SCREAM [ GMW ]

xi. stewart minkus is killing us

The next morning was very odd and slow.

After all, it was their first day in their new prison, and nobody actually knew how things were supposed to go.

When Lucas woke that morning, he woke up to burning eyes. He hissed and rubbed them with his fists, but of course- that didn't work, so he just gave up. Lucas sat up and looked around the room as the rest of the group began to wake, tossing their blankets off and rubbing their eyes all the same.

Had they been crying, too? Lucas wondered. Maya locked eyes with him for a few moments before looking back down, playing absently with her covers.

"Everybody alright?" Zay mumbled groggily, glancing around the room with narrowed eyes. A chorus of "yes" was heard all around the room, but Lucas couldn't bring himself to open his mouth. The door suddenly opened, and in came Caldwell.

"Good morning. Your breakfast awaits you downstairs. Once you are all ready, I will lead you to the dining area." Caldwell spun back around on his heels and left the room once again, closing the door softly behind him. Riley was the first to move, padding to the bathroom with sad eyes.

"They left clothes in here for us. Is it alright if I go first?" All of them nodded, not ready to face the next day quite yet. Isadora reached underneath her pillow and retrieved her journal, scribbling quickly onto the page she had flipped to.

"What are you writing?" Lucas finally spoke up. His throat felt odd- almost like his voice wasn't his.

"Just some minor details that may be important. So far we have been treated like guests, not prisoners. I find that odd. It may not be important, but it could be in our near future." Riley exited the bathroom, her feet carrying her slowly across the room and back to her bed. As she began to put her shoes on, Maya tossed her blankets off and trudged to the washroom, her face twisted and angry. Lucas wasn't surprised. She should be angry.

He should be angry.

Lucas felt more numb, than anything.

. . .

Maya entered the bathroom, her feet and her heart cold. Clothes of the same style she had worn the day before rested on the vanity, and her body already itched at the sight of them. She locked the door behind her and began to undress, tossing her clothes onto the checkered floors.

She knew that they had to find a way to escape. If they stayed there much longer, one, or even more of them- would die. Maya was surprised one of them hadn't been murdered yet, and they had only been there one day. Once she had put on the itchy doll outfit, Maya began to rummage through the cabinets and drawers, searching for anything that could be used as a weapon. Of course, the only items she found were hair and tooth brushes.

"Shit."

"You okay, Maya?" Farkle called out.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Maya brushed her hair out, annoyed with the tangles and how it covered her eyes. Upon exiting the bathroom, she immediately noticed all of her friends scribbling furiously in their notebooks.

"Did something happen? What are you all writing?" She inquired worriedly, rushing over to her bed to grab her journal from under her mattress. Isadora looked up at her, preparing to explain her tactic again.

"Nothing happened within the time you were gone, Maya. We just thought that it was odd that we are being treated as guests and not prisoners." Maya breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, wiping her lips and opening her notebook. She quickly wrote out the observation on the page.

Guests not prisoners.

Maya's mind was blank as the rest of the group changed and washed up, and she wasn't sure if she even looked up from her blanket the entire time they were all moving in and out of the bathroom. All she could focus on was how they were going to get out.