Nine was in his corner with his hand over his ears trying to forget everything but it all replayed over and over. It was unbearable and so hard to concentrate. He had no rest and his eyes had rings under them as if he hadn't slept in days buts it's only been one night. At least, that's what he thought. There was no way to tell the time in a place like this. There was no light of the sun only light that came from the flickers of broken lights throughout the building. Most of the children have probably forgotten what the sun even looks like. Nine heard the little pitter-patter of feet coming to his door. The children were awake and were probably worried because he and Eleven hadn't come out yet. It was a daily routine for all of them to get up and eat together, drink rainwater, and maybe play a little. The door slowly opened and the first thing that came to his mind was that the Happy Man was back. He pulled his knees so close to his chest, his heart could probably hit it. The sound of small soft voices was heard.
"Nine? Eleven?" a soft gentle girl's voice rang.
Without another word, a gasp approaches but quickly stopped. Someone's hand has covered it. Screaming this early ends up no good and the others knew that very well. Nine heard one footstep run towards him and then hands on his shoulders, shaking him for answers
"What happened to Eleven?" the boy in front of nine yelled but in an angry whisper. The boy's eyes wandered to the Nine's mouth and back on the arm that laid on the ground in the middle of the room, suddenly realizing what happened, "you didn't...." the boy's voice went deeper. Nine could see the boy's eyes filled with rage and his fist went up, then landed, punching Nine in the face "You didn't!! You promised-!" another boy then covered his mouth and pulled him away from Nine.
Nine held the eye the boy punched and bit down on his lip, he wouldn't argue. He deserved it after what he has done. The boy being held down by the others was muffling curse words and fighting to kill Nine and Nine couldn't blame him for wanting to. Eleven was really important to everyone including this boy. His name was Ten, and he was the second oldest. Nine remembered walking in on Ten and Eleven talking about leaving this place together and something about a family like what adults do. Now Eleven and Ten could no longer be happy together liked they wished to, and it was his fault. Another boy ran over and hugged Nine tightly, it was Five. Five was Nine's closest friend and was always there for him. However, Five was always sick and couldn't always make it to the rescue when he was being picked on.
"Are you okay?" the soft voice of the boy could be heard.
Nine nodded, untruthfully. He only said he was okay because he hated to worry Five. Five moved Nine's hand away from his hurt eye and gave a frown. The boy in front of Nine, Five, had huge red eyes that resembled a shiny ruby. His hair was as dark as the shadows that covered most of the empty halls.
"Lair" Five replied to the boy's nod.
Five looked over at Ten who was now in the middle of the room, hugging onto the pale, bloody, and decomposing hand of Eleven. He gave off faint whimpers which caught the children off guard. Ten was usually the more composed one. He never seemed to be scared or sad with anything until now. Eleven was truly important to him.
Five gave a small sigh before standing up and helping Nine back on his feet. Nine instantly held onto Five's hand without letting go. He didn't want to be alone anymore, he just wanted someone to stay close to. After what he had done, he felt everyone might hate him even more. Five looked over at him worried "I'll stay by your side. You don't have to worry about anything"
Nine nodded, understanding. There were only 2 people who cared about him and that was Eleven and Five. Although, Five was much closer to Nine than Eleven was. At least she was there for him when Five was sick. Nine glanced over at Five and saw his small but bright smile. That smile was so warming to Nine. It made him feel as if everything was okay and made him feel safe.
It was time for their meal. The children sat in a circle on the ground. They ate in a vast room that had broken beds, tables, chairs, molded flooring from water leaks, and plants already grew. Although the room looked like a mess, the children found this to be their favorite room. There were plants everywhere on the walls, floors, hanging from the ceiling, and all over the broken beds, chairs, and tables. To them, it looked like a magical forest. They loved playing in this room and it was also the place they ate at.
The children were quiet as they sat in the circle. It wasn't normally like this. They were usually loud, fighting, or joking around with one another. However, everyone felt unsettled because Ten felt upset. He still had tears in his eyes that the others have never seen before. The children's heads would look around constantly, waiting for Eleven. Ten was crying, and they knew the only person who could solve this problem was her. The quietness got louder and made everyone uncomfortable including Nine. It was then, Ten cleared his throat and whipped away his tears before speaking.
"Eleven... Is gone..." he said in a broken voice as if it shattered him inside.
Everyone, stunned, looked at each other and they couldn't understand or believe what Ten was saying. The youngest one, One, spoke up.
"Eleven is gone?" One asked in his little voice that could barely pronounce words correctly.
"What do you mean by that?" Eight asked. Eight was also close with Eleven, they were like best friends but she wasn't as close with Eleven as Ten was.
"You don't mean..." Six's quiet voice approached.
The room suddenly filled with silence again before Ten spoke up.
"She's dead..." he said, cracking, and breaking down into tears again.
Six pulled Ten into a tight hug to comfort him while everyone looked down in pain while the younger ones cried. The circle that used to be so noisy and joyful, filled with sorrow and sadness. The person everyone looked up to as a mother, now gone. It felt as if part of them was also gone. Loud footsteps slowly approached from a distance and everyone tensed up. The sound got louder as it came closer. Nine remembers the sounds so clearly, it was just like last night. Nine gripped onto Five's hands tightly and Five did the same in return.
The man approached the circle of kids but no one dared to make eye contact. The man threw meat down on the floor in the middle of the circle. It wasn't just any kind of meat either; it was a dead corpse of a girl. It was the wrong time to bring in a dead body of a female after just losing a female of their own. The man's deep voice rang through the children's ears "Eat".
The footsteps then faded slowly down the hall and the children could release some air and breath a bit. The children look at the dead girl on the ground but didn't feel scared or sorry. In fact, this was normal. The children ate like this for as long as they could remember but they made one promise. They would never eat one another. Nine broke this promise and even though Ten, said nothing, he hated him for it. The children ate their meal, and it was the quietest one they ever had.