Chapter Text
The child ripped the rope wrapped around his wrists. He pushed himself up, legs shaking as he inched towards the heavy metal door. His vision was blurring as he pushed it open. The light was blinding in his eyes as he stared down a white hallway.
What now, Bubble?
I don’t know Caine…just run. Please.
So he listened to his friend’s voice in his head, and he sprinted as fast as he could away from the building.
***
Ragatha stared down at the paper. Her notes were scribbled frantically across, neat handwriting gone.
You should know this already! Her internal voice sounded high. Nervous.
What was there to be nervous about? There was nothing! She just had to do good on this test or else her mother would be mad, but it was nothing new!
A flash of silver whizzing by her face.
Tears and blood and tears and blood mixed-
No no no. Not going down there.
Ragatha wanted to hysterically laugh just thinking about her mother. The amount of begging she had to do to let her go to this school was crazy.
“Annabelle.”
“I don’t want you around her anymore.”
Something made a clattering noise as it fell to the floor.
She stared down at her paper. The words were blending.
If I fail this, Mother is going to pull me out. She’s going to know what a failure I am.
Ragatha's heart was beating faster and faster, and she began to feel like she was drifting. Drifting away from this college dorm, where her friends were waiting for her.
It was her fault, wasn’t it? She had been the bad child, the one who needed to be punished.
Ragatha pushed the papers away from her, touching her eye. The one that had a little trouble seeing, which always needed extra care.
“You know I love you, right?”
She was crying. Why was she crying?
She just wanted to study. Study study study to get away from her past life. Even though her Mother might be lonely without her. She promised she’d visit.
Does mother hate me?
Ragatha knew that couldn’t be true. Right?
Wrong. Right wrong right wrong-
Shut UP! She tore the papers off her desk in a sobbing rage. Nothing was cooling down the burning fire within her chest.
She smashed her fist against her head, stars popping up in her vision. I hate you I hate you I hate you-
Then, as fast as the anger came, it subsided. Ragatha’s head spun as she stared down at her desk.
She leaned down and calmly grabbed her papers, breathing deep.
She had just overreacted, that was all. Her mother didn't, no, couldn’t hate her. Not after everything she had done out of love.
The blood ran down her face as a young Ragatha stared up in shock. In front of her was a monster.
Ragatha’s head twitched as she erased the memory from her mind. No point in dwelling on the past right now.
She looked back at her worksheet, words blurring in front of her. Her limbs felt heavy, and the paper felt like it was miles long.
Just a minute. She thought. I deserve a little break.
You don’t.
Shut up.
Ragatha rested her head on her arms gently, closing her eyes. Her curly red hair acted as a barrier against the world. Just a minute…just a minute…
Her breath evened out as she fell into a shallow sleep.
***
Pomni jammed her keys into the keyhole, precariously holding her bag, waterbottle, and a book in one hand. Even her bangs had to get in her way. She wiggled her key around, cursing under her breath as she tried to open the door.
“Come on…you got this…” Finally, the door silently swung open.
Their apartment was quiet as Pomni slowly stepped inside, avoiding the creaking floorboard. Moonlight filtered inside, since of course, the sun had to set at 5 pm during winter.
Pomni shook off her boots and coat, hanging them quietly up. Where’s Ragatha?
Normally, the red haired girl would smile at her, ask how her day went, and always talk to Pomni about Pomni.
Never herself. Always about others.
Pomni shook off those thoughts. She flicked the kitchen light in, thankful for such an open floor plan. The kitchen bled into a small humble living/dining room (they always ate on the couches anyways) with one door to the left and one to the right. Their actual bedrooms.
Pomni’s eyes drifted to the right door. She never felt the urge to go into Ragatha’s room, since that was her private space. But…something felt different today.
Following her gut feeling, she pushed open the bedroom door.
“Ragatha?” She softly called. The girl didn’t stir from her desk.
Pomni stepped fully inside of her room, glancing around. It felt a lot chillier here. The bed was left unmade, there was paper thrown on the floor, and Ragatha’s backpack was half open.
