Immortal Strangers: The Experiments

Chapter Three: We're Not Stupid

Out in the woods, far from the main road, sits a small cabin. From the outside, it looks abandoned but the residents have no purpose in leading anyone to believe otherwise. They're in hiding and the bad guys are after them. The time was just past eight in the morning. It was rare for Emma and Amy to wake up at such an hour but Brand was making far too much noise in the kitchen for either of them to remain asleep. With a sigh, Amy pushes herself off the queen size bed and makes her way toward the door. Her dark hair cascades around her wildly as she walks. Glancing back at her twin, she smiles before exiting the room. Emma's blond hair covers her face while she refuses to get out of bed.

"What're you doing?" Amy grumbles as she enters the kitchen. Brand accidentally drops an egg onto the floor of the cabin, yelping as he does so. "Sh! Em's still sleeping!" Her tone was aggressive and Brand put his hands up as if he were surrendering before reaching to clean up the broken egg. "Are you cooking?" Turning toward the refrigerator, she gripped the handle to pull the door open.

"Trying to." It seemed to be going alright, nothing was burning down just yet. So with another sigh, she removed the carton of orange juice, only to find it was empty.

"Damn it!" Brand turned to look at her with a confused look.

"What?"

"The stupid orange juice is empty, who put it back in here?" Angrily turning toward Brand, she makes eye contact. Slowly he raises his hands again, surrendering. "Do it again, see what happens..." Grumbling, she chucks it into the trash can and slams the refrigerator door.

"Morning." A quiet voice says from the entryway. Amy and Brand both look to see Emma smiling.

"Sorry, Brand was being loud..." Nudging him, Brand grabs his side in slight pain, wincing. Amy rolls her eyes and walks over to her twin. "And, he put the orange juice back in the fridge empty!" Yeah, she was still angry about that. Emma's smile fell and she glanced to the side.

"I think I did that." Looking at her twin in disbelief, Amy shakes her head.

"Well, I'm fine blaming Brand." She smirks at her sister and pulls on her arm so that the two can seat themselves at the dining table.

"Sure, blame the good guy." Brand mutters as he continues cooking the food and the girls sit quietly at the table. "So, we need to have a discussion." His tone had changed from victim to villain quite fast.

"Discussion?" Amy eyed him curiously.

"Yeah, I know it's only been a few weeks since we found this place but I still don't think it's smart for you guys to leave." Emma's blue eyes grew gloomy as she looked at her twin.

'He's doing it again.' Emma projected to her twin.

'It's okay, we'll get out of here. I promise.' Amy looked at Emma with a look of certainty.

"Look, I know you guys are doing that thing you do but can you not do that and listen to me." Rolling her eyes again, Amy shifts her body toward Brand with her right arm resting against the tabletop. "Thank you." Brand says as he continues, "I'm not saying you have to stay in here forever but we're not stupid. Remember that. We're still figuring out what this place is like and it's not safe right now. So, please, just stay here." Emma looked at her sister curiously but said nothing. Amy's dark hazel eyes stared a hole into Brand's big head.

"Why, so you can go out and meet people? Have a life? We're not little girls anymore, and I know you're worried about that but we don't always need you coming in and saving us." Her tone was harsh and though she only partially meant what she had said. Brand's eyes saddened.

"Please, just stay here... We can talk about it again next week. I'll look around some and see if I can figure out a way to make us blend in better." The promise was empty and Emma's head turned in a snap, she knew.

"Yea, you said that last week..." A shallow breath fell from Brand's lips as he shook his head.

"And I'll keep saying it until I think it's okay. Cause I'm not going to lose either one of you." The room fell silent. Emma turned her head back and stared blankly at the table. It had been nearly a month since the three of them couped up in the cabin. Emma and Amy had both been fed up and wanted to go out and meet new people. It was clear Brand didn't want them to get hurt and the three had absolutely no idea of the world outside of them. They were a lot stronger than they thought.

"Fine..." Amy's voice breaks the silence and a look of relief falls across Brand's features. He simply nods as a thank you before turning to plate their food.

"An egg for each of us, a slice of toast, and a tomato." Setting the plates down, he pulled the dining chair out so that he could sit at the end of the small square table.

"A tomato?" The look on Amy's face was a mixture of being offended and disgusted.

"Yes, a tomato." Taking the fork from the plate, she poked at the tomato, attempting to push it away from the rest of her food. "It won't kill you to eat a vegetable." Annoyance spread across her face then.

"Fruit..." Emma said softly as she stabbed the tomato with her fork and smiled before taking a bite out of it. A sudden crack of thunder has Emma jumping in her seat as she lifts her head in surprise.

"You want to go out there now?" Emma glares at Brand and sets her fork down.

"Yes." She argues as another crack of thunder hits, causing her to jump again. "Just not right now..." Her voice softens again as she lifts her fork to take another bite of the tomato.

"Look, I'll be out a little longer than normal probably, it's been raining a lot. Can I trust you two to make sure the place doesn't get washed away?" Nodding their heads to hopefully shut him up about it, they all enjoyed their breakfast as best they could. Once they were done Brand got himself ready to go. The rain began to pelt against the cabin windows and roof loudly as the thunder crackled. "I'll be back in a few hours, okay?" Making his way toward the front door, he grabbed the rain poncho that hung on the wall. Pulling it over his head, causing his dirty blonde hair to tousle against the plastic-like material. Brand ran his fingers through his hair to smooth it back before pulling the hood up.

"No one will ever see you coming..." Amy mocked him as she poked fun at his bright yellow poncho. Brand rolled his eyes in response before grabbing the backpack from the floor and throwing it over his right shoulder. He then exited, closing the door behind him. The two girls were left in silence then as he ventured off the porch.

"Great..." He grumbled as he stepped off the porch and directly into a puddle soaking the inside of his right boot. This was already going to be a great trip, he could feel it. The normal path he took looked like it was flooded, shaking his head. Brand turned to the left and walked around the flooded area until he realized that the place he was walking in looked suspicious. "What in the..." His boot sunk into the ground as though it was stuck in something. Attempting to pull his foot free sent him nearly toppling backward, the only thing saving him from falling on his ass was the tree that his right hand gripped. Slime covered his hand, it burned against his skin, he pulled his hand from the tree quickly to examine it. "What the!" Black goo covered his hand and he attempted to wipe his hands against his poncho but the slime didn't want to budge. Looking around, he dug his hands into the ground using the water to wash his hands as best he could, he stood and finally managed to trudge his way through the woods until something caught his eye. Among all the water, mud, and gunk that covered the woods. He saw something bright orange and yellow. As he approached, he leaned down to retrieve it. Seeing a Family Video logo and the name Robin, he grows curious. "Family Video?" Looking up, he makes his way toward a clearing and nearly falls headfirst into a large hole in the ground. Looking down into it, he sees the black gunk has made its way beneath the ground as well. Maybe this Robin knew something? Lifting his head again, Brand pushes forward on a mission to find the local Family Video in Hawkins.