"Afraid of temptation?"

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I managed to drift into sleep around midnight and I have been that way for three hours straight. For the past two days, I have been all alone and my anxiety has never been so heightened, I couldn't even be anywhere without looking at the circumstances and studying other people's actions.

I avoided Atlas and the gang by not going to the cafeteria and pretty much just chilling in my cell.

So, you must know how I reacted when someone woke me in the middle of the night. "Penny!" he whispered, shaking me.

Without thinking twice, I sat straight in bed and punched him in the crotch with every atom of strength I had, adrenaline pumping through my veins.

He squealed, falling to the floor. "Jesus Christ, Penny!" Gage whispered in pain and continued to curse. Jesus' head peeked behind the door with raised eyebrows.

"Did someone call me?" Jesus asked us.

While trying my best not to laugh, I crossed arms on my chest. "What the hell are you two idiots doing in my cell at this time?!" I whispered, glaring at them.

Anyone could come at any moment now and see us breaking every rule that exists.

Jesus walked in and closed the doors behind him, sudden seriousness taking over him. "Please, Brandy, do this. These people are not fucking around. They will kill you," he begged, sadness reflecting in his eyes.

My heart softened and I relaxed, thinking hard about this.

"What's the matter, Penny?" Gage finally got up from the ground and crouched in front of me, so our faces were only inches apart. "Afraid of temptation?" he asked with a creepy smile while his eyes sparkled with mischief.

"You're a psychopath," I said instead of answering him, glaring into his eyes.

He smiled like he saw a cute puppy passing by. "No," he acted offended. "I'm just special," he added, not taking my words seriously.

I sighed and looked to Jesus, who was almost on his knees and kissing my feet, just so I do this. "Fine!" I gave in with annoyance, getting up from the bed and bumping into Gage's shoulder as I walked by. "But if we get caught, I will kill all of you," I threatened them when I passed Jesus, too. They chuckled as we carefully walked through the halls.

I should probably stop saying that, if we take into consideration I did do it.
On a halfway to the destination, I realized where we're going. I stopped them by pulling their arms behind, so they stumbled and looked at me with annoyance. "Why the fuck are we going to your smoking spot?" I snarled, glaring at them. "That is the most visible place! They won't have any trouble with finding and killing us!"

Gage just scoffed and walked away, shaking his head. Jesus took my hand into his and pulled me forwards. "It's the only way to get into Blue's office without getting caught," he explained softly as we got closer to the big metal door. "Besides," he smirked. "We are the kids who you can never kill."

Atlas, Kingston, and Emrys were already waiting for us, whispering about something, but stopped as soon as they saw us. When Emrys looked at me with raised eyebrows and a smirk, I realized I was still holding Jesus' hand.

I blushed and let it go, covering my face with hair as Jesus cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck. "Shall we?"

"Wait," I stopped everyone before they were able to open the doors. "What the hell am I supposed to steal?" I asked, looking at Jesus.

"You didn't fucking tell her?" Atlas growled, glaring at Jesus and Gage, who raised his hands in surrender. "She was threatening to kill us," Gage excused himself and I sighed in annoyance.

Atlas rubbed the bridge of his nose and walked closer to me, looking deeply into my eyes.

If I want to listen to him, I will have to focus hard, because his eyes were distracting me.

"You have to steal two bottles of Bourbon and every pen he has in the office," he said, waiting for my response. I nodded my head and he continued. "You will climb into ventilation and go straight forward, turn left and then right. The ventilation will lead you right into his office and all you have to do is get out and Grab The Prey. Someone will be there with you to make sure you're safe," he said, stopping to see if I got everything right.

I nodded my head again, knowing I won't have any problem with remembering the information. "You don't have to say things twice to me, you know?" I told him as we got outside. "I have hyperthymesia."

Emrys leaned against the wall behind him and lit a cigarette, looking at me with surprise. "That's so fucking cool. So you can, like, remember what you did on this day four years ago?" he asked me and everyone else got quiet, listening to our conversation.

I simply nodded. "I was wearing a blue dress. My family and I were going to spend the day at the pool," my voice cracked at the end of that sentence, but I quickly pulled myself together. "I ate vanilla ice cream and listened to birds singing, instead of going swimming."

"25th of January," Gage smirked.

"I was in school and snow was falling, so I froze my tits off on the way home. For dinner, I ate mashed potatoes and meat. The rest of the night I spent writing homework," I replied instantly.

"Six years ago, 4th of April," Atlas joined, clearly amused by the flow of this conversation.

I swallowed a lump before I continued.

"My tenth birthday, I wore a long, white dress which my mother left for me. I put my hair in a bun, looking forward to celebrating it with my family. It's a shame they completely forgot about it and I spent the entire day crying," I said, looking to the ground.

Jesus cleared his throat.

"You are the first girl we've ever accepted, so you should be aware of that," Atlas changed the subject and I lifted my head, looking into his eyes. "Be careful and get the hell away as soon as you collect everything."

Jesus got closer to me and gave my hand a grip in support. "I'll go with her," he said, looking at me, then at Atlas, who nodded and lowered his head afterward.

