Carmen passed the eggs down the table, the atmosphere a tense silence, one only broken by the clatter and sound of silverware and dishes, accompanied by the occasional cough. She stared down at her plate, white as snow, ignoring the low complaints and moans coming from her stomach as it knotted and gnawed on the inside of itself.

Biscuits came her way, and the platter left, untouched by her hands. The silence grew thicker, sliding down her lungs as she looked up. Corben and Azalea stood in the doorway, Mr. James behind them in his sharp black suit once more. Dark circles ringed under Corben's eyes, offset by the stiff set of his mouth and the angular positioning of his body.

Azalea was wrapped in a white blanket, a tired look on her face as she offered a soft smile go the rest of the assembled teenagers.

"Where's Veronica?" Juno's voice felt much too loud, and Carmen flinched at the sound of it.

"Still resting."

"You mean still sedated," Juno countered, his voice dropping low. "She was a wreck last night."

Mr. James did not even hesitate in his response. "Veronica's behavior was affected by drugs and sedatives, you are correct, but this was for her and the safety of others. The fact that she broke out hints at how much damage she could have done if she had not been impaired by what we had given her."

Maylea's eyebrows twisted together. "Do you think she could have hurt someone?"

"That is one such possibility, yes."

"Can I please just sit down and eat?" Corben's voice was tight and controlled, though the words were less than respectful.

Mr. James' response was to turn and exit the dining room, leaving Azalea and Corben still standing there, in the focus of everyone's attention. Blair coughed. Carmen turned her attention back to her empty plate.

Except it wasn't empty. A little corner of a napkin with a smiley face stared up at Carmen, blank black eyes and an imperfectly curved smile. She stuffed it into the pocket of her pajama top.

Corben took the seat at the head of the table once more, settled between Juno and her. She pointedly ignored him.

"Is Maylea ok?"

A scoff. "You know, you could ask her yourself."

"Never mind."

More silence. Azalea requested the biscuits, and they passed around the table, two settling on Corben's plate, followed by gravy and eggs.

Half a biscuit slid onto her plate, a small spoon of gravy settling next to it shortly thereafter. Carmen looked up startled, but Corben was focused only on his food. It seemed emptier than it had before, though it didn't look as if any had been eaten yet.

"Thank you." The words were small, short things, but it felt as if the air between them lightened, the charge of uncomfortable air fading away. Slowly, conversations unfurled across the table, swapping from person to person until Carmen found herself discussing all the missed things of home.

"It's hard to believe we've only been here a couple days," Kai said, pausing to take a swig of orange juice. "I guess one upside to this is that I don't have to study for any tests."

Blair made a face. "But imagine all of the makeup work we'll have to do when we get home."

Charlie barked out a laugh. "Makeup work? Blair, we got kidnapped, and you really think the schools are going to worry about makeup work?"

Blair shrugged. "It's my senior year and almost exam time. I don't want to screw with my GPA any more."

Juno groaned, covering his face with his hands. "Please stop talking about school," he mumbled between his fingers. "I don't need something else added to my stresses I've already got piling up."

Corben didn'tjoin the conversation, so Carmen turned her attention toward him. "What about you? Is anything crazy big happening to you this school year?"

Corben was quiet for a long moment before answering. "No."

The room fell silent once more, and this time, Azalea picked up the conversation. "Speaking of life outside, Halloween is like... this week or something, right?"

Carmen nodded. "Yeah! My friends and I were going to dig out m some older cosplay and go as some anime characters."

Maylea leaned forward. "I was stuck between going as a book character or like... dressing up as my cat."

Corben snorted. "Aren't you a little old for Halloween costumes?"

Maylea stuck her tongue out at him. "For your information, I do it to pass out candy. And besides, I have to walk with my neighbor when she goes trick or treating."

Avery pushed a mound of eggs around on his plate. "You guys know that ghost trend from last year? I was going to try and do that, but I didn't have anyone to take pictures for me."

Azalea gasped. "We should try and do Halloween if we're still stuck in here! I bet the adults would totally go for that, right?" Her her grin grew lopsided as no one answered, before settling into a slight frown.

Kai placed her hand on hers. "Hun, it's a great idea, but I'm not really sure if the ever busy adults can take a break from experimenting on us long enough to let us do anything like that."

Azalea frowned. "Can't we at least ask or something?

Corben sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll try and chase Mr. James down later today, Azalea, but it's unlikely I'll find him until tonight, unless he finds us first."

Satisfied, Azalea returned back to her food, and Carmen closed her eyes to drag her attention down to her own food, and away from Corben.

She took a bite of the neglected and forgotten food, her eyes drifting back again and again to Corben as he leaned forward and started a quiet discussion with Juno, voices low and purposeful.

"We need to get out of here."

