The news program finishes after a story about a cancer survivor setting up his own charity and my stomach growls loudly. I have only eaten breakfast here once, so it's not shocking that I'm hungry.
I know I should be looking for Wendy or Annie, but I need food.
The only place I can think to eat is in the dining room, I shuffle slowly towards it.
Luckily, when I get there Esther and Bebe are already eating breakfast together. When I say together, I mean sitting sort of close together and not speaking at all.
"Oh, hey Kyle!" Esther smiles when she sees me. She pats the chair next to her, so I sit there, "what'll you be having for breakfast?"
"Uhh..." I look at her plate, which is full of waffles, "waffles?"
Esther clears her throat before shouting "yo, Chef!". Ten seconds later, a large black man comes out from one of the doors, wiping his wet hands on his dirty apron.
"Yes, Esther?" He asks, rushing over to her, "do you need more waffles?"
"Yeah, but not for me. Kyle wants some."
"No problem, Miss," he nods, "nice to finally meet you, Kyle. I'm Chef."
I hold my hand out for him to shake politely, but he just slaps me on the back instead, grinning.
He goes back through the door, which presumably leads to the kitchens.
Bebe glares at me from across the table as she viciously mutilates a stack of pancakes that did not deserve to be served to this witch.
An uncomfortable silence falls on the table until Chef comes back with my waffles and a large jug of syrup to pour on top.
Before I can thank him, he leaves.
I pour syrup on top, watching it cascade down the sides like a waterfall. My stomach growls again impatiently, but before I can start eating, the master walks in and sits down at the head of the table like last time.
Chef comes out of the kitchens instantly without anyone saying anything.
"What would you like to eat, sir?" He asks.
"Waffles."
Bebe twirls her hair around her finger and gazes at the master with a lovestruck look on her face. It's quite sad, actually, how in love with him she is, since there's no chance he'll ever return her feelings. You can just tell he won't.
"You guys don't have drinks," the master points out, "I'll get us some wine."
Esther's fork clatters loudly on her plate after she dropped it in shock. The master raises his eyebrow, but doesn't say anything.
Soon, a servant walks in, carefully carrying a bottle of wine.
"A drink, sir?" She asks.
"One for everyone, thanks," he replies, "and pour one for yourself, Nelly."
"Oh, sir, you're too kind." She blushes, pouring some wine into a large glass in front of the master.
Once she's poured wine into everyone's glasses, she leaves. Bebe looks relieved, as if Nelly is some kind of competition she needs to eliminate.
We eat in silence, the only noise being our cutlery on the plates and the occasional person clearing their throat or drinking wine from their glass, but that last one wasn't me or Esther.
Bebe watches me throughout breakfast with an unreadable expression, but I know she's cursing me mentally.
"Oh, kyle," the master speaks up finally, "can I see you in my office?"
"Uhh... I don't really have a choice, do I?" I shrug.
The master pushes his plate slightly and gets out of his seat, having finished his meal already. I quickly wolf mine down and follow him out of the dining room.
We pass Heidi's isolation room on the way past to get to his office and I want to stop, order the master to open the door, but I know I can't. I'll just get send in there too.
When we reach the master's office, he pulls out a set of keys from his pocket and unlocks the door quickly, almost dropping them in his hurry. I wonder why he's rushing so much.
He gestures for me to walk in first, so I do, but I can't shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen.