A/N:

• Itai- In Japanese itai is used as an adjective meaning "painful" or as an interjection to "ouch".

~311045~

"...So...

"The next thing we look at is...

"Outside." They all said in unison as they all pointed at each other.

"We already got lots of stuff done on the inside." Ray said.

"Training's going well." Norman added.

"We can sneak up on screw loose." Marianna added as she mentioned Sister Krone.

"The trackers can be broken, which leaves..."

"Learning about the outside and outsmarting the adults." Ray finished as he took a seat on his bed. "Once that's done... we can clear the wall for sure."

"Next is checking out the escape route." Emma said with a determined look.

"The escape we've planned out consists of three steps." Norman said as he started to walk toward the barred window.

"1.) We ascend the wall. 2.) We safely get as far away as we can. 3.) We learn how to survive and become self-reliant. We have everything we need to pass the first step. As for the second... the outside is key. When we leave, we should run as far as we can, so let's examine and prepare."

"We need info about the area outside." Ray noted.

Emma raised her hand as she exclaimed, "Oh! When Marianna and I climbed up a tree, we saw a big forest!"

"Okay, but we've gotta confirm stuff like that." Ray reasoned.

"Let's look into it starting tomorrow." Norman said as both Emma and Marianna nodded as Emma suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, yeah. There was one more thing I wanted to mention."

"Hmm?" Marianna and Norman both mumbled.

Her emerald eyes shined like a jewel as her smile was brighter than any other sun.

"I have someone I want you to meet."

***

Marianna was holding the wooden ladder that Emma was on, so that she wouldn't fall as Emma was stretching her hand on the tallest shelf and reaching towards the selected book.

"The person I wanna introduce is... right here." Emma opened the selected book and pointed to an owl printed book plate with an almost faded out name printed at the bottom.

"Mr. William... Minerva." Marianna and Norman both read.

"Really?" Norman asked as Emma nods. "Who's he?"

"I don't know. All I know is that he's the former owner of these books." Emma started to explain as she climbed off the ladder and faced Norman. "But I think it's possible that he's on our side."

"What do you mean?" Norman asked.

"He's been delivering a message through the books in this library, and not just a few books, but lots of 'em!" Emma exclaimed as she spread her arms wide.

Let's run away, they thought.

Let's live on, they thought.

No matter what awaits them...

They'll be okay, they thought.

Don and Gilda will cooperate with them too.

Only 8 days left.

As long as everything goes as planned...

"Agh!"

"Oh! Sorry! I'm in a hurry!" Don apologized  as he ran past Isabella with a very convincing smile. 

As Don runs through the house, he turns to the corner where a staircase had lead as he met up with Gilda and Zara with a very toothy grin.

"Look, I actually did it." He said as he opened up his tanned hand and showed the two girls a strangely designed golden key, causing Gilda to gasp in amazement while Zara gasped in horror.

The two looked up as they saw Don's still toothy grin as he later chuckled.

***

Don opened the door to Isabella's office as Zara was in a panicking state.

"Guys, seriously!" She loudly whispered. "We shouldn't be in here! Let's go make dinner like Marianna and the rest said and-

"I can't just stay calm like the rest of them." Don interjected. "And I wanna know Mom! I mean the real Mom."

Zara just stared at Don until she felt someone grab her hand.

Zara turned to her right and saw Gilda holding her hand.

"Don't worry. We're only going to take a little peak and then we'll be gone. Mom won't notice a thing." Gilda reassured with a smile.

Zara didn't respond as Don just started to roam around the office looking for any clues to this hidden room.

As Zara and Gilda were looking around the office, they walked over to Don who was holding a wooden bookshelf with his two hands as they saw him examining the bookshelf.

"There's a hidden door behind this thing." Don said as he began to start pulling on the bookshelf as the wood started to creak and groan like it was in pain, while Zara and Gilda started watching the door to make sure that no one or Mom is coming in.

Don then punched the bookshelf in anger as Gilda flinched making both her and Zara turn to him.

"Is it really even here?! Damn!" He punched the bookshelf again, but this time with his elbow. "We have to hurry up and find some clues that'll help us rescue Conny!"

Gilda just stared at Don as she and Zara walked up to him as Gilda mumbled, "Maybe...

Gilda went up to the bookcase and she started to analyze the structure.

"Take a closer look at the shape." Gilda noted as she saw something was out of place behind the shelf.

Gilda slid the bookcase to the left and there was the door that led to the secret room.

"Ahh!" Don let out as he pulled out the golden key from his pocket and the two had determined looks on their faces as Zara just looked from behind them with a very concerned look.

"Come on."

***

The quartet gathered at least six different books with the same owl book plate.

"So this sticker is...

"A bookplate." Emma answered.

"It's a label that shows who owned the book before it came here." Ray said

"Okay, but where's the message?" Norman asked.

"Look closer." Emma hinted as Marianna and Norman started to examine the book.

After searching and searching for what Emma had hinted, Marianna suddenly gasps as she said, "The circles- it's Morse Code."

Norman gasps as Ray smiled at Marianna's realization and he pointed to her as he said, "Correct."

Emma turned to Marianna with a curious look. "I have to ask, how did you know Marianna?"

Marianna looked towards Emma as she answered, "I've read in a book once about Morse Code and... to tell you the truth, every book that I've read, I can remember every one. Word by word, page by page."

The trio gasps as their eyes widened at what Marianna told them as they couldn't believe what they had just heard.

"So... basically you can understand and translate morse code!"

Marianna nodded as she started to dig into her skirt pocket and revealed it to be red-velvet glasses and put them on her face.

"Meaning I can translate and decode it..."

The trio just stared at her for a few minutes, while Marianna only sweat dropped.

"Why are you just staring at me?" Marianna asked.

Emma pointed at Marianna as she exclaimed, "SINCE WHEN DO YOU WEAR GLASSES!!"

"Emma... calm down." Norman said as he waved his hands at her with a smile.

"Oh these? They're just my reading glasses to help me read better." Marianna said nonchalantly.

Emma started to walk towards Marianna as she then immediately hugged her which caught Marianna by surprise.

"They're sooooooooooo cute on you, Marianna!" Emma exclaimed as she presses her cheeks onto Marianna's causing her to make a cute kitty face.

Ray chops Emma's head with a book making an "ow!" face as she places her hands on her head as she turns to Ray with a painful expression.

"Marianna needs to focus, Emma. You need to stop getting all touchy with her." Ray said.

"I can't help it, Ray!" Emma exclaimed. "Marianna's just so cute! Plus her skin is really soft and squishy!"

Ray just sighed as he grabs onto her white collar and pulled her away from Marianna, earning a chuckle from Norman.

***

"This says, R.U.N. And this one says, D.O.U.B.T. Then this says, D.A.N.G.E.R. And the last one says, T.R.U.T.H." Marianna read as Ray was right beside her and Norman sitting in front of her.

"Still, these don't mean...

"Hey, Marianna." Emma said as she carried three more books in her hand. "Check these, too."

"Let's see... this one says, H.A.R.V.E.S.T... M.O.N.S.T.E.R., and finally... F.A.R.M."

Norman gasps. "This is...

"It's a message to us from the outside, hidden from everybody else. I think we can at least trust these." Ray said.

"You sure?" Norman asked.

"Marianna and I tend to be more suspicious than Emma, so, yeah." Ray said as he bonked Emma's head. "It's possible this Minerva guy could be an ally to us, but unfortunately we don't know if he's dead or alive, so we shouldn't get our hopes up too much."

"You're always so negative!" Emma complained.

"I'd use the word 'Pessimist'." Marianna added with her arms crossed as the two earned a grumble from Ray.

"William Minerva, he's someone from the outside who's aware that our farm exists. And while it may be indirectly, he's definitely trying to help us." Norman said.

"That's right!" Emma exclaimed with a smile as Norman smiled as well.

"An ally on the outside. He might even still be there. In which case, it's possible a society of humans may exist." Norman said.

Emma slammed her hands on the wooden table as she exclaimed, "Exactly!"

***

"These messages are only in books that belonged to him. It's hard to tell exactly when these labels were put inside, but at least we know that this one was done after the year 2015." Emma said as she grabbed one of the books that Marianna was reading and showing the guys.

"I see. Are we aware of anything else, like if the books have some kind of similarity?" Norman asked.

"Nope. The genres are varied. Same goes for the publishers and years they were published." Ray said.

"But what about... uh, which one was it?" Emma said as she was looking for the two books and immediately spots them. "Hey Marianna. What do these two say? Neither me, Ray, or Norman could understand these two."

"One is a Run-of-the-Mill adventure novel. The other's a confusing mythology book." Ray added.

Marianna opened the book as she started, "Well for starters, there's no morse code here... but this one says, P.R.O.M.I.S.E."

Norman's eyes widened. "What does that mean?"

As soon as Norman said those words, Marianna suddenly lightly gasps as she then remembered something.

"What's wrong, Marianna?" Emma asked.

"I just remembered something, stay right there." She said as she ran into the next section of the library and brought back a fantasy novel with the title "The Promised Wish".

"The Promised Wish." Emma read. "What's that?"

"It's a fantasy novel that I read when I was about three or four years old." Marianna answered with her finger on her chin.

"When you were three?!" Emma exclaimed as she slammed her hands on the wooden table.

"Or four." Ray added.

"Mhm." Marianna nodded. "I don't know why, but after I read a different book, I always come back to this one."

"Well what's it about?" Ray asked.

"You haven't read this, Ray?" Norman asked.

Ray scratched his head. "No I haven't yet, but I've
seen Marianna read it a couple times."

"Anyways, it's about this young girl named Bell. She doesn't have a name, but she's called 'bell' because she always wears a bell on her necklace, hence the name. Bell is on a never ending journey to find four items: an amulet, a plush doll, a pen, and a pocket watch just to make a single wish."

"A wish?" Emma questioned as she tilted her head.

"Yes. She wants to make a wish where she can find true happiness." Marianna explained. "A little bit of her background, her mother died when she was really young, her father was a workaholic, and her uncle despised her, who physically and mentally abused her. So she read in a book that an enchantress can make any wish to her and that's why she went on this journey."

Emma's eyes sparkled as she mumbled, "Wow. Amazing..."

"However..."

"Eh?"

"While on her journey, she brought great pain and suffering to those around her just to obtain those four objects." Marianna added as Emma had a very sour look.

"As the story goes on, she finally gets all four items and, by the description, draws some kind of ancient language and says as follows..."

Ferre mundum humeris meis

Cum pretium pretium

Libera me vinclis, quae me fata ligant

Scientes dolorem meum

Quaeso videbis meum consilium

Voluntas sincera

Quaeso det votum meum

adversus deos temporis

Once Marianna repeated those words, the trio's eyes widened as Emma asked, "What does that mean?"

"I have no idea. That's what I've been trying to figure out for the last eight years, but I still couldn't understand what it means." Marianna said with her fingers caressing her eyes.

Emma patted Marianna's head as she said, "It's okay, Marianna. You're doing amazing! Oh! By the way your hair is really-

"Emma!" Ray yelled with a smirk as he knew what Emma was about to do and she just backed away from Marianna and said, "Sorry. Continue."

"When she recites the incantation, she's brought to a boundary that's filled with everlasting water and every 180 seconds, it changes from daylight to night time. She then sees a young girl with overflowing silver hair that changes depending on how she feels. On her head, she has horns and claws resembling of a demon, but with a petite human shape. Her eyes were two different colors. The right eye was completely white and the left one reminded her of a sapphire jewel with a sort of a golden pentagram iris."

Marianna continued, "Once she made her wish, the two shook hands and her wish was made, but there had to be a price."

"W-What kind of price?" Emma asked shakily.

"She had to give something in return that is specifically her and her only. For example, she could've traded in her hair, her eye, her sense of smell, her sense of touch, arms, legs, toes fingers, finger nails, toe nails, etc etc., but instead... she traded in her life."

All three of them gasp in horror as Emma had a terrified look as if she thought that this whole novel was real.

Emma gulped. "So... then what happened next?"

Marianna turned to Emma. "She was found dead the next day. The end."

Emma ruffled hair as she exclaimed, "THAT'S A CRAPPY ENDING!!"

"Not all stories have a happy ending, Emma." Marianna said. "When I first read it, I thought the same thing so I looked for the same name of the author that maybe did a sequel of this book."

"And who's the author of this book?" Norman asked.

Marianna turned to Norman and she answered, "Adeline Gonzalez."

"Who's that?" Norman asked.

"I'm not sure. Like I said, I tried looking for more books that she's made, but it turns out that this is the only book that she's made." Marianna said.

"I see." Norman said.

"Is there a morse code on there though?" Emma asked.

Waiting for a response, Marianna turned to Emma as she just simply nodded, earning another, but silent gasp from the three.

"Well, what is it?" Ray asked.

A moment of silence was in the room as Marianna faced the trio and said, "S.E.C.R.E.T."

***

"I'm pretty sure there's some kind of meaning in these three, a book with the message 'Promise', 'Secret' and one that doesn't have morse code, but has a few ripped pages in it." Emma said as she clarified everything.

"So you think these ones are special?" Norman asked.

"Yeah. If I'm right... then I think it's extremely likely... that they'll become an important guide for us." Emma said.

"Based on what?" Ray asked.

"A Hunch!"

Ray groans as he gave Emma an annoyed and a sarcastic 'really' look as Emma exclaimed, "What's with that face?!" feeling offended but in the end, Ray was just teasing Emma.

"I think this is all worth looking into." Norman said with a smile. "Let's learn more about Mr. Minerva."

"We're not just escaping, right, guys?" Emma said in a determined tone. "We're gonna find a way for us to survive in this world!"

"Let's run." Norman said. "Let's live, no matter what things are like out there."

Emma smiles at Norman as she faces Marianna with her jovial and bright smile, to which Marianna gently smiled at Emma as she nodded in response.

***

Don puts the golden key on the lock and as he turns it, the lock clicks making the trio gasp and look at each other as both Don and Gilda nodded with determination, leaving Zara to follow them.

As Don opens the door, making it slowly creak, they see a very dark room with more stacks of books and, in reaction, Don slides the door back to its place, showing that no one has been in this room.

As they are looking around, Gilda and Zara open a small storage closet where they spot spares of different sizes of their white clothed uniforms.

As the girls were preoccupied, Don was walking around the room until he accidentally stepped onto something that made a clattering noise.

When he looked down, he saw a trapdoor that gained all of their attention. Gilda grabbed some matches while also grabbing the unlit lantern.

As Don opens the trapped door, Zara and Gilda walked over to Don, as he makes the first move and goes down the steps while Gilda kneeled down and picked a match stick and swiftly strikes the head of the match against the side of the match box and lit up the lantern.

