"Hey Emma, what's up?" Don faces us, we told them everything. "Human... Trafficking? Are you sure?" Don looks at us, "Yeah, all of our siblings, were sold off to some really bad people." Don takes a breath but then started laughing, Ray and I sat on the second level of the library looking down on them all, "No, no, no, there's no way! Come on!" Don was waving his hand and kept laughing, "It explains the Walls and Gate, and why all the kids who are adopted don't send letters." I tell him softly, "All right guys, where's the punch line? You almost had me for a second," He wipes a tear forming in his eye from laughing so hard, "Uh, hey, why aren't you guys saying anything?" He looks at the four of us, "Because it's true," Ray holds my hand, "And Nat might be next," I feel him hold on tighter, "What? Wait, but Mum..." He looks at us, "She's the one, who sells us to people," Emma looks down at the floor, "HUH?! There's no way Mum would do that to us! Take it back Emma!" He holds her shoulders, "Don, Emma loves Mum just as much as rest of us, why would she make this up?" Gilda says, "So Gilda..." Emma looks at her, "To tell the truth, I did think it was weird, the night that Conny left, Emma, Norman and Nat went down to the Gate." Gilda says, "Wait, you did?" Don turns to us, we nod, "In most cases, even if you broke the rules, you'd eventually come clean about it and things would be back to normal but you haven't done that yet. Emma, I wanted to ask about it but I always got too scared to bring it up. Just look at how Norman and Emma's personalities have changed since they went to the Gate, and when have Nat and Ray ever gotten along so well, they care for each other," Gilda buried her face into her hands and cried, "Gilda, no please don't cry, I'm sorry I made you worried," Emma ran over to her, "Did you see it happen? Did you see Conny get sold off to the bad people?" Gilda wept, I had a sudden flashback of Conny's dead face, my eyes widen in fear, terror and horror, I held my mouth and I was about to vomit again, "Shh, here, try not to remember it, just listen to my heartbeat, I'm here, I'm alive with you," Ray pulled my head to his chest, "Thank you... thank you Ray," I wrapped my arms around his torso and gripped onto his shirt, I heard the steady beat of his heart and I slowly calmed down again, he's alive, he's here. "Then is Conny safe?!" Don outbursts, "We don't know," Norman shakes his head, "Impossible, this can't be real." Don leans on the table, "Emma and Ray have spent the last few days snooping at everyone's test scores, according to this, kids over six are adopted in order to lowest scorers first weird huh? They want a shipment of eleven years olds next, and since Nat's the lowest out of the four of us, well, you know what'll happen to her," Norman looks down as he passes a sheet of paper to Don and Gilda, "So not just Conny's scores but Hao and Ceddy," Don's eyes glued to she sheet, "It's just what Norman said," Gilda was shocked, "Don, Gilda, let's escape, so that we can help everyone! We can do it! If we work together. Please, help us," Emma walks over to them, the two of them looks at the four of us, then they nodded. Emma and I headed to our dorms, Norman said he wanted to talk to Ray for a bit so I went into our room first and got ready for bed.
The next night, Norman, Emma and I went to the dining hall, it was just the three of us, "I need your input in this, if there really is someone here who's willingly siding with the demons who's guaranteed to live for bits of information," Norman looks at us, "So you're saying they're safe from being shipped out because they're spying on us?" I sat down on a chair, he nods, "Would you guys take them with us or leave them here?" Norman looks at the ground, "I'd take them," Emma looks up, I thought for a while then nodded, "Even if they didn't want to?" He was shocked, "I'd force them, because if we end up escaping then that person's life may not be guaranteed anymore, and plus, I wanna believe in everyone," I grinned, Emma looked at me and grinned at Norman too, "Ray said to suspect everyone but I'm sure none of our siblings are truly bad, we all grew up together, even if someone gets in our way or says I'm naive I still want to believe in them!" Emma smiles, Norman was taken aback, "Alright, of course that'd be both of your answers." He smiles, Norman went to go find Ray to do something, I was about to open the door to Norman's dorm but I heard Ray and his voice, "So it was Don," It was Ray's voice, "Actually it's you who's the traitor, Ray" Norman said to him, I gasped and let go of the door handle, "No... it can't be true," I held my mouth, "Are you serious? Cut it out," It was Ray's voice, "Ray... you've realised right? I set a trap for three people, I told Don it was behind my bed, and Gilda was told it was in the second floor bathroom ceiling, at least, that's what I told you. But I actually told Don the dining hall and I told Gilda the library, the rope behind my bed ended up being gone, so what about the other two spots? Should we go over and check them out?" I heard Norman, I pressed my ear up against the door to hear better, then Ray started laughing, "Aw man, and here I thought I was doing so well. Yeah, you're right, I'm the one who's been spying for Mum, so, what gave it away?" Ray said, my eyes widen, "He's lying, he has to be lying," I whispered to myself, Ray's never done anything like that, he's always so gentle and caring towards me ever since the incident began, he's been my rock of support, he can't be the traitor, "It was when Sister first came, I was disgusted with myself I suspected you instantly, my own friend, it was really the worst case scenario, I wish that I'd been wrong about it, because you being the traitor would be quiet problematic for us, but for the enemy. Picking you was the obvious choice. You would be able to provide input to our plans which would be perfect for keeping control of the situation, you were the best one for the job," Norman says, "Can't get anything past you. How embarrassing, I walked right into your little trap," Ray says, "There's one more thing, you see, I have a feeling this isn't the first time you've done this, if one of us suddenly started giving Mum tips, I doubt she'd be so trusting, just how long have you been Mum's spy?" Norman asks, "For a while now, I can't remember when I wasn't her spy, guess you can