When Harker woke up, he was in the same white shirt and pants as the other boys. There was only one light source….
And it's shining directly at him, burning his eyes.
"Ugh…. Can you move the flashlight a bit? It freaking hurts my eyes, man…." He said.
"O-Oh." The one who was shining it on him, the eldest in the room, lowered the flashlight so it wouldn't shine on him directly. "It's just…. I never saw someone like you before, Sir. Are you God, Sir?"
Harker rubbed his eyes. He must be in the room with the missing boys.
"No. What made you think that?" Harker asked.
"I-I saw you transform from a boy to girl…. Then to another boy… So…."
Harker nodded. "Right. I had to shapeshift to survive."
Before he fully lost consciousness, he turned himself into Xi Hua.
That way, Miss Lovette can't have her 'fun' with him. It was likely that she wouldn't dare take advantage of her own daughter, though Harker can't deny he was scared of the small chance she might have. But luckily, he could feel that nothing was done to him and his virginity was still intact.
"You just turned into other people so easily, Sir. How do you do it if you're not God that came here to save us, Sir?" The boy asked.
His manner of speaking was too childish and polite, he adds Sir in every sentence. So Harker guessed that he must have been kidnapped for a long time now.
"What's your name, kid? Where you from? How long you been 'ere?" Harker asked.
The boy introduced himself enthusiastically:
"I'm 'JO-swe', Sir. G-I-O-S-U-E, Sir. Last name, 'a-MA-to', Sir. A-M-A-T-O, Sir. Not 'Tomato', Sir. I'm from 256 Cruikshank Avenue, Hempstead, Nassau County, New York, United States of America, Sir. I don't know how long I've been here, but I have experienced 5 winters in this house, Sir. I know because it was really cold and Miss Lovette had to bring us a heater, Sir.
Harker nodded. "I know who you are. I saw you in the news articles."
He remembered the picture of the freckled boy with curly black hair that resembled the one he's looking at now. Only older.
"You're one of the earliest victims, Giosue Amato. 5 years ago, your parents worked at a small pizza place at Hempstead, and you were on your way from school when you went missing."
"Yes, Sir." Giosue nodded profusely, then blinked. "I'm on the news, Sir?"
Giosue's case was one of the most striking for Harker. It was because his teachers have reported that he may be autistic and they have long insisted to place him at a school for children with special needs.
But his parents declined, because they couldn't afford it, and they thought he was pretty stable anyway.
Giosue also experienced a lot of bullying, and he had no friends so he often walked home alone. His parents thought it would be okay since their house was just a 5-minute walk from school. And yet he still went missing anyway, now in the den of a demoness in Brookville.
Harker thought Lovette was truly despicable, targeting the kids that would not be able to put up a fight— whether due to physical or mental conditions.
Harker patted Giosue's head. "I'm not God, but I promise I'll get you out of here. I'm Harker Jones, no need to call me Sir. Just call me Harker."
"You'd help us escape? Thank you, Sir Jones!"
Harker sighed and just let him be with all the 'Sirs'. It's a similar situation with Yan and his 'Master' thingie, and he just had to roll with it. Speaking of that eyeball….
Was he still here, still flying around in the dark while invisible and untouchable?
Without the flashlight, Harker can't see shit in this place. He can only see Giosue's face, the bed he was in, and the wall.
He took it and flashed it over to see the teenage boys who were sleeping. The secret door was locked.
He then checked the walls and the ceiling. No cracks, no nothing. But if that's the case, the boys should find it hard to breathe and would suffocate. So there must be some kind of ventilation here….
"Where does Ms. Lovette plug the heater, Giosue?" He asked.
Giosue turned his flashlight at a small corner near the door. "I think it's over here, Sir Harker Jones. We were told not to go near that part because we might get elac— electerc— elocu—"
"Electrocuted." Harker nodded and approached it.
There really was a socket, and something was plugged in. It was some kind of box. It was quiet and didn't make any sounds, attached to a large water container. Harker recognized this thing before in Roland's house.
"Air conditioner. A portable one, probably has a dehumidifier and purifier too." He sighed in disappointment. "No vents. This thing just recycles the air inside. The water probably undergoes electrolysis to turn H2O into oxygen, just like in submarines."
He thought about another way to escape. He asked. "Do you have any idea what time it is now? Or if Ms. Lovette is asleep?"
"I only know if it's almost breakfast, lunch, or dinnertime, Sir Jones." Giosue told him. "It will be dinner time soon, Sir. Once we hear Miss Lovette humming, she'll open the door and have us line up to wash ourselves, and then we eat at a big table downstairs in 2 batches, Sir."
Harker rubbed his chin. "Yeah, there's only 12 seats. And no one tries to escape because she can control your movements, right?"
He remembered how his hair wrapped around his own neck. Xi Hua's Succubus ability was good for sedating and making someone lower their guard, but her mom is on a whole other level.
"Yes, Sir Jones. Even when we don't want to, our bodies move on their own." Giosue frowned. "Even when I don't want to, she would make me do things, Sir…. To her…. And I feel too sleepy to fight it…"
Harker's chest hurt seeing him drift off like that. "You don't need to tell me, I understand."
Giosue turned to him with his eyes red. "You're lucky to turn to a girl, Sir Jones. When you turned into Beast Girl, she left you alone. I don't like Beast Girl either, Sir. Ms. Lovette gives the boys she doesn't like or breaks her rules like Teddie and Dustin to Beast Girl."
Beast Girl would be referring to Xi Hua. Harker was right, this mother and daughter tandem operate together in kidnapping and harming these boys.
The poor boy hugged himself as he remembered what happened to the others. "Then…. Beast Girl would come back with only bones, Sir. Ms. Lovette would then grind bones to powder, mix it with crushed flowers and water to make pizza dough, and put pizza dough in her face, Sir Jones."
Harker felt even more pity at him. He may be 18 years old, but he's shivering like a little boy. So, he went closer to pat his shoulder as comfort—
But Giosue thought Harker was offering him a hug. As soon as Giosue fell into his arms, Harker felt his shirt get wet from tears.
"Sob… I'm so happy that you weren't Beast Girl, Sir Jones. She's scary." Giosue told him. "But Ms. Lovette's scarier…. I'm really scared. I want to make her stop, but I can't, Sir. I can't. She sometimes makes me watch when she ties up others and does things to them, and I can't help them. I can't move, Sir…. Sob… I can't….."
Harker hugged him closer and patted his head. "I know. It's not your fault…. You'll be okay now. You'll be okay. I'm here."
He gritted his teeth. "Beast Girl is dead. Soon, Ms. Lovette's gonna be dead too. And you can all go back to your families and be ok."
Giosue wiped his tears. "But how, Sir Jones? How…."
Harker gave him one last comforting hug, and told him his plan.
"Listen carefully, Giosue. I need your help on this. But we have to be very quiet and not let the others know."
Giosue's eyes widened. "But why—"
"Shh." Harker shushed him softly. "We just have to. Lower your voice, I'll whisper it to you."
As the boy listened to his plan, his eyes slowly grew wider. Then, he wore a look of determination from his innocent, tearful eyes.
"Okay. I understand, Sir Jones. Let's do this."