bit in surprise.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he says a bit offended sounding, “You have the same accent, and you behave in a similar way” I explain. “Ah, that makes sense.” he says in understanding, “Gary never mentioned your name, or that you were in prison” I mention. “Well not really a thing a kid needs to know now is it?” he remarks, “no. I guess not.” I state. I look at him as he bounces his leg, and furrows his brow in heavy thought. “So; I’m gonna go on a whim here and say you already knew I was here, or at least that I might be. My question is how?” I state plainly.

He looks up at me surprised, “Right I forgot; Gary told me you were smart, makes sense you'd put that together.” he remarks then continues “Gary called our boss after he saw you get put in the cruiser: never heard the guy so scared.” I remember Gary’s face, “I saw him before I was put in the car, he’s never looked at me like that before.” I tell him; throat tightening a little. “He’ll be glad to know I found ya, but as I was saying he called our boss and he searched around. Got info you’d be here and then they called me.” He finishes; I look over to the right, towards the lady and she’s over at another person's bed ‘must have left a while ago from the looks of it.’ “Alright I told my side; what’s yours? Why did you get put here?” He asks bluntly ‘okay, I see why Gary was so understanding with me’ I think to myself.

“I broke the S.R.O.'s son's nose with my skateboard.” I say bluntly, “but in my defence he stabbed me, though he was aiming for Penelope.” I think for a second “wait… she’s in a wheelchair so she was lower. I got stabbed in the stomach so…oh my god…” my eyes widen and I feel my blood boil as I realize “IF HE HAD HIT HER SHE WOULD HAVE DIED!!!” I shout and lift myself up slightly before being stopped by Montana. “Woah, woah, woah,” he says “take it easy, yer gonna hurt yourself.” I stop and breathe for a second calming myself down, “well, might be a good idea for me to tell you that i’m not the only one in here lookin’ for ya” he says sitting back down. “And Penelope, her last name’s Marko right?” he adds, “yeah, why?” I respond. “Well one of the people who’s looking for you; one of my coworkers, is her dad: Flint Marko” He explains then quickly adds “Penny called him around the same time I got the call from the boss; or well one of the bosses, he’s not the big boss.”

“Is she okay?” I ask, remembering the last time I saw her she was yelling for me. “Yeah she’s alright, she was real worried about you though. Once Flint heard about it he was pissed: One, because someone tried to hurt his daughter and two, because right after he got off the phone, he found out that the kid who protected her might’ve been thrown in here.” he describes, gesturing with his hands and counting his fingers as he talks. “How many people are looking for me, and do they all work with you?” I ask unsure if I want the answer, “Just three people: Me, Flint, and Alex” he says as I hear loud noises in the hall and a deep male voice talking to another deeper voice. “Speak of the devil” Montana says with an annoyed look, before the med bay doors slam open.

A very tall and muscular man in an orange uniform barges in whipping his head back and forth, his short brown hair flying about at the speed. He looks at me for a second as he whips his head in my direction, then looks in the other before he whirls his head back in my direction. His eyes widen as looks at me; then he looks over at Montana, then he starts moving quickly before another man grabs his arm. “Alexei, that’s not what I-” the other man starts before he looks over at me. The other man is also tall but not as tall as the first, ‘Alexei is the first one, if what the second one said is to be believed.’ He has dark brown hair that's buzzed, and he has a widow's peak: he’s also wearing an orange uniform. “Okay, I’m guessing these guys are the other two you were just telling me about?” I say to Montana with a bit of amusement in my voice.

“Yeah that’s Flint-” he points at the one with the buzz cut “-and that’s Alex” He points at the taller one, who I can now tell has a middle part in his short straight hair. I look towards Alex “Question: did you run headfirst through that door?” I ask curiously, “yeah i did, Flint said to use my head so, yeah” He answers with a smile on his face. “I didn’t mean literally Alex,” Flint retorts, irritated at Alex then calmly asks “-Montana this is the kid?” gesturing towards me, letting go of Alex’s arm. “Yeah, this is the kid that helped Penny, also seems that Ollie here did more than did more than just keep her from getting hurt.” he answers “he said from where he got hit, if he hadn’t gotten in the way it woulda killed her.” Montana says grimmly. “WHA- hold on, where did you get hit kid?!” Flints exclaims as he moves quickly over to me, I point to the left side of my stomach.

