NPOV

Everything about him was lovely. It felt like all he did was blindly care about other people, even the random, insignificant strangers. Somehow he cared about me, and that was a mystery in itself.

He wanted to be a doctor. A doctor.

I took that dream away. I took him away. I ripped the floor out from under him and watched him fall.

His scream replayed in my head, louder than anything I've ever heard.

"Nico? Are you awake yet?"

I opened my eyes, the darkness parting to show Clovis bent over the bunk bed. Since he had the top bunk, he kept his hands on the rusty bars so he wouldn't fall. Gravity pulled his hair towards the ground.

"I never fell asleep." I whispered stiffly. "What is it?"

He frowned at me. "I was just going to ask if you wanted to help get a head start on chores, but you obviously need to sleep. I'll ask someone else-"

"No, I can help. It's not a problem."

I didn't want to sleep. I was afraid of the nightmares.

He studied me for a second. I was self-conscious, running my hands through my hair and pulling the blanket to cover my arms.

Clovis pinpointed the source of my discomfort. "I have a long sleeve shirt. You can have it, if you want."

"Really?"

He smiled, disappearing from view for a second before racing down the ladder. He sat on the floor in front of me and pulled a box out from under the bed.

The plastic container was relatively empty, only occupied by some clothes, a couple pictures, and a deck of cards. I didn't let my eyes linger. The pictures were of Clovis, and I knew they were personal. I respected that.

"You need something else, to be honest. What you're wearing has blood on it." He observed, tossing the folded shirt into my lap.

The shirt was more of a sweater, made out of thick white material. I unfolded it carefully, able to see why Clovis didn't wear it. The two of us were about the same size, and this was way too big. I was grateful though, changing immediately. I didn't even care about all the skin Clovis could see.

I held my black t-shirt, the one I owned for years. Half of the skull print was stained red, but it felt weird to part with it.

"Do you want me to put it in here for you? No one will mess with it. It's out of sight, so cients won't steal it."

Confusion tugged at me. I looked at him, still clutching the fabric. "Are you sure? It's dirty."

"We'll wash it, silly." He pushed himself to his feet and started walking, gesturing over his shoulder. "Come on. You can put it in the washing machine with the sheets from upstairs, they need to be washed anyway."

I threw the covers back and followed. I was glad to have something to do.

Not wanting to wake anyone up, we walked in silence. I surveyed the room for the millionth time, as if I needed to convince myself that it was real. High ceilings, dirt floors, suspicious crimson stains. Bunk beds were shoved against the concrete walls, each equipped with sheets and a blanket.

We climbed the ladder. Clovis went first and held the door for me. He shut it slowly, making sure it wouldn't slam. He raised a single finger to his lips, a motion for me to keep quiet.

He led me through the house, whispering a tour and explaining all the rules.

There was a lot of rules.

"Lycaon's room and his study are both down that hall. No matter what happens, don't go down there. Have you ever seen Beauty and the Beast? I imagine it's like the West Wing, but more serious."

"This is the kitchen. Most of the time Lycaon picks up fast food, but occasionally he makes one of us cook. We can't open the fridge without permission."

"We're allowed to shower in this bathroom, but we aren't allowed to lock the door. Trust me, I did that once. Lycaon beat me until I passed out - and maybe a little after that, too? I don't know. I can't remember."

"The stairway is in the foyer. We aren't allowed to go up there unless we're cleaning or with a client."

"When you're upstairs, don't go in the rooms with the Do Not Disturb signs on the door. It means one of us is working with a client. They look just like the kind you would see at a motel, you can't miss it."

We eventually reached the laundry room. Most of the space was taken up by the washer and dryer, but more cleaning supplies were shoved in the corner. Clovis grabbed a basket, handed it to me, and reached for a mop.

"W-what are you doing?" I asked.

"I was going to clean the floors while you started the washer."

I felt my cheeks heat up from embarrassment. I couldn't believe how stupid I was.

"Right." I said, putting my shirt in the basket. "Let me, um, go and do that."

~

It was a simple task. All I had to do was go upstairs, strip the bedsheets, and throw them in the washing machine. It could have taken me five minutes. It shouldn't have been that hard.

Except I was paused at the end of the staircase, in the hallway that led to the two rooms.

I shifted the basket in my hands when I entered the first room, talking to myself. 

"You need to get over this. It's not a big deal, you're used to it. Everyone else here has been through more than you, so what gives you the right to complain?" The voice of reason helped me calm down. 

