After taking a shower and getting myself dressed, I head out to the open area of the basement that has old pieces of furniture and parts used by Vincent to keep up the maintenance of the restaurant. Already waiting are Cathy, Peter, Ben and Franky. They smile and wave at me ask I come over to them.
Instead of sitting on the couches, my friends are sitting on the floor. I smile and sit down with them. "So, it sounds like we're down here for a while." I say for all of them to nod.
"Vincent said he was going to remodel our rooms," Cathy says, enthusiastically, "I do hope he fills mine with unicorn and fairy decorations." She holds her hands together and looks up as if hoping and daydreaming of what her new room will look like when we're allowed to go back up.
I laugh softly at her childish wishes for her room. She frowns at me, "Welll, miss adult miss, what would you like your room to look like."
I smile warmly at her. For someone who is supposed to be nineteen, Cathy is very childish in her ways. I don't mean to dislike it, and most of the time I do like her childish demeanor. But many times she has gotten on my nerves. Like the day she was asked to clean up a mess that one of the customers had made with a drink.
I'd been working on the left side of the diner at that time. Since I had no new people and was waiting for the customers to finish their meals, I was standing against the wall and admiring some of the families that were sitting at the tables. I loved watching the families, the ones with both parents and young children. Most of the time they seemed happy, and I always thought of what it must have been like when both of my parents were alive. We're we like that, too?
At that time I had noticed a toddler who was throwing a tantrum when he finished all of his food. In doing so, he knocked over the raspberry iced tea that his mother had been drinking. The mother, who was terribly embarrassed by the behavior of her child, grabbed him out of the high chair and took him into the restroom.
At the same time, the older daughter and the father sat and continued their meal, ignoring the fact that the drink had been spilled. This family was in Cathy's area. She instantly was infuriated by the fact that they didn't say anything. So I watched as she walked over to their table. And loudly confronted him, saying:
"Excuse me, sir. But I couldn't help but be curious as to why you are being so rude in not telling someone that the tea was spilled on the carpet." her voice was loud and rude.
The man stood up defensively, raising his voice back at her, "Well, seeing as I do not currently work here, it's not much of my problem, is it. You should have been paying attention and came to clean it up without saying anything to us. It won't be our fault if your carpet it stained, since you weren't fast enough to clean it up yourself."
I could see Cathy's blood boil from across the room, and she started yelling, "Vincent! Can you believe this man thinking he can talk to me in that way?! Come kick him out, it is your restaurant, he doesn't have to be here if he's so mean to me."
Vincent was able to de-escalate both the man and Cathy and clean up the mess. He warned her not to let it happen again, but it did, multiple times. Cathy couldn't grasp the part of us being waitresses. Our job was to make people happy and satisfied no matter how bad or horrible their manners were.
"Since we're going to be down here for so long, we should find something to do." Franky says, sounding bored already.
Cathy gasps in excitement, "We should have a Pajama party and make a pillow fort from the old rooms and play a game!"
"Does Vincent have any old board games down here?" Peter asks, curiously.
"Don't be silly, Petey," Cathy giggled, "I was thinking more like. Would you Rather, or Truth or Dare."
I could see the boy's eyes light up with curiosity, granted, playing a game like those with Cathy was sure to become more than I would want to be part of. I feel my ears and neck redden at the thought. "Why would we need to play a game like that? I'm sure we all know each other well enough to not resort to such silly games," I protest quickly.
Cathy smirks at me, "Are you afraid, Alex?" She asks, teasingly. "We could play a more adult game." She pauses as if thinking, "Spin the bottle." She tilts her head back and smiles at me.
I roll my eyes, "fine, one of the other games will do. I'll go get my pajamas and pillows." I say, giving up.
Everyone hums approvingly and they all get up too. Heading to rooms, maybe they all woke up down here too. Vincent did say they were all like me. But how much are they really like me. I go to the old dusty room. There's a pair of pajamas folded on the bed. Vincent must have put them there for me.
I walk over to the side of the bed, pulling my shirt up over my head and putting my arms into the sleeves of the pajama top. I undo my belt and let my pants slide off my hips before I step out of them and put on the new pajama pants. They feel soft. Very soft. I start buttoning my shirt from the bottom. I look up and see Peter standing in my room, with the door closed behind him.
I frown, "What are you doing in here?"
His arms are folded and he looks at me skeptically. "I'm not peaking, if that's what you're worried about." He says flatly. I look him over. He's already in his pajamas, they're an orange-red color, the same color as his curly scarlet colored hair.
His hair being the same color as mine and Salvations, I almost wonder if we're somehow related. But that I remember, I only have the one brother.
"No, that's not what I was worried about." I say, finishing at the second button from the top. "I just asked what you're doing in here is all."
Peter nods. "Did Vincent tell you?"
My eyes widen slightly. Didn't Vincent tell me Peter didn't know anything? "T-Tell me w-what..?"
Peter's eyebrows draw together in an intense frown. "Don't try to keep secrets, Alex. Did he tell you about your mom and your past? You seem more shaken up than normal."
I look down to avoid looking at him. "He told me you didn't know."
Peter shakes his head, "There's something wrong with my programming. Vincent thinks he's erased all the memories he wanted, but I remember it all."
I glance at his face for a moment, shyly wrapping my arms around myself. So he lied to me too. "Why didn't you tell me?" I ask.
"I did. I told you a few times. And have tried to hint so you could find out on your own, but Vincent kept getting rid of your memories. We've had this conversation several times but you don't remember." Peter says calmly.
I take a deep breath. "Can you help me escape?" I ask softly. I look up to see Peter's eyes wide.
"You want to leave?" He asks.
I nod, "I want to leave."
Peter smiles, "Finally you ask. I have a plan."
I give him a confused look, "you do?"
He nods confidently, "I know the men getting hired for the night shift."
"How?" I ask, skeptically.
Peter chuckles, "I have my ways, Alex." He seems more relaxed now than he did a moment ago. "Anyways. They applied for the job to get us out. Franky and Ben have already been filled in on it. Cathy is going to be kept in the dark because of her loyalty and infatuation of Vincent. But as long as you're on for it. We can be gone by next week."
I look down momentarily, thinking about what this escape plan might entail. "What about Salvation and Andrew?" I ask.
"Don't worry, I won't involve them like I did last time." He says, his expression going dark again.
"Last time?" I ask, "so we've tried this before?"
Peter nods, "Last time we had it all planned out a month in advance. Little did we know that your brother and Andrew told Vincent what we were planning on doing." He looks down as if guilt just overwhelmed him, "we all made it out of the building but you stayed behind. You wanted to burn the place down. But after catching the dining room on fire, Vincent caught you and held you in the flames. I came running back in to save you. We knocked him out together then made a run for it. But it was too late, Vincent had gotten his control over you and you wanted to go back. It was so difficult not to just leave you to him. We all followed you back."
"What do you mean Vincent had control over me?" I ask, my stomach unsettled by the thought of being controlled by someone else.
Peter sighs sadly, "It's the one thing Vincent did to you that he didn't do to anyone else. He can manipulate your emotions and actions to do what he wants. I don't know how he does it, if he does it by sound, touch.." his voice drifts off as if in thought. "But as long as Vincent doesn't interfere, we should be okay." He says, putting on a smile for me. But I know it's fake.
I hear a giggle on the other side of the door. "Come on you two, no messing around! Let's play a game!"
Peter and I glance at each other, only making eye contact for a second before we both head out the door.