Alex follows him and when they see my stomach they both go pale, “oh…oh my god.” Flint says as he covers his mouth with his hand. “You should see the other guy; you’ve heard of things being hell bent, his nose is the sequel: hella bent” I joke. Montana and Alex both burst out laughing after I say that; while Flint looks like he’s fighting laughter behind his hand. I hear footsteps approaching and look to see the lady from earlier. “Alright; I was just told that as their medical caregiver as of now, I pick where they go.” she says, all of the men stop laughing and look at her expectantly.

“I can’t allow him to be alone due to his…situation and age, but that poses another issue: who to bunk him with. Though I think I have a solution;” she pauses “Mr. Brice, when he was having…difficulties you assisted him without question. Along with that, on all your records it’s seen that you have shown great dislike of people who hurt children. And with Mr. Marko being a father himself, I have come to the conclusion that they will be staying with you three.” she states a matter of factly. “Once Ollie is well enough to be moved, they will be put into your cell. A new bed will be added to compensate, and I’ve pulled some strings for a privacy curtain for the toilet” She explains. “I’m okay with that” I yawn out and take off my glasses, “Hey Monty?” I ask “Uh…Oh me, yeah kid?” he responds. “If you can call Gary, can you ask him to tell my siblings I’m sorry I wasn’t home like I promised, and that I love them?” I say my eyes tearing up, and my throat getting tight. “I will” He says, certainty in his voice, and I smile, closing my eyes and falling asleep.

Chapter Text

I wake up to the sound of shuffling and whispered tones; or mostly whispered tones, contemplating waking me up. “I know they should keep resting, but it’s best to have Ollie moved  today so that they can be escorted. You know what the guards think of leaving you three roaming the halls alone, especially you Mr. O’Hirn.” I hear the Prison doctor say. “What’s that supposed to mean?!” I hear Alex say offended, voice raising a bit more. “Calm down Alexei, she’s got a point that the guards wouldn't want us wandering. And they have a bit of trouble stopping you when you get going.” I hear Flint amend.

“Cuz I’m so strong?” Alex asks; calmer now, “yea; cuz of that, yer all muscle big guy.” I hear Monty respond. I open my eyes, put on my glasses, put in my ear plugs then look at them. They're standing in front of my bed facing each other: criminals on the left, doctor on the right. “What’s up?” I croak out, “good evening Ollie. How are you feeling?” The doctor asks. “I feel alright, well, my stomach still hurts but it's better than it was two days ago” I respond, ‘two days…I’ve been here two days.’

“Well that’s good, I was just about to wake you up so we could get you moved into the cell.” she states. I pull up the blanket and peer at the oversized hospital gown that I was given to replace my old clothes; the old ones were drenched in blood. I look back up at her with a sarcastic look, “I hope you don’t plan on having me walk out in this” I joke. “Oh. No, you’re going to have a change of clothes” she chuckles out.

She turns away to a chair with orange clothing on it, “they may be a bit big, I already shortened the pants for you. They are the drawstring kind.” she adds. I sit up as she turns back around; wincing as my stomach moves. The doctor places the clothes on the bed then pulls the privacy curtain, leaving just the two of us inside. “You three stay in the waiting area while I get Ollie dressed.” She calls out and I hear sounds of agreement and retreating footsteps. 

She turns over to me and starts separating the stack of clothes revealing: an orange button-up shirt, a pair of orange pants that are roughly cut at the bottom, a pair of white and grey socks, and a pair of boxer briefs. “Okay; so let's check the bandages, then we can put on this stuff.” She says as she carefully grabs my shoulder with one hand, as she moves my blanket with the other. After she moves the blanket she unties part of the gown, and pulls it away to look at the bandages.

“Okay, so the bandages look good. Now-” She grabs the boxer briefs and places it closer to me, “do you want me to put it on you or do you want to do it? I can just help when you need it if that would make you more comfortable.” She says awkwardly. “I can do it” I say as I grab the boxers from her and quickly change into them, moving past the pain at the rapid movement. “Don’t strain yourself Ollie.” she reminds as I reach for the shirt. “Yeah, yeah, I know” I say as I slip the shirt on, not bothering with the buttons because of the size. I do the same thing with the pants; pulling the string snug and tying it tight, gritting my teeth as I do. 