As they were down in the basement of the house, Don silently gasps as he had the lantern in his hand and started to look around for more hidden passage ways or any other clues.

Don then turns to his right as he sees stacks and layers of toys and then he found a very familiar bunny plush doll that a certain pigtailed blonde carried with her at all times.

Don's blood thickens as every inch of his body ran cold and he couldn't believe his eyes what he had just saw.

"Why is... Little Bunny here?" Don asked with still disbelief in his voice.

Mom's secret room. It really did exist.

"So... so what Emma, Marianna, Zara and the others said, all of it was true, Don..." Gilda trailed off as she started to remember what they said:

"Human trafficking."

"They're selling our siblings to these bad guys."

"Huh?" Don mumbled.

"Mom was lying. No one was sent to... foster families." Gilda added.

"Stop it." Don said.

"Because... if they were actually had been, this wouldn't be here. It would have been delivered straight to Conny." Gilda persuaded as she explained piece by piece.

It's not even just that.

All these toys and items put around the room...

All of them...

Used to belong to their siblings that left.

Nobody else... forgot their belongings like Conny did.

Everybody... definitely left with their belongings in hand.

And yet they're all here which means...

Their belongings must have been taken from them before they left through the gate.

Gilda grabbed the lantern from Don as she began to explain more. "And it's not just Little Bunny, either. Mom took all of these toys from them when they left the house. Then... they were taken by the bad people!"

"Hey, would you cut it out?!" Don said as he started to back away from the two when suddenly the bookshelf behind him opened to another room, leaving the three to look towards the now opened room and gasp at what lied before them.

There lied an old communication device that Isabella has been doing her standardized check-ins, just like Emma, Marianna, Zara and the others said.

"So who... is Mom communicating with? Is it the base Ray was talking about? Are they the bad guys?" Don questioned in fear as sweat trickled down his cheek. 

Don then turned around towards Zara, who was staying silent all this time. "Zara... Ray mentioned that he had Mom under control and we're done for if Krone finds out. What did he mean by that, huh, Zara. If either of them catch us, will they punish us? And..! What if... Mom is really dangerous and our siblings are-no... are those four... really telling us the truth? If Marianna were really telling the truth, she should've done something by now. You know how close Conny and Marianna are? Closer than me. Is Marianna telling the truth? Are you telling the truth, Zara? Tell us everything, NOW!"

"Stop it!" Gilda yelled as she was shielding Zara who had a terrified look in her face. "Norman told us that he doesn't know what happened to Conny! And Zara has an explanation, right Zara?"

"I-

"No, those four and Zara are just hiding things from us." Don said. He shook his head as he gave Zara an angry and serious glare. "I can't trust you or them like that, not when you and they obviously don't trust us enough to tell us the truth. Spill it, Zara. Tell us everything that you know."

Zara's heart was beating louder than any drum as her breathing became hitched, making her feel like chains surrounding her throat to the point where she could hardly breath.

What should she do? If she lies anymore, things will only get worse? But she can't tell them the truth, not yet. Don's cold stare was like piercing into her soul. In that exact moment, she didn't know what to do. It was like she was stuck in time, deciding what her next move would be.

Zara remained to be silent as she could hear Don clenching his teeth and saw him getting closer and closer, seeing how his hands clenched like he was getting ready to-

*Clak Clak*

Someone was coming.

From where though? The study room?

These footsteps...

The three look up to the wooden ceiling as they heard high heeled boots walking by the office door and then they heard a familiar gentle motherly voice say:

"Just a moment, Phil. I'll be right there."

The three of them both started to shudder as adrenaline started to kick in their blood stream.

This voice...

It was Isabella.

They're screwed if they get found out.

Is she here... because she's noticed that her key is missing? Or is she just here for something else? Which is it?

If Marianna, Emma, Norman, and Ray were here, what would those four do.

Zara was in full panic mode as her brown orbs showed absolute fear and true terror as she repeated in her head:

"We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead!!!"

"What do I do?! What can I do?! Please... someone help. Marianna... please help us!!"

For the first time, Zara had prayed that Isabella wouldn't find them. Hoping that Marianna would come to the rescue and save the day like always.

Gilda blew away the flame on the lantern as the two started to find a way to get out of here without Isabella noticing.

Gilda and Don looked at each other with determination as Gilda quickly grabbed Zara's hand and the three of them bolted out the secret room.

"Let's go!"

***

"I'm kind of surprised." Norman said. "I expected Marianna or Ray to find the bookplate since those two read a lot."

"How the heck did you manage to find them, Emma?" Ray asked.

"Oh! It wasn't me who noticed them." Emma said earning a "huh" from the three.

"Then who did?" Marianna asked.

"Phil was actually the one who showed me." Emma answered.

"Really?" Norman asked in shock.

"Mm-hmm. A kid's book he was reading happened to be Mr. Minerva's, and there was a part in it that had morse code, so-itai!" Emma had bumped into Marianna as she saw that she had abruptly stopped.

"Eh? What's wrong, Marianna?" Emma asked as she walked beside her and, she too, stopped in her tracks.