"And how? Just ask where the door is? No, staying is the best bet for right now. They've already promised no more harm will come to us, right?"

"Have they really promised that? Or are you just looking the best answer in all of their words."

Corben turned and looked at Carmen, and she flushed, ducking her head so her hair fell like a curtain over her face.

"Like I was saying, we aren't safe here. I don't care what they say. This isn't just something that can wait forever."

"Did they do something to you, Corben? Is that why you're so suddenly desperate to get out."

"No!"

The word cut through the air, snapping and silencing all of other conversations, and Corben dug his fingers into his hair, leaning forward, voice barely audible. "Nothing happened. I'm fine. Don't ask."

Juno leaned back in his chair, eyes cold as he stared at Corben. "If you're going to lie, Corben, at least try and make it believable."

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Corben checked the time on his band before pushing back from the table, grabbing Juno's arm as he walked past. "Come on. Looks like we need to have a chat."

Juno yanked his arm out of Corben's hold. "I'm still eating." His plate was empty, covered only in crumbs and small smears of gravy. "Obviously."

Corben clenched his fists then sighed. "Fine. Fine, whatever. Just find me when you're done. You know where I'll be."

"I really don't!" Juno called back as Corben turned away and left, tension creeping into his movements as soon as he left the room, the white blankness of the halls lasting forever before him.

He stopped, leaning against the wall, eyes shut. He could do this. He could survive this. He had to survive this.

He traced his thumb along the creases and edges of his hand, air settling heavy into his lungs, pressure building in his chest with every moment as his breath continued to stick inside of him, frozen in this moment as he let the worries and concerns inside of him bundle into something small, hidden, forgettable. Corben exhaled, then continued down the halls, tapping panel after panel until he saw a lone paper hanging limply at eye level.

He sat down folding his legs up so he could prop his arm on them. The world seemed so strange around him, the lack of colors smudging into something like snow, cold and whistling against his skin. His eyes strained, clinging to the details of the walls, the feel of the air around him, but the chill of his imagination spread, frost and crystals spreading across his skin, ice settling into a frozen statue.

His eyes opened, and the insistent tug of the wind teased at his shirt, lifting the hem of the fabric, fingers of ice tracing down his back. Corben flinched, pushing himself up to stand. Snow crunched under his hand, all too loud and sharp, ice burning cold on his palm.

"I don't..." the world swayed, light blinding on snow and frozen tips of winter, the wind spinning around him, carrying flurries of confusion and flakes. "This isn't right." He inhaled deeply, the cold air clawing it's way into his lungs, all pain and ice in the air.

"This isn't real," Corben reminded himself. But it had to be real. Nothing could feel like this and not be real. A muffled sound roared against his ears, wind lashing across every bare patch of skin, the world turning into a muddled blur of snow and wind of white, and Corben stumbled, unable to find a point of focus, alone in the monotony of winter.

"Corben?"

The snow cleared, revealing Maylea, a concerned look pressed on her face as she came closer. Corben could feel his body turning to ice, his legs locked into the ground. "Maylea?"

"Corben, are you ok? You don't look too good." Her fingers were sliding over his skin, wrapping around his hands, bringing sensation back into his body.

"It's cold," he mumbled, letting the warmth from her touch flood over her. "You should put on a jacket." Did she not feel the snow, the wind, the ice? Did she not know how unsafe it was for them here?

Her eyes creased as she looked up at him, pressing the back of her hand to his forehead. "I think you need to lie down, Corben, you're pretty warm."

He shook his head, snow flaking off his hair to fall on his cheeks, melting into water and salt. "You should go, Maylea. It's not safe." The ice was filling his lungs, his blood, crackling into perfect stillness. "I'm not safe."

"Shh." She folded her hands back around his, tugging gently, his legs thawing out as she led him one step, then another. "Don't worry Corben, I'll get you settled and fetch Mr. James and figure out your fever, ok?"

"Don't," he warned again, stiffening as the wind kicked up around him. "Maylea, just leave me alone." He pulled out of her hold, then stumbled, and her hands were there in an instant.

"Corben, stop." Her voice had lost that gentle tone, and was now just as frigid as the insistent wind at his back. "You need to stop doing this. Stop trying to pull away from me whenever I'm trying to help. I don't care how much you hate me now, or what happened to us before, I'm trying to help you. And it looks like I'm the only person in this place who does care, so let me."

Corben sighed. "Maylea, I don't-"

"Shut. Up." She slammed her fist on something... a wall? But where were the walls here? How could she see through all of the snow? "C'mon. You're laying down, and I don't want to hear another word out of you saying otherwise."

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Maylea pulled the blanket tighter around Corben, ruffling his hair in the process. She swept a lock of it back, then sighed. "Why do you have to be so stubborn?" She murmured.

