Subject Zero: CONFIDENTIAL (Short Stories)

KIDS: Anne (5)

July 18, 1985
12:15p.m.
The Stine Household

Third Person's POV
Lately, Zero has been having a difficult time. It began the day Liam, LeAnna, Yuda, and Dr. Yohan Rallane died.

It had been 55 days since all of their deaths. She missed them all.

Even though Liam tricked her and possessed her, he still was the first friend she ever had.

Even though she didn't know LeAnna all that well, she was still the first adult outside of the lab to show her kindness.

Even though Yuda killed LeAnna and hurt Liam, he was still someone Zero grew up with and saw as an older brother.

Even though Yohan experimented on her and isolated her, she knew that in the end, he only wanted the best for her. He was a father figure to her.

But one person who has been helping her deal with these losses, is Anne. Anne rarely left her side and always cheered her up.

Right now, the two of them were hanging out in her room. Anne was braiding her hair as Zero was looking through a magazine.

Zero looked up from her magazine, watching Anne braid her hair. "How do you do that...?"

Anne looked at her, a bit puzzled at first, but then realized. "Oh! I can braid your hair if you want, it's pretty easy!"

Zero's face lit up as she smiled.

Twenty minutes later, the two of them were downstairs in the kitchen. Anne knew Zero was still upset, and wanted to help her take her mind off of her losses.

Anne put on an apron and gave a spare one to Zero. Anne then asks her, "So, what do you wanna make? We have a lot of ingredients. We could make cookies, cake, cupcakes- ooh! I've been learning how to make donuts?"

Zero took a moment to think.

"It doesn't have to be anything sweet, though," said Anne. "It can be something like pizza, or ravioli is also pretty fun to make, or..."

"Liam! Liam, look! Papa gave me jellybeans! Do you want some?"

"Oh- well, that's nice, but I'm not a huge fan of sweets."

"...But... jellybeans?"

"No jellybeans, please-"

"What about chocolate? Or Reeses Pieces? Or- or, um... Cupcakes?"

"Not a fan. I guess the only sweet food I ever liked are cinnamon rolls, but I mean, who doesn't?"

Zero's face lit up a bit and she looked at Anne. "Cinnamon rolls?"

Anne's instant reply was, "Sure! I love cinnamon rolls. They're just so perfect-" She giggled a bit. "We can make those now and eat them after lunch, if that sounds okay?"

Zero softly smiled at her. "Okay."

1:00p.m.