0 0 1 ━ [ 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘰𝘯 ]

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟷𝟻: 𝚃𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝙿𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚜

Papa had stopped visiting altogether. One couldn't even remember the last time she had left her room. She was starved for human contact. She was also physically starved. She didn't care about food anymore. She only got excited during meals because it meant for a brief moment that her door would open and she would get to see another human being.

But today would be different.

One waited patiently by the door for her dinner. They fed her twice a day at the same time without fail, and as such her body had developed an internal clock. Rather than feeling it in her stomach when it was meal time, she felt it in her gut.

The door clicked open and swung back to reveal a surprise. One of three people usually brought her her meal, and she knew every detail about them. She could trace their faces in the air with her eyes closed. But this person was new.

One stared at the new person inquisitively, trying to process the change in her head, but it was hard since everything had been the same for so long.

"They needed Joey elsewhere," the woman explained, reading her confused look. Another change: she talked. They never talked. They just threw the tray on the ground and slammed the door.

"Joey," One mouthed, feeling the name in her mouth. It had been so long since she last talked that she had almost forgotten what her voice sounded like.

The woman didn't respond but she continued to linger outside her door. One wasn't sure what she was waiting for but she wasn't going to question it because this was more human contact than she had had in a long time.

At that moment, One could hear two more sets of foot steps come down the hallway; the heavy step of an adult and the lighter footfalls of a child. The woman turned to look at who was coming and opened a larger window for One to see through.

A guard was walking down the hallway accompanied by a boy that looked about her age. He had untamed dark hair and a complexion riddled with freckles. Almost instantaneously, his dark eyes met hers, and she had a strange feeling that they had met before. Although, perhaps not directly.