The inside of the house was just as bad as the outside. Hundred led them along a short hallway that smelled so bad of mildew, it turned Leigh's stomach. They walked into what used to be a sweet kitchen. Now, the cupboards were ripped off the wall, and food packaging was scattered everywhere. Leigh thought she saw one move. Hundred's head jerked to the right, then the left.
"What are your names?" She asked, blinking once.
"Madelaine."
"Oliver."
"Ash."
"Leigh."
Hundred cocked her head when Leigh said her name.
"I see." Was her only response. "What is the No-Number doing here, Six? And the Normals? You know we don't accept them." Hundred crossed her arms.
"I know, I know. But hear me out, please," Six responded, holding his hands up in a calming gesture.
"No-Number?" Asked Leigh confused.
"It means someone with powers who wasn't caught, wasn't branded," Hundred said, rolling up her sleeve to reveal the number one hundred on her wrist.
Leigh said nothing, just let Six explain their mission to Hundred.
"Why should I help?" She demanded when he was finished. "I swore never to go back."
"I know, but wouldn't you like to free all the Twists? They need help." Six said.
"So what if they need help? My brother needed help, and no one gave it to him. If they can't escape, they don't deserve it," Hundred snapped.
Six dipped his head at the mention of Hundred's brother. Leigh wondered about their history. How had Hundred and Six come to know each other? What happened to Hundred's brother? Was he Six's Superior?
"Yes, but it's because of that facility that he's dead now, as sorry as I am to say it. But think about it. If you help us, we can take down the Facility once and for all, and prevent that from happening again!" He was getting excited now.
"So what if it prevents it in the future! Jeremiah is dead now, probably thrown into some god damn pit! I don't care if this happens again! As long as I will keep to my promise and never go back!" Hundred slammed her twitching hand on the counter.
"Hundred, please calm down..." Six tried. But Hundred wasn't having any of it.
"They killed him, tortured him right in front of us! He was a child! Do you honestly think I'm going to go back to those bastards, risk my neck and the necks of the kids here? What if they catch us? Then I have to see the whole thing over again!" Her voice was steely anger, loud and unbreakable.
"I know what they did to you, Hundred! What they did to him, to us! I understand your concerns, but that doesn't mean you should let all those kids die! They're killing them, Hundred. Does that mean nothing to you?" Demanded Six, finally losing his cool.
"Just like they killed Jeremiah! So what if those kids die? At least they don't have to live there anymore, or in the hell that comes after it!" She screamed, her whole body twitching and spasming out of control.
"Six, calm down. Shouting won't fix anything." Ash's voice piped up. Leigh nodded.
"You're making her worse," agreed Oliver, watching Hundred in concern.
"Hundred, we understand why you don't want to go back, but can I tell you a little something? When I was nine, my little sister was kidnapped, as you know. I thought she was dead. For the longest time, I thought she was kept in some creepy basement. I had nightmares about it, sometimes. About creepy old men who would come down and rape her. Or sell her, anything. I was terrified and felt guilty. I still do. Then I found out that she was well and alive, that I could save her. If you found out you could save Jeremiah, you would do it, wouldn't you?" Offered Leigh, keeping her voice low and calm.
Hundred stopped, looking at Leigh in a mixture of disbelief and shock.
"Of course," she mumbled. "Anything."
"Exactly. I only have about one day to save Skylar. If I don't... I don't think I could live with myself. So please, you're my last hope of finding her again, seeing her again. I want to bring her home to my father, so he can finally feel happy again. I want to see her, know she's ok, so I can finally have the guilt go away," Leigh pleaded, tears blocking her vision.
"I'll never be able to live with myself again if I don't save her now. Please," she begged. Hundred rocked back and forth, then finally nodded.
"All right, we'll help you. Do you have a plan?" She asked, eyeing up Six.
"Well -" Six started. She cut him off.
"Nevermind, it's probably crap. Follow me." She led them through another hallway, towards a room that used to be a bedroom.
Now all the furniture was pushed against the wall. Maps were strewn about, some on the floor, some on the creaky large table in the middle. Pictures with lines connecting them to places marked the walls. Hundred walked towards the file cabinet, pulling out a thin one marked Facility.
"Kids, gather around!" She yelled out the open door.
Leigh heard feet all over the hallway. It almost sounded like they were being overrun by hamsters. About fifty kids crammed themselves into the room, all ranging from the ages of ten to sixteen.
"Kids, this is Madelaine, Ash, Oliver, and Leigh. And of course, you know Six. We're going to help them break into the Facility," explained Hundred.
A silence followed.
"Why?" Came a suspicious-looking boy's reply.
"Because they're killing off the kids there. They're trying to eliminate us all. We need to save them. But mostly, we're going to save Leigh's sister, Skylar. Any of you know her?" Hundred said, looking over the small crowd.
"What's her number?" Asked a little girl.
"Nine," Six responded smoothly.
"I knew her. She was in my cabin, once," said a girl around sixteen.
"Same here. We were friends," said another boy. Hundred nodded.
"Anyone else? Number Nine sound familiar to you? We need all the information we can get." Hundred looked around.
"I knew of her. She got into trouble all the time, that's why practically the whole Facility knew Nine," another girl piped up. A boy identical to her nodded. They must be twins.
"Ok, good. I need you all to tell me where she usually is, at what time. We're going to need to move quickly, so please try not to argue. We move out tonight. So here's the plan..."
ΔΙΑΒΑΖΕΙΣ
My Sister, Skylar
Φαντασίας"Erase every last trace of her, Leigh." Those were her mother's last words. Her sister, Skylar, who had gone missing five years ago, suddenly needed to be erased off the face of the earth. Leigh doesn't question her mother's jugdement, she never do...