All of the younger children were setting up the tables with something missing in the picture.

"Where's Zara..?" Marianna mumbled as she started to panic.

"Huh?" Emma mumbled. "Don and Gilda..."

The quartet started to think back to what those three said:

"We're gonna go help set up for dinner."

"I'll go help them. See you guys later!"

They clearly remember them saying that.

"They're not here, either!"

That's when realization hit them as Marianna's golden eyes pierced with anxiety.

"They didn't!"

"Could they be...!" 

***

*Thump!*

Isabella's deep purple eyes pierced at the unknown sound of a door opening as she lets out a sigh and stands up from her desk, her footsteps approaching the bookshelf.

She just stood their as her suspicions started to ache, getting the vision of one of the children being in the secret room.

She was about to reach for her pockets when her office door abruptly opened, making her gasp, but quickly calm her nerves and put on her motherly facade as she heard Eugene, one of the younger children call out, "Mom!"

"Oh... Eugene. What's wrong?" She asked.

Eugene smiles as he grabbed something out of his pocket. "This was on the floor."

Isabella's eyes widened as she let out a silent gasp and started to dig into her pocket, but she found no holes in her pocket, so the pondering question running through her mind was:

"...Since when?"

Isabella kneeled down to Eugene's level as she let out a sweet and tendering smile, she patted Eugene's head as she said, "Why, thank you."

Eugene giggles as he ran out of Isabella's office and straight into the dinning hall.

"........."

"...Since when?"

***

Marianna, Emma and the rest of them turned around when they heard three pairs of footsteps walking behind them and found Don, Gilda, and Zara.

"Don! Gilda! Zara!" Emma exclaimed with a sigh of relief.

"Zara!" Marianna immediately ran towards Zara and gave her a very tight hug as she repeated, "My Zara, my Zara."

Zara gently smiled at Marianna as she said, "Hey. Sorry we're late."

"Oh, good. I thought-eh?" Emma was immediately interrupted by Ray storming towards the two.

"Where were you?" He asked sternly.

All three of them were silent and didn't answer Ray's question as a group of children started to circle around them with puzzled looks so the sevensome decided to talk later that night.

***

It was now late at night, like they wanted, and all of them were gathered in the dinning hall, with Emma, Marianna, Zara and Norman sitting across from Don and Gilda while Ray just leaned against the wall, waiting for their answer.

"...Well?" He asked sternly.

"We were just in... Mom's secret room, okay?" Don answered.

"!! But how?" Emma asked in shock.

"You see, Don... stole the key, and-

"He what?!" Emma exclaimed.

"Wait. Did she..."

"I don't think she noticed, and we already put it back, so..."

"Let me get this straight." Marianna mumbled angrily with her two fingers squinting her eyes. "You went into Mom's secret room and brought Zara with you, even though she told you no, not to mention without her consent!"

Marianna slammed her fist into the wooden table making Gilda flinch.

Both Zara and Emma held onto Marianna's shoulders, urging her to calm down.

"W-We just thought..."

"Tch! That was a stupid move!" He snapped angrily. "Did you not even stop to think that the room could have had a camera or an alarm? What would you have done then? If Mom or Krone found out, you two-no, we'd all be-

"Tell us what would happen, Ray!" Don snapped causing all four of them to stare at the two in shock.

"Would we all be... killed?" Don glared at them with anger in his eyes.

"Wha-" Emma gasps.

"When we searched the secret room, we found Little Bunny. You kept us hopeful, said we'd save them..." Don abruptly stood up as he slammed his hand onto the wooden table. "But we can't save them, can we? 'Cause they're all- Conny and the others are..."

In no time, Emma abruptly stood up as she bowed her head apologetically. "Look... I'm so sorry!"

Gilda looked down at Emma in horror. "Then... they're really..."

Emma gasps at Gilda's reaction. "You see, Gilda? They were lying to us after all."

Don got closer to Emma as he snarled at her. "What are you hiding? Just tell us the truth."

Emma sighs as her eyes trailed over to Marianna and Norman as they both nodded.

Norman looked straight into Don's eyes as he took in a breath, telling Don and Gilda everything.

***

"Demons...? A farm?" Don breathed.

"You're saying... every one of us... was raised to be eaten?" Gilda murmured shakily.

Don's mouth was agape. "And Ray is... a spy? No way."

"He did it for us." Norman added.

Don stood up and walked up towards Norman. "......... Then you... you knew what was going to happen to Conny that day, Ray... and Emma...Zara... Norman... and even you Marianna, you guys lied so we wouldn't know you were taking us into a world full of demons?"

Don only stood their in disbelief for a moment until he let out a sigh and smiled.

"Hah...hahaha..."

"HAHAHAHA!"

Don laughed widely and before anyone could know it, Don punched Norman, making him groan and fall to the ground.

All girls gasped at Don's actions as they saw him going on a furious rampage.

"SERIOUSLY?!!"

"Wait, Don!! Stop!" Ray yelled approaching Don.

