*Charlie's P.O.V*

After I have 'attended to nature's call', Leo's dad restores me to the cabin. I lay on the mattress as he shuts me in.

First, I feel alive. I want to scream. There is a familiar beat ringing. It morphs into a crescendo; my heart races.

I close my eyes, slipping into a vacuum. My lungs ask me if I want oxygen. I decline. My hands try to grab onto something, so I interweave them. I think I am fine dying this way.

Leo will... not have to worry about me. Sil will get a retrial. Harry will make for a great musician. Mia will be safe, hopefully. Sydney can get on with her life before Grandma dumped me on her shoulders. Everyone will be fine. Hence, I'll be fine.

My rewiring begins. It starts with an overwhelming numbness on my left foot. It swells up, up, up my body until I can't move.

I can still breathe, though. Every possible horrifying scene plays in my mind. I reclaim vision and then, realising I'm not too fond of reality either, shut my eyes again.

* In scene one, little Sil is crying. I pat her back and promise, "They can't separate us."

Scene two requires more brain work. I need to exercise my hippocampus, amygdala, cerebellum, prefrontal cortex ... ur, ur - or relax.

Breathe in. Out. In. Out...

* It begins with me in pain. I'm in my washroom:

"Krypton?!"

"Yes?"

"Can I take a piss after you?"

"Go to your restroom."

"Ya, but yours is cleaner."

"Ok, please clean yours, then. "

"Bruv, I'll do that later. I need to take a piss urgently!"

"Sil -" I flush my blood away. Revealing myself afterwards, I sigh, "I'll clean yours. Afterwards, never enter my room without my permission -"

"I'm not your room," she retorts.

I give her a grave stare.

"What? I'm standing on the boundary between two rooms."

"Both of which are mine."

She rolls her eyes to that. "Anyway, what took you so long?" Her head leans on the door frame as she bites her little fingernail.

I grimace, finding this gesture uncanny.

We used to look very different; however, right now, she's almost my reflection. Perhaps I should cut my hair so we don't resemble so much. I can't have people mistaking her for me only to then mock her... figure.

"Silver, have you been eating -"

"Answer my question first."

"What question?"

"Charlie -"

"Oh, we're doing second names? Ok, Charis - " I one-up her.

She rubs her temples in defeat. " Why. Did. You take. So. Long?"

I hear my heartbeat. Worry plagues her eyes as they scrutinise mine, so I look away. "Sil, urm -"

"What?"

"A-at the party, please did you, ur- did you give me something ... thing that can maybe cause ur par-paralysis?"

"Pardon me?!" She folds her arms. Before I can reiterate, however, her mouth widens. I give her a puzzled mien, to which she puffs out. " I did, like, give you a little... confidence booster. "

"As in drugs?"

"Kryptooon, it's - I don't know, yes?"

I facepalm. "You don't know what you gave me."

She cringes.

Shaking my head, I almost leave the washroom if not for her grabbing my arm suddenly.

"Hey, it was a mistake. I just wanted you to loosen up a little, and it worked! You become the life of the party. You were having chinwags with all the guests, and everyone said you were awesome. Don't get mad at me." She sighs, "How can I make it up to you?"

I want to tell her I am not mad, but considering the water closet, I request, "Please, can you distract Syd tomorrow? I have to go to the hospital."

"Why?" Her brows furrow.

I shrug. She releases her arms to gesture that she should go with me then.

"No, I'm going with Harry."

"But, what's wrong with you?"

"Please, I d-d-don't know. That's why I'm going to the hospital -"

"Ok!" She winces. I try smiling to abate her concern.

Silence settles.

She smiles back. "Well, it better be in the afternoon. I plan on going to a barbering salon early."

Instantly, my head shakes. "No."

"Seriously, bruv." She huffs. I pull her towards the mirror and hold her hair together. She sticks her tongue out as I press my hand above her forehead.

"See, I'll look cool with a buzzcut, right?"

I can't lie.

"Ugh, you think I'll look like a boy."

"You have a pretty face."

"So do you, unfortunately. But-but my bust area at least shows... ur-" She stops, bumps past me and marches out of my sight.

The next thing I hear is her shouting, "SYDNEY, ARE MY BREASTS TOO SMALL?"

"What breasts?"

A thud later, I can tell Sil has dramatically tumbled.

"Young lady, get up. You don't need them now anyway. They'll develop in God's time. Where's your brother?... Ah, here he is."

* The third scene has me in my friend's car:

"So... Sil was the one that drugged you?!"

"It sounds horrid when you say it like that, mate. She had good intentions."

"Sorry. It just... makes everything... confusing." Harry makes a U-turn.

I bite my nail as an awkward aura rests between us. He drives faster, glimpsing my face once in a while.

"Krypton." He ices the silence. I tilt to him, and he grips the steering wheel. "What did she give you?"

"She doesn't know."

He muses, " Ok... do you want me to figure it out?"

"I don't want her to... feel guilty."

"But, Krypton -"

"Harry, it's fine. You've done enough for me already."

"Don't exaggerate."

I smile with my eyes. "Seriously, I'm glad I have you. You're my favourite person in the whole wide world."

Another pause.

"You want Sil to butcher me, huh?" He grins back.

Chuckling, I nod. He stops at a red light. We chuckle. When the light turns green, I focus on his dashboard.

"Hey, after the hospital -" he hesitates.

I capture his eyelids' twitch, but he quirks, "Sorry - I have some hair dye at home. Urrr, pink, and - you'll see when we return to my place. What ya think?" He wiggles his brows at me.

"Sure -"

*

When Leo's dad barges in, cold air seeps through my clothes. Goosebumped or not, I can't turn. His footsteps approached me before I cut my trance.

"Guess what?!" He guffaws. "I don't need you anymore. I just got wonderful news!"

All I can do is blink.

Leo's father squats. " She came for her niece. Jackpot, right?!"

Dead air.

"Ah, well. Guess, I have to kill another kid after you -"

He halts. Kicks me.

Please.

He kicks me again. Harder.

Please.

"Boy, what's wrong with you?"

Please.

"Hey, get up right now!"

Please.

"You -" He rubs his bald head. The next thing I know, he's gone.

I exhale a cloud barely vivid in darkness. My imagination runs its course until the door flings open.

"...You see what you've caused!..." He smacks it shut. Something shuffles, but it's not him.

A chill runs up my spine. I fathom a scent that has been on me before; Leo's hoodie...

"... You see, this is what happens when you don't shut up -"

"No, he found out because of your stupidity -"

A resounding slap echoes. I hear harsh breathing. Ten seconds - no thirteen. Then, wind. It blows on my skin so fast that I don't realise the hands under my knees and armpit. I am lifted like a dead baby, albeit my head hanging.

"Son-" My capturer's tone softens.

"Fuck off."

Language!

"He wanted to die anyway -"

"Fuck. Off!" Leo jerks my head against his chest.

Suddenly, the world swirls, then coins out a blanket of nothingness above us. No more cabin. I like that; it's nicer outside.

"I'm warning you!" we hear from a distance, "Leo, son, his blood will be on your hands. You'll get arrested, and trust me, I won't help you -"

"WILL YOU FUCK OFF?!"

I flinch.

He mutters, "Sorry, Charlie," and shoves a milk gallon out of nowhere into my mouth. Gurgling the liquid down, my hands roam for something to hold. I touch a seatbelt buckle and reckon my location - a car backseat.

"Hey, Charlie, listen, you have to vomit -" He grabs my face with both hands, and I see his father from my peripheral vision... holding a gun. My eyes widen.

Leo, first, GET US OUT OF HERE!