2301 sat on her bed in wonder.
What was going on?
She was bored. She had never felt bored before.
She had been awake to watch the sunrise, and now sat on her bed, waiting until it was time to dress and drink her energizer. Usually, she sat patiently, not feeling a thing until it was time to get up.
But now she was anxious to get out.
Her leg even started to shake in anticipation, until the instructor finally knocked on her door to let her know she could leave. She was surprised herself with feeling anger towards the instructor, her face scrunching up towards the door. Why did they take so long? Why did they lock them up in these rooms when they had free reign to do whatever they wanted.
She stomped out of the room and ran into 1704. She broke out of her current anger and smiled widely at the brunette. "1704! How are you?" She liked 1704 a lot, she mused, as she hugged her tightly; just as she had seen adults do to the children outside. 1704 stood still, not reciprocating the embrace, looking up at 2301 with lifeless eyes.
"Are you okay?" 1704 asked, looking at 2301's smiling face. 1704 looked at her questionably before realization hit her eyes.
"2301, you didn't."
2301 nodded, holding 1704's hands tightly in her own. 1704 raised her brows. "You sneaky little—"
"Girls, what is going on over here?" A male instructor walked over and 2301 had to force back the urge to yell that she wanted to be set free. She saw what happened to 3002, so she sat patiently, pretending everything was as it used to be.
2301 released 1704's hands and folded her arms. "Nothing. We were just on our way to get our energizer," 2301 lied.
She never lied before.
As she watched to see if the instructor believed her, she felt dangerous. It thrilled her in a way that made her stomach churn uncomfortably. The instructor clearly believed them and let them pass to get their medicine and energizer.
Which 2301 flushed down the toilet again.
She drank the energizer slowly and looked around, as if her eyes have been opened. Everyone looked almost tired with their lazy helpless eyes. Is that how she had looked all this time?
"Time for work!" The instructor with eye bags exclaimed, walking to the doors of the building. 2301 followed her, her usual partners closely following. "Today," Eye bags started. "We're to wash every inch of the outside of this building. I do not want to see any slacking. Understood?"
With some obedient nods, they got to work. As they washed the walls of the building, 2301 tried to keep from complaining. Complaining meant she was sad, or mad, or annoyed. That meant complaining meant she had emotions, and she would not let the instructors take those away from her again.
So, she washed with the same enthusiasm she had all those days before. She kept her face emotionless until they scrubbed every inch of the buildings walls. Finally, when the instructor said they were allowed to go inside, 2301 threw the rag in rage.
"I am never working again. Never another day in my life!" She cried. 14 looked at her dumbfounded.
1704 forced a smile and looked back at 14. "She's tired," she said as if that explained everything. Luckily, 14 believed, or just chose to ignore it, and walked inside without a backward glance. 1704 turned to 2301 when everyone was out of hearing.
"Do you know how boring our life is, 1704?"
1704 nodded but didn't seem to care. "Let's go inside."
"You go ahead. I'm just gonna polish our work off."
1704 looked at her rather skeptically, but shrugged it off and left 2301 alone.
It was go-time.
She took a look at her surroundings to find a way she could leave without getting caught. She could start running, but the instructors would probably catch up with her before she could even see the city. She turned until she saw a certain machine on four wheels. It was one of those machines she saw everyday ride past her on the road hundreds of feet away.
Perfect.
She hid behind a bush as she watched the strange machine. There was a man with a leather jacket loading boxes into the back of it. She stood hidden until the man walked back inside. She made quick work as she ran to the back of the machine and jumped to join the boxes. Hiding low, she waited. The machine shook as two more boxes were loaded in, but 2301 didn't move a muscle.
It wasn't until the machine started up that she yelped in surprise. She looked up, and smiled, as she saw that they were moving away from the building.
She lay down and sighed as she looked up to the blue sky. Sunset would be hitting soon. She wondered if she would be here long enough to watch it happen from this angle, laying down in the back of a machine. That would be a first.
She must have fell asleep, because the next thing she knew, she was jostled awake. Her eyes flew open and the first thing she noted was the sky. It was sunset. She smiled softly before she was jostled again when the machine ran over a bump. An involuntary squeal made its way out of her lips as she flew up and she clamped her hands over her mouth.
When the machine came to a sudden stop, she hung her head. Oh. No.
Someone had gotten out of the machine and was walking around to the back. She scrambled to hide behind the boxes, completely freaking out when she heard a man say something.
"I knew I didn't hit anything..." he stated to himself. 2301 crouched down even lower, not hearing the warning sounds of creaking. She heard nothing for a minute and thought she was in the clear, until she heard the voice right behind her.
"Well, well well," the voice was amused. "Now, what do we have here?"
2301 jumped and snapped her head to the voice. There stood a man with curly chestnut locks and warm brown eyes filled with delight. He had perfectly white straight teeth biting back a smile and tan arms crossed over his chest.
A breath got stuck in her chest.
"What you doing back here, sweet thing?" he drawled, crouching down to her level. "Did you get lost?"