say I'm a sheepdog for a shepherd," You could hear the smirk in Ray's voice, "You knew that and you still helped Mum out?!" Norman says, "Yeah," Ray responds, "Everything we've talked about, all the planning, it was nothing but a series of lies?! How much have you been telling Mum? Can the trackers even be broken?" You could hear the venom in Norman's voice, "What'd you do with that info? Gonna ditch me based on my answer?" Ray says, "No I won't I want you to stay close, like you always have been. Isn't it great Ray? You get to hide your mistake! You tried framing Don so you'd be able to keep spying on us correct?" Norman says sweetly, "Just tell me what you want," Ray answers, "Three things. One, you will continue to stay with us and to guarantee our safety. Two, I want you to share all the information you have. Three, flip to our side, and become a spy for our side instead," Norman lists off, "You're gonna use me as your trump card? Are you an idiot?! If that was your objective you should've kept quiet and used me, and when it was time to execute the plan you should've just cast me aside, it would've been easy!" Ray grumbles, "You're right about that, but... they reminded me we're family so that's what made me change my mind, I wanna believe in you too. We're friends before enemies right?After all, aren't you the one who hid Little Bunny? The night we went to the Gate, if you hadn't told us we could've made it in time, we wouldn't have gone, you laid out the bread crumbs for us to find out the truth behind this house ourselves. You set this up for the four of us to escape, didn't you? Why did you become Mum's sheepdog? If you were completely on Mum's side it wouldn't make sense to reveal the truth to us, you've been controlling our actions about the trackers, the timing of our escape and how quickly the plan moved forward, that's why you didn't want us leaving ten days from now. But at the same time, you were also keeping Mum under control, you're actually not our enemy are you?" Norman asks, "You still think that huh? I volunteered, I guess it's more like I sold myself really. AND ALL OF IT WAS TO PREPARE FOR THE ESCAPE WE'RE PLANNING! If you're going to learn more about the enemy it's best to do so from the inside, which is why I ended up offering a deal with Mum," Ray says, "That's risky," Norman whispered, "Not really, I'm one of the finest product's she's raised here, she's cared a lot for me. She wouldn't throw me away that's now I saw it. She's someone who cares more about profit than rules. I made sure to ask for three things, first was to not be shipped out if I cooperated, the second was rewards in exchange for results." Ray lists, "What kind of rewards?" Norman asks, "Various junk, if it isn't in the house she secures it for me. My reason for doing it was to check what I could and couldn't get, but to also research the outside, turns out as long as it was safe, she could get me lots of things, but everything she brings back is dated." Ray tells him, "So when you said had an idea for breaking the trackers," Norman says, "I've seen the real device, I did testing, it took me a few years but I figured it out, it is possible to break the tracking devices you get it Norman? I'm the strongest card you'll ever get no one else compares, and I don't just have info about the tracking devices and Mum, you can't even begin to imagine what I've learned over the years, from the moment I discovered the truth, I started preparing. I had you, Emma and Nat go to the Gate without anyone noticing all of this just to make sure you three don't die!" Ray shouts, "Wait, so what's the third deal?" Norman asks, Ray was silent for a while, "To make sure Nat didn't get shipped off." Ray says quietly, Norman gasped, "I knew she had average to below average test scores, she's be considered the worst out of the four of us, making her the first to get shipped off when headquarters asks for eleven year olds. Truth is... I LOVE HER! I can't bear to even think about seeing her killed, I'd kill myself, she's always so kind, funny, caring, she pouts when she's angry and laughs when she's happy. Nat's the most grounded person I know, she makes me feel human again, that's why when I heard of her possible shipment date, that was the first thing I told Mum, to hold it off, to not let her get shipped. She was meant to be shipped months ago, years ago but I held onto her for dear life, I wouldn't let them take her away. The four of us have been together since we were kids, you think I can just let her die?!" I heard Ray's voice, my eyes widen, "Ray..." I whispered, I felt my heart swell, he loves me too? "So listen, I'm not exactly your enemy, everything I do is for Nat and Nat only, so I'm not your ally either, let's make a deal. If you agree, I'll become your trump card, I'll tell you everything I know and lead false info to Mum, if you do one thing," Ray bargains, "What's that?" Norman asks, "Trick Emma, we'll pretend we're taking everyone then ditch them later. But we can take Don, and Gilda too," Ray says, "Are you saying we're tricking everyone else into leaving?" Norman asks, "Yes," Ray says, "But all that training, they've grown more than we've expected, you even said that they had potential. You meant it didn't you? Then all of us-" Ray interrupts Norman, "Regardless, that doesn't mean that they're not a huge burden," Ray says, "You said you'd help us didn't you Ray?" Norman sighs, "What I'm doing now is helping, you don't like it? Then you two can die here, I'll find a way out with Nat," Ray says, "But I thought you said you wanted me and Emma to stay alive," Norman says, "Honestly, I'd rather you get shipped than die once we escape, so, do we have a deal?" Ray asks, "Fine then, don't worry, I'll keep my word," Norman says, I heard footsteps towards the door and I jumped up and got ready to dash back to our room, I ran into bed and just in time before Ray came into the room and went to bed in the bed next to mine, his words replayed in my mind, "I LOVE HER! She was meant to be shipped months ago, years ago but I held onto her for dear life, I wouldn't let them take her away." They kept racing through my mind, "Hey Ray, you awake?" I said quietly, he hummed in affirmation, "Can I head over to your bed, just for a while, I want to ask you something," I rubbed my eyes, "Sure," He shuffled over and I got under the covers, "Do you really love me?"