The room was plain. The only furniture was the bed and a chair, both of which were on the brink of falling apart. The gray sheets were wrinkled and stained. I ripped all the bedding off as fast as I could, roughly throwing it in the basket. I grabbed what I needed and rushed out of there. I didn't want to stay longer than I had to because I knew.

I knew why the sheets needed to be washed, why they were stained. I knew what happened in those rooms.

It was only a matter of time before it was my turn.

They were in control. I didn't know how I was going to rebuild myself after they destroyed me. I couldn't do it. Will had taught me how, but that felt like so long ago. Which wasn't fair, not when the memory of Octavian's grip on him was etched into my mind forever.

A man clipped my shoulder as he passed me in the hallway. "Watch where you're going!"

I winced at his harsh tone. The man could get violent, and no one would do anything about it. There was an empty room right next to us. 

But he kept moving. He went down the stairs, a phone in one hand and a sign in the other.

A sign. The door to the other room was left wide open.

I took a breath before entering, but what I saw took it all away.

The room was exactly the same as the other, the only difference being the choked sobs. The boy was sitting on top of the bed in just his underwear, knees to his chest and rocking back and forth. His black hair was a tousled mess. Shaking shoulders. Hidden face.

He didn't say anything when I sat next to him, and neither did I. What was there to say? Both of us knew what happened. Nothing could change it. Nothing could make it better.

I stayed, though. I was cautiously perched next to him, in case he needed someone.

"Thanks." He said after a few minutes, lifting his tear-stained face. His sigh carried exhaustion. "I'm okay now."

"It's Dakota, right?"

"Yes. And who are you again?"

"Nico."

Dakota's lip twitched upwards, barely enough for me to notice. "Sorry, I'm bad at names."

We sat in silence. Dakota started fidgeting, tapping his fingers and wiping his face. Something told me that he wasn't used to the stillness, or he didn't like it.

"You know that guy that was in here with me? He's a dentist. The only reason why he left was so that he could have time to drive his eight-year-old daughter to school.... That's the part I hate the most about being here. You end up learning too much about your regulars. They want to talk to you afterward, like they did nothing wrong. And the scary thing is that they're all just regular people. They have a family and friends and problems and I hate them for it."

"I'm going to have to deal with my first client today." I whispered. My heart stopped at the realization.

I'm going to die here, in one of the bedrooms.

He put his hand on my shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

"You shouldn't be. It's not your fault." I said. My voice was strong, despite how my whole body was shaking helplessly. "We have to do what we can to survive, I learned that the hard way."

I shut my eyes, blocking the world out. This was another example of how I twisted things. I was supposed to be comforting him, not the other way around. The larger part of me wanted to tell Dakota all of my sins - Ethan, Luke, Will. The smaller part of me knew better.

"You know that you can't get used to this, right?" Dakota asked quietly.

I stared at him. His navy eyes met mine and he shook his head.

"I heard you talking to yourself. I don't know what you've been through, but I do know that it was bad enough for Kronos not to bother sending you to Orion. That's a good thing. It means you can live. But it's important for you to know that nobody can get used to something like this. You can't wait for that to happen."

"Everyone else said I would have to. Clovis-"

"All the others are fooling themselves. I can promise you that."

A/N ~ ok so I put Nico in an oversized white sweater oH MY GAWD.

I don't know whats wrong with me.

JMpieguy2001 tagged me in this one A LONG TIME AGO. (sorry buddy)

Here I go:

  I woke up, I was stuck in a dream

The world was on fire and no one could save me but you.

I'll use you as a warning sign.

I'm always wondering

It's not just a phase

We laid our names to rest

Sad hearts, track lines

  I know you're not a liar

  So close no matter how far

  You'd rather leave me broken

That was actually kind of sad? I mean, I think it turned out pretty.... but sad.

Here are the songs: (order of artist then title)

1. Mikky Ekko - We Must Be Killers

2. Ursine Vulpine ft. Annaca - Wicked Game

3. Amber Run - I Found

4. Zayde Wolf ft. Ruelle - Walk Through The Fire

5. The Score - Miracle

6. Sleeping at Last - Mars

7. Throw the Fight - Bury Me Alive

8. Twenty One Pilots - Implicit Demand for Proof

9. Marlisa - Nothing Else Matters

10. Bobby Andonov - War is Love

I was also tagged by a whole bunch of other peeps to do a different tag, but for some reason it isn't showing in my notifications? I'm sorry if you were waiting on that. Wattpad's been glitchy recently, at least for me. I couldn't even access my messages earlier.

I've been kind of working through some shit. You guys have been so nice and patient. Thank you for that. Thanks for reading. I'm constantly surprised at how many people follow me.