Don immediately turned to Ray and threw his fist at Ray making him groan of the impact.

Emma gasps at what she's witnessing as Don goes up to Emma grabbing her white collar, getting ready to put all of his anger into his fist but was immediately stopped by Marianna punching him, leaving him to fall completely on the ground, shocking everyone, leaving them agape at what just happened.

"Don!" Gilda yelled walking over to Don as she kneeled down to him, checking his wounds.

"How do you think we feel, huh?" She started earning everyone's attention. "Keeping all of this hidden from our siblings. We hated it. We hated lying to you. The siblings we grew up with. Don't take your anger out on us. Take it to them." She pointed. "Take it to those savage demons that took all of our siblings away!"

"Marianna..."

"We didn't ask for this life. We're innocent kids that have done nothing wrong. Our siblings have done nothing wrong. They were just living happy lives under this hell house that we live in. So let me ask you this, how do you think we felt after learning the entire truth! After seeing Conny's dead decaying body being sent off and eaten by those demons!"

Marianna was huffing and puffing, consuming for air after remembering that night where everything completely changed.

Everyone was silent after hearing Marianna's sudden outburst that no one thought they'd see in any of their lives.

It pained them to see her like this, especially him.

"Are we that much of a burden?" Don asked slowly sitting back up with his hand covering his eyes. "Do you guys think that Gilda and I are so weak and useless that we can't get by without you five protecting us?"

Emma then suddenly remembered what she and Norman had said to themselves:

"I don't want to put them in danger."

"If those two don't know the truth, there's a chance they may be spared!"

They know... that Emma, Marianna, and Zara wouldn't do something like that.

But when they do...

"That time you asked us to help you... I thought you guys were actually relying on us. Was that a lie, Emma?" Don asked between sniffles. "I know we're not as nearly as smart as you guys, especially you, Marianna, but we're family..."

"AREN'T WE?! WE'RE SIBLINGS, RIGHT?! I JUST WANT YOU... TO HAVE A LITTLE FAITH IN US!"

Don looked down at the ground as everyone else looked at him with saddened looks in their eyes, feeling the guilt of their actions.

"... Sorry. I need to cool off. I'm going outside." Don said walking out of the room with Gilda running and following him.

The five of them stared at the ground with their still guilt ridden looks as Emma muttered, "Did I... not have faith?"

Everyone turned to Emma as Zara looks down and crosses her two hands together.

"Don and Gilda really... trusted us." She muttered.

"Okay. We believe in you!"

"Let us know if there's anything we can do!"

"They were so supportive of us... and yet..."

***

"Honestly... that was just me taking it out on them. I'm not mad they treated us like we were weak. I have no reason to be. I couldn't do anything for Conny and the others." Don started to shake as his eyes started to get all wet and watery. "I'm so ignorant... and powerless. I'm frustrated, because, I really am weak! DAMN IT!"

Gilda stares at Don in the moonlight as she sees him break down and kneel to the ground while she walks over to him and pats his back in reassurance.

"I... hate this." He muttered. "I wanna be stronger...!"

"Yeah, I know." She reassured, feeling the absolute way Don is feeling.

"Don! Gilda!" Emma called out their names with her lantern in hand as she, Zara, and Marianna were running side by side, running towards Don and Gilda.

Gilda turned to the three girls with a shocked look. "Emma... Zara... Marianna."

Don turned around to face the three girls, whipping away the tears in his eyes.

"I'm sorry!" Emma apologized. "Look, we were way too naive. We were ready for you to resent us, but not at all ready to believe in you!"

Marianna stepped up. "We weren't thinking right. Just like Emma said, we were invested in preparing for you to resent us, but we didn't invest in trusting your abilities."

Marianna apologetically bowed. "We were in the wrong mindset. I'm sorry."

Don and Gilda gasped at seeing Marianna apologize to them of all people and seeing her bow down to them.

"Thanks to you two, we finally know... the real way we should be approaching this escape. Please... the seven of us have to come together again. Like always. I'm sorry." Zara apologized.

"Same here. Sorry." Norman apologized.

Don was taken aback by Norman's apology as he began to stammer, "Uh...! Well... I... I shouldn't have punched you like that. Sorry. Are you okay? You're not, are you?"

Norman smiled. "I'll be all right."

"We realize that it was a bad idea to act on our own." Gilda said.

"Yeah. Ray had every right to get mad." Don added.

"And we're sorry for forcing Zara into coming with us, Marianna. Please forgive us." They both bowed their heads.

Marianna nodded as the three of them smiled and they all looked behind them, Emma shining the lantern on Ray.

"Well will you?" Norman asked.

Ray had an embarrassed look on his face, while Gilda and Don were waiting for his answer.

Ray's eyes trailed over to Marianna as she tilted her head and still had her neutral expression.

He looks down at the ground as he grumbles and scratches his head.

"Yeah, I forgive them." He spoke. "If the worst happens, I'll figure out how to deal with it."

Don cheerfully smiles as more tears started to well up in his eyes.