I swing my legs over the side; socks in hand, and move to bend over but then stinging pain shoots through my stomach. “Okay… I could-” I put my hand to my stomach as I sit back up, “I could use some help with the socks” I wheeze out. The doctor rushes over and takes the socks from my hands “Before I do that, I should check the bandage again just in case” she says as she lifts the hem of the shirt; excess of it piling at my hips where I'm sitting.

As she inspects the bandaging again she lets out a breath, “We’re good” She says as she pulls away and gently places the shirt back. She bends down slightly and gently grabs one of my legs, slipping one of the socks on gently before doing the same for the other. “Alright, and we’re all done. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get any shoes that were your size.” She says, helping me off the bed and pulling back the curtain. 

As I stand, the hem of the prison shirt falls to my mid thigh; sleeves covering my hands. Looking through the curtain I see Alex, Monty, and Flint standing patiently. “So, are we good to go?” I ask, breaking the silence. “Yes, you can go.” the doctor answers then adds “You’ll need to come in for daily check ups in the morning.” She moves towards the door, gesturing for all of us to follow her. I look to the ground a bit, and then take a step forward.

As I move to walk I feel stinging in my stomach, ‘Oh for fucks sake, come on’ I think irritably as I keep walking despite the discomfort. They keep a close eye on me, Monty on my right, Flint on my left, and Alex behind me. We enter the hallway and I take in the old bricks that make up the walls, alongside the cold concrete floor. We make our way down the hallway fast, the doctor not wanting to deal with the guards. After a while we make it to a moderately sized cell with four beds in it. “Well here you are,” the doctor says, “now you three make sure Ollie doesn't strain themselves.”

They all nod as she walks away, I walk into the middle of the cell and look around. The beds are bunk beds, “they’re almost the same size as mine; a bit bigger though” I comment to myself. “You stay on bottom bunk cuz of yer injury kid” I hear Monty say to me, “Alex you’ll have to be bottom bunk as well: given your height” Flint adds. “So that just leaves the top bunks fer us to figure out” Monty mutters putting a hand to his chin.

“Oh, oh, Flint!” Alex exclaims, “What Alexei?” Flint says slightly annoyed. “We can bunk together like we used to do at our sleep overs when we were little deti!” Alex shouts happily. “And before we’d go to bed, babushka would make us-” Alex Starts to ramble on, caught in memories “Alright i’ll bunk with you! Just don’t go on a tangent Alex.” Flint interrupts, smiling despite his annoyed tone. ‘Oh, so they’ve known each other a long time… what do deti and babushka mean?’ A puzzled look comes across my face as I sit on the bottom bunk on the left side of the room.

“What’s deti and a babushka?” I ask as I shift the pillow onto the wall and lean against it; sitting cross legged. Alex turns his attention to me and his eyes light up, “deti means children and babushka means grandmother in Russian.” he answers happily. Alex sits on the bed on the right side of the room while Flint looks at a clock outside, then heads out the door and down the hallway.

“Where’s he going?” I ask as Monty walks to the edge of my bed, “he’s goin’ to grab some food fer’ us; The doc’ gave us a pass to eat in here due to you and yer condition.” He says, shrugging his shoulders “Mind if I sit?” he asks, pointing at the vacant spot at the end of the bed. “No, go ahead” I respond. he sits down and rests his elbows on his knees, leaning forward slightly. “So you told me that you, Alex, and Flint all work together; but you never told me what you guys do, or why you’re in here.” I state bluntly ‘no dancing around that question.’

Monty chuckles “right to the point, I like that.” he takes his elbows off his knees and turns his body to face me. “we’re in here for vandalism; the boss had a disagreement with a guy and wanted to do something to make him pay.” Alex answers. “The guy had this custom car he was obsessed with; kinda weird to be honest. So the boss asked us to do something to it; well that was the big boss, our other boss told us what to do specifically” Monty adds. “He told us to take everything inside and just leave the shell.” Alex says, chuckling slightly. I hold back a laugh at that, “okay, so I'm guessing you guys just do what your bosses tell you to? Who are they?” I ask.

“Ah well yea we do, but we can’t really tell you who they- "Monty starts but then Alex interrupts, “Kingpin and Mr. E.” Monty slowly turns his head from looking at me to looking at Alex with a look of disbelief on his face. “What?” Alex says cluelessly. Monty slaps his palm to his head and lets out an aggravated sigh, “Alex, we ain’t supposed to tell no one who we’re workin' fer” Monty groans out in irritation.