He just looked so... worried, even while asleep, with his eyebrows pulled together and a frown curving his lips. Maylea pressed her own lips together and stilled as he shifted, mumbling out something she couldn't quite catch.

The door opened. Juno rushed in, stumbling on the last step and nearly falling onto the bed before catching himself. "I'm here!"

"Shh!" Maylea hissed. "He's asleep."

Juno's eyes flicked to Corben, his head nestled on Maylea's lap, the blanket wrapped around him. "Maylea, seriously? What is he doing in our room?"

Maylea crinkled her nose at him. "Juno, seriously, hush. You're being ridiculously loud." She took a deep breath, then continued. ""He was outside the room when I got here, and kept saying something about being cold. He had a fever and was obviously delirious. So yeah, I brought him into the room and got him warm. It's not that different from what we did with Veronica last night."

Juno narrowed his eyes. "That was different. She literally passed out."

Maylea scoffed. "And Corben could barely walk! This isn't a competition on who was worse off, it's me being concerned about our friends."

Juno crossed his arms. "Really? Friends? You said last night that you barely know anyone here, yet when I try to talk to you about Corben, he's a friend?"

"Is that such a crime?" Maylea snapped, her voice dropping low. "Yeah, Juno, he's my friend. I care about him. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"He doesn't care about you!" Juno shot back. "Every single thing he does shows that! You're just another person to him, Maylea, and I tried to tell you that last night and you wouldn't listen. You're just too caught up in what the two of you used to be that you can't see how terribly he treats you!"

She couldn't breathe. She couldn't say anything. Did Juno know how this was hurting her?

He must have been able to read her, because he face spread into shock, then horror. "No, wait, Maylea, that's not what I meant. Please don't, don't cry."

Was she crying? She reached up and touched her fingers to her face, feeling the tears smeared across her skin. She was crying. "But you did mean it," Maylea whispered. "Otherwise you wouldn't have said it."

Juno's face crumpled, and Maylea sighed. "I'm calling Mr. James. I had wanted to talk with you before I did so, but I guess that was a waste of time."

They were both silent for a long while, Maylea threading her fingers through Corben's hair, eyes closed.

"I really am sorry."

Maylea looked up to see Juno standing next to the bed, his hand hovering near her shoulder, as if unsure if it was safe to touch her. He drew his hand back, then sighed. "Look, Maylea, you're great, really you are. But you keep trying to chase after Corben when all he's done is been rude."

"I know we haven't known each other for long, but I wouldn't want you to get hurt by him."

"Do you really dislike him that much?" Maylea asked quietly.

Juno shook his head. "It's not that I dislike him. I don't know him well enough to judge him as a person, but the way he treats you, I don't like it. I don't care how close you used to be."

There was a small rapping sound at the door. Juno turned and opened the door, then returned, followed by Mr. James, who had traded his normal suit jacket for a dark blue sweater over his dress shirt.

He sighed heavily when he saw Corben, and rubbed at his forehead. "Missus is going to kill me."

Maylea looked at him, alarmed. "What?"

He gave her a weary smile. "Don't worry, Maylea. It's just, she's the one who said we should have kept him longer, but I insisted on getting him back to the group. She's going to love finding out she was right."

"He has a fever," Juno said quickly, then stopped, rubbing the back of his neck. "And Maylea said he was complaining about being cold earlier."

Mr. James nodded, looking at his band and tapping a few things into it. "It's probably just aftereffects of the drugs, like Veronica. I'm sure they're not in any sort of danger."

Maylea leaned forward, her heart thudding. "Why are they on so many drugs and things? Isn't that kind of stuff bad for them?"

Mr. James shook his head. "They'll be fine, I promise. Corben and Veronica both had to be sedated, as they struggled too much for us to care for them the way we needed to. Corben was very insistent on not getting an MRI."

Juno drew his eyebrows together. "You guys have an MRI machine here? How much money is funding this little "experiment" of yours?"

"We do have very generous benefactors, but believe me, this is not my experiment. I would much prefer that you be allowed to stay in your normal lives, but it is not up to me."

"But why can't you just let us free?" Maylea cried, anger in her voice. "Surely you could do that."

Mr. Jame's face darkened. "Trust me, I would. But I can't. You're just safer if you listen and obey." He checked his band again, then nodded and picked up Corben, slinging him over his shoulder, stumbling slightly at the weight. "Please try to stay out of trouble today. We have been updating and testing the simulation, but it should be up and running again soon."

He turned to leave when Juno spoke. "Hey, Azalea wanted to have a Halloween party. If you want us to stay out of trouble, I suggest listening to her."

Mr. James was silent for a long moment, then nodded slightly. "I'll see what I can do."

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BAM that's a long chapter. Almost 3000 words!!! Next chapter should be fun, as we'll get to experience Halloween with the kiddos!

What kinds of costumes do you think everyone would end up wearing??

Until next time!