2301 pressed her back to the back of the machine and started shaking her head. "No, no, no, please don't hurt me. I just wanted to get away. Please."
His look of amusement was quickly washed away to something closer to concern. "Hey, hey, hey," he spoke softly. "I won't hurt you." His smile was back. "After all, I wasn't the one who snuck onto the other's truck. I believe that was you."
2301 stood silent, watching the man with wary eyes.
"Come on." He reached a hand out. "Come sit up by me, and you can talk more about why you're hiding back here."
She ignored his hand, not knowing why he was reaching it out, and stood up. When he led her around the machine and into the front seat, she awkwardly scrambled to sit on it. It was when he sat in the seat next to her she spoke.
"Where are we?" she asked as she looked at the man. She watched as he took something metal from his pocket, put it inside the machine, and ignited the engine. She screamed and brought her legs up, hiding her face in her knees.
When she felt a hand touch her knee, she sat up quickly and looked at the man again, his brows knit together. "Are you okay?" His voice was husky but held a soft gentle edge to it. In a way she couldn't explain, she wasn't scared of him. Maybe she should be, but she wasn't. Although, she was scared of the machine they were in.
"Where are we?" she asked again, holding tightly to the man's arm when the machine started to move. It looked as if he were guiding it with a wheel thingy at the front.
"What? We're in a car," he said as if it explained everything. It didn't.
She pulled her knees up again, hugging them to calm her nerves. "What's a car?"
He looked at her indecorously before looking back at the road. "You've never been in a car before?" When she shook her head, he chuckled softly. "You're lucky I didn't bring my motorcycle." 2301 cocked her head at the word and mouthed it out, testing it in her mouth.
She looked at the face of this "car" and saw about a million buttons. She scrunched up her nose with a little smile as she pressed the buttons curiously.
One blew hot air in her face, another opened a window on top of the car, but for the most part, the buttons didn't do anything.
"Okay, blondie, enough with the buttons," the man said as he put on sunglasses.
"Why do they add buttons to your car that don't do anything?"
"I've been asking that same question all my life," he said with a click of his tongue. "Wait 'til you see a remote."
When she hit one button in particular, the car was filled with a tune and someone singing. She was amazed. This is a song, she mused. The instructors wouldn't let them listen to songs. 1704 told her about songs when they heard a man mowing a lawn listening to music. It was beautiful.
"Where do I drop you off?"
"Um, I haven't gotten that far," she answered shyly.
He glanced towards her, a suspicious gaze behind the dark lens. "What do you mean you haven't gotten that far?"
2301 looked out her window. "I just wanted to leave. I didn't want the instructors to control me anymore. I didn't want to live there anymore. I wanted to go...so I did." When she turned back to the man with fluffy hair, he was staring at her with wide eyes. "What?"
"You were living at the asylum?" He shook his head. "You're not crazy or anything, right?"
She squinted her eyes in confusion. "I'm not crazy. Are you?"
An amused glint appeared in his eye as he took in her answer. "No, no. I'm not. But, I have to ask, why were you staying in an asylum if you're not crazy?" He made a show of lifting his sunglasses to the top of his head as he studied her head to toe. "Don't get me wrong, you don't look like the type that would kidnap and take advantage of me, but just curious, you know?"
She sighed as her shoulders sunk. "I have no idea. My first memory is waking up there. I guess I've lived there my whole life. It's the only thing I've ever known."
"So, let me get this straight—are you kidding me?!" he interrupted himself with a long honk as some car suddenly swerved in front of him. He stuck his head out the window. "Hey, grandpa, this is Maine, not Maryland!"
She frowned. "What is that supposed to mean?"
He stuck his head in back into the car and paused. "I have no idea. It made sense in my head."
2301 gasped. "Can I yell something at the grandpa?"
He rolled down the window and gestured towards it. "Be my guest."
She stuck her head out the window and thought of the meanest thing she could. "You're a slimy worm!"
"Hey, nice," Kalen said, biting back a laugh. He held out his hand to give her a fist bump, but she looked at it like it was of an unknown species.
"You're really clueless about everything, aren't you?" Looking around at the city, she guessed he was right. She was clueless. "How do you expect to live in the city alone? Not to mention, I bet you don't have any cash on you either, do you?"
She looked sheepish and slanted her eyes up to him. "Is this a bad time to say I have no idea what cash is?"
He muttered something harsh under his breath and stayed silent for a while. He seemed to inspect her from side glances while he sat carelessly looking almost bored next to her.
Right when she thought he was going to stay silent for the rest of their trip, he spoke. "Alright, I'm going to give you an offer you cannot refuse." He sighed. "First of all, I think you're an idiot for thinking you could survive in the city with no means of a family or money; but today must be your lucky day."
She bit her lip and stood silent, waiting for him to tell her this offer.
"I own an apartment. It's almost three hours ahead of us and I happen to be heading there now. If you work for me, I'll let you live there for free."
She smiled widely. "You're gonna help me."
"And you're gonna help me. I'm guessing you don't know how to wait tables, am I right?"
"You'd be right."
