The Babysitter

Numbers

Lapis's PoV:

We woke up, all of us children. We didn't know where any of the three remaining adults were, so headed straight to the cafeteria. Scarlet was still nowhere to be seen, and Coal was also missing too...

Peach's PoV:

You know what? What I said to Rose before about wanting revenge as well? Forget it.

9 people dead. 9 devastated children. It's too much, it never should have been this way.

The only thing I feel now is just a complete hopelessness. Surely knowing that we were all safe should have made us feel better, but it didn't - I'd expected to be elated once the imposter was gone, however the whole thing just felt completely wrong.

I presume at least half of us were just faking our smiles in that small moment.

"Lapis says sit down"

The three remaining players sit down. That is Rose, Emerald and I.

I don't even know how I was still in, because I wasn't paying much attention. Usually I loved games, but as you can imagine, I wasn't really feeling like myself after seeing basically a replay of what had happened to my father.

"Jump"

Still deep in thought, I completely zoned out and didn't hear the instruction. The other two jumped up in the air.

"Peach wins!" Lapis declared

"Oh... yay, cool" I murmur.

Rose's PoV:

Peach didn't seem herself. Understandably, of course. None of us really did, aside from the lucky one. Lapis.

Myself? I felt half bad for wanting revenge on the imposter. But only half and no more.

Of course I didn't show it, but I was grieving for my father's death too, a lot actually.

People say stuff about how I'm 'coping well', but it's all fake. All of it.

That just makes me wonder what else is fake - I now know the whole 'I don't have feelings and only care about myself' thing my father did was all an act, well, mostly...

So was Lapis's courage and determination also an act? Teal's dependency? Indigo's innocence, Lemon's 'protective older sister' mode, Emerald's kind, caring nature?

What about Snow, was his cluelessness all just a front to hide something more sinister? What did 'special' even mean?

Indigo's PoV:

Snow seemed pretty left out, just sat on his own in the corner, so I sat next to him. He glanced towards me for a second, before slowly returning his gaze to the wall.

"Hey" I smile, trying to start a conversation. He never really talked, which confused me so much - I was always extremely talkative, and hated silence. "You okay?"

He seems a little surprised at my greeting. "I think I'm okay. So... your parents are sleeping too?"

"Uh... no-" I say, my face scrunching up in confusion. Why is he so weird?

"So they woke up?" Snow asks, a small light igniting in his eyes, this was the first time I'd seen a single hint of any expression on his face. "Does that mean my mum is awake now too?"

Does he seriously not know? How could he be so uninformed? Even I understand the concept of death, and I'm a whole year younger than him! "Sorry... I thought you knew... your mommy is dead, like mine, and like my dad..."

Snow concentrates hard, staring into the ground as if it would give him an answer. "What do you mean...... dead...?"

H-how am I supposed to explain this?

"Uh... the 'not breathing' kind of dead"

"No," he insists, "sleeping"

"Yeah, okay" I sigh. "Sleeping. Sleeping forever"