His reaction surprised me because he finally seemed like he wasn't emotionless.

Before I could analyze him any more, Jesus pulled my hand and picked me up in bridal style. "Uh, what are you doing?" I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

"I will give you a hand and you will climb up there," he explained, looking up to the silver vent.

I closed my mouth before I could protest, nodding my head. He switched the position, so now he was holding my feet while I gripped the end of the hole and crawled inside.

I made space for him and he got in shortly afterward, I suppose guys helped him out.

"Remember, Penny, you have to hurry!" Gage yelled and as much as I wanted to punch him for calling me that again, I just continued my way towards the office while Jesus crawled behind me.

"Was your family really that bad to you?" he whispered, his voice echoing through the metal surroundings.

I sighed, blocking all of the emotions I felt. I need to focus on the mission if I want to survive.

"They stopped being my family the day they sent me here to die." Jesus grabbed my hand and made me turn around to face him.

His eyes were full of sympathy - he looked at me like he truly cared about me.

Like I was worth something.

He opened his mouth, trying to find the right words.

I don't know how long we crouched in silence. "The horror you've seen is not who you are, Brandy. Just as DNA doesn't make a family," he said softly, studying my face. "We're your family now, no matter what you did or who you are. We will protect each other at all costs and that is what family should be."

A shy smile crept from my lips as I brought him in for a hug, although the vent we were in was really small.

He hugged me back and backed away. "Now," he said, smirking. The tension finally wore off and I felt a huge rock lifting off my chest. "You are a weapon, Brandy. And weapons don't weep."

I playfully punched him in the left shoulder, unable to hold back a laugh. "When did you become so smart?" I joked, raising my eyebrows.

"You learn a thing or two when you have Atlas as your mentor."

I figured we should probably hurry up, so I turned around, leading the way. "Aren't you older than him?" I asked, continuing the conversation.

"I am the oldest, Gage has been here the longest, if you count the times he got released and brought back in," he laughed and paused, remembering those times. "Kingston and Emrys came shortly after me, but Atlas, he... he is the most intelligent person I've ever met," he said with a distant voice, almost like he was thinking about something very important. "You know, Brandy, we may be criminals, but not one single one of us wanted this," he continued. "We were raised to become this way."

Without having any time to think about his words, we arrived at our destination.

I looked through the bars, where Blue's office drowned in darkness. I was very much aware of how these walls are thin and if we speak too loudly or create a mess, anybody could hear it.

"How are we going to see anything in the dark?" I whispered, looking behind myself to meet his crystal eyes.

"You'll have to become an owl," he replied, biting a smile back.

I rolled my eyes and turned around, slowly removing the bars.

I peeked my head into the office and looked down - his table was just beneath me. "Take my hand," Jesus whispered, grabbing my arm. I returned the grip and carefully brushed my feet against the table.

Once I was stable, I stood on it with my entire weight, letting go of Jesus' hand.

I jumped off the table to the floor, quickly grabbing every pen my poor eyes could see in this darkness.

I opened every drawer until I found two bottles of Bourbon.

How did they even know he has them?

I quickly gave them to Jesus, without thinking about it, and continued to search through the office. It wasn't anything much - it consisted of a wooden table, a chair, and a window, which also had bars on it.

I collected ten pens and every one of them looked fancy, something that could cost a hundred bucks.

"That fucking bastard," Jesus whispered and I snapped my head in his direction. "He hanged another cross." I followed his glare to the wall behind me, where a one-foot cross was hanging on the right side of the door.

I covered my mouth to hold back a laugh until I heard something outside of the office.

I looked at Jesus in panic while my body completely froze. "Steal the cross!" he whispered, looking at me with anticipation. "Quick!"

At that moment, I wanted to murder him.

This wasn't the fucking plan! But, at the same time, I felt the need to do it, although someone could walk in right now.

So, I tossed him the pens, grabbing the cross from the wall. "I swear I heard something," a male voice said distantly, his steps coming closer.

"Hold the fucking cross, Jesus!" I hissed, adrenaline rushing through my veins. He did as I told him and helped me get inside. The office doors swung open just after I put the bars back on.

"I can smell them," Blue said, sniffing the air.

I turned my head to Jesus, who mouthed 'We need to get the fuck away from here'. I quickly nodded, turning around and crawling back to the smoking spot.

"I WILL FIND YOU, GANGSTERS!" Blue's voice echoed through the vent as my heart threatened to jump out of my chest.

"Left or right?" Jesus whispered, turning his head to face me.

If someone saw us right now, I think they would be concerned - I dragged a gigantic cross with my thighs and carried a bottle of whiskey with one hand as I helped myself crawl with the other.

Jesus hid pens wherever he could - pants, ears, mouth, hair, and I will stop there - as he carried the other bottle.

"Left." Not long after that, we reached the end of the vent.

Atlas helped Jesus get out, taking The Prey from him, and then everyone saw me. Gage came closer with a wide smirk plastered on his face. "Penny!" he offered me a hand.

I tossed the cross to Kingston and Bourbon to Emrys as I took his hand, jumping out of the vent.

They stood in a circle around me, with proud smiles. "Welcome to the family."

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