Alex’s clueless-ness shifts into a look of realization, “well good thing for you two; I have no idea who either of those people are.” I state. “Kingpin doesn’t even sound like a name; more like a title, and Mr. E just sounds like a nickname.” I add. I hear the door creak, and we all turn our head in its direction. Flint stands in the doorway holding three trays, while another inmate holds two more. 

“I leave for five minutes and you spill the beans Alexei: really” Flint says unimpressed. He and the other man walk through the door, carefully placing two trays next to me and Monty. The other man goes over to Alex, giving him the trays in his hands before plopping down in his lap. Alex smiles dumbly, looking at the other man with a soft look in his eyes. I look at the man and take in his appearance ‘he looks…weirdly familiar’ he has slicked back black hair, and his eyes are the same color as the doctors who gave me glasses.

‘Actually now that I look at him, his face is the same too…well without the freckles and the wrinkles’ I squint at him and grab the tray closest to me. “Dimitri, please keep it PG. If not for mine and Montana’s sake then for the kids.” Flint pleads to the man: Dimitri. “What; I can't say hello to my favorite beefcake?” The man says with a heavy accent, smirking as Alex’s face turns red. 

“Can y'all just eat, If you start flirting we’re fixin 'to have to hold a class” Monty says in irritation. “What kind of class?” Alex says, tilting his head slightly. Dimitri whispers in his ear and he gets even redder; then begins to retort. I decide to leave them to their bickering and properly inspect my tray, there's a sandwich and some apple slices, alongside a box of juice. I grab the sandwich and open it. It has ham, cheese, and onions on it.

‘Ugh, I hate onions.’ I put the sandwich back together and brace myself to eat it. “Why is the little one making a face?” Dimitri says, I look up from the sandwich at him and notice that everyone moved their attention to me. “I uh…” I look down at the tray and place the sandwich on it, “the sandwich has onions.” I say with a pause. “I don’t really like onions, but I eat stuff I don't like all the time. I just gotta-”

I feel the tray get taken from me and I look back up confused, Alex had at some point gotten Dimitri off his lap and moved over to me. He holds my tray in one hand, and opens the sandwich. I look at him confused as he scrapes off the onions on the sandwich with the plastic spoon and onto his tray, then puts it back together. “There, no more onions.” He says placing my tray back in front of me and going back to his seat.

I look at the sandwich confused with a bit of lightness in my chest. I smile as I pick up the sandwich, saying “thanks” before taking a bite. ‘It still tastes like onion, but the gross texture is gone.’ “No problem Small Fry, onions are my favorite.” Alex says as he puts the extra onions on his sandwich too. I take more bites from my sandwich before stopping, “Small Fry?” I ask. 

Alex takes a bite of his sandwich before answering, “Like a small animal, a baby.” I nod and continue eating, finishing my sandwich and drinking some of my juice. I start to eat my apple slices before looking around the room again, seeing that Demitri is gone. “Where did Dimitri go?” I ask, “he went back to his cell, it’s almost time for lights out.” Flint answers. I nod again and finish off my apple slices. The lights shut out and I can hear people shouting that it was lights out time.

Monty rises off the end of my bed and takes my tray to the front of the room alongside his, Flint’s, and Alex’s, then climbs onto the top bunk above me. I shimmy down my bed messing with the blanket, trying to get it over me. Then I feel someone grab the blanket and gently put it in place. “Here you go, I can put your glasses on the pull out desk right here if you want” I hear Flint say. 

I hesitate before I pull off my glasses and hold them out, letting him take them. “Wait.” I say as I take out my ear plugs and place them in his hand as well. I hear him place them on a metal surface and then his footsteps moving across the room. “Night kiddo” I hear him say as he goes up the ladder on the other bed. I close my eyes and drift to sleep slowly, going into a dreamless sleep.

I wake up with a wince as I hear shouting outside the room, “Rise and shine inmates!” a guard yells. ‘Ugh… my ears’ I stiffly sit up holding my hands over my ears, trying to muffle the noise. I look around the blurry room for everyone, blurs of orange move around the beds across the room. An orange blur comes from the top bunk of the bed across from me, and I can hear shuffling come towards me.