Not like her at all.
And the actual girl, well. Pomni’s gaze softened, just a little. Ragatha was nestled on her desk, snoring softly. Pomni had never seen her like this.
She carefully picked up the smaller throw blanket that Ragatha had tossed to the ground, draping in across the girl’s shoulders. The redhead seemed to sink a little into the warmth, letting out a happy sigh before going back to lightly snoring.
Pomni decided to let her rest. Even though it was only 6:30, it felt wrong to wake someone who was sleeping that peacefully. She shut the bedroom door softly, turning back to the kitchen. Her stomach chose that exact moment to growl.
She sighed.
***
Pomni finally decided to make one of her childhood favorites; Mapu Tofu. She absolutely loved the different flavors and how deceivingly simple it looked.
She shook her brown bangs away from her face as she chopped up the spring onion. It was like music to her ears. Sure, Pomni wasn’t good at cooking, but she really did enjoy it.
Her phone started buzzing, breaking her out of her thoughts. She placed her knife down, splashing a little bit of water in her hands before opening her phone.
Jax? “Hello?” He never calls.
“Hey Pom, do you know where Ragatha is?? She was supposed to meet us and the library for project work and I guess she stood us up. She’s literally not responding to our messages either.”
For some crazy reason, Jax had FaceTimed her, so she placed her phone on the counter and got back to cooking.
“She’s sleeping in her room right now.” Pomni explained, throwing the onions into the pan.
“SLEEPING? Wow, I didn’t know an overachiever like her could sleep. I thought they would just stay up forever.” His choppy brown hair animatedly moved around like a cartoon character. Pomni snorted a little, ignoring the way her chest stung from the comment. She was worried about her best friend, after all.
There was silence between them. Jax was always a little quiet, even though he pretended he was big and loud.
“Is…um. Is Ms Raggedy Ann okay?” His voice had a hint of genuine concern. Silence descended again, the only sound being the sizzling onion.
Pomni sighed, rubbing her eyes. “I don’t think so. I don’t really know but…she’s just been acting so differently, and it’s so weird.” And she won’t even fucking tell me what’s going on.
No. Now is not the time to get angry.
“Oh.” Jax’s response was curt as he looked away from the camera, avoiding eye contact.
“Are you okay?” Pomni really couldn’t have two of her closest friends keeping things from her now. She still had Gangle and Zooble, of course, but still. Jax and Ragatha were her favorites.
“Yeah…just brings back bad memories.” Pomni raised an eyebrow. Jax never spoke about his past. She couldn’t help but be curious.
“You wanna talk about it?”
“…”
“No…”
Pomni deflated a little, but she wasn’t exactly surprised. She turned back to her tofu as Jax drummed his fingers against the desk, watching her. Jax never shared anything about himself.
“I should probably go back to the group but…keep an eye on Ragatha, okay?” The two made eye contact. So many things went unsaid between them, but she knew what he was implying.
“Don’t let her turn out like me.”
Their relationship was so strange. Pomni knew Jax and Ragatha had a past friendship, but now, they never seemed to get along very well. But here Jax was, acting concerned for her.
Is this just an act?
Pomni wanted to comfort Jax and ask him what was going on, but he rarely told the truth about these things. So instead, she just nodded, and her phone went black.
***
“Annabelle!” Jax called out to her, pushing his long black hair out of his eyes.
“Yeah?” They were sitting on Jax’s bed, which had a comfy purple bedsheet.
Jax liked girl colors, since he was supposed to be a girl. Even though it didn’t feel right. But right now, he had a flawless plan to fix it. And that involved getting his best friend’s support first.
“I have to tell you something.” Annabelle pushed herself onto her back, looking up at Jax. Her eyes were a soft blue, poofy red hair spread out like a halo behind her.
“Mhm, I’m listening!” She put her hands behind her head, and suddenly, Jax felt tears coming to his eyes. He looked away.
He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t tell her that he felt more like a boy than a girl. What if it destroyed their entire friendship?
“Hey, you okay?” She placed her hand on his shoulder, and he melted into the touch.