"Anything else you would like to add?" Zara said sarcastically.

"I should... also apologize. Sorry." Ray said bowing his head.

"See? That wasn't so hard, now was it." Zara smirked mockingly.

"I'll wipe that smirk right off your face." Ray mumbled as Zara turned around and whistled.

All four of them giggled at Ray and Zara's little rivalry.

***

"Now that you two know the truth, I need to confirm something before we continue."Emma spoke. "The outside world is full of demons. If we mess up, we die. Knowing that, will you still come with us?"

Don and Gilda turned to each other and gave off determined stares at each other as they look back at the quintet and smiled determinedly at them.

"Of course we will!"

Both Emma, Zara, and Norman happily smiled as Emma let out a sigh of relief and she tightly hugged the two.

While there was happy energy around the seven kids, a creepy aura had caught both Marianna and Ray off guard as they swiftly turn around, feeling that someone was watching them.

Marianna turned to her five friends, looking over them from afar as she then walks up to them and calls out, "Don."

"Huh? What is it?" He asked.

Marianna looked kind of awkward while doing this as her eyes started to wander around and her body started to wander on it's own until it finally stopped and the only words Marianna said were:

"Punch me."

"..."

"HAH?!"

"Wait what?" Don mumbled as he was in disbelief of what Marianna had asked for.

"I said punch me." She said nonchalantly. "I deserve for what I've done, right? I mean you've already punched Ray and Norman. It's only fair."

"Yeah but-

"MARIANNA HAVE YOU COMPLETELY LOST IT!!" Zara yelled as she started to shake her shoulders back and forth.

"You're a cute, short girl and he's a strong, muscular, tall boy! What makes you think you can fight against him!"

"I'm not fighting him. I'm letting him take the hit." She answered.

"STILL-

"Listen." Marianna turned to Zara, Emma, Norman, Gilda, and Ray. "Mom will be suspicious if she sees that Norman and Ray got bruises on their cheeks, but what about me or you. She'll get suspicious and figure it out quickly."

All of them gasp at Marianna's conclusion and they thought that she was right, but it still wasn't right for her to get punched.

Marianna turned to Don as she said, "Don. I'll say it again. Punch me."

"Don don't do it! She has a screw loose! She doesn't know what she's talking about!" Zara yelled turning to Don.

"Don she's just joking, right Marianna?" Gilda asked in a worried tone, turning towards her.

"Nope." She answered.

"Your not really helping our case, Marianna!"

"Please don't hurt, Marianna!" Emma stepped in. "Take it out on me instead!"

Don waved his hands. "Don't worry I'm not going to. I wasn't even planning on it."

Don turned away earning a sigh of relief from everyone as Marianna looked down at the ground until Don immediately turned around and swung his fist at her, hitting her cheek in the process.

"Marianna!" They call screamed as Emma, Zara, and Ray ran over to Marianna's side.

"Don!" Norman yelled.

"Why would you do that?!" Gilda yelled.

"Marianna!" Ray called out as he placed his hands on Marianna's shoulders.

"Are you okay?!" Emma said worriedly.

Zara turned to Don. "I told you she had a screw loose!"

Marianna slowly sat up as she rubbed her newly bruised cheek.

"That wasn't bad. Nice punch." She complimented.

"She's not even fazed by this!" They all thought.

Marianna stood up and walked over to Don. "But to properly do it, you need to tuck your thumb over your middle finger to make a proper fist and avoid injuries."

Don just stared at Marianna as he then gleefully smiled. "We'll also do our best to become worthy of your guys' faith."

"So let us do anything we can to help out!" Gilda exclaimed with determination.

Emma walked over to Gilda happily as the two clasped their hands together.

"Thank you so much...!"

"All right. Now, we'll have to start planning for the next step: Inspection." Norman said "I already have a task I'd like to ask you two to carry out for me."

———————————————————————

11/1: Wednesday

———————————————————————

The wind blew through the horizon as all of the younger children were playing tag with each other, leaving all of the older kids to do their daily chores.

"You know, I feel better now that we've told them the truth." Emma said while hanging the wet blanket.

Norman nodded.

Norman started to think back to what Ray said:

"When are we going to come out to them with the truth?"

"Will you even be able to do it?"

Ultimately, He thinks that was a perfect time of them to find out the truth.

"One week until we escape, and the preparations are going well, but how do we get out with all of our siblings?" He asked.

Everything is going well, and there's practically nothing else that can go wrong to screw them over.

They can definitely make this escape work.

The main issue right now is how to fool Ray up to the very end.

"Leave everyone else besides Don, Gilda, and Zara behind."

It's impossible to pull off with their current situation. Just what is there that Norman could do to...

"Oh, yeah. I should probably tell you." Emma turned towards Norman.

"Hmm?" He mumbled.

"I think I have it figured out, a way to escape with everyone." Emma said as Norman just stood their, listening to Emma's plan of action.

"...Is it... reckless?" She asked. 

"I'm afraid so." Norman said.

Still...

