Again, everything is repeating.

Eating, training, sleeping. It's all she really does, and she's fine with it.

While she's eating, she does talk to Brenda. That's another nice part about her day.

"I think I like the guns the best, too," Brenda agrees. "They're just fast and easy."

With her mouth full, Siren nods in agreement.

"But it's a bit boring. Being here all day... doing nothing at all."

She shrugs.

"Are you gonna speak?"

"I cwant swpeak. Mouth fwull."

A laugh escapes from Brenda. "Yes, alright. I'm just saying that I want to go outside someday. Don't you, too?"

Siren swallows her food away. "Yeah. I do, too."

"What would you like to find?"

"Friends," she says confidently. "Kids our age."

"Me, too. That's all I really want. I mean, I have you, but that's it."

"Same for me."

Their talks always go like this. One makes a statement, the other either disagrees or agrees, and they don't philosophize about it. They just shrug, like 'okay, I don't care why you don't agree or do agree'.

"Girls. Time to go to bed," Amery calls out. "Brenda, go with Barkley. Siren, come on."

Siren is the first to get up, wiping her hands on her pants before following Amery into the dimly lit hallway. She feels the weight of today's busy routine falling down on her.

He locks the door behind them. Something about it still feels weird, something about it feels fine. He's just her friend. They'll have some privacy.

"So, how was your day, Ren?" He asks as she climbs into her bed.

"I still need to brush my teeth," she replies.

"Oh. Well, you can do that after this."

A nod. Then she shrugs. "My day was boring. Kind of tiring. But I'm fine."

Amery reaches out to lie his hand on hers, a gesture that sends a warmth through her body. It shows that he cares. He listens. "You're doing really great. I'm proud of you."

With wide eyes, she looks up at him. "You're the first person to tell me that."

He smiles. "You can always talk to me. You know that."

Her smile in return is even brighter. She snuggles closer to his side, pressing her cheek against his shoulder. It's warm compared to her skin. Feels nice. "I do. You're always so nice."

"Well, you deserve someone nice. You remain a special person."

She giggles, her cheeks flushing at the compliment. "Thank you."

His hand squeezes her thigh lightly. It moves up and down, brushing the inside of her leg. "A very special girl, who deserves special treatment."

Her eyes grow even wider, now with confusion. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. Do you trust me?"

"Yes." She nods at him.

Without any other words, his hand moves further up.

Her breath gets caught in her throat, causing some kind of choked cry to escape from her. "What're you doing?"

"It'll feel nice," is all he says.

She pulls her legs away from him. Terror and confusion begin setting off alarms in her body. Something doesn't feel right.

"Siren." Something about his eyes darkens. His tone doesn't sound as soft and nice. His silhouette grows bigger as he stands up, a dark figure with a long beard.

This doesn't look like her best friend. This looks like a monster.

The terror rings through her body. She backs away until she's against the wall, her eyes so wide it feels like they're about to pop out. Her fists clench, trying to find something to hold onto, but all she can do is allow her nails to pierce through the flesh of her palms.

"What're you doing?" She asks, so afraid that her voice comes barely above a whisper.

"Something nice," he says again. "You trust me. Relax, kid. You'll like it."

She doesn't want to hurt him again. So slowly, she sits down beside him, eyes on the ground.

His hands are back on. So fast and in places that make her so incredibly uncomfortable that she jerks away, accidentally hitting her head against the wall. "Stop."

"Siren..." it's almost like a warning.

Desperate, she looks around. Where is that camera when she needs it? Why does this room have to be built with such thick material that it allows barely any sounds to be hearable from the outside?

For a while, all she feels in fear. Pain. More terror. Confusion. Anger. Sadness. Everything at once. So much that she's left in tears by the time it's over.

Everything hurts. Not just every bone in her body, but mentally, everything hurts, too. That wasn't her best friend. It was a strange man. A cruel one.

Whatever he just did to her— it hurt. That's all she knows. And friends shouldn't hurt each other. Not physically nor mentally.

☯︎︎

The next morning, her muscles ache. She doesn't feel like training today. She can barely get out of bed.

But she'll have to. Training will help her. It'll heal and it'll make her become stronger. So many benefits.

Slumping and stumbling, she sits down at the table. Brenda and Jorge are already there.

Sitting especially hurts, she now finds out. With a wince, she gets back up, which sends another shot of pain through her lower body.

Every shot of pain is a flashback of last night's dark, haunting moments. Another reason to lie in bad all day.

But with training, she can kill guards. She'll imagine them as the moments. That's a reason to train, too.

"Oh." Jorge is full on staring at her and the chair you sat on.

"...what?"

Is she supposed to tell him? She should, shouldn't she? But it's so shameful for some reason. All that training to fight, and then not putting it to use at all.

If it happens again, she'll tell him.

"Go see Meredith," he tells her.

Meredith is the old lady who helped insert the chip in Siren's neck. Kind enough.

"Why?"

"You've gotten your period," he announces.

"My what?"

"Just... let Meredith explain."

Siren looks at Brenda, but Brenda's eyes are focused on one thing and one thing only; the blood stains on Siren's pants.

Siren stares at them, too. Is this meant to happen? Is that it? Whatever Amery did last night, called a... period?

Her eyebrows furrow as she walks down the stairs, on her way to Meredith, who then explains what a period is.

Once a month, because her womb is changing. Getting ready to carry a baby.

"But I'm only nine," Siren states.

"Some get it at an early age," Meredith replies. "Here, I've got some supplies. Let me help you put it on and then we'll see what you like the most."

"Why does it happen? Is it at a random point? Does something... happen before you get your period?"

"No, love. It just appears once a month, whenever your body decides it's time."

So it has nothing to do with Amery.

Yes, it does, actually, Siren thinks.

It's his fault. It's not that period thingy. He hurt her. He made her bleed.