Ben's eyebrows immediately furrowed as he took a closer look at me. His face scrunched up ever so slightly and his eyes looked glassy. He looked as if the word 'fear' was written all over him, but I couldn't tell if he was afraid of my number, or just of the situation we were in.

The longer we stayed that way, the more I noticed about him. He had long sleeves and his clothes were surprisingly unripped, but like me, he also didn't have any shoes. Just a broken shackle around his right ankle. 

I could usually tell a lot about a person just by looking at them and feeling the way the air moved around them. It wasn't a power, it was just a feeling. Ben's vibe felt similar to Blumiere's when I first met him. Helpless, scared, alone.

Ben continued to stare at me in silence with his large grey eyes until he finally placed his finger on the ground, writing: 

Name or Number?

"Number," I answered.

"He knows about the number thing too?" Mario asked you in a low voice, raising an eyebrow. As soon as Mario spoke, Ben leaned to the side slightly, looking around me to see you and Mario. 

The kid then shakily pointed at you.

"That's Two," I answered.

You frowned slightly, wondering why I gave Ben your number instead of your name. Especially since I had just lectured you not long ago on the importance of hiding your number from the world.

Ben tensed up a little more, then pointed to Mario.

"Twenty," I said.

Mario rolled his eyes. "It's Mario, actually."

Ben nodded, then looked down, letting out a soft sigh. He then placed his finger on a new section of the floor.

88

"88," I read, pausing for a moment. I had never met someone with such a high number. I've heard of humans with numbers that high, of course. But I had never actually met many humans. Everyone that I had encountered was at least somewhat powerful. 

This poor kid... I couldn't even imagine what it would be like knowing he had a number so low. Knowing he was so vulnerable.

I offered a small smile, then stood up, grabbing his arms and helping him up as well. Ben was at least a head shorter than I was. He was even shorter than Blumiere when I met him. 

He reminded me of my long-gone friend.  

"Well, 88, do you want to get out of here?" I asked with a small smile.

Ben nodded, eyes widening slightly as I mentioned the possibility of escape. The fear in his eyes began to slowly melt away, turning into what looked like hope.

"Then stick with us," I smiled. "We'll keep you safe."

He stared at me for a moment. I wished there was a way for me to know what he was thinking. I could usually somewhat tell based on expressions, but he looked the same as before. Slightly hopeful, but still fearful. 

He then walked towards the wall, placing his finger on the frost and writing: Promise?

"We promise," You chimed in, stepping forward.

Mario joined you, though he didn't smile. He just nodded and re-adjusted his hat so it was on backward. I smiled and furrowed my eyebrows, wondering if maybe that was some sort of weird fashion trend from where he came from. I had never seen someone wear a hat that way. 

Ben nodded, then carefully hugged my left arm, looking down and refusing to make eye contact. For some reason, I felt my heart ache. Perhaps it was because the moment he grabbed on, I was reminded of all the times I would hold Blumiere's hand and lead him through the horrors our world threw at us. It reminded me of all the times he was afraid and looked to me for comfort.

You smiled at me, bringing me away from my thoughts. You mouthed something along the lines of, 'You two are adorable,' which in turn made my face heat up ever so slightly. 

I liked that momentary feeling of warmth.

I lightly giggled back, then mouthed back, 'Ah ha ha, us TWO.'

You smiled and rolled your eyes, then turned around, grabbing Mario's arm and leading us all out.

But I stayed still for a moment, just thinking.

Ben reminded me of Blumiere. That was a given. But you... you also had a familiar feeling to you. And not just because you reminded me of myself. You reminded me of someone else too...

You reminded me of the Runaway Girl. The girl with flowing white hair who lived in the woods.

Funny...

I wasn't sure how I felt about that.

. . .

We had been exploring different rooms for what felt like hours. We were basically walking in circles at that point. "Ugh, why is this place so confusing?" Mario complained, hitting his lighter to make sure it stayed on.

Ben silently giggled as Mario's light continued to flicker on and off, showcasing that it was getting low on fuel. You were about to turn on yours, when the kid reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small flashlight, flicking it on. He was still holding onto my arm, but only with one of his hands now. 

It was far smaller than the flashlight I used to have but equally as bright. Ben held it up with his free arm and out to you as if silently saying, 'Here. Use this instead.'

He was already growing less timid, though he still didn't speak. I wasn't sure if he was being silent because he physically couldn't speak, or if he was just being shy.

You smiled at him, then gently pushed Ben's hand back. "You keep it," you told him. "You'll light our way."

Ben blinked twice, then shone the light forward as we walked, watching the shadows in the room dance and sway. He tensed up ever so slightly and drew closer to me, squeezing my arm slightly.

"Don't worry," I breathed. "We'll all keep you safe."

And I really meant that. I had no doubt that we could safely get out of that place. Our team actually was a fairly strong one. We had me, a One. We had you, a Two. AND we had Mario, a Twenty. Numbers-wise, we were quite strong.

Of course, we were also all children, but that didn't really matter. That only meant that we were small and able to hide more easily!

"Uhh, guys," Mario breathed, standing on his tip-toes and looking through a small window. We all looked over at him to see what he was talking about. 

You stood next to him, peering through the slightly foggy glass to see the two Chefs in the next room over, holding large knives and cutting open meat bags and... I don't want to describe the rest.

Mario gagged while you looked away, squeezing your eyes shut.

Ben's grip on my arm tightened again.

"Okay... so I take it we're going to be avoiding that room-"

"No," you interrupted. "There's a latter that leads to the top of the boat in there. You can see the rainwater leaking from the ceiling next to it...."

I nervously swallowed, then carefully walked up to the window, looking at the far corner of the room. 

You were right. That was our ticket out. But the room was huge! Meat grinders, a table in the middle for chopping and prepping, and so... so much red on the floor.

"Red paint," You breathed with a smaller voice than I was used to. "It's just red paint."

We all knew it wasn't.

Ben squeezed his eyes shut and buried his head in the side of my arm. I could feel him begin to shake once again, so I shook my arm away and turned to face him, kneeling down and gently grabbing the side of both his arm.

"Hey, Eighty-Eight. Look at me," I whispered.

He looked up at me, still shaking.

"I promise I won't let anything happen. So here's what we're going to do. You're going to stay back here with Two and Twenty-"

"It's Twenty and Two," Mario corrected. "I'm older, so my number goes first." 

You chuckled and rolled your eyes at your brother while I shrugged.

"Fine. You stay back with Twenty and Two while I take care of the Chefs. Once it's safe, I'll signal for you guys to follow, and we'll all safely escape. Alright?"

"Hold up, that doesn't sound fair," you said, crossing your arms at me. "You can't just go out there alone! They'll eat you alive! We need to stick together, One!"

"I know, I know, but it's just one room over. You'll be able to see me and everything!" I pointed out. "Plus, it's easier for one person to sneak around than two. I'll be less likely to be caught on my own."

"Uh-huh. And you'll be more likely to die if you ARE caught," you said. "Come on, let me or Mario help you!"

I wasn't about to let that happen. I made these three friends, and I intended on protecting them from the horrors the world threw at us as much as possible. I couldn't let the world get to them the way the world got to Blumiere.

"Just help me by staying safe and taking care of 88," I breathed, turning and starting down the hall. "I'll be back."

However, before I could reach the door, I felt a soft tug on my shirt. I turned around to see Ben looking up at me with his big eyes and holding his flashlight up to me as if he wanted me to take it.

I smiled and gently took it. "Thank you," I breathed, taking one last glance at the soft smile which flashed across the kid's face before turning and heading through the door, into the line of fire.