"Hey kiddo," I hear Flint say quietly; his voice sounding a little lower and gravely than it was yesterday. He's right in front of me and I feel him tap my shoulder, "Here's your glasses and… earplugs?" he says, placing them in my hand. I put my earplugs in first then wipe the glasses with my sleeve before sliding them onto my face.

"Morning" I say, turning and letting my legs fall over the edge of the bed. I wince as I place a hand over my stomach, standing up slowly before feeling a hand on my shoulder. "No no no, you stay right there okay. the doc' should be coming in soon to check on you." Flint says softly, sitting me back down onto the bed.

"Today is mail day, line up inmates!" I hear the guard yell again, "mail day?" I ask looking as they line up. "it's when we get stuff from people on the outside, letters and other stuff like pictures and books." Monty explains rubbing a hand over his face.

The guard approaches and opens the cell door, "Okay, make your way out one at a time; slowly, no funny business O'Hirn." the guard says sternly. "I wasn't doin' nothin'" he grumbles out as he shuffles out the door after the other two. "The doctor will be coming to examine you soon, she's bring your breakfast so don't go anywhere." The guard says pointing at me, a weird look on his face as he leads the others down the hall.

I huff and slowly lay back on the bed, 'my bed' my mind corrects, I barely have a moment for my mind to wander before I hear a set of footsteps and a quick tap on metal. "yeah?" I respond to the knocking, "not dead yet; but you know, it's still early." I joke, sitting up slowly. "Good morning to you too Ollie, feeling better?" the doctor says as she walks in holding a tray of food in one hand with a medical bag hanging on her shoulder.

"Eh, it still hurts but that's kinda expected though" I reply sitting on the edge of the bed again. "well I suppose it would, I have some pain medication in a good dose for you." she says as she places down the tray of food on the end of my bed. "May I examine your stomach please?" she asks, pulling the bag off her shoulder and placing it down before opening it.

I lift up the shirt to show my bandages and look down, it looks messier than it was yesterday, but there's no blood. "oh, well there's no blood so that's good, but it would be best to change the bandages for the day." she says as she puts on gloves and gently grabs at the bandages. she slowly grabs the bandages and gingerly unravels it from around me, peeling the little pad of gauze off of the stitched area.

I wince as the bandages are pulled off of my stitches, my eyes stinging a bit as my eyes water. The doctor apologizes as she puts disinfectant on the stitches and starts re-wrapping the wound. "okay, that should work until I change it tomorrow." she takes off the gloves then grabs a bottle and takes out a pill. "Here's your medicine, it should help with the pain." She says placing it in my hand then offers a bottle of water as I put it in my mouth.

I gulp down the water with the pill, then I grab the tray at the end of the bed. the tray has a small carton of milk, a bowl of cereal, and a plastic spoon. 'not bad to be honest' I think as I open the carton and pour the milk into the cereal. I take a bite and chew the cereal, sugary flavor hitting my taste buds and my eyes widen. Digging in quickly and finishing it as the doctor looks at me with wide eyes. "ahem, that is so much better than the stuff at school."

The doctor looks at me with the same look the guard looked at me with. I hear movement in the hall and I hear the voices of Monty, Alex, and Flint coming closer. the doctor takes the tray from me and grabs the bag, "I will see you tomorrow morning to change your bandages again, a guard will give you more medicine at lunch and dinner" She moves towards the door as she talks before turning back to me as she opens it. "take it easy, okay" she says softly and I nod. she smiles slightly before exiting the room and moving down the hallway.

I adjust my shirt again back to its normal state before I slowly move myself back on the bed, sitting up with my back on the wall. I fiddle with the long sleeves as I hear the voices get closer and closer. "Alex; just cuz' you can run through stuff like that, don't mean you should." I hear Monty say, "well may-" I hear Alex start before Flint interrupts. "Can you two hurry up, you're walking like you're in a pit of tar" He grumbles. "okay okay, Mr. impatient" Alex snarks at him "we're almost there anyway."

Alex rounds to the front of the door holding a big quilted blanket, he reaches the door then knocks it open with his head. "What are you a Rhino; you're gonna get a headache" I say wincing at the sound of ringing metal as he shuffles into the room. He chuckles as he plops down onto his bed, "kid's right Alex, yer' gonna give yourself a concussion." Monty chuckles out as he walks in holding a letter and a box. He's followed shortly by Flint who's holding one small box and one bigger box.

