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Seven doesn't know what makes him do it, or why he heads in the direction he does, towards the door, but his feet take him there anyway. The draft of the wind as he skitters down the hallway is cold on his buzzed head.
He makes his way down the maze of hallways to the end of the corridor he's never been to before. The door leads down to a dark room filled with pipes and things. Seven shutters at the darkness. It reminds him of the bad place he gets sent into. It also reminds him of the bathtub.
Something is very wrong. Seven knows this. He doesn't have time to dwell on how scared he is, he must keep going.
But going where? And doing what?
He's not sure what to do. He just doesn't want to be here in the fallout of whatever is going on. Papa is always mad when things go wrong. Even the little things.
And while Seven doesn't know excatly what is making everything go wrong he just knows deep down that it is a very very big thing.
When he gets to the door that opens out into the world, he stops. There's a hammering in his chest and a pulling feeling, urging him to go.
He's definitely scared to stay and face the aftermath of whatevers happening here in the lab, but isn't he scared of the big out there too?
Seven looks back over behind his shoulder to search for some sort of signal to tell him what he should do. Finding nothing, he huffs out a breath of air and braces himself to open the door.
The light is blinding. So blinding, that he wonders how anyone can see anything except this light. He know it must be from the sun but it's so bright he's trying to remember if the sun is actually much bigger than he'd been thinking all this time.
Its so much that he sees it even with his eyes closed, and he can't look anywhere but down towards his feet.
His feet, which tingle in surprise of the floor beneath it. The feeling of something so other.
Seven's never been in the woods before, it's so big. There's so much going on.
A small part of him wishes to go back, yearning for the familiarty of the place he's grown up in.
But the bigger part, the part of him that aches for something more, knows that he rather be stranded and lost in the woods than face the horrors that go back.
Aren't there bears in the woods though? Perhaps not. Because maybe hunters left out all their bear traps and scared them all away. He's seen a bear trap before, they have them at the lab just in case the monsters come they say. He thinks that if he were a Bear he'd stay far away from them.
With the little comofort that idea provides, Seven gets the courage to stumble further into the forest. He doesn't look him, just keeps his eyes on his feet and takes one step in fornt of the other.
He keeps walking until his eyes burn less.
The trees are different now. Seven doesn't know how, exactly, but they are. The ones behind him had been tall and close together, but these ones seem even taller. Their branches reach across the sky and make it harder for the sun to reach him.
It feels dangerous to be out here all alone. He keeps going anyway.
Every once in a while he stops and looks back. He can't see the lab anymore, and that makes his chest feel strange.
Good, he thinks. That's a good thing.
He turns back the direction he thinks he was going and continues on.
His feet start to hurt after a while. The ground is hard and uneven beneath his shoes, and little sticks keep catching against his legs. He doesn't know how long he's been walking. The sun is still there, but it doesn't seem quite as bright anymore.
Seven looks up. Maybe it is getting late, he doesn't really know. He just keeps going.
There are noises everywhere here in the woods. Leaves moving, birds in the trees. Something small running through the bushes that makes him freeze unitl it disappears. More rustling sounds just take it's place.
Seven thinks about the bears again. He really hopes there aren't any near him, he doesn't think he could fight a bear right now. He doens't think he could fight anything right now. Not when he's so tired and confused.
Seven stops, not to look back for the lab again, but just to look around. The trees all look the same as each other.
The woods seem different again, the trees are still tall but he thinks it might be getting colder. And he definitely can't see as well as he could when he first left.
He crouches down to feel a rock covered in green. It dones't feel soft but it dones't feel hard either. He isn't sure what to think of it, he gets up and touches the tree next to it, feeling the strangeness of it beneath his fingers. He's spinning slowly in a circle taking it all in when he realizes he doens't quite know which direction he came from.
Everything looks the same and he can't tell the way he came because there's no clear path.
He looks back anyway, searching for something familiar. There's nothing. The lab is gone, and Seven's stomach twists again. He thinks this is what he wanted but now he's just so scared and unsure.
He takes a step in what he thinks is the direction he came from, then another. Tears well up in the corner of his eyes as his breath picks up. After a few more steps he stops and plops down right where he's at.
He doesn't know which way is the right way. He doens't even know where he's trying to go. But now it's getting dark and cold and he has no idea what is waiting in the forest for him besides bears. Seven wants to be brave and strong but he's just so sad. The tears are flowing freely now, and he hiccups as snot runs down his nose.
Seven looks up through the branches at the little pieces of sky above him. The sun is getting lower now, and there isn't nearly as much light making its way through the trees.
For the first time since leaving the lab, Seven wishes he knew where he was going.
Everything looks the same and he can't tell the way he came because there's no clear path.
He looks back anyway, searching for something familiar. There's nothing.
The lab is gone, and Seven feels his stomach twist again. He thinks this is what he wanted, but now he's just so scared and unsure.
He takes a step in what he thinks is the direction he came from, then another. Tears well up in the corners of his eyes as his breath picks up.
He doesn't want to cry. Papa hates when he cries.
So Seven tries to blink the tears away, but they just keep coming. He takes a few more steps before losing motivation and plopping down right where he's at.
He doesn't know which way is the right way. He doesn't even know where he's trying to go. But now it's getting dark and cold, and he has no idea what is waiting in the forest for him besides the bears.
Seven wants to be brave and strong, but he's just so sad.
The tears are flowing freely now, and he hiccups as snot runs down his nose. He wipes at his face with the back of his hand, but it doesn't help.
Seven curls up on the cold ground and wishes he wasn't so alone. He looks up through the branches at the little pieces of sky above him and watches as the light disappears. He can't see nearly as much anymore, not that he'd know what to do even if he did.