"Well, we will just have to have Parker teach you. The Blake Snake doesn't look like the right place for you, but it'll do until you can get on your feet."
She was about to ask what the Black Snake was before he shook his head. "We'll talk about that later. Usually Vipers stay there, but there's always room for an extra stay. But, since you're going to be staying at my apartment, why don't you tell me a little about yourself." He swerved into another lane as he stopped at a red light.
She was silent for a couple of moments. "For years I've dreamed of seeing these buildings," she started softly. "I have only seen them from miles away, but to actually be here? It's insane."
"Hopefully more insane than you." He chuckled to himself. When she was silent, he turned his gaze to her with a sheepish grin. "Sorry. I'm probably the insane one if I'm letting you stay at my apartment even though you just admitted you ran away from the insane asylum." He paused. "So...what's your name?"
She cocked her head to the side. "Name?"
"Yeah. Like, what do people call you?" he asked as he hit the gas pedal when the light turned green.
"Oh, I'm 2301," she said with a confidence that puzzled him. He looked back at her with an amused expression.
"Your name is... numbers?" He asked as he turned down the music of the car.
"What are numbers?"
"Okay, I have no idea what happened in that asylum, but it could not be good. We are going to start your life over, starting by giving you a new name."
"A name," she said, liking the way the word rolled off her tongue. "Okay, what should my name be?" she asked with an adorable tilt of her head.
"Names aren't usually numbers, but words," he started. "But it isn't just any word. They're special words that mean something. You assign certain names to certain people and call them by their assigned name," he tried to explain, knowing he hadn't succeeded at all by the look on her face.
"What?"
"Never mind. I'm going to give you a bunch of names and I want you to choose one you like. Okay?" When she nodded her head enthusiastically, he started off. "Alright, how about Big Cookie?" he chuckled, seeming to find that name hilarious.
2301 cocked her head, not finding the joke.
Laughter lit up his eyes. "What about Lizard Tail? Or Bumble Bee, Red Fang, Taz—" he listed the gang names.
"I like that one," she exclaimed with a happy nod.
He shook his head and sighed. "Which one, I literally said five."
She pinched her lips together and repeated the word he said. "T-Taz." When it came out right, her eyes brightened as she nodded again.
"Really? I was kinda kidding with those gang names, but okay," he said with a soft smile. "Your name is Taz."
"What's your name?" Taz asked a couple moments later as she looked happily at the life she had only seen from a distance. Seeing it up close to her was something she had never dreamed of, and now she was here, about to live it.
"Kalen," he said, running a hand through his silky brown hair. "Kalen Miller."
She giggled. "That's a funny name." Then she gasped. "You have two names?" she asked in awe but was quickly confused when he shook his head.
"Not two first names, no. Everyone has a last name too," he explained as he made a quick study of her face.
"Huh." She slouched back into the seat, her surroundings starting to become a little overwhelming.
"All right, Taz," he spoke after a while. "Tell me about yourself." Kalen looked at Taz as she looked down with a worried expression. "Hey, what is it?"
"I don't know. I just... I don't know anything about me either." She looked away. Kalen looked as if he was going to ask something but stopped when he saw how exhausted she was. Her days probably weren't ever this exciting.
Taz rested her head on the side of the window and closed her eyes. She had no idea what was about to happen or why this Kalen guy had decided to help her. Her thoughts were filled with hope and happiness as she finally slid into sleep.
Kalen pulled up to the apartment. He looked at the clock, surprised to see it what near seven, the darkness taking its toll on the soft sky. When his stomach growled, it suddenly dawned on him he hadn't eaten anything all day. He usually didn't on delivery days.
He looked at Taz peacefully sleeping against the window. He might have to wait until the girl woke up. She had dark circles under her eyes and looked as if she had been starved. Her skin seemed to pull against her cheekbones, and her spine protruded into large bumps through her white dress. She had to be around twenty by the way she looked, but if she didn't know what numbers were, he guessed she probably didn't know how old she was.
He sighed as he brushed some hair out of her face. "What have they been doing to you?" he whispered softly.
He hopped out of the car, walked to her side, opened the door, and carried her into his apartment. She weighed hardly anything, and he couldn't help but think how well she was getting fed in that asylum.
He took her into his room so she could sleep, knowing they could talk about her living plans later. He knew she had no money and it seemed she had spent her whole life living as a patient in an insane asylum, so Kalen knew that he had to help her if she was ever going to live a normal life.
The fact that Taz had spent her whole life living as a patient in an insane asylum should have unsettled Kalen, but the truth was, he could tell she wasn't insane. She was a victim. He could just tell. She seemed different in some way and there was something about her that he felt connected with that he just couldn't explain. He just knew deep in his soul that this woman needed help; and if he wasn't going to be the one to do it, no one would.
He set her down softly in his bed before pulling the comforter over her, making sure she would sleep comfortably. He walked back to the kitchen to get a snack as his thoughts returned to the blonde in his bed. That sounded way less innocent then it actually was, he mused idly with a shake of his head.
Alex was going to kill him.
She has told him time and time again to stop doing this.
But the vulnerable ones always seem to find him.