"You guys got a lot of mail" I say a bit shocked, ' I was expecting like letters or something not whole boxes'. They look at me then Monty and Flint move over to me. Monty places the box down next to me before climbing up to his bunk with the letter. I sit confused for a second before Flint places his bigger box next to me too, then I look at him in confusion. "They're for you," he says sitting next to me "that one" he gestures to the smaller one. "Is from Gary, the other one is from Penny."

I feel a little less confused as I reach for the smaller one first, (To: Ollie, From: Gary and Charlotte Miller). The confusion comes back full force as I read that, "why do Mrs. Miller and Gary have the same last name" I mumble 'Are they family too? or are they…'. "Gary Is Charlotte's wife." I hear Alex say, snapping me out of my thoughts "oh okay" I say shrugging. "ThAt'S nOt" I hear Monty cough out, choking on a laugh before clearing his throat "You know what fuck it, yea he's her wife" he says comically.

"Montana! language" Flint scolds holding in a laugh, I giggle a bit before opening the box. In the top of the box there's a letter, I grab it and move the box to be right beside it as I open the letter. I open it with little grace tearing the envelope almost in half. The letter falls out of the torn remains folded neatly and held together with a sticker. I grab the letter and gently lift the sticker and unfold it. As it unfolds a picture falls out, I hold the letter in one hand and pick up the picture in the other and look at it before I bring both into my lap and look down at them.

The tears well up in my eyes as I look at the picture; Rex, Peta, Hanuel, and Ethan are all in it smiling and waving at the camera. I can see from their faces and red eyes that they had been crying a lot. I turn my attention to the letter and start to read, the only limit being my blurry vision. (Dear Ollie, This is Mrs. Miller. Gary told me what happened; or at least what he found out. We are currently trying to get the situation fixed. Gary told me that Montana and some of his coworkers are there with you, rest assured you are safe with them.)

I swallow a lump in my throat I didn't realize was there as I read more, (Your siblings have been doing well with the routines you gave them. They've missed you quite a bit while you've been gone, but don't you worry about that. I told them that you're okay; and you will be. They'll be waiting for you when you get home, they love you very much. With care - Charlotte Miller) I finish the letter and wipe a stray tear as it falls down my face.

"Whoa, kid are you alright?" Flint says putting a hand on my shoulder; a look of concern on his face. I only nod in response as I gently fold up the letter and place the photo inside. Flint opens his mouth to say something but I cut him off with a look 'don't, just…don't' I think as I reach for the box once again. As I bring the open box into my lap I look at the contents. I lift it out of the box and inspect it, 'It's a book about robotics?'. I flip through it and find a note stuffed between the pages.

I furrow my brow in confusion before I flip the note to read the contents. (Hey Slugger, I heard what happened; you gave that little shit one hell of a hit. Good thinking with the skate board; if you're in a fight with someone stronger than you, you play dirty. I ain't gonna lie when I saw you leaving the school the way you did, I was terrified. I'm glad my lil' brother found you though, Mont's always been a good egg albeit with a bit of a rough shell. I hope that the other two have been treating you well. I know Flint ain't gonna let anything happen to you: not after what you did.)

I pause for a moment glancing up at Flint getting a good look at him, I can see some of Penelope's features in his face. The tired looking eyes and their noses are both hooked, same eye color too. I move my eyes back to the letter and start where I left off, adjusting in my seat. (It's probably gonna take a hot minute to get you out, so I thought i'd give you one of my old books. You've always been a curious kid; I mean what kid loots a broken lamp from the trash and fixes it without so much as instructions. You've got a talent kid,this book may help with that.)

(Well I'm gonna leave the sappy shit to Charr, you're a resourceful and smart kid so I won't waste ink on telling you what to do. I'll see you soon -Gary). I smile a bit at the end and put away the letter before I put it back in the book. As I put the book back into the box along with the other letter from Mrs. Miller I smile, 'Gary always finds a way to make that stuff go away, I don't know how he does it." I set the box on the other side of the bed, and then reach for the bigger box from Penelope.