"Norman, we can catch Mom off guard with this plan!" Emma tried to reason. "It's the only way to actually escape with everyone."

As Norman kept thinking about Emma's plan, the two heard footsteps behind them as they turned around and gasped.

***

Norman climbed up the stairs and entered their room and went towards Ray's bed. He looked about until he found some sagging floor boards behind Ray's bed, which he removed. As he mumbled the words Ray said to him, his eyes widened as he saw the object.

"All of this just to make sure you three don't die." Norman smiled as he added, "I see now. Amazing, Ray."

Norman met up with Don and Gilda as he came back down the stairs.

"I stole those things you wanted, Norman, some detergent and herbicide." Don said showing the items he collected. "What are you gonna use these for?"

"They'll help out with our investigation." Norman answered.

"??"

***

"We're going past the fence to climb the wall so that we can inspect the outside, right?" Gilda asked. "What about the tracking devices?"

Emma smiled. "Oh, well, we make sure they don't look at them."

"It'll be easy. All we need's a distraction. We'll create a situation where they can't check the trackers." Norman explained.

"But how do we do that?" Don asked.

"At this moment, Ray's working on stalling Mom now." Marianna added earning a gasp from the two.

Norman smirked. "He's giving her false info to throw her off."

***

"So you and Norman got into a fight?" Isabella asked after she put a bandage on Ray's cheek.

Ray's eyes trailed over to Isabella. "It was over something we didn't agree about."

"And what about Marianna?" She asked with a bit of concern in her voice.

"Her and Zara also got into a fight. Zara punched Marianna and before Zara could even land a hit on Marianna, we stopped her and the two eventually made up." He said with a cold tone.

Isabella's eyes glanced over to Ray as she closed the first aid kit and said, "I see. Now, what is it you came here to tell me?"

"Norman's working on trying to kill you." He said bluntly.

Isabella was rather shocked by this report as she then later smiles.

"Of course he would go that far to escape with everyone. And?" She asked.

"He's collecting items- a hammer, detergent, herbicide, anything he thinks he can use to get it done." Ray reported.

"Including that rope from before?" Isabella asked.

"Yup. I tried to stop him. I told him it was a stupid idea." Ray huffed.

Isabella giggled. "And he gave you that bruise." Isabella closed the cabinet as she put her hand on her chin. "Death by poison... that could be troublesome."

"Yeah, but don't ship them out because of this. Let them live in this house peacefully until they're old enough to age out. Especially her. That's all I want, okay?"

Isabella just glances at Ray and only sighing at the sight of him.

"Now, then, here's the plan." He turned to Isabella. "We just... replace the chemicals."

"Do you know where he hid them?" Isabella asked.

"Yeah." Ray answered.

"Then let's deal with this tomorrow. Is that all?" Isabella walked over to Ray.

"Yeah. Why? Is there something else bothering you?" He asked.

"Not really." Isabella replied. "Oh."

"Hmm?" Ray mumbled.

"I'll let you in on this early. I received word from HQ during yesterday's check-in. They say that the next shipment is set." Isabella said with a smile.

Ray looked at her rather alarmed, waiting for her to reply.

"There won't be one in December." She replied.

Ray smiled as he leaned back on his chair. "January's next, then. It'll happen on my 12th birthday."

Isabella smiled down at Ray with her motherly smile in place.

Ray smiled back up at Isabella. "So the next shipment... is finally me, huh?"

***

The six of them were walking through the forest and heading to inspect the wall.

"But even if Ray manages to keep Mom busy, what about Sister Krone?" Don asked.

"Yeah, if she finds out... then we'll be shipped out immediately, right?" Gilda asked worriedly.

"Don't worry. Marianna has a plan in mind, right?" Norman asked turning his head towards the said girl.

Marianna nodded. "We won't give up on a single person. I'm not leaving anyone behind, either. We're definitely going... to make this wor-

Marianna's eyes trailed over from the corner as she was immediately interrupted as she felt a hungry presence near her as she immediately turned her head, followed by Emma, Gilda, and Zara with terrified looks.

Sister Krone stood there with a creepy smile, like a clown. They all came to a standstill and turned around as she emerged from her hiding place and scrutinized each and every one of them.

"Did you need something?" Norman asked.

"I saw it, you know~"

Both Emma and Zara gasp as Marianna squints her eyes at Krone.

"That's right, Children~! I saw everything~! All of you were talking last night In. The. Dining. HALL~!" Krone sang as she made a heart symbol with her hands.

Emma placed her hands protectively on Gilda's shoulders as Marianna went in front of Zara and put her arm over Zara protectively.

"The ones who know the secret about this house are Norman, Emma, Ray, Zara, Gilda, Don, and you, 71481. Seven of you total."

Krone's smile got even wider as she chuckles and twirls around, coming right in front of Emma, kneeling towards her height.

She's finally caught them by the tail.

The escape plot thickens.

"So...

"You want to join forces?"

Emma's emerald green eyes widened in shock as the only thing she could muster was:

"Huh?"

Leaving Krone to just simply giggle, looking at Emma in the eye.