“I’m…yeah. I just had a cool idea.” He lied, like he always did. But she seemed excited, face breaking out into a smile as she pulled one of her red curls down. “What if we- um…made secret nicknames for each other?”
She perked up at that, laughing hard. “You dramatically built up so much just to tell me that?” Jax was silent beside her. She seemed to pick up on it. “But of course, let’s do it!”
They talked a lot as they tried to figure out their nicknames. But finally, they landed on Ragatha and Jax.
Annabelle- sorry, Ragatha, raised her eyebrow when Jax said his boyish nickname. He mentally prepared for her to call him weird or something, but she just softly smiled and said she loved it.
And the nicknames stuck. Even as they grew up and grew apart, they still assigned nicknames to everyone.
***
Jax shook his head as the memories flooded his brain. He didn’t want to think about his past; there was no point. So instead of dwelling, he placed his phone down, getting up to sit next to the others. He had moved tables so they wouldn’t eavesdrop on whatever stupid stuff he had said.
“So? Where’s Ragatha?” Zooble tilted her head. Her short pink hair fell across her dark skin.
“Is she okay?” Gangle softly asked, pushing her half black, half white hair out of her face. Apparently, those two lovebirds had dyed their hair together.
Jax thought for a moment about what to say. Would Ragatha really want everyone to know?
Whatever.
“Nope! She’s asleep while we’re working on this project together. Just FANTASTIC.” His narcissistic mask was back on. It was honestly tiring, but he didn’t know how to get rid of it. It was as if after he grew apart from Ragatha, everything completely changed.
Whatever! The past was the past.
“Really?” Zooble sounded suspicious. Or were they concerned? Jax couldn’t really tell. “She’s never missed a group project like this before.”
“How am I supposed to know why Raggedy Anne is acting so weird now?” Jax tried to act like himself, but he was failing. He didn’t like being in a state of unknowing. Ragatha was supposed to be the happy one, but she wasn’t.
He was not going to think about the past.
That stupid deadname.
He plopped down on a chair, booting up his laptop. “Let’s just do this stupid project.”
Gangle and Zooble shared concerned looks. Jax was usually the most chaotic out of all them. But now, he chose to be quiet? No rude comments, nothing to laugh at, and no pranks. It was way too weird.
Why is everyone acting so strange? Gangle looked back at her laptop screen, pulling up their project document.
Professor Grant had assigned them a presentation on the harms of AI and how it could potentially affect their futures. Gangle smiled a little as she thought of him. He was, by far, the entire groups’ favorite teacher. Pomni didn’t even have a class taught by him, but after coming to his lunch study hall to be interviewed for their group project, she joined the Grant cult. They even made up a silly name for him; Kinger, since he was the king of the school. And, since he always talked so lovingly about his wife, she was named Queenie!
Gangle didn’t even mind presenting for once; she knew that Professor Kinger would be really sweet about her social anxiety. He was the best.
Okay, let’s do this. Zooble aggressively typed across from her, and she could hear Jax’s soft breathing to her right. What site can I use…
She scrolled around a bit, struggling to find anything new. Then, her eye caught on something interesting.
“C&A - ARE THEY USING CHILDREN TO TEST THEIR NEW AI?” The headline screamed at her. She hovered her mouse over the website. It didn’t look very secure, but her interest couldn’t help but be piqued.
There’s no way this is real. She rolled her eyes as she scrolled farther away. She seriously was way too gullible.
Someone gently tapped her shoulder, and she jumped. Gangle spun around, confused. She didn’t see anyone at first, but it was only when she glanced down that she saw who touched her.
Her jaw dropped in horror.
“Holy- are you okay?!” She squeaked. The others immediately jumped up, confused.
Standing in front of Gangle was a kid. A malnourished one at that. He looked ghostly pale with unruly red hair similar to Ragatha’s. His blue and green eyes stared up at them in fear. There were cuts underneath his eyes, and he seemed to sway on his feet.
“P-please.”
“Help me.”
Then he crumpled into a heap on the floor, leaving the three utterly lost.