As I grab the box I notice it isn't very heavy, about as heavy as the other box to be exact. I open the box gently and look in to see another letter. 'man, we just got a letter, we just got a letter, we just got a letter; I wonder who it's from?' I think as I open the letter with care. I straighten my back slightly as I read the first line of admittedly really good handwriting. (Dear Ollie, This is Peneleope. I've asked Babuska to help me write this letter so that I can thank you for what you did.) 'that would explain the handwriting I guess' I think smiling as my posture eases.

(Thank you for what you did; protecting me, I hope you're okay though. My dad told me you're in there with him, but don't worry we're gonna get you out. I know my dad said It's cold in there so I put one of my cartigans in the box so you won't get cold.) I pick up the dark grey fabric and inspect it; It's a soft fabric and on the thicker side. I pull it on and adjust the sleeves so that the long prison uniform sleeves are folded over the ends of the cartigan sleeves. After I adjust it I take in a breath feeling the warmness of it, as I breath I smell peppermint.

After I've settled in the cartigan I start reading the letter again, (I also packed a book. I know you usually only read the boring complicated ones because the English teacher told you that you should challenge yourself. but that doesn't mean you can't just enjoy a good book, I put in one of my favorites: Charlotte's Web.) I grab the book from the box and examine it, there's a girl on the front alongside a pig and other assorted animals. I look back to the letter again, placing the book in my lap.

(I hope that you'll like it, but if you don't I'm sure we can find another book you'll like. Anyway, I'll see you when you get out; stay safe and thank you again. Sincerely, Penelope Marko.) I reread over the letter about two times before I place it gently back into its envelope. "A cartigan and a book huh?" I hear Flint say, "Yeah," I trace a finger over the cover of the book. I look at the book with a curious look; "You can read it now if ya want too we don't mind, it's a good book." I look up at Monty as he says that, then I grab the other book and lay on my pillows.I open Charlotte's Web and start reading settling into the pillows further.

Two hours Later…

I finally look up from the book with tears in my eyes, 'she was right, that is a good book.' I look around the room noticing that it's just me and Alex. "Hey Rhino!!" I call out to him, he turns his head over to me. "In the letter from Penelope she told me that she had Babushka help her write it. did she mean a different one or is that the same person you were talking about earlier?" I ask. He smiles a bit before turning his whole body in my direction and answering. "She was talking about the same person; My Babushka is her Babushka, She takes care of little Penny when Flint or I can't."

"Does that happen often?" I respond "You and Flint not being there?". He looks at me with furrowed brows a bit, thinking hard. 'Crap, that may have been a mean question' I think as my face falls into a look of worry. "Not too often, we usually don't get caught. But there's been this red devil guy recently and he's been catching people in the business." He answers shrugging his shoulders, and I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. "Don't worry Small Fry, We'll all be out in no time: boss said so." Alex says as he gets up and ruffles my hair.

"How's the book Ollie?" I hear from the door, I look toward it and see Flint and Monty coming in. "It was good, I see why Penelope said she liked it." I answer smiling slightly, "Damn kid, you finished it already?" Monty says a look of shock on his face. "Yeah? It wasn't a very big book." I answer, arching my brow; "I really liked Charlotte, I kinda made me think…" I trail off and furrow my brows as I think. 'what if my mom was like Charlotte, I think i'd perfect her alive though.' "Think what?" I hear Flint ask,"Oh; nothing, Don't worry about it." I say waving my hand.

"Inmates!" I hear a loud voice yell from outside the cell. Flint, Alex, and Monty quickly turn their heads as a Guard approaches the cell door. "We've got a legal meeting for the little one, you three are invited as well." The guard says before standing adjacent to the door, I get up slowly as Flint comes to my side to keep me steady. "Okay," I say adjusting my sleeves "lets go". I move toward the hall at an even pace, trying not to aggravate my stitches as I walk. "If you want, I can carry you." I hear Alex say, "I'm not letting you carry me Rhino, not with your track record of running into shit." I say in a testing manner.

Alex still for a second then starts laughing, me and the others joining in soon after. I place my hand on my stomach as I wince at a particularly harsh inhale. I force myself to stop laughing and just smile instead. "Okay, here we are now I want all of you on your best behavior." the Guard says seeming to look straight at Alex, "We will" I answer before anyone can say anything and open the door. I enter the room and see three men at a table: one very big bald man in a suit, one older looking man in blue coveralls covered in stains and the last a younger looking brunette man in a suit with red sunglasses and a cane like Petas. 'Well this is gonna be interesting.'